We have lecturers complaining about the level of English of some international students and we have students complaining of being unable to understand the English spoken by some international PhD folk drafted in to teach. I have international ug's, pg's and staff enquiring about proof-reading. This afternoon, I will run a critical thinking workshop wherein 14 of the 18 on the register are Chinese. This is normal as is the fact that they will, largely, sit in silence as a) they don't understand the concept of an interactive workshop and b)they have insufficient spoken English or a lack of confidence in their English to participate. We used to run academic skills workshops specifically for international students but these have been withdrawn and there is no provision for proof-reading in the uni. Having had the personal, albeit brief, experience of learning in a country where my native language is not spoken, I know which side of the debate I'm on. You have to pay to be global.

Alison Green
Study Support Tutor
Acting PAL Co-ordinator
Fellow of Learning & Teaching
Library & Learning Support
Room D174, Dorset House
Talbot Campus
Bournemouth University
BH12 5BB
01202  965286


-----Original Message-----
From: learning development in higher education network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Magyar Anna Dr (DOS)
Sent: 27 January 2010 11:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Proofreading website


Focusing on learning issues AND assessment sounds sensible to me. Here at UEA we have been working on some guidelines regarding proof reading and I thnk one valuable thing to come out from it is  conversations in the faculty about their expectations and about what they are assessing and the relative importance of the different assessment criteria. For example,  in one set of marking descriptors, in order to get an 'excellent' mark, an assignment has to show 'very good understanding of the topic among other things (under argument and understanding) AND lucid expression; no errors of grammar; sophisticated vocabulary. This implies a direct correlation between understanding/thinking and language which does not work with students with dyslexia or international students. If assessment criteria are overly predicated on native speaker English isn't it then unfair (or unethical) to admit students with 6.5 IELTS - very far from native speaker English? Also it would seem that there are very different attitudes towards and understandings of proof reading among academic staff. I n some of our departments students are asked to have their work proof read so that the lecturer has more chance of getting what the student is trying to say. I agree that there are then issues of equity (i.e. those who can afford it, can pay for it) but I believe there are universities who do provide a proof reading service?

Anna

Dr Anna Magyar
Learning enhancement tutor for international students
Dean of Students Office
University of East Anglia
01603 591312

>-----Original Message-----
>From: learning development in higher education network
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Hilsdon
>Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 4:53 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Proofreading website
>
>Dear all
>
>I mentioned this to our Dean of Students here at the
>university of Plymouth - Dr Anita Jellings - who responded as follows:
>
>"There are all sorts of services, sites etc in this arena.  We
>should be focusing our resources on helping students to
>understand academic dishonesty and academic ethics generally.
>
>"Before Facebook and the web there were plenty of students and
>ex students offering this sort of thing to other students for
>money.  We have to continue to design assessment regimes that
>truly test the student as these things won't go away".
>
>On the whole I agree with Anita - and especially that our
>focus needs to be on the learning issues, rather than getting
>caught up in panic or outrage about such services ...
>
>All the best for now folks
>
>
>John
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: learning development in higher education network
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angela McQuade
>Sent: 26 January 2010 14:22
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Proofreading website
>
>Dear all,
>
>I would like to draw your attention to a website, 'Proofread
>my Essay', that was created in November 09.  It is designed to
>'help' students get the mark they 'deserve' by proofreading
>and correcting their essays for the fee of £8 per thousand
>words.  It is being promoted on Facebook, with students
>invited to become 'fans'.  The creator of the site is using
>Facebook to tell students when he will be visiting various
>universities to promote his service.  The 140 (so far) 'fans'
>on the Facebook site are from various of universities although
>a sizeable number are from Nottingham Trent.
>According to the site there was a promotion there on 25th January.
>
>In their FAQ section they state: "Our service focuses on
>making your work attractively legible to the marker, to make
>them feel that your work is well written and that you have
>spent the time reading over and improving it. This should
>ultimately help you achieve the grade you deserve, but
>unfortunately we cannot guarantee specific grades, as this
>would place us in direct conflict with your University's Code
>of Conduct."
>
>The Learning Development Service at Queen's have brought it to
>the attention of Academic Affairs.
>
>Just wondering what others think of the service this site
>offers and the ease with which students can get someone else
>to finish their work and pass it off as entirely their own.
>
>http://www.proofreadmyessay.co.uk/
>


 
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