How to Teach International Students?

Here is a list of tips that will help you to work with and teach international students:
How to improve listening comprehension
  • Speak slowly so all words are set off
  • Use outlines of the lecture, so students will be able to follow the speech and take notes
  • Any difficult concepts require simple examples
  • Do not use cultural references and jokes
How to improve speaking
  • Give students a possibility to practive in small groups before speaking in front of the whole class
  • Encourage them to speak
  • It will be helpful to give them a listof discussion topics and questions before the class so they will have a possibility to prepare
  • Form intercultural groups of students and make them sit together
  • Involve international students in speaking activities
How to improve writing
  • Any writing assignment requires detailed set of instructions
  • Give students a sample how the ready product should look like
  • Explain the essentials of time in the writing
  • Set focus on the content of paper – it may be arrange not properly, however, the essence of the task students get correctly
  • Surface errors are not so important, pay attention to the content
  • Many languages have different morphology so that mistakes are quite common.
  • Knowledge of English is not an indicator of intelligence
How to help students to become integrated faster:
  • Allow them to make audio records of the lectures
  • Tell them to take notes in English, not in the first language
  • Set roles in groups (organizer, recorder, encourager etc.)
  • Make a list of information domestic students have to bring to a class and international students haven’t
  • Explain the amount of time dedicated to accomplishment of every task
  • Let students share knowledge of their cultures so they will be able to understand the backgrounds of different actions
  • Consider reasons of poor performance (stress, culture shock etc.)
  • Discourage word for word memorization of content

Tips for students:

  • Read in advance of the studies, create a vocabulary for new words and practice in them
  • Participate in the International Conversation Hour
  • Watch English movies with subtitles
  • Speak as much as you can