Arifuddin Balla, originally from Sinjai, South Sulawesi, is studying for MA in Teaching English as A Second Language at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He hopes to conduct  research focusing on academic writing in teaching English since in Indonesia most of the students generally lacks in writing well.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education Department from UIN Alauddin Makassar. He had taught English for fresh students since he was in the fifth semester  in Foreign Language Intensive Program of UIN Alauddin. He also loves to read and write. He has published a book and more than 90 articles on mass media.