Event Details

Language Testing Research Group (LTRG) & Second Language Learning and Teaching Research Group (SLLAT) seminar

Pursuing university education in a foreign language: How difficult could it be?

Danijela Trenkic (University of York)

Although some international students rank among the top performers at UK universities, they perform notably less well on average than home students. My research investigates the role that language plays in their academic success.

In this talk, I will discuss recent research that bears on the following questions:

• How much do the language and literacy skills of international students differ from those of homes students?
• How much do language and literacy skills affect academic success at university?
• Where is the threshold after which language stops being a barrier to academic performance?
• Do international students arrive with lower proficiency in English than their language qualifications indicate?

I consider the challenges of pursuing an academic degree in a foreign language, and how psycholinguistic research can inform university policies and strategies to ensure that educational experience and outcomes of international students are not compromised.