scholarly journals International Student Spouses and the English Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1172-1190
Author(s):  
Adam Thomas Grimm ◽  
Dana Kanhai ◽  
Jessica Landgraf
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Advanced Degree ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Study Techniques

In the context of the internationalization of U.S. higher education, millions of international students have come to study at U.S. institutions. Some students, particularly those pursuing advanced degree, bring their spouses. As part of a larger study, we set out to examine the experiences of international student spouses at a Midwestern university. This article examines the experiences from the perspective of grappling with the English language, a theme cross-cutting through spouses’ experiences. Experiences with English, the focus of this article, are both a discrete element of spouses’ lived experiences and a useful way to understand challenges and opportunities not directly related to language. Utilizing qualitative case study techniques, we found that English language is experienced through anxieties as well as ambitions by the participants in our study. 

Understanding the Heterogeneity of International Students’ Experiences: A Case Study of Chinese International Students in U.S. Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 607-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tang T. Heng
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
International Student ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Small Extent ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Content Preparation ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature

Scholars have critiqued the current understanding of international students for glossing over its diversity, resulting in the reification of the “international student experience” as either homogeneous or clustered along nationality. Through a qualitative case study of 18 Chinese international students, this article examines the heterogeneity of their experiences despite a common nationality. Findings reveal that Chinese international students’ communication in English, engagement with subject content, preparation for the future, and participation in extracurricular activities vary by year of study, field of study, and, to a small extent, gender. Even within a single nationality, experiences of students are uneven and intersect across various categorical lines, suggesting the possibility that other international students may encounter diverse and intersectional experiences as well. Findings point to how we need to re-conceive and research international students by examining the heterogeneous nature of their experiences, and how higher education institutions can differentiate support given to internationals.

A qualitative case study of how an English language program at a U.S. university prepares Chinese students for U.S. undergraduate programs and communicative competence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mingming Wang
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Undergraduate Programs ◽  
The U.S

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Chinese students account for about one-third of the international students at U.S. universities from 2013 to the present year 2020; however, many of them, after their arrival, feel it is difficult to fit into U.S. college learning environments. This study focused on how to get Chinese students ready for U.S. undergraduate programs. A qualitative case study method was utilized, and the case was the Intensive Language Program (ILP), a full-time program of an English language center at a Midwestern public university that is designed to support international students. Using theoretical frameworks on college readiness (Conley, 2010a, 2014b) and communicative competence (Canale and Swain, 1980, 1983), I explored how ILP prepared Chinese students for U.S. undergraduate programs in general, and I paid particular attention to how ILP improves Chinese students' communicative competence. My specific research questions were: 1. How do ILP teachers and leaders prepare students for U.S. undergraduate programs? 2. How do Chinese students who have finished the ILP program perceive ILP and how well it has prepared them for U.S. undergraduate programs? 3. How does ILP enhance Chinese students' communicative competence? The findings demonstrated that the ILP program provided valuable and comprehensive support to Chinese students in five overarching components: Think, Know, Act, Go, and Talk. Specifically, ILP added five great values to Chinese students: research, MLA and APA, writing, transition, and presentation. However, as they started their undergraduate program learning, Chinese students also shared two greatest needs: reading and the U.S. History course. The results are significant to the practices of the U.S. English language centers and international schools in China.

scholarly journals Survival Strategies of International Undergraduate Students at a Public Research Midwestern University in the United States: A Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1034-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Tsevi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Academic Excellence ◽  
Public Research ◽  
Midwestern University

In this qualitative study, I explored the strategies that international undergraduate students at a public research Midwestern university in the United States employ to persist and survive their educational transition to achieve academic excellence. Using Tinto’s (1987) theory of persistence as the theoretical framework, this paper employed a case study method. Five undergraduate international students were interviewed via semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings indicated that students experienced both academic and non-academic challenges. Strategies adopted included involvement in out-of-classroom activities and dependence on family and friends. Recommendations include requiring academic counsellors and university administrators to devise curriculum and programs to assist international students. Further, the teaching faculty should reach out to students who have English language challenges.

scholarly journals Exploring the Writing Challenges Faced by M.Phil. and Ph.D. Scholars: A Case

2021 ◽  
Vol VI (IV) ◽  
pp. 34-41
Author(s):  
Hina Iqbal ◽  
Muhammad Saeed
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Interactive Programming ◽  
Report Quality ◽  
Grammatical Errors ◽  
Language Courses

Academic writing plays a pivotal role in developing research proposals. The present study aimed to explore the grammatical errors that M.Phil/PhDs scholars commit in academic writing. The present study employed a qualitative case study designed to explore the challenges in the English language faced by the M.Phil and PhDs scholars. The 20 Ph.D. and 36 M.Phil scholars were selected by busing purposive sampling technique. Data were collected by using two self-developed semi-structured interviews protocol. Thematic analysis approach was employed for data analysis. The findings revealed that all the participants reported that correct use of tenses was a big hurdle that entailed the other grammatical mistakes and reduced the report quality because all the lexical aspects are linked with these mechanics. The study recommended that English language courses be offered to postgraduate, M. Phil and Ph.D. scholars to learn the technical aspects of the language and provide students with online interactive programming.

scholarly journals English Language University Teachers’ Difficulties in Research Engagement: A Case Study in Vietnam

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Huong Hoang Le
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
The One

The study uses a qualitative case study framed within a socio-cultural framework to investigate Vietnamese English language university teachers’ difficulties in their research engagement. The study was conducted among 21 English language university teachers in Hong Duc University in Vietnam. Skype semi-structured interview was employed to collect necessary data to explore teacher participants’ perceived obstacles to research. The findings of the study show that there was a gap between Vietnamese authorities’ expectations of research outputs and the realities of English language university teachers’ research capabilities. Such gap has caused serious challenges to those teachers and prevented them from effectively engaging in research. On the one hand, Vietnamese authorities hope to increase universities’ research output to keep up with the international academic ranking. On the other hand, the working realities of university teachers hinder their engagement in research. However, no official investigation has been done to reduce such gap and the enforcement of research activity in universities has been taken for granted. In this sense, the significance of this study is an opportunity for English language university teachers to voice their opinions about the enforced nature of research activity in universities in Vietnam.

A Living ‘CCC'ase Study

2017 ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Donna M. Velliaris ◽  
Janine M. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Business Education ◽  
International Student ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Action Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Education Experience

This chapter describes the Coglin Clothing Company (CCC), the focus of a multidisciplinary Live/Living Case Study (LCS) that was developed and introduced at the Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) between 2010-2013. The LCS methodology endeavoured to address educational obstacles that had arisen from EIBT's international student population for whom it was first designed, but were typical problems of ‘business education' in general. This work begins by attending to issues such as: generalised problems of the education-experience business-related gap; the benefits of integrating more than one business discipline; the difficulties of handling various and conflicting sources of information; and the indispensability of action learning for deeper comprehension. A LCS was integrated across eight separate courses, including one titled ‘Management Principles'. The relevant literature is presented, followed by a discussion of the value of LCSs for acculturating (international) students to ‘real-life' business scenarios.

scholarly journals Challenging Deficit Constructions of the International Student Category in Canadian Higher Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Surtees
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Campus Diversity ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Premier Cycle

The trend toward internationalization on Canadian campuses has been simultaneously lauded as an opportunity for promoting campus diversity and criticized for creating a campus environment that is segregated along linguistic and ethnic lines. As a result of these tensions, students labelled as “international” have become the focus of increasing amounts of media attention. In this article, drawing on interviews with undergraduate students (n = 13) from one postsecondary Canadian institution, I examine how the seemingly neutral labels applied to diverse students, such as the category “international,” operate in talk to reproduce deficit understandings of these students, particularly in regard to their English language abilities. I then provide evidence that students also construct more positive representations of international students through references to their experiences of migration and their expertise interacting with speakers of different Englishes. I offer the notion of “language brokers” as a helpful conceptual lens for interpreting this categorization and for reflecting on the contributions that international students make to Canadian higher education. La tendance de l’internationalisation dans les universités canadiennes a simultanément été louée comme une occasion de promouvoir la diversité sur le campus et critiquée pour la ségrégation qu’elle opère dans l’environnement universitaire en fonction de l’appartenance linguistique et ethnique. Ces tensions ont pour effet d’attirer progressivement l’attention des médias sur les étudiants dits « internationaux ».  Dans le présent article, je m’appuie sur des entrevues avec des étudiantes et étudiants de premier cycle (n = 13) inscrits dans un établissement postsecondaire canadien pour examiner la façon dont des étiquettes apparemment neutres accolées à des étudiants diversifiés, comme par exemple la catégorie des étudiants « internationaux », crée un langage qui reflète certains déficits de compréhension de tels étudiants, particulièrement en ce qui concerne leurs compétences linguistiques en anglais. J’apporte ensuite la preuve que les étudiants construisent également des représentations plus positives des étudiants internationaux à la lumière de leur expérience migratoire et de la compétence avec laquelle ils interagissent avec des interlocuteurs qui s’expriment dans les multiples variations de l’anglais. J’offre la notion de « courtier en langues » comme lentille conceptuelle utile pour l’interprétation de cette catégorisation et pour une réflexion sur les apports des étudiants internationaux à l’enseignement supérieur au Canada.

scholarly journals What Demotivates Foreign EFL Teachers? A Case Study in Turkish Context

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Turgay Han ◽  
Zinat Mahzoun
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
English Language ◽  
School Administration ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Foreign Teachers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Field Notes

This article is the report of a qualitative case study proposed to investigate the demotivation factors of foreign EFL teachers in Turkish context. To that end, two foreign teachers of English language were chosen as the subjects at a primary/ secondary school in east of Turkey. Face-to-face interviews, profile forms, field notes and diaries were used to obtain the necessary data for the research. The findings indicated that lack of effective communication with school administration and colleagues and lack of interest, attention and respect from behalf of students were the main causes of demotivation at work for both teachers.

scholarly journals International Students’ Experience of Western Pedagogy in a British University

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 620
Author(s):  
Linda Katherine Newsome ◽  
Paul Cooper
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Far Eastern

<em>This qualitative study examined international students’ experiences with Western pedagogy using data collected through case studies and semi-structured, in-depth, informant style interviews. Participants were all international students (n=18), mostly postgraduate from Asian and Far Eastern countries studying at a British University. This paper focuses on students’ engagements with Western pedagogy as they struggle to adjust to what they experience as unfamiliar and alien approaches to teaching and learning. Reported here is a detailed case study of the lives of these students as they engage with specific pedagogical demands, including: academic self-expression and critical argumentation, self-directed learning, class discussions, presentations, and English language proficiency. It also exposes students’ perceptions of the value of the instructional methods of their tutors and their impact on approaches to learning.</em>

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