BIPA Tutors
Fitri Alfarisy, S.Pd., staff person of the Office of International Affairs and Partnerships YSU addressed a question “What BIPA (Indonesian for Non-native Speakers) tutors and student volunteers really are?”. The question was part of 2nd day of “Capacity Building and Effective Communication Training For Ysu Tutors and Student Volunteers” organized in Wildlife Rescue Center Yogyakarta on 4 December 2015. As the former tutor, now he is the person in charge of BIPA in YSU.
In general, Indonesian language has been a subject taught in universities in Thailand and Australia. Nonetheless, not all people able to speak Bahasa Indonesia could teach the language well. “Some years a go, the information for recruitment of BIPA tutors was not as open as today. That time, students were recruited based on recommendation, not going through formal recruitment like this. Today, all YSU students have equal opportunity to apply and discover their potential by becoming part of BIPA,” suggests Lusi Nurhayati, M.App.Ling. in delivering materials on main duties of BIPA tutors and creativity in handling the class.
Lusi Nurhayati, M.App.Ling. ascertained the essence of BIPA tutors is to be good instructors both inside and outside campus. There are two main duties of BIPA tutors. Firts, technically tutors are expected to observe and do checking of classroom and teaching materials, to remind students of the class, and find substitute tutors when they are absent. Second, academically, tutors must understand the whole lesson plan in one semester, be familiar with teaching materials/media/scenario and have proper knowledge regarding their role in the class.
After this session, the BIPA tutors are given a chance to do teaching simulation in class with the creative teaching method as determined.
Student Volunteers
Nur Insani, M.Sc. told the main responsibilities of SV are: to accompany and help domestic and foreign partners who visit YSU; to help prepare agenda held by OIAP YSU, both routine and incidental events, and; to assist in outside campus events (tour/travel).
For the sake of easy coordination, Indriani Eka Pratiwi from Cooking Education was elected SV coordinator, accompanied by Fajar Aviantor as Vice Coordinator. With the new organization structure, SVs are expected to contribute in varying OIAP programs in much more effective ways. Nur Insani, M.Sc also put forward the importance of coordination with BIPA tutors to avoid overlaps in running their duties.
At the end of the session, participants were allowed to do some simulations, regarding picking up visitors, accompanying visitors, and other scenarios that might happen in the field.
Outbond Session with BIPA Tutors and Student Volunteer
When the presentation of general materials ended, on Saturday (5/12/2015), BIPA tutors and SV were facilitated to get along together. The agenda that day started with morning gymnastics and then proceeded to outbound. After the outbound, the agenda continued with material delivery “Developing Individual Character by Ewang Sewoko, S.Psi,M.A. “You need to set priority in every activity. Thus, you could finish your assignment at your best,” he added when answering a question regarding difficulty in dividing time for attending class and tutoring. (Laksa)
