For some international students in the United States, it can be a challenge to try and master grammar and style rules while simultaneously trying to grasp conversational English.

‘It’s double trouble,’ said Maria Dekleermaeker, creator of the English Conversation Program in the Lillian and Emanuel Slutzker Center for International Services at Syracuse University.

As the number of international students increases at SU, the number of students enrolled in English as a Second Language (ENL) courses has jumped this academic year.

There are 25 sections of ENL courses in comparison to only 18 sections from the previous academic year, said Laura Lisnyczyj, who teaches one of the ENL classes. There are also 91 more people enrolled in ENL courses this academic year, amounting to a total of 404, and 82 more people who took the English Language Assessment Exam, amounting to a total of 294, Lisnyczyj said.

There was a 46 percent increase in international student applications to SU for next fall as well, reflecting a national trend of American schools that experienced a rise in international student applications, according to a Feb. 2 article published in The Daily Orange.

International students must first pass a series of tests during the application and enrollment processes to SU.

They are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language exam upon applying for admission to SU, according to the admission website. Once at SU, they are required to take the English Language Assessment Exam to test their proficiency in listening, writing and reading comprehension to determine the writing class they will be placed in, according to the website.

‘They want to learn English, and in a sense they need to in order to survive on this campus,’ Lisnyczyj said.

Taking a series of ENL courses is required if an international student’s ELA score is not proficient enough to take WRT 105: ‘Practices of Academic Writing’ or WRT 205: ‘Critical Research and Writing,’ Lisnyczyj said. ENL courses fall under the English Speakers of Other Languages program in the department of languages, literatures and linguistics.

Lisnyczyj said she believes the courses allow international students to improve their writing skills in a nonintimidating environment.

‘It’s not that they don’t have the knowledge, because they do. But their question is, ‘How can I express that in another language?” she said. ‘It can be frustrating, and we’re just trying to help them through that.’

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to express their ideas clearly and effectively to the American academic community, Lisnyczyj said. She said they also stress research skills and the ability to express their ideas verbally.

International students often feel as though they are on the fringe of the campus community, said ENL instructor Maryanne Patulski. For this reason, the ENL classes can become a home away from home for the students.

‘Our students are always coming to us for recommendations because we know them,’ Patulski said.

But international students aren’t struggling in all language classes. Some international students are performing better than their domestic counterparts in the foreign language department.

‘They are picking up the language more quickly than the American students, and they are very serious in their work,’ said Elise Finielz, a teacher’s assistant for FRE 101: ‘French I.’

Students who need extra help even after specialized classroom time can use the Writing Center. Jason Luther, writing center administrator, said he consults with international students weekly to strengthen their skills and help with assignments.

International students may know grammar rules but might have trouble with vocabulary and knowing the rules that are intuitive to native speakers, he said.

‘Grammar is not the biggest issue. It’s a lexical issue,’ Luther said.

About 30 percent of the students who visit the Writing Center identify as English Speakers of Other Languages students, Luther said. Though most of these students are international students, some are American citizens whose parents immigrated to the United States, he said.

But campus programs for international students are lacking, Luther said. It takes about 1,000 hours of contact time to be fluent in a language, Luther said.

‘By and large,’ Luther said, ‘that’s still not enough time to become fluent in English.’

skmuhamm@syr.edu

 

 

 

 

 

Published on February 14, 2011 at 12:00 pm