Salatiga, 25 September 2026 — Dr. Setia Rini, M.Pd., lecturer of the Master’s Program in English Education (S2 TBI) at UIN Salatiga, was invited as a lecturer in a joint lecture between the Master’s Program in English Education (S2 PBI) of Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) and the Master’s Program in English Education (S2 TBI) of UIN Salatiga.
The academic session focused on “Qualitative Research in English Language Teaching (ELT)” and was attended by 45 students from S2 PBI UNNES and 12 students from S2 TBI UIN Salatiga. The joint lecture provided an academic forum for postgraduate students from both institutions to strengthen their understanding of qualitative research and its application in English Language Teaching.
In her presentation, Dr. Setia Rini, M.Pd. discussed several fundamental aspects of qualitative research. Her presentation covered the definition of qualitative research, reasons for conducting qualitative research, the role of theory in qualitative research, data collection, data analysis, and trustworthiness.
Dr. Setia emphasized that qualitative research enables researchers to explore educational phenomena in depth by understanding participants’ experiences, perspectives, interactions, and meanings within their natural contexts. In the context of ELT, qualitative approaches can provide valuable insights into classroom practices, teachers’ experiences, students’ perspectives, language learning processes, and sociocultural dimensions of English language education.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of theory in qualitative research. Rather than merely serving as a framework for testing hypotheses, theory can help researchers understand, interpret, and make sense of phenomena emerging from qualitative data. Students were also introduced to important stages of qualitative inquiry, from collecting rich and contextualized data to systematically analyzing and interpreting findings.
Another important topic was trustworthiness, including strategies that researchers can employ to enhance the credibility and dependability of qualitative research findings. This discussion encouraged students to view methodological rigor as an essential component of high-quality qualitative research.
The joint lecture was also enriched by a presentation from Prof. Dr. Sri Wuli Fitriyati, Ph.D., who presented an example of qualitative research that had been published in a Sinta 2-indexed journal. Through this practical example, students were able to connect methodological concepts with an actual published ELT research study.
The collaboration between S2 PBI UNNES and S2 TBI UIN Salatiga reflects the commitment of both institutions to strengthening postgraduate academic collaboration and research capacity. The joint lecture also provided opportunities for students from both programs to exchange perspectives and develop their readiness to conduct meaningful and rigorous research in English Language Teaching.
The activity is expected to encourage postgraduate students to become more confident in identifying ELT phenomena as potential research topics and to develop qualitative research designs that are relevant to contemporary challenges in English language education.