Friday, October 16, 2015

UIA dan 'BENL' (Bachelor of Human Sciences - English Language & Literature)

Assalamualaikum.

Dah habis belajar di UIA barulah perasan yang tak ada satu pun entri di blog bercerita fasal bidang pengajian sendiri. Apa punya seniorlah saya ini. Memandangkan saya dah pun berjaya mengharungi pahit manis menjadi pelajar BENL di UIA, rasanya tak salah kalau saya kongsikan serba sedikit berkenaan pengajian ini yang mungkin boleh jadi panduan kepada bakal penuntut jurusan yang sama.

Di UIA, jurusan Bahasa Inggeris dan Kesusasteraan ini dipanggil BENL, as it stands for Bachelor of English Language and Literature. In case ada yang tertanya, "akak ni course BENL why don't you just write in English?" eh suka hati sayalah nak tulis bahasa apa pun (hehe, gurau saja). Rojak campur pun sedap, lagi-lagi dinikmati ketika perut sedang kelaparan okay cut the crap. BENL merupakan salah satu kursus di bawah Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS) dan di bawah Human Sciences (HS) Division. Selain BENL, terdapat kursus seperti History and Civilization, Communication, Sociology and Anthropology, Psychology dan Political Science. 

BENL terbahagi pada tiga bidang pengkhususan iaitu:

1. Linguistics
2. Literature
3. Combination of linguistics and literature.

berserta 18 subjek major yang perlu diambil bersamaan dengan 54 jam kredit. Untuk subjek pengkhususan, anda dikehendaki mengambil 6 subjek yang bersamaan dengan 18 jam kredit. Tapi khabarnya bagi intake baru bermula tahun 2012, mereka perlu mengambil 7 subjek pengkhususan. Siap ada internship lagi. Tak adil betul, zaman saya dulu mana ada. Kempunan nak merasa pengalaman berpraktikal. Hah, nampak macam sedikit subjek BENL ini tapi itu belum lagi dicampur dengan subjek fundamental core courses HS disebabkan BENL di bawah HS Division dan subjek-subjek di bawah IRK Division, bahasa Arab, subjek kokurikulum dan sebagainya. Nak cerita panjang nanti tak faham pula. Ada baiknya rujuk study plan yang terdapat di laman web UIA sendiri.





Jadi, kalau anda fikir pelajar BENL cuma menghadap subjek linguistik dan sastera semata-mata, sila hapuskan persepsi itu ya, kerana seiring dengan matlamat universiti (ewah, apa mak merepek?) untuk melahirkan graduan all-round makanya banyak juga subjek yang perlu diambil yang tak ada kena-mengena dengan bahasa Inggeris. Contohnya seperti lapan subjek IRK Division yang perlu diambil bagi pelajar single major. Yang nak buat minor itu lain cerita.

Lapan subjek IRK yang saya ambil (highlighted in yellow)
Well, bila jadi pelajar BENL ini ada sedikit sebanyak persoalan yang timbul daripada orang sekeliling yang kurang arif berkenaan dengan bidang pengajian ini. Ada yang kata BENL macam TESL, ada yang kaitkan lepasan BENL kebanyakannya sekadar bekerja sebagai guru atau kerjaya dalam bidang pendidikan. Saya malas nak cerita panjang disebabkan isu ini ada saya tulis dalam entri 'UIA dan Asasi Bahasa Inggeris' suatu ketika dulu (entri tersebut masih wujud). Yang paling hot bila orang selalu ingat belajar bahasa Inggeris ini cuma berkisar tentang English grammar, padahal apa yang dipelajari itu jauh lebih advance dari tatabahasa. Kalau linguistik, sedalam-dalam aspek bahasa dikaji seperti aspek fungsi sesebuah peraturan tatabahasa (grammar rules), semantik, morfologi dan banyak lagi. Bagi pengkhususan sastera, pelajar didedahkan dengan seasas-asas perkara dalam bidang ini seperti puisi, drama, novel dan prosa, sastera Islam, Amerika dan pelbagai lagi, which I find way more interesting of discovering the language itself. Sebenarnya, English is beyond the language. It's everything. Dulu zaman sekolah punyalah tak suka bahasa Inggeris ini tapi Allah takdirkan saya sendiri untuk meneroka bidang yang selalu orang cakap, "ala, English je pun. Bukannya medic/engineering/accounting/laws etc.."

Setakat ini saja coretan saya untuk entri kali ini. Macam biasa, sebarang kemusykilan atau pertanyaan boleh emel di izzfiez@gmail.com.

Wassalam.


22 comments:

  1. Assalamualaikum..I want to ask u some questions.so if i study English and literature and to be specific I choose linguistics is that mean I will be learning other languages such French,german or maybe Spanish...that's all hope to hear it from u soon..thanks .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waalaikumussalam.

      You'll learn a foreign language (Mandarin, French, etc) as it is required by the university. You can choose which one that you want to learn :)

      Delete
  2. Salam...thank you for your post.
    May I know the prospect of job of this course.

    ease don't get me wrong, just to get the holistic pictures of this course.

    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waalaikumussalam.

      For BENL graduates usually they will choose to work in professions such as education, corporate communication, administration & HR, translating and editing documents, sub-titlist.

      If you want to explore areas such as business, marketing and banking you might want to register yourself under Skim Latihan 1 Malaysia in collaboration with government-linked companies before being accepted as a permanent employee.

      Delete
  3. Hi sis..I'm also a benl student currently in uia..i get the stereotype of misunderstanding us for tesl..sometimes, when my uncles or aunties asked about my course, i just told them i take tesl cuz I'm having a hard time explaining about benl..so, anyway can you tell me specifically what type of career opportunity for our course and do we have a shot of working overseas? I also interested in knowing what you do for a living after graduation..hope to hear from you 😉

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BENL graduates usually opt for teaching profession as at the same time they pursue their studies to upper level (masters, PhD). Lot of my friends even work as lecturers in CFS IIUM. But there are also other professions that you could try especially communication, public relation and administration. Depends on your interest. And even some of international educational institutions are looking for English graduates who can work at their institutions so there might be some chance for you to work overseas.

      Currently I am pursuing my master's degree in education :)

      Delete
  4. Salam sis i would like to ask how many years that benl students have to take to complete the studies? Is it include the years in cfs too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waalaikumussalam. Maximum duration in CFS is two years + 4 years BENL degree.

      Delete
  5. Are tesl students placed under the same department as benl? And do all of benl or tesl students are compulsory to take arabic language?(if not can they take other foreign languages instead? In terms of mahallah, may i know which mahallah for benl and tesl students will ne placed? Do both stay at the same mahallah?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope. TESL is under Kulliyyah of Education (KOED). Arabic language is compulsory for all students but for BENL-ians you have to take the subject till level 6, but for other courses the students only take the subject during their foundation level.

      For mahallah, there's no specific accommodation for BENL/TESL. You will be placed in random mahallah according to the availability of the room.

      Delete
  6. Assalamualaikum. Saya dapat tawaran untuk course ini. Ada perkara yang ingin saya tanya, course ini biasanya belajar di kampus mana? Ada kemungkinan kah kami akan dihantar ke kampus Kuantan/Pagoh? Ataupun course ini memang ada di Gombak sahaja?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for disturbing, BENL course will stay at gombak campus,, the international communication course under kuliyyah language n managemnt (such as encom,arcom,macom) will go to the pagoh campus

      Delete
  7. Assalamualaikum
    To purse degree in tesl.. Do we need to take the same foundation course like benl students

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waalaikumussalam.

      During my time, TESL students (degree) normally are those who took Foundation in English. But other courses can apply too, depending also on your MUET result.

      Delete
  8. assalamualaikum kak, kalau ambik course ni kena ke ambik EPT jugak? saya malas la kak����

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waalaikumusalam. Yup EPT is a must untuk semua course

      Delete
  9. Assalamualaikum sister. Mind sharing your internship experience as a BENL student? :) I am currently in my final year and have been seeking internship opportunities amid Covid-19 era.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Assalam sis. Mind if I ask, if from foundation, pointer brp bole mintak utk tesl ye?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Waalaikumussalam. I think better to check UPU website for current requirement.

      Delete
  11. Salam, I'm an alumnus of IIUM (BENL) and am currently doing research for my master's coursework on the topic of literature students and the therapeutic effects of poetry.

    I would just like to inquire about the number of BENL undergrad students that are admitted on average per intake? E.g.: there are 20 students on average admitted to UM's English degree program, which I found published on NST online. Unfortunately, I can't find this data for IIUM, and I just require a projected/estimated number of BENL students for the purpose of my research proposal's sampling strategy. I hope admin here is still active and can respond to my query. Thank you so much, wassalam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wassalam. Sorry for the late late reply. During my time (2011), I think around 100-200? Can't remember exactly, so sorry! But in a class we had around max 30-40 for core courses.

      Delete

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