IELTS Research Reports

A multiple case study of the relationship between the indicators of students’ English languagecompetence on entry and students’ academic progress at an international postgraduate universityAPPENDIX 4: SUPERVISORS’ RESPONSES TO QUESTION 6 OF THEQUESTIONNAIRE FOR SUPERVISORS OF MASTERS THESESSAS Supervisor: Students are informed that their thesis needs to be grammatically correct - andtherefore to discuss all issues re their thesis with their supervisor at an early stage. The onus is on thestudent to ensure that they use the services of the supervisor, and each student is different in this respect.SAS Supervisor: English language proficiency varies considerably among my students - as notedabove for some European students it has been a problem.SAS Supervisor: As I understand the role of supervisor we do not correct English. So unless they areminor mistakes then I suggest that they get a proof reader.SOE Supervisor: Technical writing skills require a level of English which is not being currently metby the majority of overseas students I supervise both from the EU and outside. This somehow needs tobe addressed before the students join the course.SAS Supervisor: Her English was generally good.SOM Supervisor: I would appreciate any “great solutions” but I guess we just have to live with thisonly downside of our truly international, multicultural groups of students.SOM Supervisor: I encourage my students to write the introductory chapter early on. I am verycritical of the English not just the content in this first chapter. From this I can advice the student if theyshould use a professional proof reader or not. I also inform them that I am not the proof reader.SAS Supervisor: Whilst every support was made available, this was at times ignored. Corrected andacceptable parts were sometimes changed for no apparent reason leading to either further necessarycorrections, or in the case of the final submission, some sub-standard parts.SAS Supervisor: It is primarily the written thesis document where greater time input is required toresolve the English problems. This may require more than one iteration particularly if new text has tobe added which in turn then needs correcting.SAS Supervisor: I think it crucial that non-native English speakers work hard to make their writtenwork as fluent as possible because, as a supervisor and examiner, it can often be difficult to discernthose who have a thorough understanding of the science, but who just can’t express it in fluentEnglish, and those who are not really understanding the science.SOM Supervisor: Because I spent a lot of time draft-reading the work, it meant that I spent relativelyless time on the evaluation of the actual content of the work.SOE Supervisor: The standard of English from China / Taiwan has improved in recent years althoughindividual students will have variable skills.IELTS Research Reports Volume 11183