The number of international students choosing Malaysia as a destination to further their graduate studies is steadily growing. This phenomenon has urged researchers to look for ways to ensure that they go through a smooth academic journey. One significant area of research has focused on the challenges faced by these students in their academic listening practices, and the measures employed to overcome the challenges. The Academic Literacies Questionnaire (Manjet, Investigating the academic literacies challenges of international graduate students in Master programmes in an Institution of Higher Education in Malaysia, 2013) was administered to 131 international graduate students in 10 taught Master programmes (coursework and mixed mode) to whom English is a foreign or second language. The results revealed some challenges those students face attributable mainly to the fact that English in Malaysia is not the native or first language. The findings and results, if taken seriously by the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia, would assist the academic listening practices of international graduate students by the local academicians. It is hoped that the recommendations provided in this study would be a platform to ensure that international students experience a satisfying academic experience in their graduate study.
Keywords: International graduate students Academic listening practices Taught Master programmes Challenges Overcoming measuresAl-Zubaidi, K. O., & Rechards, C. (2010). Arab postgraduate students in Malaysia: Identifying and overcoming the cultural and language barriers. Arab World English Journal (AWEJ), 1(1), 107–129.
Blakeslee, A. M. (1997). Activity, context, interaction and authority: Learning to write scientific papers in situ. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 11(2), 125–169.
Braine, G. (2002). Academic literacy and nonnative speaker graduate student. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1(1), 59–68.
Brown, L. (2008). Language and anxiety: An ethnographic study of international postgraduate students. Evaluation and Research in Education, 21(2), 75–95.
Cammish, N. (1997). Through a looking glass darkly: Problems of studying at advanced level through the medium of English. In D. McNamara & R. Harris (Eds.), Overseas students in HE: Issues in teaching and learning. London: Routledge.
Canagarajah, S. (1993). Comments on Ann Raimes’ “Out of the woods: Emerging traditions in the teaching of writing”. Up the garden path: Second language writing approaches, local knowledge and pluralism. TESOL Quarterly, 27(2), 301–306.
Carroll, J. (2005a). ‘Lightening the load’: Teaching in English, learning in English. In J. Carroll & J. Ryan (Eds.), Teaching international students: Improving learning for all (pp. 35–422). Abingdon: Routledge.
Carroll, J. (2005b). Strategies for becoming more explicit. In J. Carroll & J. Ryan (Eds.), Teaching international students. Abingdon: Routledge.
Casanave, C. P. (2002). Writing games: Multicultural case studies of academic literacy practices in higher education. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Chang, E. C. (2006). An investigation into the thesis/dissertation writing experiences of Mandarin speaking Masters Students in New Zealand. (Unpublished Master of Arts Thesis). Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. London: Routledge.
Crewe, I. (2004). UK Universities, Europe, and the globalization of higher education. Speech addressed to the Centre for Reform on July 13, 2004, Westminster, United Kingdom.
Crosswhite, J. (1996). The rhetoric of reason: Writing and the attractions of argument. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Cummins, J. (1984). Wanted: A theoretical framework for relating language proficiency to academic achievement among bilingual students. In C. Rivera (Ed.), Language proficiency and academic achievement. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. (1996). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. Ontario, CA: Cabe.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Duff, P. A. (2003). New directions in second language socialization research. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics, 3, 309–339.
Duff, P. A. (2007). Problematising academic discourse socialization. In H. Marriott, T. Moore, & R. Spence-Brown (Eds.), Learning discourses and the discourses of learning (pp. 1–18). Melbourne: Monash University ePress/University of Sydney Press.
Duff, P. A. (2010). Language socialization into academic discourse communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 169–192. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6, 3.
Ferris, D. (1998). Students’ views of academic aural/oral skills: A comparative needs analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 289–318.
Field, J. (2008). Listening in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Field, J. (2011). Into the mind of the academic listener. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(2), 102–112.
Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L. (2005). Second language listening: Theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2008). How to design and evaluate research in education (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill International Edition.
George, D., & Mallery, P. (2003). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference. 11.0 update (4th ed., p. 231). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Gourlay, L. (2006). Negotiating boundaries: student perceptions, academic integrity and the co-construction of academic literacies. JISC International Plagiarism Conference Proceedings.
Hafriza, B., Siti Hamin, S., Norsimah, M. A., Ravichandran, V., Nor Zakiah, A. H., & Mohammed Azlan, M. (2004). Empowering postgraduate students with academic writing skills: A case study of international students. Paper presented at Herdsa Conference, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.herdsa.org.au/conference2004/Contribution/NRPapers/A050-jt.pdf.
Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th ed.). London: Prentice Hall International.
Haneda, M. (2006). Classrooms as communities of practice: A reevaluation. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 807–817.
Hellsten, M. (2002). Students in transition: needs and experience of international students in Australia. Paper presented at the 16th Australian International Education Conference, Hobart, Tasmania.
Hellsten, M., & Prescott, A. (2004). Learning at university: The international students experience. International Education Journal, 5(3), 344–351.
Hincks, R. (2010). Speaking rate and information content in English lingua franca oral presentations. English for Specific Purposes, 29, 4–18.
Hisham, D. (2008). Needs analysis of Arab graduate students in the area of EAP: A case study of the ICT program at UUM. (Unpublished minor thesis). Universiti Utara Malaysia Press, Sintok.
Holmes, P. (2004). Negotiating differences in learning and intercultural communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 67(3), 294–307.
Ibrahim, N., & Nambiar, R. (2011a). What is the problem with the statement of problem?: The case of international students and the introductory sections of a project problem. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15(2011), 1713–1717.
Ibrahim, N., & Nambiar, R. (2011b). Writing in foreign lands: The case of postgraduate international students and the introductory sections of a project paper. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 18(2011), 626–632.
Institute of Postgraduate Studies. (2012). Universiti Sains Malaysia Website, Penang.
Johnson, M. E. (2008). An investigation into pedagogical challenges facing international tertiary-level students in New Zealand. Higher Education Research and Development, 27(3), 231–243.
Kaur, S. (2000). Problems in assessing proficiency in English among foreign postgraduate students. Australia: ultiBASE.
Kaur, D. (2006). International students and American higher education: A study of the academic adjustment experiences of six Asian Indian international students at a research level II university. (Unpublished Doctorate dissertation). The University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC.
Kaur, S., & Shakila, A. M. (2007). The learning experience of postgraduate students: Emergent themes. Bulletin of National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN), 9, 26–28.
King, P. (1994). Visual and verbal messages in the engineering lecture: Note taking by postgraduate L2 students. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic listening: Research perspectives (pp. 219–238). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Koo, Y. L. (2009). Mobilizing learners through English as Lingua Franca (EFL): Providing access to culturally diverse international learners in higher education. Research Journal of International Studies, 9(January), 74–87.
Kubota, R., & Lehner, A. (2004). Toward critical contrastive rhetoric. Journal of Second Language Writing, 3, 7–27.
Lee, G. (2009a). Speaking up: Six Korean students’ oral participation in class discussions in US graduate seminars. English for Specific Purposes, 28, 142–156.
Lee, J. J. (2009b). Size matters: An exploratory comparison of small and large class university lecture introductions. English for Specific Purposes, 28, 42–57.
Lee, J. J. (2010). International students’ experiences and attitudes at a US host institution: Self-reports and future recommendations. Journal of Research in International Education, 9(1), 66–84.
Leki, I. (2001). A narrow thinking system: Non-native-English-speaking students in group projects across the curriculum. TESOL Quarterly, 35, 39–67.
Lynch, T. (2011). Academic listening in the 21st century: Reviewing a decade of research. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(2011), 79–88.
Mahmud, Z., Amat, S., Rahman, S., & Mohd Ishak, N. (2010). Challenges for international students in Malaysia: Culture, climate and care. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 7(C), 289–293. Retrieved July 28, 2011 from www.sciencedirect.com.
Manjet, K. (2013). Investigating the academic literacy challenges of international graduate students in Master programmes in an Institution of Higher Education in Malaysia. (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis). Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia.
Mason, A. (1995). By dint of: Student and lecturer perceptions of lecture comprehension strategies in first-term graduate study. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic listening: Research perspectives (pp. 199–218). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mendelsohn, D. (2002). The lecture buddy project: An experiment in EAP listening comprehension. TESL Canada Journal, 20(1), 64–73.
Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). (2010). Perangkaan Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Higher Education.
Morita, N. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language academic communities. TESOL Quarterly [Electronic version], 38(4), 573–603.
Nambiar, R., & Ibrahim, N. (2011). Mainland China undergraduate learners’ experiences in the Malaysian tertiary context. Procedia Social Behavioral Sciences, 15(2011), 3227–3231. www.sciencedirect.com.
Nayak, R. R., & Venkatraman, S. (2010). A pilot study into international students’ academic culture: The context of Indian business students in an Australian University. e-Journal of Business Education & Scholarship of Teaching. 4(2), 1–12. http://www.ejbest.org.
Norhisham, M., Muhamad, J., Azizah, O., Osman, M., Abdul Ghani, G. A., & Norpisah, M. I. (2008). Internationalization and international linkages: The State of Malaysian Higher Education Institutions. In M. D. Zuraidah, A. B. Mohd. Yusof, M. Nor Aieni, J. Rohana, Z. Ainol Madziah, O. Norasma, G.Aries (Eds.), Enhancing the quality of higher education through research: Shaping future policy (pp. 160–179). Kuala Lumpur: The Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia (MoHE).
Odlin, T. (1989). Language transfer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Patton, M. Q. (2008). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Prescott, A., & Hellsten, M. (2005). Hanging together even with non-native speakers: The international student transition experience. Internationalizing Higher Education (Vol. 16), (pp. 75–95). Netherlands: Springer.
Ramsay, S., Barker, M., & Jones, E. (1999). Academic adjustment and learning processes: A comparison of international and local students in first-year university. Higher Education Research and Development, 18(1), 129–144.
Reid, I., Kirkpatrick, A., & Mulligan, D. (1998). Framing student literacy: Cross-cultural aspects of communication skills in Australian universities. Sydney: NCELTR?Curtin University of Technology.
Reinties, B., Beausaert, S., Grohnert, T., Niemantsverdriet, S., & Kommers, P. (2012). Understanding academic performance of international students: the role of ethnicity, academic and social integration. Higher Education, 63, 685–700. doi:10.1007/s10734-011-9468-1.
Ringbom, H. (1987). The role of the first language in foreign language learning. Clevedon/Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Rost, M. (2005). L2 listening. In Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 503–507). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rowley-Jolivet, E. (2002). Visual discourse in scientific conference papers: a genre-based study. English for Specific Purposes, 21, 19–40.
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. R. (2009). Essential research methods for social work. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Ryan, J., & Carroll, J. (2005). ‘Canaries in the coalmine’: international students in Western universities. In J. Carroll & J. Ryan (Eds.), Teaching international students: Improving learning for all (pp. 3–9). Abingdon: Routledge.
Sawir, E. (2005). Language difficulties of international students in Australia: The effects of prior learning experience. International Education Journal, 6, 567–580.
Schneider, M. L., & Fujishima, N. K. (1995). When practice doesn’t make perfect: The case of an ESL graduate student. In D. Belcher & G. Braine (Eds.), Academic writing in a second language: Essays on research and pedagogy (pp. 52–76). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Senyshyn, R. M., Warford, M. K., & Zhan, J. (2000). Issues of adjustment to higher education: International students’ perspective. International Education, 30(1), 17–35.
Sidhu, K., & Kaur, S. (2009). Integrating multimodal literacies in ESL teaching: addressing learner diversity. International Journal of Learner Diversity, 1(1), 59–78.
Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2009). Foundations of mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Teddlie, C., & Yu, F. (2007). Mixed methods sampling: A typology with examples. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1, 77–100.
Universiti Sains Malaysia Website. (2011).
Vandergrift, L. (2006). Second language listening: Listening ability or language proficiency? Modern Language Journal, 90, 6–18.
Vandergrift, L. (2007). Recent developments in second and foreign language listening comprehension research. Language Teaching, 40, 191–210.
Wahi,W., O’Neille, M., & Chapman, A. (2012). Exploring academic literacies of ESL undergraduate students. Paper presented at International Conference of Innovation Research in a Changing and Challenging World, Phuket, Thailand. Organized by Australian Multicultural Interaction Institute (AUMII). Retrieved from www.auamii.com/conference.html.
Wong, J. K. (2004). Are the learning styles of Asian internationals culturally or contextually based?. International Education Journal, 4(4), 154–166.
Zamel, V. (1995). Strangers in academia: The experiences of faculty and ESL students across the curriculum. College Composition and Communication, 46, 506–521.