RATIONAL
Master Degree of
Applied Linguistics
The basis for compiling the curriculum for doctoral and master programs at Postgraduate of UNJ refers to the level of the Indonesian National Qualifications Framework (hereafter KKNI) level 8 for the master program according to the Academic Guidebook (Buku Panduan Akademik – BPA) of the UNJ Postgraduate Program. The curriculum component at Postgraduate of UNJ consists of general courses, expertise courses, elective courses, matriculation courses, and a thesis/dissertation. General courses are a group of courses that discusses the general/basic knowledge pertinent to the various disciplines pertinent to, in this case, applied linguistics. General courses are directed at improving the ability to carry out, organize, and manage research programs in accordance with the educational objectives of the study program. These are obtained by the first semester students of all study programs.
Expertise courses are a group of courses related to the study of various (read also: inter-) disciplines related to, in this case, applied linguistics. These aim to produce experts based on the knowledge and skills mastered. Expertise courses are obtained by students in the second semester. Elective courses are part of the study program courses group. Students may choose these courses (minimum two courses) that go in line with the field of their thesis topic. A master thesis is the master student’s final project as one of the requirements prior to graduation, whilst a dissertation is for a doctoral program. Master thesis and dissertation are scientific works obtained from the results of research to solve problems and discoveries in their fields. Students undertakes thesis subject in the fourth semester. The fundamental difference between the master program and the doctoral program of UNJ is on the implementation of the final project research. When registering for a doctoral program, students must have a topic and research plan that will be carried out for their final project or dissertation. The doctoral students starts their research journey on the first semester. As for the master students, their research journey starts on semester three after they complete all the courses required and joining the colloquium course. As implicitly mentioned on our self-evaluation report (SER), this course is to facilitate the students with the following competence: to identify the reliable and credible references (predominantly reputed journal articles) – this is important as this marks their first step prior to formulating their writing on chapters one and two of their master thesis proposal.
The time schedule for all the teaching and learning process at UNJ is based on the academic calendar stipulated before the semester begins. The academic year consists of the odd semester, even semester, and intermediate semester. The latter starts in September and ends in August of the following year. The odd semester starts in September and ends in February, whilst the even semester starts in March and ends in August of the same year (Permenristekdikti, No. 42/2018 about UNJ Statute). These are all regulated based on UNJ’s Dean regulations regarding the academic regulations and guidelines for the UNJ postgraduate school contract. The academic guide itself includes the curriculum.
Permenristekdikti, No. 42/ 2018 about UNJ Statute defines curriculum as a set of plans and arrangements regarding the
objectives, content, teaching materials, and methods used as guidelines for implementing learning activities to achieve educational goals. These are compiled and developed by each study program based on the development of science and/or technology-based as the national higher education standards, teacher education standards, Indonesian national qualification frameworks, and international quality standards required (see Permenristekdikti, No. 42/2018 about UNJ Statute). In addition, our curriculum development also pays attention to global demands and challenges (scientific vision), societal needs, stakeholders, business, and industry, as well as the principles of comprehensive self-evaluation. This can be seen for instance from the postgraduate school’s (and/or study program’s) annual meeting concerning the curriculum development based on postgraduate school’s tracer study, the stakeholder’s satisfaction survey and benchmarking with other universities in Indonesia and overseas. The involvement of practitioners of relevant fields can be seen, for example, from several activities, such as studium generale, webinar series, international conferences/seminars held by the postgraduate school, etc.
Based on these, the Study Program establishes a graduate profile, study program objectives, and graduate learning outcomes. The learning outcomes of the study program manifests the achievement of KKNI level 8 for the master program (see the applied linguistics master program self-evaluation report) whilst the KKNI level 9 for the Doctoral Program. The analysis of KKNI level 8 is carried out in order to produce several Course Learning Outcomes (Capaian Pembelajaran Mata Kuliah – CPMK). After these were produced, the processes of identification, analysis, classification, or subject categorization are carried out. The subjects are categorized into matriculation courses, general courses expertise courses, elective / concentration courses (see paragraph 2 above).
Within the framework of KKNI level 8 and SNPT 2020, the followings demonstrate the intended learning outcomes of our study program (Program Educational Objectives – henceforth PEO), i.e. to bring forth graduates who in their early career become professionals in the various related applied linguistics fields, such as translator, educational practitioner, and content specialist with following attributes:
- able to develop their knowledge and skills in applied linguistics – translation studies, studies on language and literature teaching, language and cultural studies through research;
- able to develop interdisciplinary research in applied linguistics, i.e. translation studies, studies on language and literary teaching, language and cultural studies in order to produce innovative and proven problem solving;
- have the competences in managing and developing the research results in applied linguistics for the attainment of national and/or international acknowledgement.
The outcomes indicate that our curriculum design follows the amalgam of subject-related and cross-subject nature.