Meeting the academic acculturation challenges of university ESOL students

BCTEAL 2014 Annual Conference

Eilidh Singh | Joy Lin Salzberg |

Maria Adique | Mia Liu | Sara Kermanian | Azene Firehiwot |

Agenda

1. Introductions2. Goal of session

3. What is academic acculturation?4. The Academic English Support Program (AESP)

5. Student Voices 6. Q&A

What is Academic Acculturation?

Academic acculturation is defined as the “dynamicadaptation processes of linguistically and culturallydiverse students engaging with the academicstudy cultures of Canadian English-mediumuniversities.”

(Cheng & Fox, 2008)

The UBC Academic English Language Program

Key Features of the Program/How it Supports ESOL students

- It addresses the UBC Plan (student Learning Key Actions)

‘increase English language supports at Vancouver campus’

‘review and enhance the current academic support services, including academic language support.”

- It’s free, confidential, blended, customizable

Who are our students?

Citizenship of International students by top countries 2013/14 UG G Totals China 1785 738 2523 The US 750 600 1350 South Korea 429 52 481 India 200 216 416 Japan 280 38 318 Iran 35 274 309 UK 181 76 257 HK 187 23 210 Mexico 107 86 193 Malaysia 178 12 190 Indonesia 158 11 169 Others 2036 920 2956 Totals 6326 3046

9372

45% of all domestic students are Chinese, Japanese or Korean, and only 51% of domestic students’ first language is English.Source: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/2012/08/15/who-are-our-students-implications-for-teaching-and-learning

58,284 students across 2 campuses

• 10,181 international students from 149 countries (=19%)

How the AES Program Works

The Coaching Model

Student Voices

Any questions?

Thank you for coming!

eilidh.singh@ubc.ca

joy.lin.salzberg@ubc.ca

Twitter: @UBCAESwww.aes.ubc.ca