Broad effort to lift English proficiency

ALL students, not just internationals, will be included in an official strategy to lift standards of academic English at university.

Good practice principles for English, drawn up for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations following evidence of poor English among overseas-born graduates, will be extended to cover all students and higher education providers, the HES understands.

But there are concerns about enforcement, cost and a more crowded curriculum.

The overseas student industry sought to respond to alarming findings by Monash University's Bob Birrell, who revealed that more than one-third of former overseas students who had graduated from local institutions and won permanent residency as skilled migrants had English language scores too low for university study or professional work.

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In 2007, a symposium involving the export education industry urged better teaching of communication skills within academic programs for international as well as local students. These skills were often taught by a unit separate from the various faculties. Last year DEEWR unveiled the good practice principles, which the Australian Universities Quality Agency monitors during audits.

According to International Student Security, a book due to be published next month, universities should make English language proficiency a mandatory requirement in degrees for all students. "If we want to lift the bar on English language competency, we have to get beyond the idea that it is a remedial problem that a few hours in a semester can solve," said co-author Simon Marginson.

Almost one-third of the 200 overseas students interviewed for the book reported problems with academic English.

Professor Marginson warned that action to boost English proficiency would come at significant cost. In some cases, he said, English-as-a-second-language teachers could work in class alongside the academics teaching the discipline.

Embedding English proficiency in degrees would improve the welfare of international students and put the industry ahead of competitors in Canada, Britain and the US, he said.

It would also benefit domestic students in terms of improving their productivity.

Professor Marginson said strong international student demand for English skills would likely underpin the market despite any rise in tuition fees to cover costs. "On balance, I think we would gain rather than lose overall, and position ourselves better globally," he said.

Alex Barthel, public officer of the Association for Academic Language and Learning, said many universities were already moving to embed English language skills in their curriculums.

But the department's principles needed more teeth. "I'd prefer it to be happening across the board, and faster," he said.

Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au