This week, David Cameron has publically urged Indian Students to come and Study in the UK, ahead of his visit to New Delhi and Mumbai. India is the largest supplier of foreign students to UK higher education institution (HEI’s). (BBC 2012)
This comes as rebut to the recently released statistics showing that the number of Indian students to UK has dropped for the first time this year. BBC reports that some businesses and Universities believe this is a result of the tighter requirements for student visa, and rules for post study in the UK put in place by the coalition government in April last year. With international students included in the target to decrease net migration, Visa applications have been reformed into 5 tier levels, students falling under tier 4.
Now, under tier 4, according to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) website, applicants who do not have English as their first language must ‘demonstrate they have a certain level of English ability’. Notably this can be meet by coming from a majority English speaking country, having an academic qualification partly taught in English, or having proficient qualifications in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. This has struck a chord with many prospectus students, leaving a sense of not being welcome to UK studying environments.
N. T. Ramachandran (2012) points out in The Journal of Research in International Education, while it is important of UK HEI’s to attract bright students from outside its borders, international students often find that their English language skills are not adequate to allow them to cope in a typical English-speaking environment when they arrive in the UK. However, inadequacies are often far from a lack of qualifications and criteria, which this new tier system demands. Conversely, Ramachandran states many students find the pace and terminologies used in academic fields unfamiliar with their teachings and confidence becomes shattered when their earlier training fails to help them. Furthermore, short courses in English have little help in group activity, with dialect influencing students’ pronunciation of English. To an international student, the Home Counties English accent is very different to the regional, Scottish, Irish and Welsh variants.
In this respect, while the new tier system may repel bogus applicants, in terms of ensuring that UK university international students accepted are those who can competently thrive in an English Language environment, the jury is still out. And for many that potentially can thrive are now questioning whether Britain will welcome them with open arms.
Ramachandran also highlights ways in which universities can develop language proficiency and understanding in students; providing them with a glossary of English academic terms would be a beginning. Sessions on English for academic purposes, participation in events to promote the use of English language skills, facilitating speaking and listening participation, and encouraging time with academic staff and support staff in the university who come from their homeland . Furthermore having a specific office in universities for language learning would create a supportive environment to lean on.
By implementing these initiatives, not only will genuine students gain the most value out of their time spent in UK universities, but to a global audience it will showcase the inviting nature of our universities. Something some feel they have yet to see.
alexgjones
AGJ Geography 