Peter Kell

English and the International Student: Getting Started, Getting on and Being Understood

This chapter identifies the nature and impact of English as a global language in higher education across the globe. It explores the reasons for the growth of English as the language of transnational higher education. It also explores the dilemmas between the notion of standardised English and hybrid local varieties of English which emerge in many countries in Asia where English is a second language. This chapter discusses how these differentiated varieties of English are spoken, encountered, mediated and negotiated by international students in the university and in their host communities. Using some research on the English language in an Australian university, many of the experiences describe the challenges associated with ‘getting started’ and ‘getting on’ and ‘being accepted’ in a new and often unfamiliar linguistic environment. This chapter also describes how the university teaching and learning process are changing in the context of growing numbers of Asian students with diverse English language skills and abilities at a time when resources are stretched and diminishing. The challenges for teaching and academic staff in dealing in an environment where other varieties of English are present and emerge in the academy are also discussed. This chapter describes the way in which the notion of learning has been radically radicalised around stereotypical views about how some, mostly Asian international students have been ‘conditioned’ to learn. Assumptions that Asian learning is reliant on rote learning, exam-driven memorisation, passive responses to the learning process and uncritical attitudes are seen by many host institutions as confining the learning potential of many international students. These dilemmas and tensions around perceived needs for students to be more independent in their learning and the nature of the debates about ‘dependent’ learners are discussed in the context of the changing learning environment in higher education which includes the use of new technologies of learning, temporary workforces and intensified teaching workloads for academics. This chapter describes some of the factors associated with the English language and its relationship to the internationalisation of higher education and its profound influence on the lives and experience of international students. The movement of higher education beyond the boundaries of the nation state has been attributed to the spread of global languages, and this has been seen as an enabling factor for the mobility of students across the globe. The rapid growth in the transnational markets in higher education has been influenced by the growth of English as a global language and its growing use as the dominant language in commerce, information technology and education. The global status of English is not accidental and is the product of the legacy of colonial domination by the British Empire, the hegemony of the American empire and its cultural and economic products, as well as pragmatic and deliberate policies of English-speaking nations to sell English as the language of globalisation and higher education.

International developments in skills migration: A case study of the opportunities, threats and dilemmas for Australia

Skilled migration is not a particularly new phenomenon, however it has become much relied upon by many nations both sending and hosting in an ever increasing global economy. This chapter explores the international trends in relation to the global mobility of workers and professionals before taking a case study approach which examines the opportunities, threats and dilemmas facing Australia and its use of skilled migration. First we look at Australia’s migration policies and recent changes in these which support a demand driven model before exploring Australia’s skill shortages with particular reference to the Australian rail industry.

Literacy and Workforce Capabilities

Ways to develop the soft skills and employability capabilities of students is a key question explored in this chapter. Using graduate attributes in Australian higher education, this chapter provides guidance on how systems can break the dependence on examinations and introduce more employment related assessment. Examples from Australia are documented and discussed and the capabilities, that provide the basis for soft skills are discussed. This chapter also provides a case study from Hong Kong where a secondary school has developed and utilised work-based learning to develop employability skills and provide alternative pathways to academic and traditional learning. The chapter concludes by suggesting that language and literacy needs to be situated within real life experience and active learning conducted in the workplace or the community.

The New Dynamic and Shifting Approaches Literacy and Language in East Asia

This chapter provides some conclusions and recommendations using a framework for interpretation based on the need to changing approaches to literacy to respond to the dynamic environment that confronts schooling and learning. In seeking approaches the discussion includes further critiques on standardised testing and examinations and the need to explore new models to sustain the a higher quality of teaching and learning that engages students more holistically. The chapter calls for opportunities for students to experience the new approaches that integrate work and learning. In looking for future directions this chapter documents developments in Finland, also a country ranking high in student achievement tests, for ways promoting national education reform without a dominance of examinations. The chapter also and calls for changes to the quality of life and the environment on Asia, as well as the lives of young people. This includes reforms that facilitate more equitable living conditions and opportunities democratic and inclusive approaches to learning and education as well as reforms in the broader society.

Global Shifts in Migration Policy and Their Implications for Skills Formation, Nations, Communities and Corporations

This chapter provides an overview of policy and trends that have shaped the nature and character of migration and more particularly skilled migration and its place in the dynamics of global mobility. I explore some of the theoretical underpinnings of the framing of skilled migration as well as some of the counter tendencies that have produced a backlash against the movement of foreign workers globally. I use some international case studies to illustrate the complexities of the role of the state in policy formation relating to skilled migration. I identify a contradiction between the state’s role in mediating and brokering an influx of migrants and skilled workers and its role in sustaining a discourse of national unity. I also discuss the implications for corporations the new paradigm of skilled migration and its associated politics. I conclude with advice to corporations on how to negotiate a global market, suggesting that an informed and holistic approach to interpreting globalisation and settlement is essential in sourcing global talent.

International Testing: The Global Education Space Race?

This chapter looks at the impact of international testing and the responses by governments in the industrial west and East Asia. The perception that international testing is a global contest has created an impression that there are winners and losers, that there is a crisis in western nations and that standards are dropping in these nations. By contrast, East Asia nations are seen as winners in unproblematic terms. This chapter looks more critically at some aspects of East Asian schooling, specifically curriculum materials, teaching practice and a reliance on examination driven teaching methods, This reliance has facilitated a shadow system of coaching schools in East Asia. Criticisms that graduates in East Asia are poorly prepared for working in the global economy are also discussed in the context of highly competitive examination driven systems. In response many Asian nations have recognised the global nature of education and have developed education hubs to internationalise their education systems.

What Is Literacy and Why Is It Important

This chapter explores a range of internationally recognised definitions and approaches to literacy and the various debates surrounding concerns about levels of literacy and proficiency. The discussion explores how literacy has shifted from traditional perspective of being an ability to read to more expansive views of competency and proficiency in a range of forms of communications. These shifts are described and include changes emerging from information technology, the globalisation of work and economic activity. In policy terms there is a growing linkage by governments between literacy and economic performance. This linkage is critically explored and the rating of nations through the performance in global international literacy testing is discussed.

League Tables and the Politics of Ranking

This chapter discusses the politics of testing where schools and students are assigned rankings. These ranking have implications for resources and the esteem and prestige of schools and are called high stakes tests. The chapter describes how these rankings in the context of what has been termed the “literacy wars” where traditional views about reading and writing conflict with other broader views of literacy.

High Stakes Testing, Literacy Wars, Globalisation and Asia

This chapter describes the background and context for what has been termed “high stakes testing” and the growth of international student achievement tests in literacy and numeracy. Testing has been popularised through a perception that testing is a scientific and unbiased form of monitoring the performance of students and schooling systems. There is a growing reliance on the use of testing to evaluate the performance of students, teachers and school systems but the chapter identifies problems and issues as well. This includes problems from teachers “teaching to the test”, the narrowing of curriculum options and a reliance on passive forms of learning based on rote learning, memorisation and recall to pass tests. The chapter also argues that testing can reinforce inequality and that testing methodologies promote sorting and gating processes that reduce options and opportunities for many students. The chapter also describes the context in which East Asian countries, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and more recently China have exhibited high levels of achievement in international student achievement tests.

Schooling, National Development and Growth in Asia

This chapter describes a selection of East Asian countries, discussing historic and contemporary aspects of schooling and education for each one. The selection of eight country studies is made to illustrate the diversity of responses by government and states in the East Asian region to issues in education, schooling, education policy, language and literacy. The country studies in the chapter explore the interrelationship between post independence Asian nations, their economic growth and political stability and the emergence of new national identities. The studies are developed to analyse the influence of colonisation and its influence on literacy and language, policy and equality of opportunity in nations in East Asia. The chapter argues that many nations, influenced by colonisation have experienced difficulty in developing universal provision of school and equality of opportunity that has implications for developing political, social and economic stability.