International Students Struggle to Adjust to Education in English

By Deirdre de Leeuw den Bouter and Malavika Libish

Starting life at university and coming to AUC is already a daunting task, but one often overlooked issue arises for many new students: English proficiency. 

When applying, students must prove their English proficiency through a number of ways. Firstly, the application itself is all in English. Additionally, those who do not come from English-speaking systems must either prove that they have taken high-level English courses or take an exam, like the IELTS or TOEFL. Johanna Kallmeyer, a first-year Humanities major, is one of the students who used her high school advanced English course to meet the requirement. Despite that, Kallmeyer claims she “wasn’t really prepared for academic English.”

Many students who do not come from English-speaking schooling systems struggle with Academic Writing Skills (AWS), a mandatory course for all first-years. According to the UvA course catalogue, AWS is meant to be an “introduction to academic study and the foundation skills required for becoming a successful junior member of an interdisciplinary academic community.”

Alongside learning how to cite and quote, students are expected to write two multipage essays. “I do think it’s helpful that we have [AWS],” says Billie Van den Bossche, a first-year Social Science major. AWS has helped her a lot, as she had not learned MLA or APA citation techniques in her high school or had any experience with academic writing assignments.

However, for those who have never written in English before, the class can be quite a struggle. “In IB [International Baccalaureate], they [the students] do a lot of assignments, they do a lot of group projects, they write papers, they do research. All of [that] helps them to better prepare for university life,” says Yvan Pan, a third-year Social Science major. 

A lot of other high school curriculums focus solely on exam preparation, which might put students from those systems at a major disadvantage. Moreover, for many international students, writing is heavily influenced by their culture. “Of course, I think you can write something that is grammatically right and with excellent word choice,” Pan explains, continuing, “People can understand you, but […] the way of thinking, the flow of your article, the structure remains in your own culture.”

According to Pan, AWS fails to provide students with sufficient guidance when it comes to operating in an English-speaking system in general, beyond the academic realm. While it’s useful to know the technicalities of academic writing — how to cite, avoid plagiarism, and the like — Pan believes it’s just as important to learn how to effectively put your thoughts into words. “I can’t think of what they can do to properly help us [non-native English speakers],” Pan admits, despite feeling dissatisfied with AWS as a course, “Because that’s something you really have to learn yourself.” 

To help alleviate students’ struggles, AUC has set up a Writing Center, where students can go with their essays in order to get feedback on their drafts and for general additional support in writing in English. Kallmeyer believes that offering additional resources alongside the Writing Center, such as lectures, might be beneficial for students.

Everyone, of course, agrees that practice makes perfect. “After more than two years of study, I can write academic papers, but you definitely won’t see that as one written by a native speaker,” Pan says, “I still use simple words, but that’s enough to carry out my idea.” 

This academic year, AWS has broken the mold and embraced AI tools such as ChatGPT. Students are able to and often encouraged to employ AI to help their essays. Google Docs has a built-in spell check feature, and extensions such as Grammarly and Quillbot can correct spelling and grammar as students are writing. “Nowadays, with ChatGPT it’s far easier than before and [the AI] will draft a brilliant, nice-looking English essay for you,” Pan says, “But I think overall the challenge is still there.” 

With the switch towards using computers and AI to aid writing, AWS may become easier for students who do not come from English-speaking schooling systems to adjust to. The course, which remains a looming obstacle for all first years, does provide insight into the technicalities of academic writing, helping introduce students to the new world of academia.