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IJAPS, Vol. 4, No. 1 (May 2008)Peter Kell & Gillian VoglThe vulnerability of international students is evident in research thatidentifies the high levels of risk undertaken by students. Often owing tounfamiliarity to local conditions and norms, they are subject to exploitationand poverty as well as death and injury by misadventure. Vulnerabilityextends to housing, transport and employment where many students areexploited and have little formal protection (Kell & Vogl 2007b; Novera2004; Marginson & Sawir 2005; Scheyvens et al. 2003). The mental andphysical health of international students is a cause of rising concern asalienation, loneliness and anomie often exacerbated by difficulties indeveloping meaningful relationships in their new settings. Manyinternational students encounter an ambiguity about their presence that seesthem welcome for their financial contribution but often finding acceptanceand meaningful affiliations difficult to attain. A sense of alienation andvulnerability is compounded by difficulties in mastering the local language.In the case of Australia many international students have great difficulty inunderstanding the local variations of Australian English that is distinctlydifferent to common encountered standard English and American English.Their preparation in English has often been through text- based-academicreadersand many students are unprepared for the colloquial and informalqualities of English in both local interactions and the discourse of theacademic institutions (Kell & Vogl 2006). Many struggle with thedifference between and responding to the ambiguous cultural context ofAustralia and Australians to Asians (Kell & Vogl 2007a; Kell & Vogl2007c; Marginson 2004). The long periods of study also facilitate areshaping and transformation of attitudes, and behaviours of internationalstudents and this make reintegration into their home communities a difficultand tenuous challenge. The experience of life abroad changes attitudes,behaviours, expectations and relationships with those who have notexperienced some of the life changing opportunities that internationalstudies create. Many students make a conscious decision to stay in their hostcommunities and shift status from international student to migrant to citizen.Increasingly in a globalised and interdependent world, internationaleducation is used as a conduit for eventual immigration. The differentialbetween impressions of better employment and economic opportunities inhost countries as well as limited opportunities in their developing and lessdeveloped home nations pushes students to migration options. In somenations such as the US, this pathway to citizenship is encouraged and seenas legitimate in building a highly skilled workforce and a citizenry who isfamiliar with the ethos and norms of the nation. Other countries such asAustralia are more ambiguous and resistant to this new global movement yetare also increasingly using this avenue to replenish an aging population withx
IJAPS, Vol. 4, No. 1 (May 2008)Editoriala new generation of workers. The demographic difference between theaging nations of Europe, North America and countries such as Australia andNew Zealand with the younger Asia Pacific nations suggests that this linkbetween student mobility and immigration will continue long into the future.These population movements create challenges in many nations of the AsiaPacific who see the threat of a "brain drain" of highly specialist skills. Onthe other hand, in an increasingly interdependent globe, these new patternsof diaspora are the foundation for new transnational associations and links.These links promote family, business, cultural and political connections thatare evidence of new forms of a growing global cosmopolitanism (Beck2006).Yet these institutional responses fail to recognise the increasingcomplexity and global student mobility. Some critics argue that theapproach of some host universities operates residual and compensatoryprogrammes are offered in fragmented and often disconnected ways butthere is little attempt to develop an integrated programme of assistance tointernational students. Marginson (2004) argues that Australian universities"laizze faire" regime and Kell, Pandian and Vogl (2005) have argued that amore programmed and systematic approach to language and cultural needsis required. Voluntarist approaches and ad hoc paternalistic welfaristapproaches to the needs of international students are inadequate in thecontext of a more diversified student population. Such programmes oftensee students as passive and dependent but research conducted withinternational students suggest that they are interested in actively making acontribution to improve the environment for international students and tothe communities in which they live (Vogl & Kell in progress).International students, particularly those from Asia are subject to arange of stereotype and myths. One of these myths is the perception thatinternational students are passive compliant and disengaged from thecommunities in which they live. This stereotype also positions asunreflective learners who are more familiar and comfortable as "rote"learners who are used to memory-based-learning for an examination-basedassessment.Positioned as uncritical and dependent learners often with poorlanguage skills, many international students are as seen as poorly preparedfor the challenges of tertiary study. These views see international students asa high risk of breaching the academic protocol concerning working withsources and plagiarism when confronted with assessment and academicwork which is different to assessment which involves repetitious learning.Suspicions about the competence of some international students has beenheightened by concerns about allegations for poor English languagestandards, fraudulent language testing, soft marking of work and a generalxi
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