Teaching International Students from Diverse Groups

1. Teaching International Students from Diverse Groups Rebecca Rowntree rebecca.rowntree@anglia.ac.uk

2. Importance of International Students 20% of our campus-based students are from outside the EU and we educate an equal number of students both on-site and off-site. Goal 10, Corporate Plan 2012 - 2014

3. What’s the problem? How can we help? • First, I’m really worried how to get well along with my tutors. Although my IELTS is 6.5 and I have already known more than 5000 words, I don’t know how to appropriately express myself and to be polite. I’m afraid I will do something wrong because of my ignorance. • I’ve no confident to communicate with each others, especially native speakers, because I am very hard to catch up their words. • My biggest concerns are ability to understand books written in English, and some lecture speak too fast so maybe I can’t understand fully.

4. What’s the problem? How can we help? • Time management because Western study style different to Asian study style. • To make sure about my academic writing whether will be efficient enough or not. • Worry about my dissertation that someone jokes me. • I’m a bit worried about the terminal examinations, I don’t know the form of our exams. And I think maybe writing essays would become the other difficult part for me. I really need a period of time to get used to writing this kind of texts.

5. What’s the problem? How can we help? • My biggest concern is conversation. Joining discussions is still difficult issue for me, including to understand other students talking quickly, to arrange my opinion and response correctly. I need more practice, if you could; I would like you to make time to consult. • The first one I really worried about is making new friends here. Most of the time we cannot use English as well as our mother language so it is a little bit difficult to communicate with other student, like having a group talk.

6. What’s the problem? How can we help? • My major is media studies which is a discipline made up of multi-information processing, editing and mass-media research. I felt that the most difficult part is to get to know the real media application in our daily life. It is not easy to do academic research out of university. I’m really worried about how to start my own academic research in the field of media studies.

7. “ One reason why international students are frequently characterised as passive and silent in lectures is that they are using every ounce of their energies in trying to keep up with what is happening.” Jude Carroll: Teaching International Students – Improving Learning for all 2005

8. Making lectures accessible • Students record lectures • Power point available on VLE prior to lecture • Define any specialist vocabulary or jargon • Explain relevant background to help comprehension of key aspects • Summarise the important information at certain stages during the lecture • Conclude my summarising main points and highlighting ‘take home’ messages

9. Opportunities for group work in seminars • Spend time creating a safe learning environment • Classroom contract • Make expectations about preparation for and participation in seminars clear • Give international students enough time to formulate their answers • Ensure that students of the same nationality are not sitting together • Briefly summarise the discussion from time to time

10. Explaining assessment expectations • Raise awareness of independent learning • Detailed explanation of the purpose and structure of the assessment • If appropriate make examples available • Highlight assessment criteria on the VLE

11. 1-1 contact • Office hours • E.mail contact • Correct form of address – first name • Referral to appropriate department

12. Encouraging good academic practice • Clear explanation and examples of the importance of referencing • Tasks that require analysis and evaluation of texts so that focus is on critiquing rather than comprehension • “Rather than focus on what the students should not do in terms of plagiarism, I try to focus on what they should be doing.” Academic tutor in Teaching International Students: Strategies to enhance learning. Sophie Arkoudis. • Referral to study skills

13. Where to find support • Study skills – Upskilling • - Drop-in sessions • - Library workshops • International Office • Counselling service • Student support

14. To consider • Stereotyping – deficit view • Diverse educational expectations – same as home students • Stakeholders

15. “We have students from 116 different countries. These students contribute to the richness of the learning community, bringing with them their own languages and cultures. To work in such an environment is stimulating for staff and students alike, and it helps us to develop in many ways by challenging our preconceived beliefs about the world.” • Terry Lamb, lecturer in Education at Sheffield University. From: Alone in the Crowd. Lewis& Reinders. 2005

16. References • Teaching International Students: Strategies to enhance learning. Sophie Arkoudis. CSHE. The University of Melbourne. • http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/resources_teach/teaching_in_practice/docs/international.pdf • Raising awareness of the barriers facing international students in the UK and the need for two-way adaptation. Paul Murphy. Glasgow International College • http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/internationalisation/Issue5_Murphy • All Alone in the Crowd. Marilyn Lewis and Hayo Reinders. The Times Higher Education Supplement05 July 2005