By Kate Dexter.

This is the second part of Kate’s focus on the international student experience. Access Part 1.

Our international students have arrived. But their journey is just beginning.

We truly hope they will do well in their assignments. We have, after all, valuable classroom time with them, and lots of important information to communicate.

But why is it that, despite our best efforts, it sometimes feels like our international learners aren’t listening? Why do they look lost, or dive into their phones for a much-needed translation? And why are they perhaps not doing what we’ve clearly asked them to do?

According to Kilbon (2021), who conducted research in 2015 /16 on non-native speakers’ self-reported lecture listening experiences:

• Comprehension is increased by a reasonable amount of pre-lecture reading (this also allows students to make more effective notes) but hindered if this is too much.
• It can be difficult to identify separate words in a string of continuous speech.
• Unknown words might prompt students to go to their phones for help or even to conduct more detailed research (during the lecture) to try to comprehend the lecture topic.
• Being directed to the most important vocabulary to understand the topic could be useful.
• Being able to access the lecture slides in advance is beneficial but only if the slides are made available in sufficient time before the lecture for them to be read and understood amongst an already heavy reading load.
• Likewise, if lecture slides have excessive wording, students may find themselves struggling – should they read (which will take some time) or should they listen instead (and miss the information on display)? Pictures and shorter wording (and using a cursor or pointer to show students, visually, what is being said / orientate them during the lecture) can be helpful.

What else can we, as HE teaching staff, do?

A lecture environment may be new and unknown to both international and home students, so be clear about the etiquette and expectations you have for your sessions.

Students may not always be aware of what they should do with those lecture slides before the lecture (print them out, annotate them, add translations), during (write their lecture notes next to the relevant slide) and afterwards (review, re-write and organise those notes), so a little training on this would be very welcome.

Students may also need guidance on how to approach a reading text (how to skim and scan) in order to glean the information they need / main ideas, without overwhelming themselves or giving up.

We’re aware that listening in a second language, for a long time, can be extremely hard work – regular ‘signposting’ can help students who have lost focus to re-orientate themselves and know how information relates or when important points are coming up (for example, ‘Moving on to the next important point…’ / ‘What this means is…’ / ‘However’ / ‘Secondly…’ / ‘In summary…’).

Never in a month of Sundays…. or what we should absolutely avoid!

Finally, there are those language traps that can create panic and fear, such as…

• ‘There’s a Q & A to follow Sem. 1 Wk 1 lecture.’
• ‘To get your head around this week’s text, look up the key terms and drill down on the points they are trying to put across.’
• ‘What the man in the street might not get is how important this sentence is. It can get difficult to explain. Get it?’
• ‘Think outside the box when you tackle stuff like this.’
• ‘Like that’s ever going to happen… I mean, that’s just perfect, isn’t it!’
• ‘People often complain about the loss of Victorian values…’
• ‘What you need to do before next week is, well, first if you look at the third reading from the bottom on the list, I mean, so, they’re all good but….’

In other words, think carefully about the idiom and abbreviations we use in the classroom. Are these accessible to all members of the classroom? How can you make your messages easier to understand for all?

There is support available for you, too.

This blog has been adapted from part of my recent conference presentation at Talk about Teaching (York St John University, June 2023). As a member of the International Programmes team (YSJ Global), I’m delighted to be part of both our ISLD (Insessional Support & Language Development) and RAIS (Raising Awareness of International Students) services. The former will be glad to support your international students with their language and study skills; the latter is here for you, as educators and colleagues, working with our highly valued international learner community.

In the meantime, please feel free to make use of our support:

Insessional Support & Language Development (ISLD) webpage.

ISLD Moodle site (Click ‘Enrol now’ to view the complete resources and content).

RAIS (Raising Awareness of International Students) Moodle site.

For ISLD or RAIS queries, contact: language-support@yorksj.ac.uk

References

Barber, J., Cassamally, M. and Dexter, K. 2023. Teaching International Students – a practical awareness session / RAIS (Raising Awareness of International Students) [Mentimeter Presentation]. Talk about Teaching Conference, 22 June, York.

Kilbon, J. (2021) L2 Students’ opinions about issues which affect their understanding of academic lectures [PowerPoint presentation], University of Leicester (Accessed: 29 January 2021).

Macmillan Publishers Limited (2020). The Study Space. Available at: https://www.thestudyspace.com/page/international-students-lectures/  (Accessed 21 November 2020).

Monash University Study Resources. Available at: http://www.education.monash.edu.au/students/current/study-resources (Accessed 17 September 2021). 

Reid, M., Taylor, A., Turner, J. & Shahabudin, K. Getting the most from lectures (Reading University Study Advice team & LearnHigher CETL). Available at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/sta/A5_Lectures_and_seminars_1_Lectures.pdf (Accessed 24 September 2021). 

Smith, S. C. H.(2013-present) Lecture Cues. Available at: https://www.eapfoundation.com/listening/lectures/cues/ (Accessed: 21 November 2020).

York St John University Language Support website. Available at: www.yorksj.ac.uk/englishhelp (Accessed 24 September 2021).