Delivering academic support to meet the needs of international students Elizabeth HaugeJulie Watson

Overview The needs of international students Addressing these needs with: –face to face support –resources for independent study –online courses and resource sets

Needs Students may arrive with a mixed language skills profiles. Problems can include: –Weak academic writing skills –Inadequate reading skills –Limited critical thinking skills –Poor oral communication skills –Inadequate listening skills This leads to: –Problems with assignments –Problems in lectures/ seminars/ tutorials

Complicating factors The demands of the specific degree programme Timetabling clashes Time management issues Homesickness

Addressing needs (face-to-face) Academic writing courses (e.g. writing conventions, issues of coherence, cohesion and plagiarism) Oral communication courses (e.g. seminar skills – presentations, discussion skills) Critical thinking courses (e.g. developing analytical and evaluative approaches to reading and writing) Individual tutorials by appointment (e.g. planning an assignment or formatting references; also general language advice – how to cope)

Resources for independent study These comprise materials for developing the four language skills plus grammar, vocabulary and critical thinking; (and also exam preparation and cultural awareness) which are: - paper-based - audio/video -computer-based

Background to online provision eLanguages Project – funded to develop e-tutored, online modules in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Currently… –A bank of ‘learning objects’ in EAP, plus generic and discipline- specific study skills for home students –Refined, researched, increased and re-used to create online courses and resource sets

Online single skills courses Academic Writing Skills; Academic Listening Skills; Academic Communication Skills; Academic Reading Skills; Academic Vocabulary Development; Aspects of Grammar for Academic Study E-tutored, 10 weeks Delivered to University of Southampton students using VLE (Blackboard )

Online resource sets International Students’ Online Resource set (EAP Toolkit) Available throughout year on a self-enrol basis Delivered to University of Southampton students using VLE (Blackboard)