Professional goal statement

Professional Goal ment Ahmed Alzahrani Indiana of Pennsylvania Professional ment I have been immensely blessed to have been accorded the opportunity to delve in even higher educational pursuits through applying to the Doctor of Philosophy in Composition and TESOL Program at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). The experience I had during my Master of Arts in TESOL at IUP, where I graduated in May of 2013, had been exhilarating. Aside from the courses which affirmed by commitment and fervent desire to practice teaching with English as a Second Language as my specialized field, the professors and mentors met in the Master’s Program were all instrumental and contributory to my professional growth. One of the professors who made a remarkable and lasting impression in my academic career is Dr. Lilia Savova. I enrolled in four of the course modules taught by Dr. Savova: American English Grammar, Materials and Media (which I considered my personal favorite), Cross-Cultural Communication, and Second Language Teaching. Learning from these modules confirmed my goal to take a more focused orientation on the subject of technology in the classroom; as well as materials and media or a blend of both.
After graduation in May 2013, I went back to my home country in Saudi Arabia, specifically teaching in the Grades 4 to 6 level in a public school. The teaching experience was also a learning experience for me as I used to instruct in the middle school level for three consecutive years before pursuing the Master’s Degree Program in the UIP. With contemporary children being more immersed in technological applications, I realized that focusing my research in instructional design would develop and advance skills in motivating students to learn through these multi-dimensional and multi-modal approaches. I have encountered several authoritative discourses on the subject of using technology in contemporary classroom settings as contributory to enhancing motivations to learn ESOL. Thus, I would like to delve more on applying theoretical frameworks on the use of technological applications through media, particularly the online medium and the Internet, as a relevant factor in motivating students in classroom settings in Saudi Arabia; especially pertaining to the students in the grade levels I recently taught.
Concurrently, I strongly believe that UIP provides the effective learning environment and approach through an interplay of research, concepts and theories, as well as applications of learning. With the assistance of a wealth of literatures on the subject of TESOL, I was able to discern the area of interest and to explore future research in motivating contemporary students from diverse cultural orientations to learn ESOL through contemporary materials and media. I would like to determine motivational drives of students, particularly in Saudi Arabia, so that I could assist in designing the most appropriate and effective instructional materials needed to improve academic performance in the area of teaching and learning ESOL. Culture was recognized as a crucial driver of learning and various dimensions of culture could impact and influence the way students learn, perceive learning, or be motivated to learn English as relevant in contemporary settings.
I am confident that under the mentorship and tutelage of Dr. Savova, I would be guided towards the attainment of my professional goal to become an instrumental contributor to a more motivated learning of ESOL within my academic realm. I therefore remain optimistic that the UIP would provide me with the chance to pursue the Doctor of Philosophy in Composition and TESOL Program, as applied for.