IELTS Research Reports

Wayne Sawyer and Michael Singhinvolves the rehearsal of responses to potentially novel and complex situations in order to decrease stressand enhance coping within the particular context. Such (learning) activities could include both local andinternational students to try to facilitate links between the groups’ (Ramsay et al, 2007, p 261).Zhou et al (2008) report that a learning skills model has been advocated since the mid-1980s inresponse to the increasing presence of international students in British higher education. Training isseen as necessary for international students to acquire education-culture-specific skills that are requiredto engage in new learning. They point to practical guidelines for educational interventions to prepare,orientate and skill international students, for instance in areas relating to knowledge of the educationculture, communicative competence, pedagogical engagement with local students, and buildingknowledge networks. With the increasing recruitment of overseas students by British higher educationinstitutions, there has been a growing need to understand the process of students’ interculturaladaptation and the approaches that can be adopted by these institutions in order to facilitate andsupport these students’ learning experiences. Gill (2007) suggests that a common assumption inBritish educational institutions and among academics is that overseas students are ‘problematic’ and‘demanding’. Gill (2007) undertook a year long in-depth qualitative investigation of the experiencesof a small cohort of Chinese postgraduate students’ (N=10) in a British university. The investigationexplored a three-fold ‘stress-adaptation-growth’ intercultural learning process for these participants byfocusing on the discussions of their lived experience in the UK. It focused partly on their capabilitiesfor engaging in critical reflection and stimulating their access to both Chinese and Western intellectualresources. The outcomes of this transformative intercultural learning included the students’ readyaccommodation of ‘otherness’ and adoption of constructive, tolerant, flexible and critical attitudes.Significantly, Gill’s (2007) study indicates that British higher education institutions would do well toformalise academic credit-bearing studies in transformative intercultural learning to better ensure thatthese students acquire the skills and employ strategies to enable them to be successful in their studies.Weisz and Nicolettou (2004) reported on the experiences of seventy students from China whoarticulated into various Australian university Business degrees. It was found that their Englishlanguage proficiency as measured by the IELTS score was insufficient to meet their studyrequirements, despite having gained university entry. In order to build the students’ English languageskills, and to support their entry into mainstream classes by their second semester, an intensiveteaching program in English language followed by discipline studies helped these students meetthe academic challenges of their study programs. The students studying intensively achieved higheraverage marks in five out of seven subjects compared with the general student cohort who hadcompleted the same subjects over thirteen weeks. It was also found that English language proficiencywas only weakly correlated to academic success in two subjects. Indications were that small class sizesand specially designed support programs assisted students to overcome English language limitations.Skyrme (2007) analysed the experiences of two international students from China beginning studiesin a New Zealand university. The focus was on their negotiation of a single course and its assessmentrequirements. Neither student passed the course. However, one student did develop his Englishlanguage reading skills, deepen his understanding of the course and improve his competence. Theother student’s previous successful learning practices proved to be ineffective, and the advice hereceived unhelpful. Large first-year classes provided no small group interactions with teachingstaff, which seems to have hindered the recognition and adoption of suitable learning strategies.Skyrme (2007) recommended: better preparation for the practices demanded within the university;entry requirements addressing more than just English language proficiency, and universities makingprovision in academic workloads for greater teacher guidance within first-year courses.80 www.ielts.org