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0 Executive SummaryAustralian tertiary education has attracted a large number of international students,particularly from Asia. Cultural factors have affected the quality of learning ofinternational students and the teaching approaches adopted by Australian lecturers.Therefore, cross-cultural teaching and learning situations have become an importantissue in Australian universities. This project intends to identify the influence of thetrend towards increasing numbers of cross-cultural students on teaching andlearning approaches in an Australian educational environment. It aims to improvethe understanding of Asian students' cultural backgrounds, their previous learningapproaches and their perspectives on Australian culture and modes of education,with the objective of helping international students to overcome the difficulties ofcross-cultural study. In the process, we anticipate bringing new ideas to lecturersand education managers to improve the quality of cross-cultural teaching andlearning. We also expect to develop strategies through recognising the factors whichinfluence teaching and learning in the cross-cultural environment, and to propose aset of guidelines and suggestions that can enhance the quality of teaching andlearning in Australian universities.In 2008, we conducted a student questionnaire survey at the University ofTechnology, Sydney, Curtin University of Technology, The University of Sydney,Edith Cowan University and Southern Cross University. As Business andInformation Technology attract the majority of Asian international students, weselected these two schools/faculties in the five universities within which to conductthe survey. We received a total of 1026 completed student questionnaires fromundergraduate and postgraduate students, of whom 37.7% were Australian localstudents and 62.3% were international students from 56 other countries. Weconducted data analysis, including frequency analysis and correlation analysis, totest designed hypotheses. Following the survey, we conducted 50 interviews in thefive universities to obtain more detailed information about teaching and learningissues in a cross-cultural education environment and to further understand theneeds of students of Asian background in depth. The interview participants included10 lecturing staff, 25 students of Asian background, seven Australian local studentsand eight graduates of Asian background. The interview data was analysed byword-based text mining and other qualitative approaches.Based on the survey and interview data collected, our study found that internationalstudents experience significant cross-cultural and language difficulties in theirlearning process.Their cross-cultural learning difficulties manifest in the following ways:- The teaching methods used in Australian universities, specifically in classroominteraction and face-to-face teaching, are significantly different from those usedin Asian countries. Open questions show that some 53% of internationalundergraduate students and 57.87% of international postgraduate studentsindicated that the main difference between the universities in their home countryand Australia is in the teaching methods. These students have difficulty in readilyaccepting Australian teaching methods, particularly in their first year at Australianuniversities. Many of them prefer more face-to-face teaching and fewer studentquestions or class discussions during lectures. Some Asian students consider itto be a mark of appreciation and respect for their teachers for students to listenattentively and quietly in class. They consider that all discussion should takeplace after classes as any discussion will impinge on the teacher’s lecture time,resulting in reduced knowledge transmission to students, with the consequencethat students will learn less.4