University of Oregon’s Inadequate Support for International Students
By Emery Thanathiti
Before coming to the United States, international students who do not speak English as their first language are often prepared for a certain level of hardship upon arriving. Every year, over 270,000 students from around the world enroll in American universities, with 2018’s total at approximately 1.9 million. For many, English does not come easy. Studying in a second language means that extra time and effort is required, but the reality is that for many students, determination is not enough. Having adequate support from their university is a crucial component for an international student’s success. However, in many cases that support is not up to par.
The University of Oregon, where I study, currently has over 2,300 international students in attendance, making up approximately 12% of the student body. Although they are a relatively small group, international students play an important part in the university’s finances. Every term, international students pay a $200 fee just for being enrolled, meaning the university earns around 1.38 million in one term, purely from these fees. On top of which, they pay out-state-tuition. Despite their importance, many students who do not speak fluent English have continuously struggled academically without much support from the university. It’s a common story at many institutions across the US, but a story that needs to be addressed, starting with our university.
Common Struggles
Ellen Wu is a Math and Economics major from China. She thought that a majority of the classes she had to take should be pretty straightforward, seeing as her major revolved predominantly around numbers. But when she took a MATH 307 (Introduction to Proof) class in the summer, she realized the extent that language would begin to hold her back.
“At that time, maybe I had language barriers and I was struggling with that,” she said, “but my teacher… he just writes down ‘I don’t understand’ on my homework.”
The phrase “I don’t understand” was written on her assignments, in e-mails, and said to her in person. She was a hard worker, but no matter how many online resources she would read or how much extra effort she would put into the class, she felt like she had no control over the results. Frustration began to build up within her, coupled with her anxiety of failing, she resorted to dropping the class and retaking it in the Fall term.
“It’s just Math, but he gave me low mark for my English because he say he don’t understand” she said.
She still wonders if it was her fault for not speaking “good” English, but what she could say for sure was that the second time around was much better.
Her new teacher was, according to Wu, far more understanding. He sat down with her during office hours and patiently listened and explained terminology that she couldn’t understand. He always told her not to worry about her English, even when it came to presentations, “I’ll try to understand. Just show me your logic about the Math.”
In the end, her new instructor made losing 50% of her class tuition during the summer a worthwhile experience. Wu walked away from the class with an A- and reaffirmed that she wasn’t an incompetent student.
Since her one bitter experience during the summer, most of Wu’s classes have been positive. The biggest difference being that the instructors she encountered afterwards were far more patient. Many of them even went the extra mile to teach her different studying techniques that would accommodate what she lacked in language proficiency.
Wu’s case shows how a professor’s understanding and support could change the course of a student’s success drastically.
The international student’s language struggle is not just limited to student-teacher interactions, however, but appears to pose problems while working in groups with peers.
Brian Sun is a Chemistry major, Outreach Specialist of the International Student Association (ISA), and a cabinet member of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO). Nicknamed “Brian the Delight” and well-known on campus by both local and international students - and especially identifiable by his distinct laughter and love for jokes - Sun typically has no problems being involved in different social groups. In other words, Sun was taking all the right steps in integrating into American school life and improving his English communication skills.
Despite being accustomed to interacting with local students, he’d find himself frustrated while working in group projects.
Sometimes it would be that he missed one of the directions of a project’s guidelines and received backlash from his peers, “A lot of people actually make fun of me for missing all the stupid details and say that if I just read things better, I would understand.”
Other times, Sun would find his points easily dismissed, “When I try to explain my point to them, because my English is not as good as theirs, they don’t get my explanation and they think that it’s another stupid idea.”
It wasn’t that his peers were treating him badly, Sun emphasized, “They’re all nice, they’re all good friends. But that’s something I experience. Because I’m not good at reading, I’m not good at talking, that’s something I face all the time.”
Sun’s frustration with group projects is mirrored by other students as well. One of them is Chavanon Toemsirikulchai, an Operations and Business Analytics (OBA) major from Thailand. Like Sun, Toemsirikulchai wasn’t afraid to socialize with both domestic and international students. Always smiling and rarely shy, Toemsirikulchai has never been afraid to strike up a conversation with someone.
But in an academic setting, he becomes a bit more introverted, letting others drive the direction of the projects they work on.
“The words that I say don’t have strength behind them because my English isn’t native like other Americans,” he said, “Sometimes I will say a point and they don’t get it or don’t pay attention, but then someone else in the group says the same thing using better words and they will all say it’s a good idea.”
Originally, Toemsirikulchai was working his way towards a Marketing major. Although he labeled his dreams of working in the fashion industry as far-fetched, he could see ways in which Marketing would set a good foundation for him to enter the field.
But he quickly realized that his ideas would never stand out. Marketing was all about the group projects and the way you present yourself, to which Toemsirikulchai said, “It’s hard for non-native speakers because can’t write or speak as well as Americans. I feel like I can never compete with Americans.”
So, instead, he opted for the more calculation and programming-based OBA major, “It’s just more straight-forward. It’s mostly just numbers.”
According to Sun, Toemsirikulchai’s experience wasn’t abnormal. Being a part of the ASUO and the ISA, Sun deals with international students and hears about their struggles constantly, “I know a lot of people who started off with a major they like, but because there is a lot of reading, a lot of group interaction, they switch to a major like Math. That is definitely a common problem.”
Current Resources
The University of Oregon has a program in place for admitted students who did not pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirements. The Academic English of International Students (AEIS), is an extra set of courses required to be taken by these students, with the goal of developing student’s reading and writing skills. The biggest problem, however, is that the AEIS provides support merely for students who did not get a satisfactory TOEFL score, leaving the rest to figure it out themselves.
While there are programs to aid students with integration and building friendships, which often helps to improve student’s English over time, they are not directly applicable to academic settings. Much like how Brian Sun and Chavanon Toemsirikulchai didn’t have much trouble integrating into American society and conversing in English, but still struggled when it came to presenting their ideas in a more academic environment.
Possible Solutions
The University of California, Berkeley has a dedicated page to “Creating Conditions for (International) Student Success” available for faculty, covering ways in which teachers could better understand and communicate with students whose English might not be as strong. In 2013, the university allocated $900k over two years to “enhance support for international student success” by creating programs that not only aided international students academically or socially, but also created resources on cultural awareness and teaching workshops for faculty members.
Educating faculty on international student’s cultural differences, language barriers, and methods of overcoming these difficulties, would create a more productive academic setting and allow for teachers to become better aids for students. Rather than relying so much on a teacher-by-teacher basis, such as in the case of Ellen Wu, creating standards for the overall faculty would set a good foundation for every student to succeed.
Likewise, faculty have the power to influence classroom setting and the expectations of the local students. A study published by the International Student and Scholar Services of James Madison University in the UK found that, “Bringing culture into the classroom and the school also motivates students to become personally involved in their learning when they recognize their ‘cultural and linguistic characteristics in the curriculum’”.
Toemsirikulchai found that when assigned projects that deal with international business, he was given a voice. “My groupmates will listen to what I have to say because they know I have something to contribute,” he said, “so I think bringing in more opportunity international topics into the classroom would help make international students and Americans more equal.”
These solutions might completely solve international students’ struggle with learning in a second language, but it would address the issues they face and improve the classroom experience. Although a minority group, international students should hold enough importance for their issues to be addressed.