International Student Security and English Language Proficiency

Abstract

International student security" refers to the international student's maintenance of a stable capacity for self-determining human agency. The article focuses on the role of English-language proficiency in the security of students from English as Foreign Language countries, drawing on evidence from a program of semistructured interviews with 200 international students. The interviews show that language proficiency is a pervasive factor in the human security of the international students in all domains inside and outside the classroom. There is a strong link between language proficiency and the capacity for active human agency. Both findings confirm prior research literature. The article concludes with implications for practice and for further research. In this program human security is defined as "maintenance of a stable capacity for self-determining human agency" (Marginson et al., 2010, p. 60). Human security has two aspects, encompassing on one hand the protection of persons, on the other hand their capacity to act. This notion extends beyond a subsistence, protective, or welfare model of person, and beyond the notion of consumer in a market, to envision the person as an active self-determining agent, albeit subject to the external conditions of life. It embraces both negative freedoms and positive freedoms. This concept of human security draws partly on the work of Sen (1985Sen ( , 2000 on freedom and capability. It also extends ideas about the human security of the globally mobile developed by agencies of the United Nations. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 1994) formalizes human security as "protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life; whether in homes, jobs or in communities"; and "safety from chronic threats such as hunger, disease and repression" (p. 23). This encompasses security in relation to food, health, personal safety, and the political economic order. However, it suggests active human agency only in relation to economic sustenance. Mobile refugees are modelled as persons needing protection alone with little focus on proactivity. In contrast, our definition imagines mobile students as active agents and bearers of full human rights (United Nations, 2010). This is consistent with the widely understood mission of higher education as forming selfactualising individuals."Security" in this sense is manifest in all domains of student life. The study gathered data in relation to personal safety, freedom from discrimination and abuse, consumer information, financial viability, safety at work, housing, health and welfare services, personal and social networks, relations with public and university authorities, and cross-cultural relations on campus and outside. One specific focus was students' competence in and confidence with the use of the English language. Language proficiency was assumed to be a keystone attribute that affects human security in all domains. This assumption about the role of language proficiency was grounded in the literature on internationa...

Experience of International Education of East Asian Students in English-speaking Countries: A four-dimensional approach

“…The perception of having limited communication skills hampers positive socialisation. Non-citizen students in English-language countries (Sawir, Marginson, Forbes-Mewett, Nyland & Ramia, 2012) who are unable to communicate in English feel they lack human security. Without the feeling of security, international students will avoid participation in activities involving non-Western individuals and confine their socialisation within groups of co-nationals.…”

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“…Researchers have identified language issues as a major concern for Asian and other international students (Counsell, 2011;Sawir, Marginson, Forbes-Mewett, Nyland, & Ramia, 2012;Zhai, 2002). However, not all international students have the same issues and regionally-specific information can help target programs for individuals and groups most affected by language issues.…”

Applying Agar’s Concept of ‘Languaculture’ to Explain Asian Students’ Experiences in the Australian Tertiary Context

“…In fact, Volet (1999, p. 628) points out that "The negative picture of Asian learners in Australian universities contrasts sharply with evidence from university statistics, that when English language proficiency is not an issue, Asian undergraduate students tend to perform better in their academic study than local students". Sawir, Marginson, Forbes-Mewett, Nyland, and Ramia (2012) investigated the role of English language proficiency in 200 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' communicative capacity both inside and outside the education setting (nine Australian universities) using semi-structured interviews. This study found that proficiency enables EFL students to move beyond passivity.…”

“…The most fundamental issue that causes these challenges is low level of English language proficiency. For example, in a study (Sawir et al, 2012) on 200 international students 86% of whom were L2 students of Asian background, it was revealed that a number of academic difficulties were triggered by lack of English proficiency.…”