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7 Guidelines for Australian Universities and LecturersOur studies have identified various issues in the perspectives of teaching contentand textbooks, teaching and learning methods, education management systems,language, culture and environment. It is recommended that Australian universitiespay more attention to the following issues to improve the learning and teachingpractices of Australian universities in consideration of an increasing internationalstudent cohort.We suggest an extended value chain concept could be applied to teaching andlearning practices in Australian universities. An extended value chain includes threeparts: an upstream part, internal part, and downstream part. Under the upstreampart, teaching and learning activities focus on activities of preparing internationalstudents for their Australian dream. The focus of the internal part is on teaching andlearning issues after they arrive in Australia. Long-lasting relationship building andlife-long learning are some important goals in the downstream part.7.1 Teaching and learning should start before international students arrive attheir classroomsPre-study preparationInternational students should be well prepared for studying in Australian universitiesbefore they start their study. One important aspect is to have an adequate level ofEnglish skills. While having acceptable results in an English test (i.e., IELTS,TOEFL) and other relevant tests e.g., GMAT for MBA degree, GRE for science andengineering degrees) is essential, it is only a starting point. Many other things canbe considered and done to better prepare them. For example, Asian students,especially Chinese students and students from other Asian countries whoseofficial/working language is not English, could possess quite good English readingand writing skills, but lack listening and speaking skills, which only can be developedin an English-speaking environment. Such an environment is very difficult to find inthose non-English speaking Asian countries. On the other hand, students comingfrom countries such as Malaysia, India, Singapore, Philippines, and Hong Kongnormally have better English skills (especially speaking and listening) than thosestudents from non-English speaking countries.Assistance with culture shockApart from the language problem, our study finds that another significant difficulty forinternational students is the culture shock. Most international students come from acultural background and education system which are significantly different fromAustralia. Familiarising themselves with the university environment and the socialenvironment could be time-consuming and a daunting task for many internationalstudents when they start their study. In addition, for some international students thefeelings of loneliness and helpless, as well as homesickness, could dramaticallydistract them from their studies in the beginning stage of their Australian life,especially for undergraduate students, most of who have never left their parents orcountry before.One key challenge for international students is to understand and adapt to theAustralian way of teaching and learning, including issues such as teaching contentand study materials, teaching and learning methods, and education managementsystems. For example, textbooks and teaching materials including lecture notes,extra readings and extra practices in China (particularly for under-graduatestudents) are basically prescribed and prepared by teachers and lecturers. Thosetextbooks and teaching materials are the bible for students. Many students will cramthose study materials before the final exams, and attending the weekly classes is127