Everyone has different reasons for embarking on an MA program. And even among those who study for better employment opportunities or for a better CV are also facing different contexts. I live and work in Korea as a university teacher. Here, my CV was enhanced by pursuing an MA at the University of Birmingham, UK. But I don't know about your context or your employment prospects, or where you want to apply for jobs or what kinds of jobs you want to apply for.

As regards to fees, that information should be available online or via the enquiries you make in the application process. It was some time ago that I attended, so the fees I paid then might be out of date.

I read about the course requirements for each. The Applied Linguistics had less compelling course offerings, considering my interests, professional background, and goals.

Since it has been a few years since I finished my degree, I think the answers I would give here might be out-dated. These are questions I think you should pose to a person who is presently enrolled or who is presently teaching at Birmingham. Sorry.

My understanding is that there are three quarters each year. Each quarter, you will do two modules. So six modules will be completed in two years time. After that course work, you will have 6 months to complete your thesis/ dissertation. If you can complete your paper in 5 hours after enrolling in this or that module, then practically speaking, your work for that module is done. Though that is generally not how a student would proceed. Instead, he/ she will do the required reading over a couple months time, and then spend the remainder of the time crafting his/ her paper. You can take longer than 6 months to do your dissertation if you like, but you carefully plan it out with your advisor, tailoring the content and timing with them according to your needs. I found my writing tutors and my advisor at Birmingham to be VERY sensitive to my abilities, my needs, so it all went smoothly.

Everyone has different interests, so without knowing you, I can't really comment on this. Perhaps you could make a more specific question for me?

1. I received my reply pretty quickly. If you ask in an email, they should be able to give you a rough timeline.

2. If you can get access to the general course materials, start on those that pique your interest.

Just make sure you have enough time each week and each month to do the reading and the writing tasks. Everyone is different, so I can't guide you here except to say that your previous studies should generally give you an idea of what you are capable of and what you are not.

Your class work is mostly online in the form of essays you must write and turn in online. There are opportunities to take classes / attend meetings on campus if you wish, but the ONLINE option is online. Finally, to address your specific question about the dissertation. You conduct research where you live, confer with your advisor via email or chat, and you will write your essay at home after having completed the required coursework. You will make your dissertation finally into a PDF and send that via email when you are finished.

I have been an English teacher since 2002. In that time, I have built up a considerable amount of confidence and competence in my everyday practice. After completing my CELTA in 2011, I decided that while I knew enough to be considered competent and effective, I saw the possibility to improve my general practical pedagogical knowledge via a formalized course of study. Therefore, my main motivation for embarking on the journey of an MA in TEFL/ TESL was to enhance my confidence and my competence in teaching.

I have taught EFL in Korea since 2004 and have stayed in the same city since 2005. A few years after arriving in this city, I started meeting fellow teachers engaged in various online courses. After listening to their stories about their various programs of study, I was determined to find a program suitable for me. Quite a lot of the people I knew were enrolled in the University of Birmingham and when questioned about their experiences there, they had only good things to say about the programme. For this reason, I thought Birmingham was the only logical choice for me.

The highlight of the programme has been my interactions with and the connections I have made with my writing tutor and my advisor. Although I have always been a very competent writer, I have also felt the need and the desire for improvement. Therefore, one of the main skills I intended on improving via the MA program was my ability to frame more logical, more compelling, more academic arguments in a written format. My writing tutor and my advisor have been of inestimable value in helping me to improve my ability to think more systematically and to put those thoughts down in a way that can be more easily understood in an academic context.

The reading lists offered in the courses are top notch and can be mined for years to come, as are the course materials themselves. However, the best thing about the course has been the connections I have made with the professors, fellow students, my writing tutor, my dissertation advisor, and administration. Any time I had a question or a difficulty of any sort, these people were always there to help me out. Not only have they been very professional, they have also been uncommonly friendly and pleasant.

I plan to continue my studies after the programme is finished, in one fashion or another, either in a formal setting or on my own. I have a few friends who have done or are presently in the midst of doctoral studies and this seems like something I might be interested in, so this is something I am mulling over. I am definitely interested in trying to publish some of my work in TESOL Quarterly or another journal friendly to qualitative research, being particularly interested in the topics of narrative inquiry, professional development, and literary studies.

Yes, it is. I was offered this but I live quite far away and was busy at the time, so I did not attend mine.

The diploma one receives in this program does not indicate online or offline. However, you should know that employers from the Middle East have historically, in the recent past, say the past 5-7 years or more as far as I know, been inclined to ask about the online or offline nature of candidates' degree programs, so one would not exactly be getting around this hiring snag were it to present itself in any serious manner.