I don’t pretend I’m a Kiwi: Insights from nursing graduates on language and identities in new cultures Caroline Malthus and Hongyan Lu

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Te Puna Ako Learning Centre Content Style 2

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Outline of the study Explore strategies and factors which helped EAL Nursing graduates develop spoken English strategies and inputs for success Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY o Qualitative : interview based; retrospective o Language and nursing literature socio-cultural context, language and identity community of practice socialisation and professional identity personal agency / autonomy o 8 graduates and 4 clinical tutors recruited o Interviews recorded, transcribed, checked o Thematic data analysis (Thomas, 2006) The study: Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PseudonymGEthnicityAgeEntry qualification AnnieFKorean25NZ High school qualification AnitaFFiji Indian38Educated Fiji; NZ University Entrance PeterMKorean45IELTS 6.5 IrinaFE. European36Unitec Diploma in English AshleyFChinese23Unitec Foundation Studies MirandaFChinese42Unitec Foundation Studies GeorgeMChinese43Postgrad Dip in NZ CarlaFChinese24NZ High school qualification Graduate participant information Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Social learning and social identity o Communication as a subject “I think it’s more like your technique rather than you know like the words” (Carla) o Role modelling of tutors and nurses “So when you listen to them, you just, you learn from them, know their experience, it’s not about their skills, it’s not about their knowledge, it’s also about the way they speak to their colleagues, the way they interact with you know, others” (Carla) o challenges and opportunities in clinical practice “they see you as you know, some sort of extra task for them, and being so busy with their patient load and everything else, they’re not really happy to have something extra that they have to work on” (Irina) Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY “especially the beginning, at times I feel very frustrated, for the English communication. Yeah…in that moment I was upset with myself. I think from another point of view it just pushed me. It required you to improve your English as quick as you can (…) Because it will be your career (…) it’s your responsibility to meet that bar. You cannot ask others to lower the bar for you” (George) o “She failed me for my communication… She said I will fail you this time but you need to improve this one to pass for the final assessment. So that made me thinking I need to do this.”(Annie) Personal agency and responsibility Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY o Learning is ongoing “I feel like it’s still a problem for me because I do come across sometime people are just like I don’t know what you’re talking about? … I was trying really hard to talk like to express myself but actually people just say to me I don’t know what you're talking about, so it’s like really hurt.” (Ashley) o Social aspects at work “sometime I feel the joke if you ask them what it actually means, it’s not a joke anymore, it’s not funny anymore” (Carla) o Feel supported by senior staff and peers o Now supervising students themselves How do they feel now in relation to English? Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY o Form mixed study groups outside class o Tell staff your needs and goals o Talk to patients and staff o Work part-time in clinical environments o Remember the situation for patients o Be proactive and self-confident o Attend to language o Keep up to date with local news o Language  good communication o Focus on progress, not problems The advice graduates give… Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY o Aware of barriers for EAL students o Assessing and giving feedback is not easy o Initial responses to negative feedback o Good level of nursing knowledge helps o Practise constantly, speak English, use media, mix with other students, focus on NVC, slow down o Build relationships with clients and staff Comments by tutors… Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Tuning into socio-cultural context Learning about communication Sense of identity Clinical practice ‘pushed’ spoken language Stress was positive Suggestions – combination of social factors and individual agency Overall threads of success: Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY What can we learn from students? Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Caroline Malthus Hongyan Lu Te Puna Ako Learning Centre Content Style 2

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY o What inputs made a difference to your spoken English? o What strategies did you use to improve spoken English outside the programme? o What feedback made a difference? o How do you feel now about communication in English? o What suggestions do you have for students starting out? Questions for graduates Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY o What strategies have you observed EAL students using to develop spoken English? o What recommendations do you commonly make to EAL students about speaking? o How have students responded to formal and informal feedback? o Did you have (or have to do) any preparation to work with EAL students? o What suggestions would you make to EAL students starting the BN programme? o Has working with EAL students had an impact on workload for you? Questions for tutors Te Puna Ako Learning Centre

>>UNITEC INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Sharing our research InternallyExternally Unitec Research Committee Graduate and tutor participants BN students in 2010 and 2011 BN staff Te Puna Ako Research seminar Wellington Language in the Workplace Project Roundtable 2010 Australasian Nurse Educators Conference 2011 Association for Academic Language and Learning 2011 Article in press (Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, 2012, vol. 22:1)