Taking the lead: A call for change in the support of international students

Abstract

Across all sectors of education, international students make up a significant portion of our learners in class. Many students also require some form of ESOL support in order to enable successful study in our schools and universities. This presentation will aim to do the following: Review some of the latest statistics across the sectors. Provide an overview of the strategies of the major professional associations in the ESOL field. Look at the current state of ESOL support - for both students and staff. In doing so, I hope to make the case that something is profoundly wrong in the current positioning of ESOL support, especially in the tertiary sector. While this may be for a variety of reasons (profit, cost-cutting, lack of perceived value), I will argue that some serious change is needed in order to find some form of redress and create a situation in which learners are receiving the support they need, and staff are fully recognized the work they put in. The aim of this presentation is to spark some serious discussion on the issue.