Abstract
Australian universities are currently re-evaluating how they address the English language needs of their students of non-English speaking backgrounds. This is, in part, a response to ten ‘Good Practice Principles’ that constitute the main thrust of a government-commissioned document released in 2009 and designed to ensure that standards of good practice are established and maintained throughout the sector in respect of English language provision. This paper argues that any attempt to uphold these principles and implement provision that is coherent, relevant and rigorous, requires clarification of the concept of ‘proficiency’. To this end, a distinction is proposed between proficiency, academic literacy and professional communication skills, and consideration is given to the implications of this distinction in terms of (a) responding to the language needs of both native speaker and non-native speaker students, and (b) the post-enrolment language assessment of newly-enrolled students with a view to identifying those at risk.
Highlights
In recent years, the nature of Australian universities has changed quite fundamentally in response to a variety of factors including: the globalisation of education; a growing migrant population; financial imperatives resulting from changing funding models; government initiatives to increase the flow-through of students from secondary to higher education; and efforts, fuelled by the 2008 publication of the Bradley Report (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent & Scales, 2008), to promote the widening participation agenda by opening up higher education to a more socio-economically diverse spread of the population through means such as equity or enabling programs.These developments have had particular repercussions for students‘ English language competency
There is an increasingly widespread perception within higher education that the language and literacy skills of students of both English speaking backgrounds (ESB) and non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) is in a state of decline—a situation which, some would argue, has forced lecturers to ―tone down‖ their course materials and spend time addressing English language problems many regard as outside the scope of their expertise and locus of responsibility (e.g. Abelson, 2005). This calls into question the quality and depth of the knowledge base and English language competency with which these students exit their programs of study, and of their employability and readiness to enter an Australian workforce which, increasingly, is expected by employers to demonstrate strong language and communication skills (Birrell & Healey, 2008; Burch, 2008) as well as technical competence in their discipline areas
While it may be labelled as something other than ―proficiency‖ and will, in part, require a different treatment, the language weaknesses of this increasingly diverse cohort may compromise their ability to fulfil their academic potential. If they are to meet their moral obligation, universities need to identify those at risk and intervene in a timely fashion in order to ensure these students have every chance of success as students and graduates. Factors such as the widening participation agenda and efforts to boost international student enrolments have meant that universities are having to address major challenges around the English language competence of students entering higher education, many of whom lack the language skills they need to meet the demands of their degree courses and, subsequently, those of the workplace
Summary
The nature of Australian universities has changed quite fundamentally in response to a variety of factors including: the globalisation of education; a growing migrant population; financial imperatives resulting from changing funding models; government initiatives to increase the flow-through of students from secondary to higher education; and efforts, fuelled by the 2008 publication of the Bradley Report (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent & Scales, 2008), to promote the widening participation agenda by opening up higher education to a more socio-economically diverse spread of the population through means such as equity or enabling programs These developments have had particular repercussions for students‘ English language competency. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 1(1) July, 2010
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