Studying in English

Strategies for Success in Higher Education

Hayo Reinders, Linh Phung, Marilyn Lewis

• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781137594051
• eBook ISBN: 9781137594068
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

This easy-to-follow guide is packed with advice for students of English as a second language who are studying, or planning to study, a degree taught in English, either in their home country or abroad. It provides practical advice on academic topics, including listening to lectures, group work and academic writing, and also helpful guidance for coping with language issues, making friends and dealing with culture shock. Packed with insights from real students and engaging activities, it will help them to develop the strategies and skills that they need to thrive in a new academic environment.

This is an essential resource for non-native English speakers who are studying in English at degree level. It is also ideal for students who are preparing for university-level studies and for use on pre-sessional courses for international students.

Chapter

1

What’s New about Studying in English?

Everyone’s experience of learning English is different. Below you will read about the language learning experiences of three students and compare their stories with your own. This will help you to find out what you like about studying English and other subjects in English, and how best to use this book.

Three language learners’ stories

We are starting this book with three language learning stories that will help you to write your own. The three learners had very different experiences, at different times and in different places. But there are many similarities, too. As you read the stories, compare your experiences with theirs – there are some questions to help you do this at the end of each story. When you have read the three examples, we encourage you to write your own story.

Story 1:The challenges and joys of learning English in the US

My name is Mohammed. I came to the US to learn English in 2012. I used to learn English in Saudi Arabia, but it was not effective because I did not use English often. I faced many challenges in learning English, yet I found different ways to overcome them. When I first came to the US, I would talk for an hour with a native speaker, and at the end of the conversation they would ask me, ‘What are you talking about?’ As you can imagine, it was difficult to find a native speaker who was willing to spend time talking with me. It was natural that they were more interested in talking with people they could have a smooth conversation with. Thus, to attract them to have a conversation with me, I invited them to parties and restaurants so they would come and enjoy the parties and meals and I would enjoy speaking with them.

The second challenge I faced was learning the meaning and the use of words. When I learned new vocabularies by translating them from English to Arabic and vice versa, I often thought I had got the meaning, but in fact the uses of the words were different. For example, in Arabic the word ‘calendar’ has two different meanings: dates and dental braces. So when I went to the dentist in the US, instead of asking for braces, I asked him for a calendar and he gave me a folder. I realized that he had misunderstood me because of my English.

The third and biggest challenge was learning English pronunciation. For instance, in English they have the two different sounds p and b while in Arabic we have only the sound b. One time I had an appointment with a native speaker, and he called me and asked, ‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘I am outside.’ When I arrived, he asked me again, ‘Where have you been?’ I said, ‘I was barking on Fifth Avenue.’ He said, ‘Why didn’t you come and bark here!’ I did not understand what he meant. After three months he said, ‘Your English is getting better. Do you still bark?’ I could then answer, ‘No, now I am parking.’ After several semesters of studying English, my English greatly improved. I got admitted to study a Master’s degree in biology. As a biology student, I now know words that many native speakers do not know, such as anastomose, decussate, osteoclasts, and lipolysis. After looking back at my experience, I can confidently conclude that you never fail until you stop trying.

Now start thinking

1What difficulties did Mohammed have in his language learning? Do you have the same difficulties?

2What did he do to create more opportunities to use English? Why do you think opportunities to use English are important for success in language learning? List three things you can do to find more opportunities for using the language.

Three things I can do

1.

2.

3.

3Did Mohammed succeed in the end? What was his measure of success? What are your measures of success in your studies?

My measures of success

4What are you doing now to succeed? What else can do you?

Story 2:Competitiveness, motivation and opportunities in English language learning in Vietnam and the US

My name is Linh. I started to learn English in middle school in Vietnam when I was 11 years old. My class specialized in English, so I had more English lessons than any other subjects. I remember we studied grammar and did a lot of exercises. I also remember having fun; the teacher taught us songs and told us Sherlock Holmes stories. We also performed plays and sang songs in English. We all felt she cared about us. I adored her and loved English. As I became more successful in my learning, I was determined to become the top student in class, and so I studied with great intensity. During those years, I wanted to be extraordinary, was extremely competitive, and was keen to do well in school. I maintained my number one ranking throughout my high school year and won third prize in the national English contest. However, because of my competitiveness, I was frustrated that I couldn’t remember long lists of words I created from the reading I did. I didn’t know why my writing didn’t earn as high a score as I thought it should. I was not as successful as I wanted to be.

After graduating from high school, I chose the College of Foreign Languages to continue my specialization in English. During the first two years of college, my coursework focused on developing English skills, including listening, speaking, reading and writing. I had more opportunities to communicate orally in English through class discussions, debates and presentations. However, I still spent a significant amount of time studying test preparation books including TOEFL and IELTS because course exams were often similar to the tasks in those books. Also, there were not many other English materials. I didn’t really connect to the content presented in those materials, but I was convinced that more practice would lead to better language skills and exam scores. In addition, for classwork I had to listen to the radio more often. One of the activities I remember was listening to the BBC or the VOA, recording a piece of news, then transcribing it. I found the activity to be time-consuming, but useful. I also liked watching American movies; I watched them in the library and rented them to watch at home whenever I had the chance.

With high scores in the TOEFL and GRE tests, I moved on to do a Master’s degree in the US. My language development continued through interaction with others in English. During my MA, reading articles in the field was difficult because of the new content, as was following group discussions. I was mostly quiet in the first year of my MA, and I knew I needed to continue to improve my English. I found chatting useful, so I made friends online and chatted often. I also watched popular TV shows like Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond. When I had to write papers for class, I spent time reading and taking detailed notes. I earned As in most of my classes because of my papers.

Now, as a professional living in the US, I use English comfortably for a variety of purposes. I know that my English is still changing as I continue to learn new words, new ways to talk about certain topics in my field and new ways to relate to other people. I have more confidence in many professional circles, and I’m more outspoken. I’ve never made it my purpose to sound like a native speaker, but I do wonder how my English will evolve after years of living in the US.

Compare and contrast

Do you think Linh was successful in her language learning? What helped her to succeed? Complete the following table to compare your experiences with hers. Fill in Column 2 from Linh’s account, then fill in your own ideas in Column 3. Note that the points are not in any special order.

	Linh as a language learner	You as a language learner
Learning goals	To be number 1 in her class. To compete in the national contest. Not to sound like a native speaker.
Feelings towards English and English-speaking communities
Actions to help learning (learning strategies)
Challenges
Ways of measuring success
The learner’s personality
Factors contributing to success

Story 3:Far, far from home

My name is Marilyn. My experience of changing countries, languages and ways of learning happened when I had the chance to go and study in France. Although you might think that the main challenges would be the language and, perhaps, new ways of learning, my first obstacles were more about everyday life.

First I had to find a place to live. The university supplied a list of homestay families who were happy to have fee-paying international students, but the students had to find the houses themselves from the addresses they were given and then negotiate the arrangements. Remember that this was all in a language I had studied formally but had not used ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 What’s New about Studying in English?
• Chapter 2 How to Become a Better Language Learner
• Chapter 3 Studying Abroad
• Chapter 4 Academic and Technical Vocabulary
• Chapter 5 Listening to Lectures
• Chapter 6 Academic Presentations
• Chapter 7 Academic Reading
• Chapter 8 Principles of Academic Writing
• Chapter 9 Essay Writing Processes
• Chapter 10 Small Group Learning
• Chapter 11 Assessment
• Chapter 12 Communicating with Lecturers
• Chapter 13 Dealing with Problems
• Chapter 14 Life beyond the Classroom
• A Mini-Dictionary of University Words
• Answer Key
• Index