Support For International Students In Higher Education in the UK

David Southall, Brian S. Rushton, Anne Hagan, Claire Kane and Sinead Mccormick

University Of Ulster

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SUMMARY

International students are now an important feature of the Higher Education institutions in the UK and their specific needs should be given attention. This does, of course, pose significant problems for front-line academics, course directors and administrators as they have to come to grips with cultural and academic differences between home and international students and the complexities of having classes with both groups.

The experiences recounted in this case study describe three activities (language provision, a bridging course and an orientation programme) involving international students at the University of Ulster. These activities attempt to support international students to ensure that they are well integrated into both college and academic life.

Keywords - International students, student retention, student transition.

INTRODUCTION

The media spotlight has recently been focussed on the future of science and, particularly, though not exclusively, on physics and chemistry in our UK universities (Anon, 2005). Some of the difficulties experienced by institutions are thought to result from a general decline in students’ interest for ‘hard science’. The U.K. application figures seem to support this view – from 1997 to 2003, chemistry applications fell from 3,900 to 2,700 whilst physics applications declined from 3,500 to 3,200 (Cookson, 2004).

Increasingly, universities are turning to the recruitment of overseas students to ‘fill the gap’. As Jaggi (2004) points out: “If science and research in UK universities has a problem, then overseas students are very much part of the solution – both financially and academically.” The total higher education course fees in 2002-2003 were £3.4 billion – 31.8% of this came from overseas (non-EU) students even though they represented only 8.5% of the student population (Jaggi, 2004). Whilst the number of EU (non-UK) science students has remained more or less unchanged at about 40,000 between 1999/2000 and 2002/2003 the number of science students from outside the EU has increased from about 45,000 to over 70,000. Indeed, in some universities, international students now make up a significant part of the undergraduate population, for example, within the Russell Group of universities about 33% of the undergraduate population is international (Jaggi, 2004). Inevitably, with the increased pressure on science departments, the size of this cohort will continue to grow.

Therefore, with the increasing importance of the overseas student population, it is even more imperative that policy and practices are developed to meet their specific needs.

The experiences recounted in this case study describe three activities involving international students at the University of Ulster. These attempt to support international students to ensure that they are well integrated into both college and academic life.

RELEVANCE TO THE STAR GUIDELINES

At its outset the STAR project researched, produced and published a set of guidelines based on the causes of student attrition and which pointed the way towards possible good practice. The STAR guidelines (Cook et al., 2005) relevant to this case study are:

2.1       Induction activities should familiarise students with the local area, the campus and its support services.

2.2       Induction activities should highlight students’ academic obligations and the obligations of the staff to the students.

2.3       Induction activities should support the development of those independent study habits suitable for higher education.

2.5       Induction activities should promote the development of good communication between staff and students.

3.2       The course and its delivery should assist students’ transition from their previous educational experience to studying at tertiary level as well as addressing the different needs arising from the subject backgrounds of the student cohort.

4.2       Staff should recognise that expertise in ensuring appropriate support and guidance of students is as important as expertise in their subject.

Cook, et al. (2005)

THE PROBLEM

The University of Ulster has an administrative department, the International Office, which contains a teaching team (CELT – Centre for English Language Teaching) devoted to supporting the language development of International students. The International Office/CELT has recognised that international students accepted into all the university’s programmes of study face challenges in terms of adapting to new academic and social experiences. While some of these arise inevitably from language barriers many stem from cultural differences between the United Kingdom and students’ home countries. The cultural diversity encompasses students from English-speaking countries such as the US to those students from continental Europe (e.g. Germany, France, Italy, Greece, etc.) to those students from the East and Far East. At the University of Ulster there are sizeable groups from Taiwan, mainland China, Japan and Hong Kong and these, in themselves, form a very heterogeneous group.

Many cultural differences result from the values that underpin the teaching and learning styles in the country of origin. Different interpretations of these values may result in higher education institutions in the UK not fully appreciating the significance of this diversity and thus creating difficulties for efficient teaching and improved learning. For example, in some cultures it is inappropriate to question the authority and knowledge of the lecturer and so critical thinking, which is so valued in the UK, is not encouraged. Some cultures value silence in class and so active participation is inhibited; thus some students find it difficult to contribute in seminars and tutorials (and this is not unknown in home students) and hence teaching approaches need to be sensitive to both cultural and/or individual circumstances. Teaching methods at pre-university level may not encourage independent learning; again, this may be true of home students also. There also exists a problem of academic integrity as some cultures regard the virtual reproduction of existing published work as a compliment to the original author and an acceptable practice whilst this is heavily frowned upon in the UK.

While their determination and work ethic is mitigation for some of their difficulties, some international students can bring with them culturally based study strategies that permit neither independent learning nor confident speaking.

The problems faced by home-based students, i.e. a new academic environment, a lack of experience of independent learning, a new living environment, having to make new friends, etc. are exacerbated for international students. Many have to cope with the additional burdens of the perceived speed of spoken English, the variation in regional accents and the apparent directness of face-to-face communication. These problems together with differences in climate, living costs, health care and social activities all combine to prevent efficient and effective learning.

Details of the workshops, including learning outcomes, are included in the In-sessional English Language Booklet; an excerpt is attached in Appendix 2.

Both the pre-sessional ELAS programme and the in-sessional workshops are free to full time students. In addition, students can attend up to 3 individual, one-to-one sessions per semester with Teaching Fellows within the International Office/CELT where they can receive support with assignment/report writing or any other problematic area of English-related study. Attendance at the workshops qualifies students to access these individual academic consultations and this acts as an incentive to attend.

The Teaching Fellows are permanent appointments. They do not have a research role and their primary function is the delivery of the core English language teaching to University of Ulster students on three of the main campuses (Magee (Derry), Jordanstown (just north of Belfast) and Coleraine) – the ELAS pre-sessional programme, the in-sessional workshops and the academic consultations. All have some administrative/managerial responsibilities and one of them acts as an Academic Coordinator. Some also have responsibilities for English language programmes in collaborative institutions in China and one Teaching Fellow is employed on a one-year collaborative English language programme in China.

Faculty of Life and Health Sciences Summer Bridging Course

The University runs a summer bridging course for students entering the final year of some courses within the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, having completed a higher diploma at another institution. For international students the main aim of this course is to help them integrate into life in Northern Ireland and to help them begin to develop transferable skills such as research and report writing skills. A bridging course timetable is included in Appendix 3.

The international students take a Use of English test, administered by the International Office/CELT, at the beginning of the three-week course in order to gauge their ability to use the English language. If the student’s score is below 40, which is equivalent to an Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE; http://www.alte.org) Level 3, then the student is strongly advised to attend the in-sessional workshops described above. The students are then re-tested at the end of semester one to assess their progress in English. During the bridging course students attend workshops/seminars lectures on presentation skills by the International Office/CELT and are assessed on these skills towards the end of the summer programme.

A student’s previous educational experiences leaves ingrained cultural values and is therefore, an issue for all international students and not just those for whom English is a second language. Again, some of these students may have come from an educational background and a culture where communication is very much one-way from the lecturer or the person in authority and where class participation and critical reasoning are not encouraged. The bridging course explicitly addresses these cultural differences. The students are encouraged to participate; discussion sessions are built in, presentation skills are taught and the students are made aware that they are ultimately responsible for what they learn and how they learn it. Students attend lectures and practical demonstrations on how to use the library and IT resources to access information and then how to use this information appropriately in report writing sessions.

Staff Opinions of the ELAS and Summer Bridging Courses

Many of the lecturing staff value the pre-sessional and in-sessional English Language support given to international students. A member of staff commented:

“Right from the start the important aspect is their level of English. If their English is weak it is going to be a difficult year for them. So in terms of settling in it is an important aspect to support them from day one.”

“For some students when you ask them a question it is hard for them to communicate with lecturers and their colleagues.”

“Yes they do attend pre-sessional English classes but I think we can’t achieve a big improvement in the time frame we have.”

“In the time available we have to incorporate and develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. This is difficult; we do make a 0.5 IELT band progress but they also gain confidence and get nestled into society and life in NI. They get bank accounts opened, make friends, get to know their way around the university and people and places to go for help. They can then act as an unofficial buddy for other incoming students at a later date.”

“By-and-large they haven’t had to take that responsibility before and so clearly if they are in difficulties they have to ask.

We have to get across the message that we need interactivity and discussion and I think the English classes help get this across. We also build in discussion sessions throughout the bridging course; we need to try to get them to participate. There can be limitations in terms of the lecturer – some are better than others at encouraging discussion.”

“Some people are gifted in their delivery, their style of delivery and how to make it interesting and they get that response. It is just an extension of ‘how do you encourage participation?’”

 “A programme to help lecturers know the right approach to encourage the students to participate. That could help.”

“It is really just building on the principles of small group teaching where you can deliver the content in an interesting way. I suppose in our case we break the session down as they can only truly listen for 15 minutes and do something different if it is only one-way. It comes down to how you get them to make a comment if something isn’t clear.”

“Speakers to speak slowly, clearly and not to use colloquialisms, as even the most fluent speakers will not understand them. Also to check at intervals for understanding.”

“Last year we found that there was a difference between two cohorts [doing the bridging course]; there was a Biotechnology cohort and we looked through their results and would say they improved their English and the other cohort of Food Technology Management certainly hadn’t. I think one aspect of it was attitudinal but there were other factors, for example, in terms of the timetable where they argued they couldn’t get to the English classes.”

“In Food Technology there were two [students who obtained] 2.2s and six [who obtained] 2.1s. In Biotechnology there were actually three Firsts, but this probably reflects that the Biotechnology group were a stronger group coming in with a higher average mark in their Higher Diploma. But certainly in terms of the English, our external examiner for Food technology Management interviewed all the students and wanted to be confident that they could all communicate their knowledge in English and was unhappy with [the abilities of] two students. In general the external examiner was happy with the effort being made to ensure English was of a certain standard.”

“International students play a vital role as part of the cultural diversity and vibrancy at the University of Ulster. The Students’ Union is here to support international students during their stay and to ensure that their time at the University of Ulster is enjoyable and memorable”.

“As far as integrating we encourage them to take up sports, it is a great common ground and their English does improve with the interaction.”

“Social integration is key to them for success and settling quickly. If they can’t get their money from home or can’t get settled in accommodation it’s going to have a big knock on effect … even in terms of the campus, getting to know where things are, where the sources of help are, that the first port of call is the Course Director but sometimes it is more effective to go straight to the module co-ordinator or to the Faculty Office so sign-posting this is valuable.”

“We take the view that orientation does not stop at the end of that week, it continues throughout their time here. Initiation and familiarisation is very gradual for them.”

“We can help somewhat but their value and behaviour systems are different from the ones here and it is hard to change. We can encourage them to ask questions openly and express opinions but I don’t think we can change that a lot. In my experience cultural differences need more than one year.”

“This is my first time studying at the University of Ulster so a welcome event for international students provides a great introduction to the University and to the cultural attractions of Northern Ireland”.