Academic
English - Bridging the Gap
Elaine Barker-Miles,
Head of the English department at The Anglia Polytechnic
University addresses the language problems international
students face whilst studying in the UK.
It is common
knowledge that more and more overseas students are seeking
a university education in an English-speaking country and
Britain has certainly seen an increase in such students
along with America, Australia and Canada. Studying at a
British University has enormous advantages for an overseas
student. A degree from a British University commands international
respect and a fluency in English opens the door to an enormous
range of jobs and careers world-wide.
Students often
arrive having been prepared to a level of English language
that the receiving university states will enable the student
to follow their chosen degree programme. However, as the
Head of a large English Language Department in a British
university I am aware that there is an enormous gap between
the English language level requested and the language level,
study skills and cultural awareness actually needed in order
to survive in a British university. The usual language level
requested by many universities for a wide range of degree
programmes is not always enough to enable students to subsequently
demonstrate their full potential once they are on a degree
programme. They may still encounter problems with extended
essay writing, delivering presentations in a group, listening
to complex lectures and taking notes, or using the British
academic code of practice with regard to referencing, extracting,
quoting etc. Nor does it provide a cultural background which
will put the student’s studies into some kind of context.
It is, therefore,
incumbent on each University to address these issues not
just because many of these students pay large fees for studying
at a British University, but because every educational institution
has a duty to provide the best possible learning environment
for its students and because the process of learning and
teaching is an honorable pursuit. Every conscientious teacher
knows that the outcome of his or her students’ period
of study depends to a large extent on the commitment of
the teachers and the support that the university provides
to underpin the learning and teaching process.
All British universities
provide a one-week induction programme for their students.
In addition some universities, such as ours, provide an
extended orientation programme for our overseas students
which is free of charge. For students needing more help
we, like many other universities, also offer a 3-week Pre-University
programme of English language, study skills and cultural
orientation which the student can attend in addition to
the degree orientation programme and for which there is
a charge.
However, while
orientation programmes such as these are of some benefit,
the overseas students face their greatest challenges once
their study programmes begin and they are having to cope
with listening to and speaking English all day long, following
detailed lectures and being required to produce extended
writing. They face all these challenges in an environment
which is essentially “alien” and far away from
their usual support group of friends and family. Supporting
such students is a very daunting task but one which we felt
at Anglia we needed to address even further. While there
is an extensive programme of EFL classes at Anglia, these
courses are not part of the degree programme and as such
not accredited modules. Were an undergraduate student to
take these it would mean extra work which would not count
towards his or her degree and, not being part of their degree
programme, would incur additional fees. We needed to find
a way in which our overseas undergraduate students were
able to have directed English language and study skills
programmes which at the same time would not present an extra
study burden, nor incur any extra charges for the student.
With the help
of our International Office and the approval of University
Senate, the staff in the English Language Department at
Anglia have devised a system which satisfies all these needs.
We have developed two study modules which overseas students
can take during their first year which are designed to improve
all aspects of English language and provides study skills
practice and clear guide lines regarding the British academic
code of practice. These modules are both free and credited
which means that by taking these modules the credits gained
on successful completion count towards the final degree.
In order to ascertain which students are in need of these
modules, all overseas students (over 500) are given an English
language test when they first arrive at Anglia, irrespective
of their language level (so no-one falls through the net!)
and this service is completely free of charge. Students
are then allocated to a course of study which includes either
one or two of these English Language and Study Skills modules.
Our commitment
to our overseas students is very high as we view all our
students as people embarking on a course of study which
will take them into new directions, provide new horizons
and challenges and eventually enable them to secure satisfying
and lucrative careers in the future. This is an immensely
important responsibility and one which we do not take lightly.
As with many
endeavours, there are often spin-offs which were not originally
envisaged. As a result of all the work done in developing
these special English for Academic purposes modules for
our overseas degree students we produced a large volume
of materials which we have converted into a self-access
CD-ROM “Excel at Academic English”. The CD aims
to help non-native speakers of English improve their reading,
writing, listening and speaking skills in English and to
prepare for Academic English examinations such as IELTS,
TOEFL, UETESOL and ESOL. It contains over 300 screens of
material, including video and audio clips (featuring English
and American accents) and a number of authentic texts from
reputable press sources such as the Guardian and the Economist.
There is a Workfile for students to practise extended essay
writing or exercises. This can be used either by an individual
student as a self-study aid to developing their English
or with a teacher in a classroom. In acknowledgement of
the problems copyright issues are creating for academic
institutions, the Workfile is freely photocopiable. Additionally
there are big discounts for purchasing mulitiple copies
making it extremely cost-effective for institutional use.
The project took three years to complete and brought together
EFL and Computer-Aided Language Learning specialists, software
developers and students. In the course of its development
it has been tested and evaluated by 3 commercial software
producers and presented at a number of venues in the UK,
France and Finland including the Lilly (UK), MATSDA, Leeds
University BALEAP and Exeter University CALL conferences.
Our next aim
in extending our learning resources for overseas students
is to develop modules in Academic English which can be taken
as Distance Learning packages. These modules will be credited
and therefore, students will be able to take these before
enrolling on a degree programme and build up credits which
they can use towards their degree programme when they enrol
later. In this way they can, if they wish, improve their
English language before, instead of during, their degree
studies and use the extra time gained in further specialist
study or even the study of another language!
I hope this article
allays some of the fears that overseas students and their
parents might have about studying in a British institution.
While I cannot vouch for other universities, I am confident
that there are many British universities as committed as
Anglia Polytechnic University is to their overseas students.
If anyone is interested in finding out more about our degrees
or EFL courses or our CD-ROM “Excel at Academic English”
please contact me at the address below. Alternatively you
can download an extract of our CD from our web page : www.anglia.ac.uk/efl
Elaine Barker-Miles
BA, M.Ling, PGCE
Head of English Language Studies
Anglia Polytechnic University
East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT
Tel/Fax : +44 1223 363447
e-mail: efl@anglia.ac.uk
Member of BASELT
Contributed
by:
Elaine Barker-Miles
Head - English Dept.
Anglia Polytechnic University
