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for studying in Australian universities. You need be able to use English skillfully inyour study.Prepare to adopt new study methods/strategiesA student-centred teaching and learning approach is very common in Australianuniversities. In this approach, students play an important role in the teachingprocess. They interact with the lecturer/tutor in the classroom by frequentlychallenging the lecturer/tutor, asking questions and responding to lecturer’squestions, and so on. Class discussion is another aspect of the student-centredteaching and learning method. Teacher-student (and/or student-student) interactionsrequire good communication skills and excellent English listening and speakingabilities. An inactive student (e.g., who never asks questions, never responds to thelecturer’s question, or keeps silent in class is thought to have a negative approach tothe teaching session because he/she failed to make a contribution. By contrast, theteacher-centred approach requires little or no input or response from students. Asianstudents, especially those from Confucian-heritage cultural backgrounds, are usedto the teacher-centred approach, and have no wish to challenge the lecturer/expertand express critical thinking. These students must try to adopt the new challenge ofthe student-centred teaching and learning approach in Australian universities.Minimum English requirementsGenerally, passing an English test (such as IELTS) does not mean that your Englishis good enough to deal with all learning situations/challenges in Australianuniversities. The following should be treated as minimum English requirements: yourEnglish should enable you to listen to lectures effectively, to respond to lecturer’squestions in the classroom, to actively participate in class discussion, to writeassignments and technical reports, to read texts at a reasonable speed, and so on.In other words, your English should be at a level that enables you to cope withclassroom communication in all four macro-skills of listening, speaking, reading, andwriting. Use a checklist on English proficiency to gain a better understanding of yourweaknesses in English language. If any of the above four macro-skills is belowminimum requirement, you should devise a study plan to combat such weaknesses.Set small achievable goalsLanguage and cultural adjustment cannot happen overnight; it takes time and lots ofpractice. By setting smaller, achievable goals, one can see the improvement overtime. For example, one such a goal could be “by week five I shall be able tounderstand 60% of what the news reader says”.Create the learning environmentThe best way to learn a culture (and its language) is to live with the locals. Stayingwith an Australian host family will provide you (or force you) to learn the Australianway of life. While many students don’t like the idea mainly due to the awkwardnessat the beginning, they benefit from this lifestyle quickly and extensively. Survey datahas shown that living with locals can dramatically improve international students’listening and speaking skills in a very short time period. For example, students couldcommunicate easily with their Australian host family (or local housemates) afterliving with them for just one year or less.Make an effort to make new friends, particularly of the local students. Our studyshows that many local students are unwilling to work in groups with internationalstudents while many international students can see the benefits of working with localstudents. This means that international students need to make a greater effort tofoster such partnerships.Join study groups, study buddyStudents should recognise the importance of “collaboration” in learning and shouldjoin a study group or find a study buddy from the very beginning of their university139