ESL SUGGESTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Use this sheet to help you:

• ExploreoptionsthatcanhelpimproveyourEnglishlanguageskills

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5 minute self test

This helpsheet describes a range of ways you can improve your English speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. Before you read on, look at the suggestions below and tick those you are already doing. • ImmerseyourselfintocommunitiesthatuseEnglish• AttendclassestoimproveyourEnglishlanguageskills• Listentotheradio—includingnewsandcurrentaffairsradio• Watchavarietyoftelevisionprograms• Joinacluborsocietyoncampus• Investinagoodgrammarbookandagooddictionary• Keepaglossaryofnewterms• SubscribetoanAustraliannewspaper

If you haven’t ticked all or most of these, there is much more you could be doing to build your English language skills. Read on.

Authors:Davies,W.M.,Beaumont,T.J.

Some,orallofthematerialinthishelpsheet,appearin:MartinDavies(2011),StudySkillsforInternationalPostgraduateStudents.Basingstoke,UK.:Palgrave,MacMillan.ISBN:140399580X.

library.unimelb.edu.au/libraries/bee

HelpsheetGiblin Eunson Library

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GENERAL ADVICE

Why learn English?ItmightseemstrangetoevenaskthisquestionaseveryoneunderstandsthatEnglishisimportant.Butitisoftennotrecognisedhowimportantitis.

• WhileEnglishisnottheworld’smostwidelyspokenlanguage(MandarinChineseis)itisthemostwidelydistributedlanguage.MostpeopleintheworlduseEnglishasasecondlanguage.Formanydevelopedcountriesitistheonlylanguageortheonlyofficiallanguage.

• HowEnglishisusediscriticaltoitsimportance.Itisthelanguageofscience,medicine,business,technology,industry,law,politicsandgovernment,internationalrelations,maritimeandair-trafficcontrol,theinternetande-commerce,news,theprofessions,aswellasentertainmentandpopularculture.Itisalsothelanguageoftravel.KnowEnglishandyoucango anywhere and work anywhere(Kitao,1996).WithoutgoodEnglish,youremploymentopportunitiesareseriouslylimited.WithgoodEnglishyouliterallyhavetheworldatyourfeet!WithexcellentEnglishyouareatruely global citizen!Therefore,youhaveplentyofincentivetoimprove.Yourfuturedependsonit.

Don’t Say You Were Not Warned!

TheimportanceofEnglishforfutureemploymentcannotbeoverstated.InarecentsurveyofemployersbyGraduateCareersAustralia(2006),interpersonal and communications skills (written, oral, listening)wererankedfarabove“qualifications”and“previousemployment”asthe most important selection criteria whenhiringgraduates(57.5%,35.4%and27.6%respectively).Similarly,employersregarded“theleastdesirablecharacteristics”whenrecruitinggraduatestobelackofcommunicationskills(written,oral,listening)atfirstplaceinalistof10characteristics(40.2%).Pooracademicqualificationswereonlyrankedfifthinalistof10leastdesirablecharacteristics(15%).(See:GraduateCareersAustralia,‘GraduateOutlook2006’).

A2005reportbyCPAAustralia,themainprofessionalAccountancybody,notedthatpoor English wasareasonfornotemployinggraduates.(See“Employersarereluctanttotakeonaccountantsfromnon-Englishspeakingcountries”,2005).Inotherwords,employerspreferanemployeewhocancommunicatewell(inEnglish)overahighlyqualifiedemployee.Whocanblamethem?Ifyouwerealocalemployer,wouldn’tyouthinkthesame?

Themainmessagefromallthisisthefollowing:YouraimasastudentinAustraliaistodevelopyourEnglishlanguageskillsasmuchasitistogainaprofessionalqualification.Therefore,treatEnglishlanguagelearningasanother subject you have to study!

WecannothelpyouimproveyourEnglishbygivingyouamagicalpill!Improvementinvolveshardworkanddeliberate effortonyourpart.ImprovingyourEnglishshouldbeacentralpartofyourstudieswhileinAustralia.Indeed,itcouldbearguedthatimprovingyourEnglishismoreimportantthanlearningyoursubjectcontent(whichthesedaysissubjecttoconstantchange).

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Themostsuccessfulwaytolearnalanguageistoimmerse yourself into the language community.Humanbeingsarelanguage-usinganimals.Wehavetolearnlanguage.Ourbrainsare“wired”forit.Butweneedexposuretolanguageinorderforittohappen.Themoreexposure;thefasteryoulearn.It’sassimpleasthat.

Myyoungsondoesnotneeddictionaries,theinternetorbookswithgrammarexercises.HesurroundshimselfwithEnglishandheisNOTafraidofmakingmistakes.Hejustspeaks,listensandgetscorrected.Helearnsastonishinglyfast.Infact,hisoralEnglishwas,attheageoffive,betterthantheEnglishofmostpostgraduatestudentshereintheFaculty!HiswayoflearningEnglish—andthewaywelearntournativelanguagewhenwewerechildren—isbymeansof“play”(havingfunwiththelanguagebyusingit).ThebestwayofimprovingyourEnglishistosimulate these conditions.Youwon’timproveasfastasafourorfive-yearold,butyouwillimprove.

ThefactthatyouarenowinanEnglish-speakingcountrymeansthatyoushouldbeabletoregularlyputyourselfinsituationswhereyouhavetouseEnglish.Ifyoudon’tdothis,itmeansyouarewastingaveryvaluableopportunity.

Ifthatdoesnotmotivateyou,thinkofthefollowing:Thebestwaytolearnalanguageistobeinthelanguagecommunitywhereitisbeingused.Howmanymillionpeoplefromyourhomecountrywouldlikethatopportunity? You HAVE that opportunity right NOW. TAKE IT.

Keep a glossary/dictionary:

Expandingyourvocabularyiscritical.Putasmallpadinyourpocket.Everytimeyouhearanewwordorphrase,writeitdown.Lookituplater,oraskanativespeaker.Thisshouldbeadailyactivitylastingalife-time.Englishhasavastandcomplexvocabulary(thelongerOxfordDictionaryrunsto20volumes!)andyoucanneverhaveenoughwordsandphrasesatyourdisposal(nativespeakersalwayshaveadictionarynearby).Englishisalsoa“vacuumcleaner”language,suckinginwordsandphrasesfrommanyotherlanguages(seethevideo:TheAdventureofEnglish).Youareresponsibleforyourownlearningofthisimportantlanguage.Itshouldbekeypriorityforyoufortherestofyourlife.

NB: Your English will not improve unless you USE the language.

Thismeans:• Regularexposureoveralongperiod• Dedicatedpractiseandimprovement(deliberateeffortinfixingyourmistakesand

developingyourvocabulary)• Makinganefforttoalways“gohigher”thanyourcurrentability.Readnewspapers

thatyoufindhard(noteasy),talktopeoplewhoarebetterinEnglishthanyou(nationalityisirrelevant,thoughobviouslyanativespeakerisbestofall).

• Avoidingsustaineduseofyournativelanguage.Thiscaninterferewithandslowdowntheprocessoflearningthetargetlanguage.Ifyouspendallyournightsandweekendsspeakingyournativelanguage,itmakesithardertolearnEnglish.One step forward, three steps backward!

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WEBLINKS

TheinternetisagreatresourceforlearningEnglish.Therearethousandsofusefulsites.Thefollowinglinkshaveavarietyofweb-basedresourcesforESLlearning(somearebetterthanothers).Therearethousandsofotherusefulwebsites:typein“AdvancedESL”.

• TheUniversityofMichiganEnglishlanguageInstitute(aVASTresourceofrelevantlinks):http://sitemaker.umich.edu/eli.resources/home

• PurdueUniversity’sOnLineWritingLab(OWL)http://owl.english.purdue.edu/• Alsosee:“CommonErrorsinEnglish”:http://public.wsu/edu/~brians/errors.html• EnglishPage.comforadvancedexerciseshttp://www.englishpage.com/• AdvancedCompositionforESLstudents:http://eslbee.com/

All international students have problems with articles: “the”, “a”, “an”.Seethefollowingsiteforpracticeexerciseshttp://www.englishpage.com/articles/index.htm/

Classes:

• TheUniversityofMelbourne’sAcademicSkillsUnit(ASU)offersfreeshortcoursesinlistening,speaking,writing,grammarandreading.TheyalsohaveadropinserivceattheGiblinEunsonLibrary,noappointmentneeded http://services.unimelb.edu.au/academicskills.

• TheCouncilofAdultEducationoffersESLclasses(forafee):http://www.cae.edu.au/web/?category=397.

• TheMelbourneSchoolofGraduateResearchoffersafreeshortcoursetohelpyoudevelopyourwrittenandspokenacademiccommunicationskills.http://gradresearch.unimelb.edu.au/programs/upskills/thesis_writing.html#ESL

LISTENING:

RadioTheAustralianBroadcastingCorporation(ABC)http://www.abc.net.auhasusefulradiostationstopracticeyourlistening.RadioisbetterpracticethantheTVasyoureallyhavetolisten.Itisgoodforavarietyofaccentstoo.Thecontentmightseemfastanddifficultatfirst,butletthelanguagewashoveryou.Tapeprograms,takenotesandplaythemback.Inafewdaysyouwillunderstandmorethanwhenyoustarted.Listentothesestationsonthebus,inbed—anytimeyouhaveasparemoment.TheABCnowpodcastsmanyofitsprogramsinmp3format(includingcurrentaffairsandnews).Thisisveryusefulasyoucanlistenwhenitisconvenientforyou.Fordetails,see:http://www.abc.net.au/services/podcasting/

Werecommendthefollowingradiostations.(AMBandonly):• 621 (Radio National—Australia wide):Veryvaried:Music,Politics,Religion,History,

Philosophy,Cooking,Law,Education,Science,IT.etc.

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• 774 (Victorian ABC):Localissuesandconcerns• 864 RPH Radiofortheprinthandicappedhttp://www.rph.org.au/development.htmlhas

programswheretheyreadthenewspapersforblindpeople.Usefulforyoutoo.• 1026 Newsradio.Constantnewsservice.

NotethatMelbourneUniversityhasasystemcalledLectureCapture(foremlycalledLectopia).Somelecturesareroutinelytapedandavailableonline(notallsubjectshowever).YoucanpracticeyourlisteningonsomeinterestinggeneraltopicsattheAsiaCentre,forexample,here:http://www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au

Onceagain,takenotesandreplayforlisteningpractice.

Television

OfcourseTVisgoodlisteningpracticetoo.TheABCchannel(Channel2)isBYFARthebestforcurrentaffairs(Watch:The7.30Report,FourCorners,Lateline).Mediawatchisgoodforindependentcriticalassessmentofthemediaitself.TheABChasrecentlylauncedanotherchannel:ABC24Sunday(Channel9)isnotbad.ForABCprogramming—bothTVandRadio:

• See:AustralianBroadcastingCorporation:http://www.abc.net.au• TheSBS(SpecialBroadcastingService)(Channel0)isalsoexcellent,broadcastingin68

languages.The6pmand9.30pmnewsserviceisverygood:http://www.sbs.com.au/• Inaddition,werecommendthecheapestcinemaintown:WaverleyCinema(ascheap

as$8.00amovie!).http://www.waverleycinema.com/• CinemaNovahascheapmoviestoo:http://www.cinemanova.com.au/

SPEAKING:

Ingeneral:surroundyourselfwithEnglish,speakupanddon’tbeafraidofmakingamistake.Childrenlearnlanguageremarkablyfastpartlyduetotheirwillingnesstoengageinconversationwithouttheanxietyofmakingerrors.Errors are essential to learning. Communication is also more than “accuracy”.Tolearnfast:pretendyouareachildagainandjusttalk!

Meetpeople:

• JoinaCluborSocietyonCampus:http://www.union.unimelb.edu.au/jump-in/clubs/(ifyoudon’tlikeanyoftheonesonoffer,startyourownclub!)NOTE:It’sbestifyoujoinby yourself.Youwillmakefriendsquicker.Nativespeakersoftenavoidgroupsofinternationalstudentsbecausewethinkyouwanttobewithyourfriends!

• Attendthe“CompatriotLunches”(watchyouremailfornoticesfromInternationalStudentServices).

• AlsoseetheAcademicSkillsUnitclassesonconversationandfluency.JointhepublicspeakingsocietiessuchasToastmasters:http://www.toastmasters.org/(limittoAustralia,VictoriaandMelbourne)orRostrum:http://www.rostrum.com.au/vic

• The Let’s Talk! Conversation Groupisauniversity-wideplaceforInternationalstudentstopracticespeakingEnglish,andmeetnewpeople.http://letstalkbysalp.wordpress.com/

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WRITING and READING:

SpendingyourtimedoinggrammarexercisesisoflimitedvaluewhenyouaresurroundedbyEnglish.It’sbettertoengageinthelanguagebyusingit.(Thisiscalledthe“communicativeapproachtolanguagelearning”).Nonetheless,youmaybeveryweakinsomeaspectsofgrammarandwouldliketopurchaseagrammarbookforexercises.HerearesomeESL-dedicatedbookshopsinMelbourne.

• Bookery348DrummondStCarlton3053PH:93477857http://www.bookeryeducation.com.au/

• T.E.S.L.BOOKS19-21ClaremontAveMalvern3144PH:95008933Emailteslbooks@ozemail.com.auhttp://www.teslbooks.com/TheyhaveresourcesonanyaspectofESL.

Werecommendthesetextsforgrammar:RaymondMurphy,AdvancedEnglishGrammarinuseandMichaelVince:FirstCertificateLanguagePractice.Foressaywritingandcompositionwerecommend,OshimaandHogue’s,IntroductiontoAcademicWritingandWritingAcademicEnglish.

Typicalgrammarproblemsallinternationalstudentshavearethefollowing:ARTICLES,PREPOSITIONALPHRASES,TENSES,VERBFORM,SENTENCESTRUCTURE,NOUN-VERBAGREEMENT.Dosomepracticenowandavoidproblemslater.Note: your grades WILL be influenced by grammar mistakes.

NEWSPAPERS

ItisarguablewhetherthereismuchdifferenceinthequalityofAustralianNewspapers.InmyopinionTheAustralianhasabetterstandardofjournalismandlongerandmorechallengingarticles(intermsoflanguageused).TheHerald-SunhasalowerstandardofEnglish:http://www.heraldsun.com.au.Aspostgraduatesyoushouldbereadingbetter(morechallenging)materialthanthis.Thefree“newspaper”MXcontainsalotofrubbish.Iamnotsayingdon’treadit,butitwon’thelpyourEnglishmuch.(IndeeditmayinfluenceyoutouselotsofinformalorcolloquialEnglishwhichisnot used inprofessionaloracademicwritingandspeaking).TheotherfreepaperEpochTimesismarginallybetter:http://www.theepochtimes.com

NOTE:TheworstthingyoucandowhileinAustraliaforashorttimeistospeakyourownlanguageeveryday.StudentswhodothisoftenregretthattheydidnotmakeuseoftheopportunitiesavailabletothemwhiletheywereinanEnglish-speakingcountry.Thebestthingyoucandois:makeAustralianfriends,livewithanAustralianfamily,etc.Your time here will pass very quickly.MakeuseofittoimproveyourspokenEnglish.Thisiscriticalforyourfuturecareerprospects.

Ifyoucannotlivewithahomestayfamily(orwithnativespeakers)atleastforceyourselftohave“Englishtime”everydaywithyourhousemates.

Again,toreallyimproveyouneedtocommunicatewithsomeonebetteratEnglishthanyou(theydon’thavetobenativespeakers,althoughobviouslyithelpsiftheyare).IfyouarealwaysspeakingEnglishwithpeopleofthesamelanguagelevelyouwillnotimproveasfast(indeed,youmayreinforceeachothers’errors.)

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TheAustralianFinancialReviewisgoodforbetterqualityarticlesandfinance-relatedlanguage:http://afr.com/.BusinessReviewWeeklyisalsocommerce-relatedbutnotasgood:http://www.brw.com.au/

ThemajorAustralianpapers:

• TheAge:http://www.theage.com.au/

• TheSydneyMorningHerald:http://www.smh.com.au/

• TheAustralian:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/(SeeWednesday’sissue fortheHigherEducationSupplement—issuesconcerningeducation,studentsand universities).

Itisbettertoreadthehardcopyofthenewspaperastheinternetversionsofarticlesareoftenshorterandlessdetailed.Newspapershaveapoliticalbiasofcourse(youcanjudgethisforyourself).

References

Bragg,M.,(2002),TheAdventureofEnglish500ADto2000.LWT:Granada International.8Episodes.UniofMelbourneLibraryCallnumber:420.9ADVE

“Employersarereluctanttotakeonaccountantsfromnon-Englishspeakingcountries”, AFAANZNewsletter,2005Volume12(3).P.9[URL:http://www.afaanz.org/ newsletter%20pdfs/AFAANZ_News_Sept05.pdf

GraduateCareersAustralia,‘GraduateOutlook2006’(URL:http://www. graduatecareers.com.au/content/view/full/52)

Kitao,K.,(1996)WhydoweTeachEnglish?TheInternetTESLJournal,Vol.II,No.4, April1996,(URL:http://www.englishfirst.org/eff/kitao-wh.htm)

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