Student Profile

I am Patricia Strang and I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Second Language Teaching through the General and Applied Linguistics Department at the University of Waikato in 2004.

As a mature student I had previously gained a Bachelor of Social Science and my major was supported by adult education. This area interested me particularly as I was a volunteer tutor in the field of adult literacy at that time. I commenced studying for personal development but on achieving the degree I realised that in order to achieve a career direction change I needed to specialise in a specific field. It then seemed logical that as I had an interest in working with language and adults the choice should be the Postgraduate Diploma in Second Language Teaching.

It can be really difficult for mature students to study at university, however, in the Department this is recognised and lecture times and courses were designed around the fact that many of the students are in employment and have other responsibilities. The lecturers were also extremely supportive and this meant I was able to complete the Diploma part time while teaching English to international students and continue with my voluntary work.

There were benefits in studying while teaching as it meant my classroom skill development was continuous and theory was learnt alongside the practical. I gained much from the six papers I completed including fresh insights into the social and psychological aspects of learning a second language. Then the Practical Teaching papers provided a chance to test and evaluate ideas about teaching. They also provided invaluable opportunities to observe other teachers and this linked well to the paper on Reflective Practice. "Materials and Methodology" provided invaluable fresh ideas for creating materials and classroom activities. I found as a native speaker that my knowledge of grammar needed to be developed and "Linguistics for Language Teachers" clarified the more complicated grammatical features of the English language. Looking back I realise that while each course was separate they provided a balanced insight into teaching second language learners.

Since completing the Postgraduate Diploma I have gained much satisfaction from teaching a variety of language students in New Zealand. The qualification has enabled me to teach international students at various pre-university levels and tutor first year university students in a writing course for second language speakers. Having the qualification also meant I had the opportunity to teach on a first year writing course for native speakers of English. Many of the students on that course were mature students returning to study a field closely linked to my work in literacy.

Reflecting on my completed study it has contributed to my personal growth and my work. Since achieving the Postgraduate Diploma I have been able to change career direction.