Are you sweaty? Do you need to res someone? Do you want some backbling? If you spend hours grinding on Fortnite, then you’re likely to understand these questions. If you don’t, you’re a noob (and should refer to the glossary in Additional Links at the end of this article). What if you were in a Teams meeting and someone said they’d BRB (be right back) or perhaps would be AFK (away from keyboard)? Would you feel excluded from the conversation if you didn’t understand any of this?
Now imagine you are a student entering university. For many students adjusting to their new learning environment in higher education, one aspect they may find intimidating is communicating with their lecturers. They may have chosen their programme based on marketing that offered the opportunity to learn from renowned experts in their field. But if they feel they can’t communicate with them, to what extent will they engage in lectures, workshops and seminars?
It could be argued that international students whose first language is not English will find this issue especially daunting. As French sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron wrote, academic language is “no one’s mother tongue” (although Alex Ding of the University of Leeds has argued that this quote has been misinterpreted).
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To address this perceived problem, many university libraries or English language centres provide synchronous face-to-face and online workshops for both international and home students. In addition, students can often access asynchronous online resources on their institution’s virtual learning environment (VLE). Academic and language skills taught include academic writing (for example, paraphrasing and how to develop an academic voice) as well as more formulaic learning (referencing styles). These skills may also be embedded in summer English for academic purposes courses and year-long foundation and pre-master’s courses targeted at international students.
But how can we ensure that we give all students the skills and confidence to engage in academic discourse?
Get to know your students
First, get to know your students and learn about their backgrounds. To bridge the gap, you should consider investing time in finding out what interests them and what they find challenging. An array of opportunities is available to facilitate this: informal get-togethers such as departmental welcome events; making yourself available (for a limited time) after lectures and seminars; clearly communicating office hours; and volunteering to participate in your institution’s open days and welcome events. Reviewing module feedback from previous cohorts may also provide insight into the relevance and appropriacy of the content as well as how engaging activities were.
Use inclusive language
Second, review learning materials to check for cultural references and language style to ensure that these do not exclude your students. Participating in student focus groups and exploring opportunities to co-create learning materials with your students could help to ensure that they are aimed at today’s students without dumbing down the content. Also, consider the inclusivity of the language. Do you use plain English or are your learning materials and lectures littered with metaphors or idioms that learners, especially international students, may not understand? Your institution and learning designers may be able to offer guidance on using inclusive language.
Meet your students where they are
Third, post-pandemic, do academics have unrealistic expectations of their students speaking with confidence and critiquing not just their peers’ but also their lecturers’ arguments? For students starting university now, many will have had their education disrupted by Covid-19; seminal years of their learning took place at home. Students were able to access emergency online materials but not engage in discussion and debate with their peers at school. To mitigate this, design initial tasks that are low risk and fun, and encourage collaboration and critical thinking, but won’t result in students losing face. Introduce students to technology, such as anonymous voting software, that could be used in lectures, and affordances offered by the institution’s VLE, such as discussion boards. These would help to demonstrate that discussion and critique are actively encouraged.
Be sensitive to potential culture clashes
Fourth, for international students, an educational culture clash could occur. For example, during my own experience of teaching in higher education in China and teaching Chinese students in the UK, my students have explained that it’s considered discourteous in their country to disagree with a lecturer because academic staff are held in very high regard. Be aware of this potential clash, set clear expectations as well as carefully design tasks that will encourage students to engage and gently ease them out of their comfort zone.
Keep your references relevant
Finally, are you expecting students to learn your language and adjust to your department’s and your institution’s culture? Will today’s undergraduates understand your cultural references to TV, film or music from the 1970s to 1990s? How well do Gen X (born late 1960s to early 1980s) and Gen Z (born late 1990s to early 2000s) understand each other? Nowadays, universities have slick marketing teams and social media accounts that aim to engage with Gen Z. However, are you able to relate to Gen Z students in the lecture theatre or online sessions? Do your lectures or PowerPoint slides need translation?
If you invest time in getting to know your students and preparing language-appropriate learning content, your students are more likely to meet your expectations and engage in your module.
They may even say your lessons are lit.
Jennifer Pulkkinen is a learning designer at the University of Derby and a former English for academic purposes and academic study skills tutor at the University of Nottingham (Ningbo, China and Nottingham), Loughborough University and Kaplan International Pathways.
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