The document discusses cultural awareness and the perspectives of international students. It provides background on barriers to learning for international students, such as different expectations around class participation and communication challenges. Student responses from La Trobe College in Australia identified language barriers, difficulty with accents/speed of speaking, and lack of confidence as issues. The document recommends that educational institutions provide additional language and cultural support for international students. It also recommends that educators limit diversions from lecture slides, use plain English, and review materials to ensure clear links between topics.

1. CULTURAL AWARENESSIN THEIR SHOES: UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
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Presented by Jason Cormick-Dockery & Abraham Punnen

2. A BOLLYWOOD വിമർശനം BY ABE
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3. BACKGROUND
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• I am not an expert but I പഠിച്ചിറങ്ങിയ ചലച്ചിത്രനിർമ്മാണം
• I love watching movies but മമാശം സിനിമ, സിനിമാ
നിർമ്മാരാക്കളെക്കുറിച്ച് വെളെ നിർണായകമാണ്
• കാവൽ 2 movies a week.

4. ഇന്ത്യൻ സിനിമകൾ വഴി REGION
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5. ത്രൂപ്പ് WORK: COMPARE AND CONTRAST
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• Question 1: Do you കാവൽ Bollywood movies?
• മചാദ്യം 2: Type 2 Bollywood മൂവി മപര് .
• മചാദ്യം 3 : Do you കാവൽwith subtitles?

6. WHAT WAS YOUR RESPONSE TO THE MINI LESSON?
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Q 1:How did you feel at the beginning of the lesson?
A: Excited
B: Happy
C: Bored
D: Confused

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Q 2: As the lesson progressed what was your interest level?
A: Interested
B: Somewhat interested
C: Very interested
D: Lost interest

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Q 3: Do you think international students have a similar
experience during learning?
A: Yes
B: No
C: Maybe
D: Sometimes

9. CONTEXT
• As a PD
• A need for ongoing training on cultural awareness
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10. RESEARCH: BARRIERS TO LEARNING
• Asking and answering questions, along with general class participation is a foreign concept for Chinese
students. This type of behaviour is seen as brazen. As a result, Chinese students are at a disadvantage in a
culture that rewards students who are highly engaging in class (Holmes, 2004).
• Listening comprehension skills may not be at a standard that enables students to understand lecture content.
Moreover, a diversion from lecture slides adds to confusion in class (Holmes, 2004).
• Teaching staff are kind, but there are communication, cultural and expectation differences (Wu, Garza, &
Guzman, 2015).
• “I want to participate, but I worried about that he cannot understand me”. (Wu, Garza, & Guzman, 2015).
• International students were concerned about being questioned by teachers and feared they would not have
the correct answer or would be seen as ‘stupid’. Students were also concerned with group work and did not
want to let their group down. (Guan & Jones, 2011 as cited in Wang, Andre, & Greenwood, 2015).
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11. STUDENT RESPONSES FROM LA TROBE COLLEGE AUSTRALIA
• Language barriers.
• Common example for everything.
• In the beginning semester, the teacher can provide extra understanding to international students like
how to do the assignments... Because from my personal experience assignments was new to me and i
faced issues understanding it .
• More graphic presentation might be helpful cause for international students may suffer from poor
English.
• Different international students are on different levels in terms of how good their English is. Things like
the choice of vocabulary and speaking speed must be kept in mind always.
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What 3 things do you want your teacher to keep in mind when teaching you as an international student?

12. STUDENT RESPONSES
• Due to the English not being the 1st language dumbing down the information will help a lot for example
just briefly in one sentence describe the issue or the definition with very simple English.
• Info/slides should be organize and easy to understand.
• Some slides when u read it through it feel like its everywhere and not clear or because teachers know
material too well and can make the connection but freshies to the subject have no clue head or tail a
student perspective on their slides will help improve this.
• Difficult to understand lectures due to the accent and the speed of speaking.
• Lack of confidence to speak and answer the questions in front of the class.
• Difficult in writing scientific essays.
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13. CONSTRAINTS
• Often caught up in delivering content.
• Being mindful of cultural awareness vs teaching schedule.
• Sporadic attempts improve education delivery related to language shortcomings of international
students.
• Challenging to simplify lessons due to content and new vocabulary load.
• Perceived motivation of students. Bored vs lack of understanding due to English ability.
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14. RECOMMENDATIONS: RESEARCH & SYNTHESIS
As an Educational Institution (La Trobe College Australia)
• Courses need to include subjects that connect to intercultural differences and communication (Holmes, 2004). This
would provide cultural and educational information that may not be addressed in English Language institutions in a
student’s home country.
• Create a buddy system for new students (Mesidor, & Sly, 2016).
• Offer education and culture discussion sessions run by PALs and targeting students by country/region (Wu, Garza, &
Guzman, 2015). This could be implemented early T1.
• Offer additional language support (Wu, Garza, & Guzman, 2015). > Learning Support Moodle page (Pilot will
commence during T1/2019).
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15. RECOMMENDATIONS: RESEARCH & SYNTHESIS
As an Educator
• Limit diversion from lecture slides.
• Record lectures and post on Moodle (May need to invest in technology).
• Encourage a culture of mistakes = learning.
• Use more class time to assist in assignment understanding or create a video that goes into detail about
each section of the assignment and post on Moodle. The H5P timeline tool is useful tool for this.
• Use plain English where possible.
• Review power point slides to show clear links of concepts and use clear transitions between topics.
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16. REFERENCES
• Holmes, P. (2004). Negotiating Differences in Learning and Intercultural Communication: Ethnic Chinese
Students in a New Zealand University. Business Communication Quarterly, 67(3), 294–307.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569904268141
• Mesidor, J. K., & Sly, K. F. (2016). Factors that contribute to the adjustment of international students.
Journal of International Students, 6(1), 262-282. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A462286683/AONE?u=latrobe&sid=AONE&xid=59a1f230
• Wang, C. C., Andre, K., & Greenwood, K. M. (2015). Chinese students studying at Australian universities
with specific reference to nursing students: a narrative literature review. Nurse Education
Today, 35(4), 609-619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2014.12.005
• Wu, H., Garza, E., & Guzman, N., (2015). International Student’s Challenge and Adjustment to
College. Education Research International,. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/202753 16

17. THANKYOU
YOUR THOUGHTS & Q & A
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