IELTS Class for Lecturers

At Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara (UMSU), there are many academic activities for both students and lecturers to participate in.

In addition to tridarma of higher education activities such as education/teaching, research, and community service, lecturers are also provided with opportunities to develop their foreign language skills.

The UMSU Language Center offers an IELTS Class for Lecturers program for lecturers pursuing doctoral degrees abroad. Even though I have already graduated with a doctorate, I am curious about this cool program.

Tutors are teaching the participants of the IELTS Class for Lecturers

What do you learn in the IELTS Class for Lecturers?

IELTS or International English Language Testing System is a test that assesses four English language skills: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. 

You will learn to understand conversations and monologues in various accents in the listening section, read a variety of texts to capture main ideas and details in the reading section, write essays or letters in the writing section, and speak in a live interview format in the speaking section.

The IELTS Class for Lecturers program has 20 sessions, held twice a week. I didn't join the program from the beginning, but at the 11th session.

Unfortunately, I could only attend until the 17th session because it coincided with my teaching schedule at the law school.

Through those six sessions, I learned a lot about reading comprehension, analyzing images, graphs, and data, writing essays in academic writing, practicing speaking, and, most challengingly, listening. The native speakers delivered sentences very quickly, sometimes missing words, so I had to really listen and focus.

Participants in the IELTS Class for Lecturer Program

Participants in the IELTS Class for Lecturer program consisted of all UMSU lecturers: two lecturers from the English Language Education department, one lecturer from the Faculty of Medicine, one lecturer from the Faculty of Islamic Studies, and three lecturers from the Faculty of Law, including myself.

Of the three participants from the Faculty of Law, only one participated seriously, starting with the placement test. The other lecturer and I only attended informally, connecting during the 10-meeting English Day program at the Faculty of Law.

However, the other lecturer from the Faculty of Law recently stopped attending, possibly due to busy schedules. Everyone has their own reasons for attending, right?

I was truly impressed with this IELTS course material. Participants are truly encouraged to think logically, utilize their full abilities, reasoning, creativity in paraphrasing sentences, and lexical resources. If the UMSU Language Center holds this program again, I will definitely participate and hopefully be able to attend the full program.

Furthermore, documentation of all UMSU Language Center activities is regularly posted on the Instagram account @pusbaumsu. So, if you want to see your English learning in action, you can always check it out on IG.

The atmosphere of my friends and I studying in the IELTS Class for Lecturers program

Conclusion

IELTS Class for Lecturers is highly beneficial for lecturers in general and those who wish to pursue doctoral studies abroad. Mastering English language skills opens up many opportunities. Let's get excited about IELTS preparation!

Never stop learning!