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International students- Academic and Cultural Integration

26 September 2024

I was wondering how the university currently considers international students in our equality and diversity efforts. This is prompted by discussions with some international students about how much they struggled with classes where e.g. the lecturer uses very complex language that home students understand but international students do not, and the emotional impact of feeling sidelined in classes.
It's perhaps inevitable there would be some challenges in this area, and some would argue that it is the responsibility of students to ensure they have the language abilities to study in the UK. However, these are students who have met the language standards required by the university but find that this isn't sufficient for the level of language used by some lecturers. This isn't about 'dumbing down' content - but rather thinking about the type of language used (e.g. long complex sentences, lots of idioms, cultural references that are known only to home students).

 

International students often seem aware of the need to do something ‘critical’ in their writing but ask questions about what exactly this means in practice. Looking up the word ‘critical’ in a dictionary may add to the uncertainty. In their essay questions, lecturers can use different words and phrases to ask for a critical approach. A few of these that come to mind are:
o Evaluate
o Critically evaluate
o Assess
o Build an argument
o Show your stance/position/perspective/motivation
And sometimes, just the word ‘discuss’ might be used (maybe with the ‘critical’ input assumed)
Examples of what counts as ‘critical’ in a specific context/question are difficult (and risky) for a writing support tutor to give.

International students often talk about the difficulty of participating in discussions with home students. Sometimes they struggle to understand – particularly more colloquial English – but also to be understood. One student recently told me that that she feels home students avoid talking to her as she thinks she makes them feel uncomfortable if they struggle with her accent. I feel there is a quite urgent need for academic staff to engage home students as well as international students in developing an inclusive classroom - and indeed an inclusive programme and School environment. This needs to happen from day 1. Or even before. To what extent do our home students understand what it means to study at an international university - if indeed we are one? 
Many international students also comment that by the time they have formulated something to contribute to the discussion, the home students have moved on to another aspect of the topic. This to me suggests a greater need for the scaffolding of discussion activities – for example, the need to build in thinking and preparation time but also more private (e.g. pair) rehearsal before larger group discussion. 

International students often have difficulty understanding what the marking criteria mean in a real sense. For example, the criteria may include quite generic ideas like 'written work has to be well-referenced, well-structured and show evidence of evaluation' but those skills are difficult to demonstrate if they aren't properly explained. Similarly, feedback on formative work has to be explained in quite a lot of detail so it's clear what needs to be changed. 

In many countries, students are used to a system where it's possible (and typical) to get very high percentages on coursework and in exams (e.g. 90-100%). They are often shocked when they get a grade here around 60% and are told that it's 'good'. They often panic that they're failing and worry about telling their parents. Explaining the grading system here and that 60-70%+ constitutes a good/very good grade is advisable.

 

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