Understanding international student adjustment issues: successful support interventions and implications for practice.

Internationalising the curriculum involves providing students with global perspectives of their discipline and giving them a broader knowledge base for their future careers. They can be provided with a set of values and skills to operate in diverse cultural environments; skills often labelled ‘intercultural competencies’ or ‘cross-cultural capabilities’. These values, skills and knowledge are related to graduate attributes and global citizenship with an acknowledgement that graduates today will need the resilience and competencies to communicate and compete in a rapidly changing, complex global workforce and world. International students in institutions of higher education in English-speaking countries make valuable educational and economic contributions. For these benefits to continue, universities must become more knowledgeable about the adjustment issues these students face and implement appropriate support services (Tran and Swierczek, 2009). This presentation and discussion identifies factors that influence the adjustment and academic achievement of international students (Ryan, 2013). Adjustment challenges are primarily attributable to English language proficiency and culture (Katyal and King, 2014). Achievement is affected by English proficiency, academic skills and educational background. Understanding international student adjustment issues has global implications for intercultural education (Saravanamuthu and Yap, 2014). Research into successful support interventions and implications for practice employed at Edge Hill University in two aspects will be explored: Linguistic support Cultural support It was found that students faced a major challenge, linguistically and culturally, in negotiating identities and power relations necessary for them to participate and be recognised as legitimate and competent members of their classroom communities.