Respectful interactions: learning with international students in the English-speaking academy

Abstract

International students entering postgraduate courses in Australian universities encounter numerous challenges in their new environments. Many relate to the academic literacy and pedagogical practices in the English-speaking academic environment, which international students time and again have reported assume local linguistic and cultural knowledge and can result in feelings of disengagement and a sense that their own knowledge and experiences are undervalued. These practices are often associated with the notion of a native-speaker norm in the English-speaking academy, which exercises tacit power in pedagogy and assessment. Here, we identify the perceptions of international students with whom we have worked in our teaching and our research, which illustrate the impacts on their self-identity and self-esteem as they operate in unfamiliar linguistic and cultural environments. We identify essential principles for teaching and learning environments which students believe can help them to engage more actively in respectful conversations promoting learning for all. We focus on the personal impacts for international students of operating in new academic cultures, and seek ways of promoting dialogic, multivoiced learning spaces for all participants.

Keywords:

• international students
• intercultural communication
• internationalisation
• identity formation
• ‘thirdspace pedagogy’

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Pearson Malaysia for their permission to use this poem in this article.