As a response to the increasing number of Chinese students seeking higher education in Western countries, joint programmes have been set up between universities in these destination countries and China. The unfamiliar host academic cultures can pose challenges for international students. Using the 'acculturation model' to frame the study, we…

Universities in anglophone countries responded to soaring numbers of non-traditional enrolments by expanding student support services. They have done so without being able to guarantee that international students will develop in their English language during a university degree (Humphreys, 2022, The need for English language development in…

Writing a doctoral thesis "with" publications or "by" publication (TBP) has become an increasingly popular choice for PhD candidates seeking a competitive edge in the post-doctoral job market. However, many candidates continue to write traditional chapter monographs. While research into the TBP has steadily grown over the past…

In Australia, international students who do not meet university set English language requirements can alternatively attend intensive courses in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Such courses are steeped in the traditions of communicative language teaching, often holding 'English only' classroom policies. This article draws on data from a larger…

Currently, Russian academics are facing significant demands because of a new, urgent requirement to pursue their research in accordance with international standards. Until recently, these academics were used to working within a familiar community and communicating their research via the Russian language, but now, they are expected to move beyond…

Research writing is an important part of doctoral study. Previous studies suggest that students who speak English as an additional language (EAL) may experience difficulties in writing a thesis in English. This study investigated the nature of the writing challenges experienced by EAL doctoral students. Drawing on data collected from individual…

The deep versus surface learning approach dichotomy has dominated recent research in student learning approach dimensions. However, the achievement dimension may differ in importance in non-Western and vocational tertiary settings. The aim was to assess how Emirati tertiary students could be characterized in terms of their learning approaches. The…

Much research into the use of corpora and discourse to support higher education students on pre-sessional and in-sessional courses champions subject specificity. Drawing on the work of writers such as Bakhtin [(1981). "The dialogic imagination: Four essays by MM Bakhtin" (M. Holquist, Ed.; C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin:…

While the experiences of international doctoral students, especially those from Asian countries, have been well researched, fewer studies have explored the experiences of African students in Southern countries like Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. This article reports on doctoral writing and student and supervisor perspectives on English…

The use of humour in teaching and learning can be contentious, with some authors suggesting that the efficacy of humorous materials is mediated by the culture of the student. Nevertheless, humour represents a potential vehicle for the introduction of active learning in a classroom setting, as judicious use of humour may lead to a more relaxed…

This paper investigates a small-scale project concerned with establishing and sustaining an e-partnership between international students in the UK and engineering students in Palestine. It focuses on the value of peer teaching and learning as an attempt to ensure a greater balance between knowledge and language on a UK pre-sessional English…

Although communication skills in English are important for both their career prospects and the success of their overall study experience, many international students find their spoken English a barrier to employment after graduation. In this paper, we draw on longitudinal interview data from international postgraduates to investigate the…

The study focused on learning difficulties experienced by East Asian International (EAI) students. Participants were 117 EAI students undertaking tertiary study at a major university, all were surveyed and 21 students were interviewed. The findings suggest that language limitations, academic content and learning styles were associated with…

One of the outcomes of the policy emphasis upon skills formation in countries like Australia and the UK has been an increase in cross-disciplinary structured programs for higher research degrees raising implicit, but often unexamined, questions about the curriculum and expertise that should inform them. Key insights from applied linguistics and…

Development, pilot testing, and validation of a 20-item screening test for limited-English-speaking Australian university students, designed to be easily administered to large groups, are described. Although developed with medical students, the test is recommended for disciplines with significant enrollments of nonnative English speakers.…