International Graduate Students’ Experience in Academic Listening Practices in a Malaysian Public University: Challenges and Overcoming Measures

Abstract

The number of international students choosing Malaysia as a destination to further their graduate studies is steadily growing. This phenomenon has urged researchers to look for ways to ensure that they go through a smooth academic journey. One significant area of research has focused on the challenges faced by these students in their academic listening practices, and the measures employed to overcome the challenges. The Academic Literacies Questionnaire (Manjet, Investigating the academic literacies challenges of international graduate students in Master programmes in an Institution of Higher Education in Malaysia, 2013) was administered to 131 international graduate students in 10 taught Master programmes (coursework and mixed mode) to whom English is a foreign or second language. The results revealed some challenges those students face attributable mainly to the fact that English in Malaysia is not the native or first language. The findings and results, if taken seriously by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia, would assist to the academic listening practices of international graduate students by the local academicians. It is hoped that the recommendations provided in this study would be a platform to ensure that international students experience a satisfying academic experience in their graduate study.