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Volume 4, Issue 1

ISSN 2397-3072

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ISEJ The International Student Experience Journal

Editorial Phil Horspool, University of Leicester Articles  Bridging academic differences between China and the UK. Sheng-Hui Hsu and Michael Allhouse  Supporting international PhD writers – are pastoral duties part of the package?

Tatyana Karpenko-Seccombe Student Article  From the U.S. to the UK: My Exchange Experience. Marissa Nolan  Studying MBA Abroad: Integrating Theory with Practice. Abobakr Aljuwaibe  ‘Welcome to the Bubble’. Valeryia Ryabchina Conference review  Finding the Balance: Language and Content in EAP – University of St Andrews EAP Conference. Gary Riley-Jones Book review  International Students: The Essential Guide to Study Abroad. Jason D. Murdock

ISEJ – International Student Experience Journal

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Editorial Phil Horspool University of Leicester A huge welcome to Volume 4 Issue 1 of the International Student Experience Journal. The cover shows a picture of the wonderful St Andrews golf course and St Andrews features heavily in this issue. Once again we are extremely pleased with the diversity of contributions that we have assembled for this issue. What is particularly pleasing is that we have no fewer than three student articles in this issue and we have others that will be ready for future issues.

One of our prime reasons for setting up the journal was and is to give those involved in education in whatever capacity an opportunity to relate their views and experiences.

The issue starts with an interesting and informative account of a ‘Bridge Programme’ run at the University of Bradford. Authors Michael Allhouse and Sheng-Hui Hsu evaluate the impact that the programme has on a group of Chinese undergraduate learners and how it helps to prepare the students in areas such as critical thinking, assessment and modes of study. Just 15 miles away from Bradford we can find Huddersfield and from there we have a very different article from Tatyana Karpenko-Seccombe. Tatyana looks at the experiences of PhD students and makes a clear argument that these are very different from other international students and therefore need to be taught and treated differently. She argues that involvement by EAP teachers can offer much needed support to these students and prevent the development of serious problems connected with isolation, anxiety and loneliness.

As mentioned we have three student articles in this issue. The first comes from Marissa Nolan, from the University of Sussex, who discusses the cultural differences she has experienced between studying in the US and the UK. The second comes from MBA student Abobakr Aljuwaiber who reflects on his own learning experience using the Gibbs reflective model. Finally Valeriya Ryabchina tells us about her very positive experience of being an international student at St Andrews University.

The St Andrews connection continues with Gary Riley-Jones’s review of the February 2016 St Andrews conference on; ‘Finding the Balance: Language and Content in EAP’. Gary reviews the plenary sessions from Dan Jones from the University of Leicester and Steve Kirk from the University of Durham as well as numerous sessions that he attended This issue finishes with a book review by Jason Murdock from the University of Wyoming of Lucas Burns’ kindle edition of ‘International Students: The Essential Guide to Study Abroad’.

The production of this issue would not be possible without the help of our editorial board and editorial team. If you are interested in being part of the team, we’d love to hear from you. Our next issue will be out in Autumn 2016 and the deadline for contribution is the end of September. If you are interested in writing something, please contact us and we will be able to offer you expert guidance on submitting.

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Article Bridging academic differences between China and the UK Sheng-Hui Hsu & Michael Allhouse University of Bradford ABSTRACT The paper shares a pioneering example of a faculty-based induction programme for an all Chinese learners’ group and evaluates the effectiveness of the intervention from the students’ perspective. The programme is designed to aid transition and to develop the students’ understanding of UK academic requirements. Student feedback was sought through a number of different means (a questionnaire, focus group, students’ further engagement and their academic achievement) and was positive. In particular, students recognized the benefits of using exemplars to contextualize analytical writing as part of the induction experience. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..........

Background This article discusses an example of a faculty-based induction programme; a ‘Bridge Programme’ (BP) for a group of direct entry Chinese students studying undergraduate final year programmes at the University of Bradford (UoB), Faculty of Management and Law (FoML). The article will outline the curriculum design of the BP and then examine to what extent the programme aids transition. Evaluation will be based on student feedback, their continuous engagement, and academic performance.

The BP is designed and run by the Effective Learning Service (ELS). ELS is part of the FoML’s academic offer. In additional to organising the BP, ELS provides formative feedback on assignment drafts and runs embedded lectures and additional workshops. The BP was embedded into the UoB’s offer in September 2011. Students are recruited through admission agreements between the UoB and partner institutions in China where students have completed two years of finance-related degree courses. The Programme runs for two weeks prior to the semester. It is designed for students who have met the English entry requirement of IELTS 6.0 and who are entering the final year. Over 150 students have attended the BP. It is important to note that the BP is not a replacement programme for English language pre-

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sessional courses. It does not address English language ability, but instead focuses on demystifying tutors’ expectations and clarifying British academic conventions.

Academic Cultural Differences between the UK and China For students coming from China and the Far East, good teaching practice means providing clear instruction and guidance (Hu 2002; Ryan and Louie 2007). However, in UK education, critical thinking and independent learning are the keys to academic success. These concepts are often demonstrated in the form of assessment (i.e. evidence-based, analytical writing), ways of studying, (i.e. wide reading), and students’ classroom behaviour (i.e. taking part in tutorial discussions). The differences between the two teaching approaches contribute to the academic culture shock which many international students encounter when they first arrive in the UK HE. Direct entry students have very little time to adapt to the new academic culture.

The general consensus in HE is for education providers to facilitate the adaptation process, and many providers have agreed that this should be part of the induction experience (Saravanamuthu 2008; Gu and Maley 2008).

The Bridge Programme Curriculum An understanding of the educational differences and the pressure to adapt as quickly as possible has informed the design of the Bridge Programme. The BP’s aim is to articulate students’ understanding of independent learning. Plenary sessions in subject areas are integrated into the design of the programme. Another important component in our approach is to encourage individuals to take an active part in learning.

The programme includes three core elements: academic skills development, modular lectures and tutorials, and directed independent learning. Table 1 provides an overview of the programme design.

Directed independent learning underpins the design of the programme and students are given time each day in class for group discussions and research, facilitated by teaching staff. For example, during the first week, students are put into groups to investigate strategies for adapting to the new academic traditions and are required to produce presentations and a written report.

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Table 1: Programme Structure

Week 1 Focuses on:  academic skills development  exploration and discussion of the educational differences between the UK and China Students are required to conduct group reports on their assigned educational elements, such as:  essay writing  group-work  referencing  reading

Week 2 Begins about:   

with plenary lectures and tutorials on subject areas, leading onto discussions pre-class preparation note-taking revision

Analysis of two sample essays from past students is also planned to provide clarity on assessment criteria.

Feedback on group reports is provided by ELS and a language tutor. This is to develop students’ understanding of appropriate writing style through reflection on their own mistakes.

Students are given class hours to work on the report, independently of our instruction.

We believe these periods act as an in-between space for students to appreciate and practice the new way of ‘doing and being’, i.e. independent learning, through actively participating in a supported environment. Our approach also aligns with the belief that “assessment is integral to effective directed independent learning” (Thomas et al., 2015 p. 5).

To further consolidate students’ understanding of essential academic skills for successful study, a ‘Putting Yourself in the Tutor’s Shoes’ session is run towards the end of the programme. In this activity, students are given two essays to ‘assess’, individually and in groups; one with an ‘A’ grade and one with a ‘D’ grade. Students provide feedback on each essay with comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the essays, followed by a tutor-led 4

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discussion to capture the key learning points and clarify issues raised in students’ feedback.

This facilitates a deeper understanding of academic conventions, including the marking criteria, and encourages students to think critically. Learning activities using exemplars are believed to be effective as they provide clarity on tutors’ expectations (O’Donovan et al., 2008).

Evaluation and Discussion Evaluation of the quality of the BP learning outcomes will be based on questionnaire and focus group feedback from students, a record of their continuous engagement with ELS, and their degree results compared to the UG programme mean.

Questionnaire Feedback Questionnaires were circulated at the end of the BP (in 2014-15 Academic Year), with a completion rate of 95%, resulting in 43 qualitative questionnaires. A focus group with three students was run at the beginning of the second semester, allowing time for students to reflect on their Semester 1 results and their overall learning experience.

When asked to rate the course overall, students consistently rated the usefulness of the BP between 4.5 – 4.9 (on a scale from 1-5).

Further results from the questionnaires are

aggregated in Table 2: Table 2. Aggregated Survey Results Question 1. What was most useful? (from a provided list) • Essay activity – Putting Yourself in the Tutor’s Shoes • Received formative feedback on group reports • Group projects on educational cultural difference • Directed independent learning • Meeting ‘senior’ students

72% 42% 31% 28% 26%

Question 2. What did you most enjoy? (open question) • Group projects (for the development and practice of soft skills, such as communication and negotiation. This also includes group discussions in modular lectures and tutorials).

• Assessment of written reports and group presentations, and subsequent feedback.

• The essay activity (Putting Yourself in the Tutor’s Shoes). Help with understanding of the assessment criteria and what an essay should look like.

• Subject experience, i.e. modular lectures and tutorials • Friendliness and supportiveness of staff and their engaging, active teaching style

5

47%

26% 26% 21% 17%

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Question 3. How could the course be improved? (open question) • More practical sessions and guidance on essay writing • More subject experience, i.e. modular lectures and tutorials • More opportunity to meet British students and other international students, including ‘senior’ students and ‘new entry’ students • More research skills

31% 24% 12% 12%

Students’ comments in Question 2 and Question 3 were grouped into similar themes.

Activities about assessment (including feedback on their own work and analysing exemplar essays) were considered particularly useful. Examples of comments in the open box in Question 2 were: “The essay writing activities (getting feedback for our report and the ‘Putting Yourself in the Tutor’s Shoes’ session) are very useful. I understand better now what teachers are looking for in essays”.

“I really enjoyed the classroom debates of ‘independent learning’. I learned that as far as I have evidence and provide reasoning for my opinions, teachers would accept them”.

“I most enjoyed the free discussion between tutors and students (in subject lectures and tutorials). It encourages us to speak out, nothing matters wrong or right. In addition, we can get feedback quickly through these classroom discussions.”

Comments made by students in Question 3 show a wide range of concerns around practical essay writing skills, understanding lectures and social issues. Comments raised in the open box in Question 3 included: “More sessions about academic writing would be great. These are really different from what we learned in China, i.e. essay structure, references, how to use linking phrases etc.”

“I want to learn more about how to do group work and essay writing. I also want to know how to make notes effectively in lectures”.

“More introductory lectures and tutorials please as they are quite different from how lectures are like in China”.

“More sessions on research skills and how to find the right stuff for our essay”.

“We don’t know how to talk to local students/people, not so much about the language, but what (topics) to talk about”.

“I enjoyed learning from local students, and it would be great to also study with other nationalities too during the programme”.

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Focus Group Feedback Feedback from the focus group is summarised below: 





Students stated that they had developed an appreciation of educational differences, including essay writing, classroom discussions in tutorials and group work.

Students seemed to suggest that whereas learning information such as formulas of different accounting related ratios is still the case in Chinese institutions, there is a strong emphasis in the UK on sharing case examples, work practices, and presenting grounded reasoning when writing reports.

Overall, the consensus was that Chinese students do need to learn new ways of studying, and that university teachers need to help students better understand the assessment requirements.

Students also reported that: “It (Bridge Programme) helped me develop an understanding of educational differences in writing essays and working with others. So it was really useful for us to come earlier for that”.

“I think I am more aware of the need to be actively participating in classroom discussions … I can now see the benefits of group work beyond simply getting good marks for our (group) assignment”.

Feedback from the questionnaire and the focus group agreed with the literature that education providers need to be explicit about assessment criteria (Thomas et al., 2015).

Engagement with ELS In reviewing the usage of ELS for the 2014-15 Academic Year, 40% of the BP students requested formative feedback on their assignment drafts (some more than once), in comparison to the average of 26% of their peers in final year programmes. BP students were also more likely to utilise drop-in surgeries, ELS lectures and workshops. This continuous engagement suggests that BP students recognise the benefits of learning development interventions.

Students’ Degree Results Around 70% of the students on the BP enter Accounting and Finance Programmes at FoML. Therefore, we compared the Accounting and Finance degree award results of students who graduated in 2014 as part of the evaluation. A higher percentage of good honours were found amongst BP attendees, compared to the programme average as seen in Table 3.

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Table 3. Comparison of students’ awards in the Faculty’s UG Accounting and Finance Programmes in 2013-14 Degree classification First Class Honours Second Class Honours First Division Second Class Honours Second Division Third Class Ordinary Degree Other Exit Awards

Bridge Programme Mean from 38 students 47.4% 36.8% 13.2% 0% 2.6% 0%

Programme Mean from 138 students 29.7% 38.4% 14.5% 5.1% 8.7% 3.6%

These findings show that students on the BP achieved a higher performance score/ rate? than the rest of the cohort, although it has to be recognised that there are many factors at play, for example students on the BP were high achievers in their classes in China. These students tend to be more motivated than most, as they consider the Bradford degrees a stepping stone to postgraduate courses. Therefore, they could naturally be attracted to the benefits of extra help and effort, especially at an early stage.

Conclusion This article has presented an evaluation of a pioneering induction programme for an all Chinese learners’ group which recognizes academic cultural differences and has the aim of accelerating their transition into study at a British university. The Programme examined differences in assessment, contribution in class, and different ways of studying and learning, such as the importance UK HE places on critical analysis.

Student feedback and their further engagement with ELS suggests an appreciation of the benefits of learning interventions around contextualized academic skills. There is also the suggestion, from looking at the students’ degree results that the BP may have contributed to the students’ academic achievement.

Several changes have been made to the BP as a result of students’ feedback. One major change is that FoML is looking into expanding the BP to include all direct entry and exchange students in the 2016-17 Academic Year, aiming to encourage a more intercultural, social experience. The success of the programme has triggered the development of ELS delivering a Pathway Preparation Programme in Utrecht and in China.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR M.L.Allhouse@bradford.ac.uk

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References Gu, Q. and Maley, A. (2008). Changing places: A study of Chinese students in the UK. Language and Intercultural Communication, Vol. 8, pp. 224–245.

Hu, G. (2002). Potential for cultural resistance to pedagogical imports: The case of communicative language teaching in China. Language, Culture and Curriculum, Vol. 15, pp.

93–105.

O’Donovan, B., Price, M. and Rust, C. (2008). Developing student understanding of assessment standards: a nested hierarchy of approaches. Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 205-217.

Ryan, J. and Louie, K. (2007). False Dichotomy? ‘Western’ and ‘Confucian’ concepts of scholarship and learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory. doi: 10.1111/j.14695812.2007.00347.x Saravanamuthu, K. (2008). Reflecting on the Biggs-Watkins theory of the Chinese Learner.

Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Vol. 19, pp. 138–180.

Thomas, L., Jones, R. and Ottaway, J. (2015). Summary of the main research report on Effective practice in the design of directed independent learning opportunities. York: Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/node/10750 [Accessed 08/05/2016]

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Article Supporting international PhD students – are pastoral duties part of the package?

Tatyana Karpenko-Seccombe University of Huddersfield ABSTRACT This article aims to examine the experiences of international PhD students, highlight problems specific to these students, and outline potential solutions. The paper is based on my experience of teaching, observation and informal conversations with such students (Arabic, East-Asian, and, to a lesser degree, European) over a six-year period of teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP). First, I argue that doctoral students constitute a distinct group of learners for academic, language, social, and psychological reasons. I base this conclusion on my own experience of teaching PhD students, but this view is also supported by literature. In this article I discuss problems specific to this group, often connected with the change of their social role from lecturer to student, cultural differences in academic relationships, language insecurities, separation from the family and loneliness. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..........

Introduction PhD students often have quite significant experience of academic work in their home countries, and sometimes in the UK or another European country. Some students may have published articles, taught in universities, and given talks at conferences. This experience can be positive in that students with previous experience of academic work may be aware of an academic writing style. Academic experience gained in a different academic culture can, however, be counterproductive if a different approach to reasoning has been fostered in that culture. From past academic experience students may have formed ideas of what is or is not acceptable in academic reasoning and writing, and, as a result, may be trapped in a particular style of writing, finding it difficult to re-learn. Students sometimes struggle to understand supervisors’ comments to “be more critical”, “engage with literature”, “have own voice”, and are not sure how to improve their writing. An additional – psychological – difficulty involves loss of face for an accomplished academic who becomes a student and whose academic writing skills are challenged. This is, in my experience, one of the main causes of distress among doctoral students.

Furthermore, as international students generally represent the best educated segments of their home societies (Thomas and Althen, 1989), unrealistic hopes and expectations may 10

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be placed on them by families, friends, sponsors, university colleagues and bosses (Pedersen, 1991). These expectations give rise to pressures and anxieties about academic failure (Borg et al., 2009; Mori, 2000). Anxiety about meeting academic standards leads some students to need constant reassurance and encouragement, which is not always available from supervisors. I often encounter enquiries that would be better aimed at supervisors: Sociology student: Could you look at my plan of work for this year and tell me whether it’s OK? Business student: My supervisor tells me to use primary sources but I think I need to use secondary data – what do you think?

Business student: What is biasing in cash flow forecasting?

Academic experience Connected with the anxiety about meeting academic standards are concerns about language proficiency. Irizarry and Marlowe (2010) reported that international students on Masters programmes lacked confidence both academically and socially because of language difficulties.

Language proficiency The language proficiency of international PhD students I teach is generally higher than other students. They must obtain a minimum IELTS score between 6.0 and 7.0, depending on the discipline, with 6.5 being the average. Higher language competence makes PhD students generally a more confident group., but mature students with past academic experience are more susceptible to loss of confidence. Fear of losing face can sometimes render students virtually speechless: When people ask me to repeat I freeze and think that I cannot speak at all.

I cannot communicate at the research group sessions and with my supervisor – I always have what to say; I just cannot bring myself to saying it.

Our conversation was virtually an hour’s counselling session: the student just needed his confidence building up.

Personal issues PhD students often live away from their families and miss them. Students who come from countries with ongoing unrest, such as Libya and Syria, are pre-occupied with worry for their loved ones.

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Syrian student: I cannot work, I am so worried about my husband.

Libyan student: I cannot concentrate, I haven’t seen my family for so long, I keep thinking about them.

These problems can have serious repercussions for students’ academic progress.

Social and psychological problems Socially, PhD students constitute a very distinct group. They can be quite lonely because of the nature of PhD research work which is done mostly in isolation and with limited studentpeer interaction, with much less student-peer interaction than in the case of undergraduates.

They also have little student-lecturer interaction – only with supervisors and occasionally EAP teachers. This is counter to their cultural expectations. For example, the Chinese “teacher and student relationship in schools is similar to parents and children relationship at home… the teachers and the schools actually have the nanny function.” (Zhu, 2011). The status and role of a teacher in Islamic countries are similar. Loneliness and isolation may cause distress, anxiety and, ultimately, depression: I am lonely, and many of the international students are like me. We are not noticed by English research students.

My supervisor is very good professionally but he does not talk to me, do you think he dislikes me for something?

International students often come just to say hello or goodbye before returning to their home countries. One student came to introduce his visiting family. A student told me she spent several months barely able to leave her room through worry for her family in the midst of the Libyan conflict. Another Libyan student came to a drop-in session to show the picture of his 10-year-old cousin killed by militia.

These non-academic encounters show how international PhD students often lack simple human contact. They are lonely. The intensity and number of non-academic conversations is in my experience much higher amongst mature adult EAP learners than undergraduates. It made me think that there is a possible gap in PhD student support.

Existing support Huddersfield University is an example of good provision of support services. The Student Wellbeing

webpages

(https://www.hud.ac.uk/wellbeing-disability-services/wellbeing/)

provide a wealth of information: what counselling is, what the service can offer, what issues 12

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are commonly discussed, what confidentiality means, and how to refer a person to a counsellor. There is a special service for students who are depressed, suffering from mental problems, and for students falling behind with their work, including an offer to liaise with personal tutors, course or academic skills tutors, or outside agencies. Yet, it does not seem to reach many international researchers; although the need may be high, they are often reluctant to seek help through counselling. My experience of communicating with PhD students about counselling is supported in the literature (Mori, 2000; Boon et al.2011). Research suggests that international students are less likely to use counselling services than domestic students (Carr, Koyama and Thiagarajan, 2003; Hyun et al., 2007; Tung, 2011).

Underused services Three main reasons can be identified for underuse of such services by international students.

Lack of awareness. International students are very often unaware of services to help students with counselling and psychological support. They may have no experience of such services in their own countries (Kilinc and Granello, 2003). If similar services do not exist at home, students are unlikely to look out for them when they need help in the UK. Unwillingness to use the services. The attitudes of international students towards counselling are often negative. Such attitudes are grounded primarily in students’ cultural backgrounds.

Disclosure of personal problems to counsellors in some cultures may be regarded as shameful (Nina, 2009). Stigma associated with mental disorders like depression is a major barrier for many in seeking timely help (Boghosian, 2011).

Language factors. Language is a major barrier to students seeking help. Students are unsure that they will be able to communicate productively with a counsellor or understand the advice given. This was noticed among Middle Eastern students (Boghosian, 2011), Chinese and Malaysian students (Jenkins et al., 1991) and international students in general (Yeh and Inose, 2003). I have also encountered it in my practice. Several students have said that they felt uneasy and embarrassed when they could not completely follow the counsellor.

Possible solutions There could be several possible solutions to help international postgraduate students deal with these difficulties. For successful acculturation, students need intensive support, and one of the channels of support, I would argue, should be EAP teachers.

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Stronger pastoral role.

EAP teachers need to accept a stronger pastoral role because international students are particularly vulnerable and need non-academic help to avoid the risks of ineffective research or even an inability to function in the community. Universities may not be in loco parentis, but they still have an important duty of care. EAP teachers should adopt a stronger pastoral role as students’ first port of call for help. EAP teachers are in regular contact with students.

They are seen by students as being outside the formal environment of the faculty or department. Jenkins et al. (1991) concluded that support offered by the tutor and academic staff is perceived as much more important than other campus services. EAP teachers working with adult researchers are bridging the gap in the provision of a comprehensive learning environment. A stronger pastoral role could take different forms: making students aware of what mental health support there is and what it aims to do; explaining difficult issues such as confidentiality; liaising with mental health professionals and referring students to them when necessary; and just being available, not only for language sessions, but also for a chat.

Stronger cultural element in curriculum Including strong cultural element into everyday classroom teaching is supported by many scholars. Holm, for example, developed principles rationalising using cultural elements in language curriculum. He argues that “knowledge of culture presupposes a competence which is essential to the grasp of language’s true meaning”. (2003, p. 20). EAP teachers can integrate social and academic conventions, attitudes, values and cultural priorities in language programmes to facilitate the acculturation processes and develop cultural awareness courses.

Awareness of mental disorders.

My experience with international researchers has left me with an acute feeling of not being qualified to deal with many of these problems. My concern has been to make it easier for international students to make the difficult first contact with specialists. Because international students are reluctant to seek services on their own, it is crucial for counsellors to act proactively by increasing the visibility and accessibility of counselling facilities. I have invited our mental health counsellor to participate in PhD students Induction Days with a talk about the service, emphasising the positive experiences of international student service users and confidentiality. Now at Huddersfield University we are in the process of organising a PhD support group with participation of EAP teachers and mental health professionals.

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Awareness of international students’ distresses, anxieties and disorders appears not to be covered in TESOL or PgCert Teaching English for Academic Purposes courses. An indication of these issues in courses for EAP teachers would be helpful.

Conclusions In conclusion, I would emphasise that international PhD students are different from other presessional or in-sessional students. Lack of self-confidence, language insecurity, risk of “losing face”, high expectations from others, family problems, and loneliness make them vulnerable to anxieties and even depression. However, they may not access standard wellbeing and mental health services. The reasons are often cultural, but sometimes students are simply unaware of the available support. Alongside supervisors, EAP teachers are often the first port of call for a distressed student and should get involved in the process of nonacademic support by: •

developing a strong pastoral element in student interactions;

•

introducing a strong cultural element into curricula;

•

liaising with mental health specialists on campus.

This approach can flag problems before they become critical. It may also improve students’ cultural awareness, enhance their psychological resilience, and generally make their research experience more secure and more fulfilling.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR tatyana@gogol.f9.co.uk

References Boghosian, S., 2011. Counseling and psychotherapy with clients of Middle Eastern descent: A qualitative inquiry. PhD Dissertation Utah State University, http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/898 Accessed on 08.06.2013.

Boon, M, Edwards, G., Haltom, M., 2011. Let’s talk: Getting out of the counseling centre to serve hard-to-reach students. Journal of multicultural counseling and development, 39 (4), pp. 194-205.

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Borg, M., Maunder, R., Jiang, X., Walsh, E., Fry, H. and Di Napoli, R., 2009. International Students and Academic Acculturation. In Internationalisation and the student voice: higher education perspectives, Jones, E. (ed) London: Routledge, pp.181-192.

Carr, J.L., Miki Koyama, M. and Thiagarajan, M., 2003. A women's support group for Asian international students. Journal of American College Health, 52(3), pp.131-134.

Holme, R., 2003. Carrying a Baby in the Back: Teaching with an Awareness of the Cultural Construction of Language.In Languages for intercultural communication and education, 6 Context and culture in language teaching, Byram, M. and Grundy, R. (eds) Multilingual matters: Sydey, pp.18-31.

Hyun, J., Quinn, B., Madon, T. and Lustig, S., 2007. Mental health need, awareness, and use of counseling services among international graduate students. Journal of American College Health, 56(2), pp.109-118.

Irizarry, C. and Marlowe, J., 2010. Beyond mere presence—making diversity work. Social Work Education, 29(1), pp.96-107.

Kilinc, A. and Granello, P.F., 2003. Overall life sastisfaction and help-seeking attitudes of Turkish college students in the United States: Implications for college counselors. Journal of College Counseling, 6(1), pp.56-68.

Mori, S.C., 2000. Addressing the mental health concerns of international students. Journal of counseling and development, 78(2), pp.137-144.

Nina, A. (2009). International students' awareness and use of counseling services. McNair Scholars Research Journal, 5(1), pp. 29-33.

Pedersen, P.B., 1991. Counseling international students. The counseling psychologist, 19(1), pp.10-58.

Thomas, K. and Althen, G., 1989. Counseling foreign students. Counseling across cultures, 3, pp.205-241.

Tung, W.C., 2011. Acculturative stress and help-seeking behaviors among international students. Home Health Care Management and Practice, 23(5), pp.383-385.

Yeh, C.J. and Inose, M., 2003. International students' reported English fluency, social support satisfaction, and social connectedness as predictors of acculturative stress. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 16(1), pp.15-28.

Zhu, C., 2011. Students’ Understanding of Values Diversity: An Examination of the Process and Outcomes of Values Communication in English Lessons in a High School in Mainland China. Doctoral dissertation. University of Huddersfield, http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/11037/ .

Accessed on 08.06.2013.

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Student Article From the U.S. to the UK: My Exchange Experience Marissa Nolan University of Sussex ABSTRACT This article describes one U.S. student’s experience of her exchange from the United States to the United Kingdom. She is a third year visiting student studying Marketing. In the following, she analyses the cultural differences and difficulties she has found in her time so far. ……………………………………………………………………………………………..........

Host Family I have been living in the United Kingdom for the three months with a host family. They do not live far from university, and the family is comprised of a single mother and a nine yearold son. I did not expect many differences in lifestyle considering that the U.S. and the UK are arguably similar. However, I have learned a great amount about the British family from living with a host family, and there is a surprising amount of subtle differences between cultures. I have had the opportunity to eat authentic British meals, receive local and international travel advice from my host family, and learn new British language terms. I have embraced the hospitality and mannerisms of the UK, even if I do sound a bit funny saying “cheers”. My host mother and I often enjoy comparing cultures over dinner, especially with regards to food, government and school systems. Living with a host family has truly allowed me to become immersed into British culture, and I believe it enhances my experience.

Language Although the United States and United Kingdom both speak English, sometimes it seems as though we are not speaking the same language at all. Because of the variations in terminology, I have been in conversations where I had no idea what my British friends were discussing. This was not something that I had anticipated. I knew that I would encounter small term differences such as the term “wellies” for what Americans call “rain boots”, but there is a whole new set of vocabulary for activities, foods, and slang that does not exist in American English. For this reason, I have occasionally felt lost in conversation due to the terms and strong accents. It is a strange thing to listen to a language I know and feel like I do 18

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not understand it at all. Luckily, most of my misunderstandings are clarified with slower speech and repeated questions. After realising all of the vocabulary differences, I have eagerly learned each new word I encounter and have even started using them myself.

People So far, I have met a wide variety of people. Brighton itself is known to be incredibly diverse, and I am even shocked by how many different languages I hear spoken on the bus every day.

At the university, the amount of diversity is no different. We have an incredible mix of students from many countries, and it has given me the opportunity to experience more cultures than just the British culture. In fact, most students that I have met are also international students. There is a caveat to this; because most of us enter after the first year of university, most British students have already formed their group of friends. This is a separate issue in its entirety, but I have managed to meet a few British pupils in my classes. Generally, everyone I have met has been incredibly friendly, and I am appreciating the diversity of people with which I get to build friendships.

Transportation After using the bus system in Brighton and the train system in London, I may never want to return to public transportation in my home city. The ease with which a person can get from one end of a city to another in England is amazing and quite a rarity in most American cities.

Although we do have our outliers, the tube in London is far more comprehensive. I cannot imagine how beneficial this must be for business people who do not own cars or do not want to drive their cars into the city. My experience with the transportation systems here has been quite a treat.

Style Before arriving in the UK, I had heard that British people were more fashionable than Americans. After being here for a month, I can definitively say that British people more often dress nicer than Americans on a day to day basis. The British are incredibly stylish as well, and the shopping is something I have been enjoying. It is clear to me how British people can tell travellers from locals just by the way they dress.

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University Classes Among various discussions about country differences, the university system has been a prominent topic of analysis. The structure of the university system in the UK is significantly different than that in the US. While I am used to attending classes twice to three times a week for an hour and a half each session, I am only in class once for two hours a week per class at the University of Sussex. This has taken some adjusting, considering I am used to spending more face to face time with the tutors. Additionally, there is relatively more reading required for each class, especially when the class does not have a textbook and is only based off of a selection of articles. As a result of a combination of these two aspects, this term has been heavy in independent learning.

Another different aspect is the assessments. There are far fewer assessments here in the UK and they are, in turn, weighted much more. This is intimidating for me as an international student and rather stressful. I am learning to do pre-reading for these essays and assessments and hoping to learn the British style of writing so that I may succeed in my assessments coming in December.

Finally, I have experienced a bit of a culture “shock”, even moving from the United States to the United Kingdom. Everything from unexpected differences in language to anticipated differences in learning style have been incredible to experience. Living with a host family and attending university in the UK has allowed me to truly become immersed in the culture here. I would not have it any other way. I value my time here and I cannot wait to expand my experiences as I finish my term at the University of Sussex.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR MARISSA .NOLAN.27@GMAIL .COM

Follow the ISEJ on social media and check our new YouTube Channel.

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Student Article

Studying MBA Abroad: Integrating Theory with Practice Abobakr Aljuwaiber Community College, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia

Abstract This paper is a reflection on my own experience learning-by-doing while I was an international student studying on an MBA programme in the UK. It adopts Gibbs’ reflective model in an attempt to present a clear vision of my experience of engaging in two consultancy projects as part of the MBA programme. This article also attempts to review the consulting year experience against the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice. It shows how the Code influenced and shaped my approach and how I dealt with any conflicts with the Code. …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Introduction Reflecting on our learning experience is not only about being aware of our aptitude and ability. Going beyond this, it helps us acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses, understand how we should approach certain experiences differently, and realise what we have learned.

At the beginning of this paper I would like to share Biggs and Tang’s (2007, pp.43) an views on reflection: When you stand in front of a mirror what you see is your reflection, what you are at the time. Transformative reflection is rather like the mirror in Snow White: it tells you what you might become. This mirror uses theory to enable the transformation from the unsatisfactory what-is to the more effective what-might-be.

In order to provide a comprehensive reflection on my experience, I have adopted Gibbs’ model illustrated in Figure 1.

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Description Action Plan

Feelings

Conclusion

Evaluation Analysis

Figure 1: Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. Source: Adapted from Gibbs, G., 1988.

Description: From theory to practice During the twelve months of my MBA study at UEA, I was required to conduct two different consultancy projects that provided advice and expertise not only to clients but also to consultants. These two consultancy projects provided knowledge about conducting professional projects by utilising advisory tools. I learned how to apply consultancy tools in business consulting and steer consultancy skills to benefit the client. Furthermore, I understood that integrity, honesty and trust, among other factors, help improve consultancy quality and client satisfaction (Sadler, 2001), making business consulting a valuable resource that plays a vital role in developing businesses and improving an organisation’s performance environment (Sadler, 2001).

This twelve-month journey was also one of personal development in terms of achieving the high standards required in professional consultancy. As business consulting has become crucial for many organisations, particularly due to the downturn in the economy, the consultant has the opportunity to shape a firm’s future and find solutions for its problems (Biech, 2007). The Code of Professional Conduct and Practice established by the Institute of Consulting (IC) enabled me to understand how to be a team player in forging strong bonds with clients, and providing a unique service with excellent outcomes.

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Feelings: First steps into real business Working with people in the real business world and delivering a consultancy report was a new experience for me. Two consultancy projects had to be implemented as a requirement to complete the MBA. This section presents my impressions during my work on the two consultancy projects and highlights what went well and what did not. In addition, it serves to describe my contribution to these projects and the lessons that I learned from this endeavour.

The first consultancy project posed two big challenges. The first was the language barrier. Being a non-native English speaker had a huge impact on my confidence and selfesteem. On several occasions I was embarrassed and upset by my own inability to clearly express my opinions before the client or the group. I found myself lost in some conversations and unable to fully participate in discussions. Later, I discovered that I was not alone in this as other team members who were not native speakers of English also had the same problem.

One of the things that I tried to improve my involvement in discussions and enhance the level of my language proficiency was through increasing my knowledge about the firm and its industry field. For example, the company from the first project was providing franchise consulting services, and therefore, I started reading about franchising industry in order to broaden my knowledge about the franchising industry and to involve actively in the conversation during the meetings with the client.

Another challenge was my level of knowledge about the client’s business. For both consultancy projects, I found during the first meeting with the client that project objectives seemed vague and unclear to the team, owing to lack of prior knowledge or experience in the client’s specific sector. Kubr (2002) states that the consultant should be prepared for the initial meeting by collecting essential orientation information about the client, including the environment and the problems existing in the sector of activity concerned. Therefore, as a member of the team, I started to improve my knowledge about the industry from the sources provided by the client.

Evaluation: A consultant in student attire As the first consultancy project was a new experience for me, I found myself struggling to get the best out of it. As I work better alone, I found team work ultimately affected my contribution. However, I did everything I could to take advantage of this project. For example, I read articles and other sources to increase my knowledge about the nature of the

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client’s business. I also decided to use my skills in research and design and utilise them to support the team.

I also found this project a good opportunity for me to work closely in a business context, focusing on how to be professional in presenting consultancy skills through an understanding of organisational cultural behaviour and business operations (Kefela, 2010). I also learned how to bring in fresh ideas, particularly during meetings with the client. For example, the core business of the client from the first project was to provide consulting services for companies based in franchising industries. Therefore, I shared with the client some consulting tools and new approaches that I learned from the MBA Consulting course.

This shared knowledge between academia and businesses could drive the business by widening the client's scope of knowledge, particularly for small and medium businesses.

Moreover, the team worked harmoniously, with no critical disputes or fruitless arguments among members. I believe this was a result of understanding and respecting each other’s needs and points of view, which ultimately leads to compatibility between team members.

Presenting the work before the client was an important aspect as we frequently kept the client in the loop about the overall task and our findings. I thought it would be good to impress the client with an element of surprise, and suggested that we show the client selected aspects of the desk research done, and provide a comprehensive picture only on the day of the presentation. The team thus made a successful presentation which pleased the client and resulted in an invitation to dinner for the whole team. At the end of this first consultancy project, it was a great opportunity to enlighten myself about my strengths and weaknesses. I felt sure that I would be able to contribute much more to the next project as this one helped me to become a more active and aware learner.

Thus the second consultancy project gave me another opportunity to venture into a new business context and improve my knowledge and skills, while implementing the lessons I learned from the first project. I found myself feeling more confident and I was able to make different contributions by coming up with new ideas, discussing my thoughts and also arguing my side when necessary. From the beginning of this project, I made up my mind to be positive and take part in each group discussion. Thus, I found myself participating fully and more rewardingly in all aspects of this project in comparison with the previous one.

With respect to the project’s success factors, I found that establishing appropriate objectives for every stage of the project and tracking them to ensure they were achieved was helpful in developing a strategy for mitigating unexpected setbacks. The team used the Seven

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Cs tool (Figure 2) to support the project, from the first meeting with the client to the closure of the project. This framework describes different stages within the project lifecycle, and also illustrates how the overall process of a consultancy project should be carried out and how a team might cope with difficult situations.

2 Clarify

3 Create

4 Change

5 Confirm

6 Continue

7 Close

Figure 2: Seven Cs framework. Source: Adopted from Cope, M., 2003.

The following stages are examples of how the team dealt with the Seven Cs tool in the first consultancy project.

Client: Success of the consultancy project depends on the relationship between client and the consultancy team, and its support to achieve the objectives of the project (Cope, 2003). When the team submitted the proposal of the project to the client, they were very impressed with it, particularly the details which explained our clear mechanism for carrying out the project. The reaction of the managing director was that this proposal gave him “a good first impression”.

Clarify: The team showed their understanding of the project’s objectives and the client’s needs by submitting a detailed proposal of all aspects of the project.

Create: The team decided to conduct an online survey using SurveyMonkey. Along the way, the team made calls and hold phone interviews. In addition, the team was successful in supporting the report with academic research, news articles and analytical tools and models. All these processes pleased the client, particularly receiving good outcomes of the report.

Change: The problem of low response rate forced the team to take immediate action to resolve the issue by expanding the channels of communication with the target participants.

These factors underpinned the project process and helped the team explain the effect of an

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inadequate database, suggesting that details should be updated for any future surveys they might conduct.

Confirm: The team proposed to the client to conduct a survey through SurveyMonkey, and explained the anticipated costs of using the tool as well as the expected period using this service. The client then agreed to support the team in taking the online approach. The client also confirmed that the questionnaire was designed correctly, and consisted of quantitative and qualitative aspects.

Continue: The team was keen to provide the client with a clear project to be used in the future, with several business tools and models that can also assist them. We aimed to add new value to their business to be continued in the future.

Close: The team was able to close this project down and please the client with a comprehensive study, despite the lack of responses. Our desire was to handle this project professionally and deliver the appropriate outcomes. The project ended with an invitation from the client for a meal with the team, which was an expression of their satisfaction with the findings from the survey.

I personally found that using a clear model to steer the project along the right track is very important to ensure its success. For example, the consultancy project was dependent on the relationship between client and the consultancy team, to achieve the objectives (Cope, 2003). I remember how impressed our client was during the submission of the project proposal, particularly with regard to the details which explained our clear mechanisms for implementing the project.

Participation in a real business context comes with several challenges and obstacles that may affect the timeline of the project. Perhaps one of the main obstacles we met, as a group, during the consultancy project was there was no direct contact with the actual client in order to obtain information to take the work to the next level. For example, in the second consultancy project which dealt with entrepreneurship issues, the team struggled to understand the client’s main objectives, and found that the contact person was not clear about the needs of the chairman. However, to overcome this obstacle, the team sought to draw up several hypotheses in order to lead us to ask the right questions and perform the correct analyses for our objectives (Rasiel and Friga, 2002).

It is difficult to work in a new

environment with a lack of information and experience. Furthermore, as a student, I may have used some terms commonly used in academic contexts, such as ‘critical evaluation’, which, in the client’s view, are inappropriate in a business report.

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Analysis: How the theory influenced my practice?

The MBA course aims to develop managerial skills for students to enable them to deal with the real business environment. I personally believe that theory without practice learned in lectures may not support MBA students in understanding business life in the real world, as such, the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice provided by Institute of Consulting influenced my approach as an MBA student providing consultancy. Business consulting requires codes of professional conduct that govern the mechanisms of consultancy and provide high standards in the final results of a project. Sadler (2001) highlights the following basic principles that codes of professional conduct should embody: 

High standards of service to the client;



Independence, objectively and integrity; and



Responsibility to the profession and to the institute.

Applying the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice to business consulting assisted me in determining how best to approach the two projects, and what actions to take. Despite each project having its own characteristics, this Code enriched my understanding and enabled me to enhance my strengths and overcome my weaknesses. Moreover, during the two team projects, I sought to use the most relevant points of the Code to shape my approaches to these projects. For instance, I appreciated that having a sense of responsibility and accountability would reflect positively on the outcomes of the project. I believe that consultants could be good ambassadors for their organisation if they surpass the expectations of stakeholders, since reputation, whether positive or negative, is associated with the name of the organisation rather than with the names of individuals. Hence, the responsibility of achieving the organisation’s objectives lies more with the team than with individuals. According to Sturdy et al. (2009), the Code of Professional Conduct illustrates the best practice a consultant needs to adopt in order to bring new knowledge into organisations and to provide high quality outcomes to the ultimate beneficiary.

I was also able to improve my own personal management practice, particularly in the first project. I sought to strive for excellence at all times and continued to develop my management competences. Furthermore, working on these two projects was a unique opportunity to consolidate the “theoretical” and the practical in a real business context. The lesson that I learned from each project was to take into consideration not only the clients but 27

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also the need to impact on other stakeholders, such as the University, by providing excellent outcomes. Fombrun (1996) indicates that reputation is considered an intangible asset and a source of competitive advantage; hence, as a team, it was our responsibility to deliver outstanding projects that help to enhance the competitiveness of the organisations and achieve the required objectives through the consultancy projects. Moreover, a good reputation has a positive impact on client satisfaction and also on the client’s brand image, thus adding value to their business.

Furthermore, when I applied the core competences (outlined in the code) to my personal management practice, I found it would be better to act within my level of competence and skills. When team members divide the responsibilities according to their skills it can assist them greatly in delivering a good project. Kubr (2002) believes that the consultant should possess qualities in two broad categories: intellectual abilities (e.g. dilemma analysis) and personal attributes (e.g. integrity). I agree with Kubr that, in management consulting, the consultant should possess analytical and problem-solving abilities to be able to implement projects in a professional way.

These Codes imposed on me a degree of accountability to achieve the objectives and tasks throughout the stages of the projects, irrespective of any obstacles I faced. For instance, in one of the projects there were several obstacles and challenges related to ambiguity of objectives and working under time pressure, but I got through by using the resources available in order to fulfil what was expected from me. For instance, I contributed by reading the three allocated articles and summarising them for the team, as part of our desk research. I came to understand that it is a shared responsibility to identify any problems and consider all possible solutions. From my perspective, shared responsibility is what the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice embodies in terms of helping consultants achieve the highest possible standards for clients at all times.

Furthermore, the Code emphasises the importance of effective, open communication.

Throughout both projects, although I was not the team leader, I worked with the team members and sought to build trust and communicate clearly with the client. This certainly helped me to anticipate any problems and explain any unclear points. According to Kubr (2002, p. 69) “A consultant who demonstrates sincere interest, an understanding of the client’s problems and concerns, and flexibility can expect the same from the client”. The Code also enabled me to act independently and objectively, particularly when there were differences of opinion in the team and I needed to be objective so as to deliver the projects’

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aims. Another point in the Code, regarding managing others, refers to the importance of having clear team rules which can be adhered to by all team members. This helped me to deal with my colleagues, respect their opinions and give them support, particularly when under time pressure.

The Code assisted me in my adaptation to a new culture, especially as we were dealing with external clients. We showed respect to the clients’ stakeholders in our communications with them and found appropriate times to obtain the required information from them. Moreover, acting in an ethical manner, complying with the regulations of professional ethical behaviour and respecting customers, is an essential part of strengthening the consultant’s relationship with the client and with any other relevant parties (Higgs-Kleyn & Kapelianis, 1999).

Conclusion Working in the field of business consulting through the various stages involved in the two above-mentioned projects has given me experience that will help me in my future professional life. I have had the opportunity to develop my competence in management consultancy and also my understanding of how to deal with clients professionally.

Furthermore, I learned how to plan, establish the foundations of consulting work, develop a marketing plan, build an effective team, and hone managerial and other skills that are summarised in much of the theory of the MBA course at UEA. Besides, I realised that understanding more about the topic helped me make a better contribution to the project.

However, if I had had the opportunity to study for the MBA in my native language, this would perhaps have improved my learning capacity, which would have positively affected my understanding of, and engagement in, the business context. Moreover, if I had had a chance to improve my competence in management consulting and get to know more about the UK business environment, I would have involved in a part-time job while doing the English course before the commencement of the MBA course and become familiar with the business process.

As my aim of this report is to transfer the experience that I gained in my MBA studies to my future job, it is important keep in touch with my MBA colleagues who are interested in, or working in, the consultancy field and exchange information and experience. In addition, I will subscribe to magazines and periodicals related to consultancy work. Finally, it is important to carry out research and studies concerned with management and development

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issues in my home country, Saudi Arabia. I will make this a goal for my learning and carrying out research in the consultancy field.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR abobakrju@gmail.com References Biggs, J. and Tang, C., 2011. Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill International.

Biech, E., 2007. The Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

Cope, M., 2003. The Seven Cs of Consulting: The Definitive Guide to the Consulting Process.

2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Fombrun, C. J., 1996. Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image. Watertown, MA : Harvard Business School Press.

Gibbs, G., 1988. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. London: Further Education Unit.

Higgs-Kleyn, N. and Kapelianis, D., 1999. The Role of Professional Codes in Regulating Ethical Conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 19 (4), pp.363-374.

Kubr, M., 2002. Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession. 4th ed. Geneva: International Labour Organisation.

Rasiel, E. M. and Friga, P., 2002. The McKinsey Mind Understanding and Implementing the Problem-Solving Tools and Management Techniques of the World’s Top Strategic Consulting Firm. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Sadler, P., 2001. Management Consultancy: A Handbook for Best Practice. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page Limited.

Sturdy, A., Clark, T., Handley, K. and Fincham, R., 2009. Management Consultancy: Boundaries and Knowledge in Action. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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Student Article ‘Welcome to the Bubble’ Valeriya Ryabchina University of St Andrews ‘Welcome to the Bubble’ was the first phrase I heard in Saint Andrews. It was my first day, and I had no idea either what ‘the Bubble’ meant, nor how exactly Saint Andrews looked.

Being very curious about the place where I was planning to spend five years, I had done some research prior to coming. I learned that it is a tiny city, with only three streets, one of which has Starbucks on it. The University has a high percentage of international students, is high in the ranking of student satisfaction, and has more than 100 societies. All these facts, especially the existence of Starbucks, sounded very intriguing and promising and I was looking forward to finding out what made the student satisfaction rate so high and after all, how the University had managed to attract Prince William. Having grown up in a city with a population of over 7 million, Saint Petersburg, I was apprehensive about such a radical change from a megalopolis to a small town, or as my friends like to joke about it, a ‘village’ with three streets. However, after living in Saint Andrews for one academic year, I can confidently say that my fear was not justified and it is possible to keep yourself entertained and even have the best four or, in my case, five years in your life. Given that many UK universities are located in university towns and share a lot in common with Saint Andrews, my experience of moving to a new country for my undergraduate studies can be helpful for other students considering doing the same.

So what is it that makes thousands of students from all over the world come to St Andrews for their undergraduate studies? Of course, the most straightforward answer is its academic excellence. However, being a student myself and having talked to many other students about it, I can be certain that it is by no means the only factor in choosing a university. If you have to spend 4 or even more years in a different country, you will take into account much more than just the level of education offered by a university. In my opinion, it is the unique traditions of Saint Andrews that attract international students to it and make the years they spend here among the most memorable of their lives. While I am familiar only 31

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with the traditions of Saint Andrews, I am sure that each British university has its unique traditions, which allows students to fully engage with the university.

Since I had not been to St Andrews, in fact, not even to Scotland before, I had to explore all these traditions myself in my foundation year. The first tradition that I became familiar with was the Sunday Pier Walk, one of the oldest traditions of Saint Andrews. This tradition involves wearing red gowns and walking to the pier on a Sunday morning. Its description might not sound so exciting, but it is truly one of the most important communitycreating events. When you meet hundreds of other students all wearing gowns in St Salvator's Quad, founded in 1450, and you all walk to the pier together, you realise how significant this tradition is for the entire university. It is one of the unifying forces of Saint Andrews which connects foundation students with the PhDs, and the local people with students who have just arrived. It is one of the events where your age, country of origin or degree do not matter; all that matters is that you are part of Saint Andrews. The Pier Walk is just a specific example of this tradition in Saint Andrews, in other universities it might be any student processions that attract a significant number of people. In my opinion, these events are a great way for international students to make friends and feel part of the university community.

Another major tradition of Saint Andrews which is present in many universities is the organization of balls. Here a ball is just a large party, very often with a dinner at the beginning. The balls are so popular among the students that there is almost a competition between different societies for the status of ‘the best ball of the year’. They are organised by all kinds of societies from the LGBT society to the Society of Neuroscience and Psychology.

Each ball has its own theme and attracts members as well as non-members of the society.

This means that you can come with the people you already know from the society and meet more at the ball. Similar to the Pier Walk, balls attract all kinds of students and suit any interests by differing in location, theme, dress code and type of music. At these kinds of events I, personally, forget that I am an international student and feel like I am at home, celebrating something with my old friends from school. Therefore, the balls and any other dance dance events play a major part in international students’ integration experience by allowing them to further establish their relations with their friends from societies or classes and make new friends.

The last tradition that I would like to talk about is the academic family. This term might sound very studious and you might picture strict, mature students serious about their classes, who are appointed to look after freshers. That is the image that I had at the beginning 32

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of the year. However, contrary to my expectations, instead of supervising me, my academic parents offered valuable advice on studies, societies, time management, in fact, any questions that an inexperienced fresher could have. The academic parents have nothing to do with classes, or academic life, they are there to provide support and advice in times of difficulty, and to have fun with. For example, the beginning of October is marked by Raisin Monday – a morning when academic parents give their ‘children’ funny costumes to wear in a foam fight that takes place in Saint Salvator’s Quad, the fifteenth century university buildings.

Unfortunately, this year I did not experience this tradition myself because the foundation programme had classes during that time, but I saw people walking down the streets afterwards and could feel joy, excitement, and friendship in the air. Thus, in Saint Andrews the support for freshers takes the form of the academic families, but it is not much different from other universities where older students give advice to younger students and help them settle in calmly.

So what is the secret of St Andrews’ popularity amongst students from all over the world, more generally, what is the secret of the success of British Universities? My answer is that it is the university traditions that allow international students to fully participate in the university life, become immersed in the environment and feel at home. The University of Saint Andrews is a clear example of the importance of traditions: it is a remote city in already remote Scotland, yet it has a high satisfaction rate and a significant proportion of international students. I think this is the case of most British universities, and each institution has its particular strengths. However, the level of education offered here is not the only reason why it is so popular amongst international students and why they all have positive memories of life in the UK for the rest of their life. In my opinion, taking part in university traditions is the best way for international students to fully join in with university life and to make the most of their time abroad.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR vr31@st-andrews.ac.uk

Note from the Student Contributions Editor The experience at St Andrews is clearly outstanding, and we are aware that the level of integration of international students can vary between institutions (and from student to student).

If your university does something special to help new students feel part of the community, we would love you to write and tell us about it.

Ricky Lowes

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Conference Report Finding the Balance: Language and Content in EAP – University of St Andrews EAP Conference 2016, 27 February 2016 Gary Riley-Jones Goldsmiths, University of London The annual St Andrews EAP Conference, led by Kerry Tavakoli, has become a key event in the EAP calendar and this year’s conference – entitled ‘Finding the Balance: Language and Content in EAP’ – was especially notable, with a wide range of sessions from the highly theoretical to the practical. The issue of language and content in EAP – as Jane Magee, Director of English Language Teaching at St Andrews, states – ‘goes straight to the heart of what we do’ and the plenaries led by Dan Jones from Leicester and Steve Kirk from Durham, along with the wide range of sessions, ensured that there was something for everyone.

In the first plenary, entitled From non-integrated language to CLIL: five approaches to EAP support, Dan Jones gave an overview of the theoretical and practical considerations which relate to balancing language and content, and outlined five approaches as follows: nonintegrated language support; English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP); English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP); ESAP PLUS; and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). In examining these approaches, which Dan claimed lay on a spectrum, he argued that any approach must take into account the perspectives of students, the institution and the EAP department. An interesting point, especially with more content-based approaches, was that subject tutors were often most concerned with punctuation, spelling and grammar and, further, for many academics, language and content were distinct domains and related to issues of identity. For example, citing Tuck (2015), Dan highlighted the experience of ‘Sue’, a subject tutor who viewed ‘poor writing skills’ as ‘a time-consuming distraction from what she believes is her core task; helping students “understand the science”’. Dan concluded his presentation by asking the audience to consider the future of EAP and to continue to question our role within the institution and what more we can be doing.

In the next session I attended, Jonathan Randall, from the University of the Arts London, spoke on ‘Insessional Borderlands: Walking a wobbly path in Art and Design’. In this fascinating presentation, Jon outlined some of the issues involved in insessional provision at a university composed of six colleges, each with its own distinct identity.

Focusing on the MA Fashion Marketing Group at the London College of Fashion, Jon demonstrated the difficulties of generic writing classes, while at the same time highlighting the issues associated with subject areas that have a broad range of genres and conventions.

Jon explained how he responds to such issues, but perhaps the most interesting aspect for me, as an EAP tutor at Goldsmiths, was how it was apparent that the epistemology of ‘art’ is constructed quite differently between institutions.

Knowledge was also central to Riccardo Galgani’s (University of Glasgow) presentation on Doing things with knowledge: aligning skills and language with content. In his presentation Riccardo discussed how content knowledge develops in relation to the design of EAP syllabi and the skills and language that are taught, and tested, at given points. Central to his argument was a quotation from Anderson and Hounsell (2007: 472) cited by Hunter and Tse (2013: 228), who discuss the ‘inseparability of “learning and articulation” and the 35

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“indivisibility of the learning of content and the discursive practices associated with that content”’. Riccardo sought to examine the extent to which EAP courses, and in particular short/intensive pre-sessional courses, teach the skills which are appropriate to, and correspond with, the content knowledge students have at a given moment, and what they need to do, or can do, with that knowledge.

Following his presentation, I attended a workshop led by Dustin Hosseini from Royal Holloway, entitled ‘Every collaboration helps you grow’: Embedding support for subject literacies. In the workshop, Dustin presented materials that were developed in collaboration with the School of Management at Royal Holloway for first-year undergraduate students.

After lunch, Steve Kirk gave the second plenary, entitled ‘We don’t need to CLIL it; we need to KILL it: knowledge-integrated language learning for EAP. Drawing on Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)’. Steve demonstrated that the focus should be more on the term ‘knowledge’ than on ‘content’. In practical terms, Steve referred to such approaches espoused by John Swales and Fiona English. However, Steve’s argument highlighted the value of semantic waves as an essential characteristic of teaching cumulative knowledge-building, and it was his contention that bringing knowledge practices and language practices closer together would allow a pedagogy more in line with a more research-orientated view of EAP. Next up was Sevendy Patchamuthu from the University of Southampton. Sevendy’s presentation was entitled ‘Academic Critical Thinking Skills for ESAP Engineering: a research into theory, practice and the development of critical thinking skills with Engineering Foundation Year programme.’ On a personal level this was an especially interesting session, as my own research is based around what it means to be critical in Fine Art and, judging from Sevendy’s presentation, it appears that Engineering subject lecturers have a ‘commonsensical’ understanding of what it means to be critical; a fact reflected in Sevendy’s own use of Dewey’s original conception of Reflective Thinking in her research.

The final session I attended was led by Jane Brearley and Elaine Lopez from the University of Leeds. In their presentation. It’s not just about language: the Leeds contentbased pre-sessional, Jane and Elaine discussed how they developed such a course in collaboration with academic departments. This was a very interesting presentation as it reflected a real collaboration between Jane, who works in the Language Centre at Leeds and Elaine who, although a subject tutor in the School of Education, also has a background in EAP. The conference was a highly stimulating and enjoyable event, and next year’s conference focusing on cohesion, to be held at St Andrews on 25 February 2017, is sure to be equally successful. Many of the presentation slides, along with recordings of the plenaries, and the conference programme, are available on the University of St Andrews’ English Language Teaching website https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/elt/eapconference/ A Storify of the event is also available on Twitter via @baleap, together with commentary by @baleap @BellaReichard @GoldLinguist and @DustinAcEd, among others.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR G.Riley-Jones@gold.ac.uk

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Book Review International Students: The Essential Guide to Study Abroad by Lucas Burns Jason D. Murdock University of Wyoming ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………………………..........

Book details      

Title: International Students: The Essential Guide to Study Abroad Author: Lucas Burns Format: Kindle Edition Print Length: 37 pages Language: English ASIN: B012HZCH74

1.1 This handbook-style publication is a collection of personal experience and advice for current and prospective international students, as well as students considering a semester or year abroad. It is a short, concise lesson in how attitude can shape your overall experiences in another culture.

Burns has organized his book into sections dealing with specific issues that international and study abroad students could struggle with, and then gives advice and specific examples to help alleviate those issues. He then builds on previous sections, making the book logical, cohesive, and thus easy to read. He has laid it out in a way that takes the reader from beginning to end. This logical organization is based on four key areas the author lays out in the introduction: build an outstanding attitude, learn how to maximize your results in class, build a great routine and positive lifestyle, and actively create adventures, experiences, and memories.

The first main topic of the book deals with the attitude of the international student. Burns begins with what he calls “the winning psychology” by building a positive attitude and strengthening a focus on goals for the student studying abroad. Those goals become the first step on which everything else in the book will follow. Examples of buying food at the supermarket and concert going make the transition from abstract concepts of attitude to active steps students can take to make friends and build a support system in their new community and country.

The second major topic of the book deals with the international student taking action.

Burns refers to his background in working with English language learners, before offering advice from experiences travelling the world. Making a game out of learning basic skills, like shopping and eating, seems simple and straightforward. Teaching people about the country and culture the international student comes from is another tip that makes early 37

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communication an easier task in the beginning. Making lists of local expressions and vocabulary to help acclimatise to their chosen community is one of the strategies Burns recommends.

One of the best pieces of advice in this book, though, is the list of tips for staving off the unavoidable homesickness that will eventually set in. Bringing books, music, TV and movies from the student’s home country is an easy way to reconnect while away, especially if time zones make regular communication an issue. Journaling the experiences is another great way to keep in contact, and blogs are a simple way for friends and family to keep up on the adventures of the student and leave comments and feedback, serving as yet another way to stay connected.

While Burns’s book is an easy read and full of helpful tips and ideas, it does little in the way of convincing one to pursue an international university or study abroad experience.

Instead, it is a great reference for those who have already made the decision, and a wonderful starting point for what to expect, not in experience, but in how to plan their time away. Being an international student, whether for a semester or for four years, is a commitment, and commitment requires the right attitude and the right steps taken at the right times.

“International Students: The Essential Guide to Study Abroad” has a strong mix of both, in a simple, easy to read and easy to follow format. For less than $3 as an e-book, this is a great reference for anyone interested in studying abroad.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR jmurdoc4@uwyo.edu

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ISEJ – International Student Experience Journal

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ISSN 2397-3072

The International Student Experience Journal is a peerreviewed online publication for those involved in researching, teaching and providing services to international students in Higher Education in the UK and other English speaking countries. The Journal links the everyday concerns of university staff including academics, researchers, EAP practitioners and the students themselves with insights gained from related academic disciplines such as applied linguistics, education, psychology, and sociology.

http://isejournal.weebly.com/ 39