Implications of

International
Students in Our
Writing
Classrooms
A presentation by
Jane Thomas
Some things to consider.
- An international student may be falling asleep in
your class because they stayed up until 4 am
trying to talk to their family.
- An international student may not have caught that
you said they would automatically fail a paper if
they didnt have 1 margins.
- This may be the first time an international student
in your class has ever had to speak English to an
authority figure.
- An international student may be going through
such culture shock that your assignment may be
the least of their worries.
Presentation Outline
1. Prevalence of International
Students in American Colleges
2. Diversity of the Student Body
3. Our Relationship with the
Classroom
4. Uses NOW!

Prevalence of International
Students in American Colleges
- "International enrollments rose.3% to
690,923 in 2009-2010. (Fischer)
(approximately 5% of the undergraduate
student body at KU)
- "One in every five international students are
Chinese. (Fischer)
- "With increasing globalization, cultural
competence is steadily becoming essential for
all professionals to be more effective.(Nieto &
Booth)

Diversity of the
Student Body
- Regardless of whether you currently have international
students, the applications help all students.
- "International Student is a broad term encompassing a
wide variety of students with many different levels of
English. As all of our students are individuals, they
benefit from varying instruction types.
- Some people may have a particular idea of International
Students, but the reality is International Students come
from all different backgrounds, with varying levels of
English and we all know what happens when we
assume.

Our Relationship
with the Classroom
- First, native students in our classrooms were
statistically shown to be less culturally
sensitive than instructors at American
Universities. (Nieto & Booth)
- Instructors that were more interculturally
sensitive were "more likely to understand the
challenge of seeking a degree in a foreign
language (415), "more likely to help
international students feel accepted as they
are encountering American culture (415) and
"are more likely be aware of the need of
creating an environment that facilitates
international students feeling engaged in the
class. (416)
Uses NOW!
- As a disclaimer: Not all of these will
work in every classroom, nor will they
all be helpful for all of your students.
Sorry about that ahead of time.
- Also, some of these are specific to
problems faced by International
Students and some are just helpful to
bring additional clarity!
Uses NOW!
- Nieto and Booth suggest taking an interest into the
cultures of each students.
How to do this: Ask the students questions about
who they are and where they come from. As these
come up in or outside of class, take note of this.
Advantage: Get to know students on a personal
level. Also allows instructors to better understand
the struggles the students may be having.
Disadvantage: This gets very difficult when the
student is from a country not brought up on a
regular basis in the classroom or in American
news. Also difficult with large numbers of
International Students.
Uses NOW!
- Rieties, et al. suggests the single largest benefit
international students may have is an
understanding of expectations and their ability to
integrate into American academics.
How to do this: Make very clear the expectations and
purposes for each assignment. Rubrics are clearly
defined and straightforward.
Advantages: All students will have a better idea of
how the paper will affect them, as well as what
you are looking for in the final turned in
assignment.
Disadvantages: Easy to oversimply or "give the
answer to the students.
Uses NOW!
- Fischer calls for patience, understanding and
planning ahead to allow international students to
be on par with their classmates.
How to do this: Listen first. Also, type out the daily
schedule with instructions written, not spoken.
Advantages: Students are better able to follow along
and keep up with the class.
Disadvantages: Takes more planning from the
instructor. Also, can be very frustrating when
students dont understand even after youve typed
it out.
Works Cited
Fischer, Karin. "China Props up Foreign StudentsNumbers in U.SThe Chronicle of Higher
Education (2010).
Booth, Margaret Zoller, and Claudia Nieto. "Cultural Competence: Its Influence on the Teaching
and Learning of International Students." Journal of Studies in International
Education 14.406 (201 0): Sage Publi cation. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.sagepublications.com>.
Fischer, Karin. "Colleges Adapt to New Kinds of Students From Abroad." The Chronicle of
Higher Education (2011).
Rienties, Bart, et al. Understanding academic performance of international students: the role of
ethnicity, academic and social integrationWeb. July 24, 2011.
<www.spr ingerlink.com>