British Universities: International Students’ Alleged Lack of Critical Thinking

Abstract

This paper investigates British academics’ perception of international students’ alleged lack of critical thinking and poor writing performance. This research is relevant to those students and academics expected to demonstrate competences required for acceptance in the English speaking academic environment. The aim of this paper is to investigate in detail those factors that make British academics devalue academic material written in English as a second language. Using literature review and literature analysis as research methods, the authors present a detailed summary of problems associated with international students’ performance in the UK universities and conclude with a set of practical recommendations for Russian speaking students and academics.