My Biography
Widya Rizky Pratiwi is a staff of Universitas Terbuka (Open University), located in Pondok Cabe, Pamulang, South Tangerang, Indonesia. She is currently a lecturer in the Master’s Study Program in English Education. Previously, she taught English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at Sekolah Tinggi Manajemen dan Ilmu Komputer (STMIK) in the information systems study program, ESP at Politeknik Negeri Media Kreatif (Polimedia), and English for a Master of English education at Bosowa University (Unibos).
Widya was born in Bulukumba, August 20, 1988. Her mother (Lilik Sri Astuti, SP) is from Lumajang, East Java and her father (Ribut Agustianto, SP) comes from Pemalang, Central Java. Both are civil servants in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. Therefore, Widya completed her primary to high school education in the same district from 1994 – 2006.
Then, she continued her bachelor’s degree at the State University of Makassar (UNM) in the English Language Education study program (2006-2010), a master’s degree at the Indonesian Muslim University majoring in management focused on education (2013-2015), and her doctoral degree at the State University of Makassar (UNM) concerned with English Education (2016-2021). Alhamdulillah, Widya is one of the lucky ones because, with minimal financial ability, she got the opportunity to continue her education up to the S3 level with funding from the government (which will be discussed in detail).
Apart from teaching, she is also involved in various organizational activities from elementary school until now. For example, she participated in scouting, the Indonesian Red Cross, English club meetings, and internal and external campus/school organizations, as well as a professional member of lecturers and researchers. Bulukumba English Meeting Club, Rumah produktif Indonesia, Asosiasi Dosen Pkm Indonesia (ADPI), Forum Dosen Indonesia (FDI), Asosiasi Dosen Indonesia (ADI), The Association of Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia (TEFLIN), Sahabat Pulau, Internal Campus Organizations (BEMJ, DKMJ, ACCESS, ECC), Phinisi Bulukumba, etc. (the edition will be discussed more).
Since childhood, she has loved to write, but she has not found the proper forum and community to link this hobby. So, her essay was only written in a diary book that could be read by herself. However, in recent years, this lady has met new communities with experienced people in their respective fields, so she has the opportunity to improve her writing skills, such as scientific articles, opinions, or books. Some publications can be checked on her SINTA webpage (https://sinta.kemdikbud.go.id/). Through her writing experience, especially in writing books, she is trusted to teach additional courses in addition to the primary subject of English for specific purposes in Polimedia. The different subjects are all related to writing in the publishing study program (the edition will be discussed more).
Dear Bu Widya,
I love English. I have been learning English for many years. I remember when I was in junior high school in Parepare, I purposely woke up very early in the morning for listening to Radio Australia broadcasting learning English program. At that time, the books for the program were distributed freely, we could get them via sending postcard.
I teach English sometimes but unfortunately I do not have an official certificate for teaching. Do you have any suggestions for me to have such certificate ? Or how to become a certified teacher of English for someone like me who does not have English educational background.
Halo Pak Alex, thanks for responding kindly and sharing your experience on my website. One way you can do is by joining pre-service or in-service teacher training, such as IALF (Indonesia’s premier institution for English and Indonesian language training) in Bali. In 2007 the cost was 3,5 million for six months. But I don’t have any information about the fee currently. You can also try to find training at UIN Sunan Ampel surabaya. However, participating in training at IALF would be more recommended because it is based on a Cambridge certificate