Gillian Skyrme

Entering the university: the differentiated experience of two Chinese international students in a New Zealand university

This article draws on findings from a longitudinal study of Chinese international students beginning study in a New Zealand university, and focuses on the very different experience of two students in relation to a single course and its assessment requirements, as they sought ways to negotiate identities as university students in their new setting. While neither student passed the course, one of them was able to learn from his experience of challenge and failure, in particular by developing his reading skills over the period, leading him to a deeper understanding of the course and a growing sense of competency as a university student. The other prided himself on his well‐developed speaking skills and favoured oral interaction as his means of clarifying difficulties, but this served him less well in the ‘DIY’ (do‐it‐yourself) learning expected in the university. The brief encounters available to him for verbal enquiries provided no obvious explanation for the ineffectiveness of his previously successful learning practices, and no counter to unhelpful advice. The suggestion is made that large first‐year classes, with no smaller groupings providing timely interaction with teaching staff, can seriously impede the recognition and adoption of appropriate learning strategies. Two paths to an improvement of this situation are posited: better preparation for the practices demanded within the university, signalled by entry requirements for more than just English proficiency, or an acceptance of greater responsibility to provide teacher guidance within first‐year courses.

Getting the Big Picture: A Longitudinal Study of Adaptation and Identity in a New Zealand University

In the early years of this decade, certain sections of New Zealand universities were taken by surprise by the unprecedented demand for places from a new cohort of students of which they had very limited experience, and whose previous educational experience had been within a markedly different academic culture: Chinese international students. The presence of international students was not a novelty. New Zealand had a history of providing university education for international students as part of its close relationship with Pacific Island nations, and through participation in the Colombo Plan, a British Commonwealth initiative to promote influence on developing Asian countries (which for historical reasons did not include the People’s Republic of China). By the end of the last century, however, self-interested altruism had been replaced by a business model of recruiting full-fee-paying students, and the primary sources of such students were changing. National statistics provide something of the story: in 1998, 89 university students came from China to New Zealand; by 2002, that number had jumped to 11,700, more than half the full-fee students at public tertiary institutions (Tarling, 2004: 223). What these statistics do not show, however, is their concentration in particular subjects, such as undergraduate business studies.

Research in applied linguistics and language teaching and learning in New Zealand (2006–2010)

This survey gives an overview of research into language teaching and learning in New Zealand over a five-year period, including the context of that research. The majority of New Zealanders are monolingual English speakers, yet the country faces complex linguistic challenges arising from its bicultural foundations and the multicultural society it has become. The survey encompasses the teaching and learning of indigenous and community languages, including te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, both official languages; the teaching and learning of foreign languages and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); psychological factors in language learning; and language teacher education. Certain themes recur: the daunting task of maintaining minority languages against a tide of language shift, the lag between language trends and language policy, and the struggle to create space within the education system for cultural and linguistic diversity. Research into language teaching and learning in New Zealand is vibrant, but there is a need for greater collaboration, generalisability and more effective dissemination of research findings. Future research should focus on the effectiveness of methodologies and programmes in international comparison, and helping teachers and course designers to refine the use of digital technology.

Pulled in many directions: tensions and complexity for academic staff responding to international students

ABSTRACT This article reports on an interview-based study of the academic practices of staff members in a New Zealand university in response to international students in their classes and under their supervision. International students enter academic cultures which are inevitably different from those which have provided their academic preparation. Participant academics often revealed a tension between trying to support students adjusting to new demands and meeting their own expectations of tertiary teaching. Most had implemented some changes to their practices which they identified as enhancing international students’ ability to study successfully, but recognised the need for balance between support and an expectation of student autonomy. For some, however, adjustment of practice to reflect these students’ different expectations and skills violated their understanding of what higher education should be. Using the lens of different orientations that Fanghanel 2012. Being an Academic. London: Routledge] identified among academic staff the article considers possible responses to the current situation.

‘It’s Totally Different’: Undergraduate Chinese Students Learning to Write in a New Zealand University

This chapter examines the responses of Chinese international students to the writing demands of their undergraduate study of business in a New Zealand university. While writing in English was only one among many planes in which they experienced an enormous amount of intercultural learning, it was significant as a major means by which they demonstrated their university learning to their teachers and entered into some sort of communication with them. The chapter reveals that in spite of these learners’ growing understanding of, and even in some cases alignment with, the values of the university, there were occasions when they did not adopt ways of writing favoured within this host culture of learning, as a result of either inability or strategic choice.

Learning to write in the university after the writing course is over: what helps second language writers?

ABSTRACT Many Western universities provide for focused attention on the development of second language writers’ academic writing in first-year courses, but there are generally fewer defined channels for such learning after their departure from these courses. This article uses the lens of writing as situated social practices to investigate opportunities for learning about writing and making gains as writers as students continued their study beyond the first semester. Through semi-structured interviews, and examination of the students’ assignment scripts and markers’ comments, it identifies opportunities for learning provided by various forms of interaction within their courses, as well as barriers to their uptake. It reveals a balance between attention to genre features and content, and to linguistic accuracy, which appears to have allowed the focal students to make gains in their writing.