This article reports on and discusses the findings of an investigation carried out to explore the expectations of an English language enhancement course (ELEC) held by a group of undergraduate students at an Australian university. For the study, a mixed-methods approach was utilised, with two instruments: a survey with a combination of closed-and open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews. The research was guided by the following three questions: (1) What do the students expect to learn on the course? (2) How are they developing their expectations?(3) Are the students' expectations being met? The literature concerning student expectations foregrounds the complexity and multi-faceted nature of the concept, the satisfaction of which can impact on student engagement, satisfaction, performance, retention and attrition. Findings show that the participants' expectations of the course content and teaching staff were largely met; nonetheless, a lack of class attendance was noted throughout. Expectations were reported to have been developed largely through consultation with previous students of the course (43 per cent) and information materials provided by the university (42 per cent). The article concludes with a discussion regarding the implications of the findings for universities and education providers both in Australia and abroad.

Many nations now enrol large numbers of tertiary students with English as an additional language, raising concerns over academic literacy standards. As a result, calls for whole-institution approaches to enhance language proficiency have grown. This paper describes the issues faced by one university that attempted such an approach. We first outline three theoretical assumptions, that is, that academic literacy is facilitated by (1) the attention to discourse at the discipline-specific level, (2) the engagement of students with their social, institutional and cultural surroundings, and (3) the provision to students of the tools for self-directed, ongoing learning. The paper then explains how one Australian university implemented a mandatory programme of credit-bearing discipline-specific English language enhancement courses as foundational units across all degree programmes. Describing the first programme of its kind in Australia, the paper focuses on the issues emerging from practice identified from the first five years: (1) stakeholder perceptions, (2) student reception, (3) materials development, (4) programme management, (5) assessment and (6) measuring outcomes. Rather than a panacea for a notoriously complex issue, the paper presents strategies for dealing with the challenges that emerge for other institutions that might be contemplating reform of a similar magnitude.Keywords: academic literacy; English as an additional language; English for academic purposes; English language enhancement; higher education; English as a medium of instruction IntroductionFrom 2000 to 2010, the number of foreign students globally increased by a staggering 99%. By 2012, 4.5 million tertiary students were enrolled in institutions outside their country of citizenship (OECD 2014) and a doubling of this to 8 million is projected by 2020 (Forest and Altbach 2006). Anglophone countries are popular destinations, attracting over 42% of all cross-border students (OECD 2013) with the USA enjoying the largest global share at 16.5%, followed by the UK (13%), Australia (6%) and Canada (5%) (OECD 2013). As cultural and linguistic diversity ramps up, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) universities in particular are realising that traditional approaches to learning and teaching must change.

Competition for students in a global market is intense. High attrition rates amongst university students are one of the underlying undesirable factors in the marketing mix tertiary institutions use to attract students (Schwartz, 2007). Not surprisingly, in a higher education environment where federal funding arrangements have started to focus on student completions rather than employment, it is essential to determine why students leave. In order to better understand the different dimensions involved in student attrition and retention it is important to determine the salient factors students give for withdrawing from their first-year tertiary courses. Through a review of the international literature, this paper introduces 17 factors why students claim to withdraw from their studies. This paper explores why students abandon their studies, and how to identify at-risk students for preventive intervention.

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This paper builds on previous research that evaluated the impact of an embedded online academic and information literacy module into the learning management system (LMS) of a first-year university business course. The research findings concluded that the resource contributed to student success and helped to demonstrate the value of the library at Griffith University to the wider community. Since the original module was embedded into the LMS for a single course in 2014, the provision of these bespoke online modules has expanded. Data has been gathered over the years from 2014 to 2017 on unique users and page views of the modules. Usage has exploded from 4442 page visits by 910 unique users in one course in 2014, to 271,556 page visits by 12,456 unique users in 45 different courses in 2017. Whilst the learning analytics support the continued and increased provision of these resources, other issues around sustainability have arisen and need to be addressed. The aim of this paper is to examine how the use of an e-learning model can help address issues of sustainability that arise as part of supporting an online approach to academic and information literacy support.