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What made you decide to pursue a Master’s
degree in CNM?
I have always been interested in information
and communication technologies (ICT) and their
impact on society as well as human life. There
are just so many interesting questions without
answers. During my college years in Zhejiang University,
China, I studied information systems in addition
to my major, which was English Language and Literature,
and then I tried to relate my knowledge on information
system to language teaching. While I was writing
my honour’s thesis, which centred on Computer
Assisted Language Learning (CALL), I started to
realize the huge potential of e-learning and decided
to pursue further study in this field.
Why did you choose to come to NUS for
postgraduate studies?
NUS is a well-established academic institution
in the Asian-Pacific region, and Singapore, a
multicultural city-state, is an ideal place for
me to gain more international exposure. In addition,
as Singapore is well-advanced in terms of ICT
development, it proves to be a suitable place
for me to do research on information and communication
field, especially e-learning.
What is life like as a foreign student
in Singapore? Have you had difficulties fitting
in?
As a foreign student, life here in Singapore is
anything but tedious. Of course there are many
challenges to face. From the first day I landed
in this island, I had a hard time understanding
“Singlish”, and other unfamiliar accents
of English. But as I gradually adapted to these
accents, I came to appreciate the variety of English
here and the underlying cultural richness. It
is fun and inspiring to interact with people with
different mindsets, from various cultural backgrounds
and actually this is part of the reason I came
here.
What do you enjoy about your postgraduate
studies?
I decide my own topic, my research methodology
and do my study independently. I am entitled to
total freedom in doing my thesis. It doesn’t
mean that I didn’t get any help from the
faculty; on the contrary, I believe that they
are being very helpful and accessible whenever
I need advice. The faculty in CNM programme, especially
my supervisor as I know him better, always try
to support me doing what I am really interested
in, and give me guidance whenever I need help.
Would you recommend postgraduate studies
to existing CNM students?
To pursue further study is not a haphazard choice.
I recommend people to think it through before
they make a decision like this. But as long as
you have strong interest and really want to do
some research in this field, then just do it and
you won’t regret.
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What made you decide to pursue a Master’s
degree in CNM? 