International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
For example, a consistent piece of feedback received regularly from international students, particularly
Chinese students, was that her own speech was rapid, that she used phrasing unfamiliar to them (for example,
‘memorandum’ or ‘peer review’), and that she moved around the classroom while talking, which both confused
students and caused them to lose focus on the material at hand. Also of student concern was that she asked
students to independently participate in class, without raising their hands; that is, to speak when they wanted to
speak and to collaborate freely in groups. As outlined in best practices, including international students in class
discussion is vital to keeping them engaged and understanding material – they may simply not know this as an
instructor might. Students may simply need more time and different kinds of encouragement from faculty and
classmates to participate. There are many proven ways to draw participation from international students without
coercing or embarrassing them.
In particular, she found that paired-student and small-group discussions that are reported out to the class as a
whole is one way of doing this. Calling on students unexpectedly is not. Nor is correcting grammar or
pronunciation in a lecture setting. Do that, just once, and the faculty has lost the most valuable class resource:
the student voice. What she didn’t know that first quarter at Bellevue College was that Chinese education,
deferential at its core, positions the instructor at the head of the classroom as the first and final authority. This
conceptualization is vastly different from the Western classroom, which can be interactive, relies on student
participation for its dynamic structure, and requires the student to think and work independently, of both peers
and instructors. Because of her own knowledge gap regarding cultural differences, she underestimated what
international students needed to succeed in the classroom.
It was difficult to draw them out in classroom discussions, and their fear of “not knowing” English and the
customs of the American classroom only exacerbated the divide. Not surprisingly, international students wanted
to talk after class, away from their domestic peers, to ask clarifying questions about the material, and to ask to
review their writing before they submitted it for a grade. Their uncertainty about coursework and their
understanding of it was palpable – and genuine. All of this created questions how they were doing in their other
classes. After all, lecturing clearly in understandable English does help international students, but it’s simply not
enough. It was equally important to keep in mind that international students had to work all that much harder at
their courses to get to the same results as domestic students, because of linguistic and cultural barriers. Finally, it
was critical to the learning environment to not assume that non-native English speaking international students
are somehow less intelligent for being that. But how to help them, once they are in the American college
system?
Under the framework of Universal Course Design, we designed all efforts with a variety of pedagogy
strategies within a menu of services. First, we built a variety of workshop/institute formats to mirror the
American classroom setting that were focused on specific learning goals. As noted below, the Boot Camp helps
students prepare for placement tests, while the College Success Academy offers ongoing support for students
enrolled in English 101. In addition, we found students greatly benefited from more unique instruction delivery
forms such as:
• Supplemental Instruction: Guided Tutoring
• Supplemental instruction strategies are determined by instructor’s assessment of student progress through
the unit. Strategies are personalized to student need and instructors present supplemental instruction
materials, face to face, as needed.
• Instructional Podcast (Website-based)
• Students receive a unique code to the ACW website, which gives them access to a robust library of
resources. For instance, an instructional podcast reviews the daily lesson, highlighting critical information,
so that students have 24/7 access to the instructional material for review and self-guided practice.
• Instructional Tip Sheets (Website-based)
• One-page, content-specific ‘tip sheets’ are available for students for the purpose of further practice on the
information presented in daily lesson. Tip sheets are accompanied by weekly Q & A FORUMS, designed so
the instructor answers the most commonly asked student questions.
The following list of ACW services is a sampling of services designed to help international students pass
placement tests and succeed in the U.S. classroom.
Before the Classroom Service: Boot Camp for Placement Test Preparation
Designed to complement the college’s Orientation Week activities, this ‘boot camp’ is derived from
instructional material used in an English 101 course at Bellevue College and is mandatory for all new, incoming
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