Considering strategies for the improvement of international students' academic and cultural experiences of studying in the UK

University attendance and academic performance: Encouraging student engagement

“…Finally, as previously mentioned, the two modules analysed in this paper were delivered to a cohort of students who were predominately international (non-UK). Research has shown that there are specific factors which impact on the academic performance of international students; for example English language skills (Bamford, 2008a(Bamford, , 2008bLebcir et al, 2008) and suitability of assessment methods (De Vita, 2002). Future research could account for such factors.…”

“…6]. Bamford (2008aBamford ( , 2008b and Lebcir et al (2008) found that even if students met the entry requirement for language standards, they may still experience language issues due to a lack of familiarity with the technical terminology required for a specialist subject area. Meyer and Shanahan (2001) using a dataset of first-year students of Economics across two Australian universities found that students for whom English was a second language did significantly worse than those for whom English was the first language.…”

“…Statistical data show that international students at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Scotland account for 22% of students joining HEIs compared to 19% of students studying in HEIs across the United Kingdom as a whole over the period 2016–2017 (Scottish Government, 2018). Given their likely diversity in terms of (a) English language ability and (b) study methods, it is envisaged that the incentive scheme would have an additional benefit in improving the international students' academic experience (Bamford, 2008a, 2008b; Wu & Hammond, 2011). We conclude that implementing an attendance policy along the lines of the seminar incentive scheme does improve attendance but has a limited impact on academic performance.…”

Tracing Chinese international students’ psychological and academic adjustments in uncertain times: An exploratory case study in the United Kingdom

“…Leong (2015) adopts a qualitative research design 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.942227 to investigate the academic experiences of 11 international students at a single American university and reports that English language competence serves as the primary challenge on the way to academic success. Pedagogically, researchers have also examined the negative academic performance exhibited by certain Chinese international students at universities in English-speaking countries, isolating other potential factors as relating primarily to matters of personality and prior intercultural experiences (Arambewela and Hall, 2013), academic cultural differences (Zhou and Todman, 2009), and insufficient support offered by the host university (Bamford, 2008).…”