MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Application Form

1. Personal Details

Name: Manuel Jesús Carrillo Ek

E-mail: manuelcarrill173@hotmail.com

Telephone Number: 9878722493

Mobile Phone Number: 0449878763388

Address: 50 Avenida Calle 14 norte

Country: México

Date of Birth: 2 de mayo de 1982

Nationality: mexicana

Country of Birth: México

2. Academic and Professional Qualifications

University Degree 1: Universidad de Quintana Roo.

Name of Degree: English Language Teaching

Attendance Dates: Agosto 2003-Julio 2008

Full time or Part Time: Part-time

University Degree 2:

Name of Degree:

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Attendance Dates:

Full time or Part Time:

University Degree 3:

Name of Degree:

Attendance Dates:

Full time or Part Time:

3. Language Qualifications

Name of Examination: CAE

Results: C

Purpose for taking Certify my level of English to work as a teacher

exam:

Date of examination: Junio 2012

4. References

Name: Martin de Jesús Islas Castro

Address: 50 Avenida, Calle 31. San Miguel I

Email: mjesus124@hotmail.com

Name: Dra. María Elena LLaven Nucamendi

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Address: 20 Av. Calle 27 sur.

Email: me.llanu832@gmail.com

5. Employment

Nature of work/post Teacher

held:

Name: Universidad de Quintana Roo.

Address: 110 Avenida. Col.San Gervasio.

Since: 2013

To: 2014

Nature of work/post Teacher

held:

Name: Centro de Estudios Tecnólogicos del Mar.

Address: Avenida Zamna, Calle Roberto Borge Martin. Col.

Magisterio.

Since: 2013

To: 2015

Nature of work/post
held:

Name:

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 Address:

Since:

To:

Nature of work/post
held:

Name:

Address:

Since:

To:

6. Individual Study Context

Have you had any experience with distance education programmes? (If so, give datails)

Yes, I took media superior specialization online.

Do you have experience working with Internet learning resources? (If so, give details)

Yes, I use prezi and educaplay.

Do you have access to ELT library or ELT books? (If so, give details)

Not really.

Do you have access to a computer for personal academic use? (If so, give details)

Yes, I have a personal laptop in my office.

Would you have any problem attending the on-campus sessions? (If so, give details)

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Yes, I need to be here in the school I work for.

If you have discussed your application with a member of Departamento de Lenguas

Modernas, Universidad de Guadalajara, please give details:

No.

Please state how you purpose to finance the course:

I have saved some money for this purpose, my wife supports me, and I have a fixed job. In
case I need it, a bank can give me a loan.

7. Supporting Statement
What is your purpose, in terms of professional, academic and personal aims, in studying
on this MA programme (1500 words, application will be incomplete if you do not write
the required extension)

Learning English has always been a skill since I was a high school student. Its words, sounds and
grammar always got my attention. I think my need to speak it rightly was the reason I got in the
university to study a bachelor degree in English Language Teaching. This was an amazing
experience. I loved understanding the history of the English language, the life and culture of the
English speaking countries, writing in English…and speaking it. Every time I learnt something
new regarding English, I felt as if I had crossed a boundary between what people take for granted
and what only experts know which is beyond common knowledge.

At university, my focus was always on words. They looked so attractive but I cannot explain such
attraction. The more words I knew the more confident I felt about my own learning. Nevertheless,
words are the component of language that is prone to be forgotten when learning a language
undoubtedly. This led me to be creative to store and retrieve vocabulary in the moment I needed
it. My strategies really helped to have a good command of English. Later, when I was about to
finish the scope of subjects, this was my inspiration to do research on vocabulary learning
strategies. What I enjoyed the most, more than the making of my thesis was having read authors
like Nation and Schmitt which made reflect on learning and teaching at the same time. Every page
of their book was a discovery for me. While I was reading I said to myself: “I can´t agree more
with them” or “I knew this was possible but I didn´t know the concepts”. It was such an adventure.

Being a student is easier than being a teacher. As a teacher you are constantly confronted by
learners, your mind is always finding ways to better make people understand what you want to
teach. Sometimes, people have their own expectations about the course, the teacher, they have
different ways of learning, and as a teacher I have to deal with that. We are like heroes for some

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of them, but we are also villains for others. At least, I take professional pride in my academic
knowledge.

When I was a university student, I envisioned going to many countries all over the world, meeting
new people, and maybe studying in a foreign country. This has not been the case since I began
having responsibilities as a teacher. Sometimes I become so stressed that I just want to “throw in
the towel”. In fact, I have noticed my level of English is decreasing because the institution I work
for keeps allocating me in beginner classes which results in the loss of words from my memory
as I have to focus on the right strategies, materials and evaluation of basic language skills. As I
said before, I enjoyed being a student because is easier and challenging so enrolling on a master
programme could be the renewal I am looking for my life and which also be beneficial for my
professional practice. I do love my job, it is just I sometimes forget enjoying it. This is what
teachers need, no matter what their subject is, the institution, or the level: In México, teachers
need deepening their education… we sometimes need self-improvement. Learning is by itself a
motivating drive to carry on.

A few years ago, I was demoted and confined to a nature reserve in which my prime duty is to
seat and watch crocodiles and birds in a swampy lagoon. I did that for three years. At first I did
not do anything, I took books and read all day. I finished my degree but nothing else changed.
Time passed inexorably. I was getting older. I had no another goal in my life and reading was not
enough if there was not a purpose. I guess the same is happening now. In short, people need
setting new goals to feel alive and learning something new is a powerful drive.

Professionally speaking, I would like to understand more about the nature of my practice which
sometimes seems confusing to me because it gives me different results compared with what I
had expected. I have tried to follow the manual and advice from books, journals, and I also
adopted techniques that do not seem to apply to certain people´s background. In the light of this,
I have done what is needed to make learning easier taking into account the common difficulties
that learners have or may find in his learning. I have not seen any similar way of teaching like
mine, but I just guess I was chosen to teach into the "mass education" segment. I recently started
teaching adults and they seem eager to learn which facilitates the process. This has been
rewarding because I have done activities that I thought they were out of context or not applicable
to Spanish speakers. Understanding these differences have made me think I have to learn more
about my own profession. I think being a teacher is an exhausting job if you are not well-qualified.
Being a professional means wanting to know more, wanting to learn and above all, wanting
improvement.

Last year, I succeeded in obtaining a federal post as teacher in a technological high school. This
has represented a challenge to me since I was asked to teach technical English. This was the
first time I thought of English as a money-making tool. Now, I am implementing English for Specific
Purposes courses in this high school because I live in a place where English is essential to make
a living. If young people understood that speaking the English for their module is important, They
would have lots of job offers. In Cetmar, we have four professional modules: fishing & sport
diving, naval mechanics, port operation and air conditioning.

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 I wrote a manual for each module divided into two sections: general and technical English. Most
students really value the vocabulary about their module but I think something better can be
produced if I had more experience as well as the right materials. However, I see in my students´
face some kind of interest which I don´t see when teaching general English where lessons and
exercises are rather artificial and they are less participative.

In fact, I have had some difficulties carrying out the curriculum designed for media superior which
is derived from the last Reforma Educativa at this level since it seems to be poles apart with the
second language theories. For example, in a private institution a student is expected to have a
good command of the usual abilities such as listening, speaking, writing and reading, and be
tested in accordance with these. Yet, in Cetmar, a student is tested based on the physical
evidence he produces whatever it is. Also, other kinds of evaluation are used like checklists and
rubrics for speaking or writing projects to measure the degree of the many competences learnt in
classroom.

It is the kind of evaluation that I disagree with. Objectives are clear for this level: to provide quality
education but student´s background also play a role no matter how good a teacher is. In a group
of 40 students, it would be just great to have them speaking English at the fifth semester but the
programs are far too short time is limited for the right acquisition of language. Sometimes,
students are too lazy although teachers set homework and evaluation in an easy way and they
should at least fail, but we are not allowed to do it.

Although the aforementioned Reforma has its foundations on up-to-date pedagogy like
constructivism, use of technology and cooperative techniques, the truth is it is far from reaching
the standard of what learning a second language is. I think there should be an overlap between
the two. Recently, I was chosen as the president of communication, which is one of the academies
involving Spanish, ICT, and English, of course. This means I need to work for the advancement,
improvement and the right application of the principles of the Reforma. This is why I also need to
learn more from a master´s because I acknowledge my profile as a teacher is limited to what I
learnt at university.

In addition, obtaining a master degree would allow me to reach a higher rank among the
categories established in media superior which also would make me earn more money because
teachers are classified according to their qualifications. For example for a bachelor degree the
highest level is associate “A” whereas with a master you can be associate “B” or “C”. Although
money is not my drive to study I think a better qualification can result in monetary benefits that
are justified for the effort made.

Finally, I would like to say that I want to be respected by what I know, by the things I have
successfully done, and I think this new adventure will be without a doubt one of them.

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Manuel Jesús Carrillo Ek

(Full Name and Sign)