Towards a Better Understanding of Academic Acculturation: Second Language Students in Canadian Universities

Abstract

The aggressive internationalization of Canadian universities and increased immigration to Canada over the past 20 years have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of second language (L2) students in Canadian universities. However, little is known about the factors that influence academic acculturation of L2 students or about the role of English for academic purposes (EAP) instruction in their acculturation process. This study examined L2 university students' perceptions of academic acculturation and the role of EAP instruction by means of interviews conducted with 56 L2 students at three Canadian universities. Findings suggest that the students who characterized their academic engagement as successful had typically developed more strategic learning and social skills as part of their acculturation process. Implications are drawn for the importance of aligning students' agendas for learning (i.e., their perceptions of needs) with EAP programs.

An EAP Program and Students’ Success at a Canadian University

“…Different from the above studies that compared the experiences of EAP students with their non-EAP peers, Cheng and Fox (2008) interviewed three groups of EAP students to compare their perceptions of the role of EAP instruction at different stages of their study in three Canadian universities: 11 students who had already completed EAP courses and had moved on to their undergraduate courses, 37 students taking disciplinary courses concurrently with an EAP course, and 8 pre-university students currently taking only EAP courses. Compared to those in the disciplinary programs who appreciated in hindsight the skills that they had learned in the EAP courses, students who were taking the EAP program concurrently saw the courses as a "safe haven" providing social support (p. 326).…”

“…Research findings about EAP programs in other contexts, however, have been inconclusive. The programs can be either useful in helping students develop in certain skills but not others (Dooey, 2010;Tweedie & Kim, 2015), or helpful in some students' eyes but not others (Cheng & Fox, 2008). Previous research also suggests that "EAP program" is used as an umbrella term for different programs-that is, graduate or undergraduate programs, discipline-and faculty-specific programs (e.g., business, engineering), or a specific type of program open to students of different disciplines, educational levels, and language proficiency levels.…”

“…Research has examined whether EAP programs fulfill students' needs in preparing them to meet the challenges of mainstream university for graduate studies (Terraschke & Wahid, 2011), undergraduate studies (Cheng & Fox, 2008;Evans & Green, 2007;Tweedie & Kim, 2015), or both gradu-VOLUmE 34, iSSUE 2, 2017 ate and under graduate studies (Dooey, 2010;Floyd, 2015;Fox, Cheng, & Zumbo, 2014). For example, two studies explored post-EAP students' perceptions by interviewing them in their first university term in Australia (Dooey, 2010) and Canada (Tweedie & Kim, 2015).…”

Perceptions of People in Canada: Canadian-Born vs. Internationally- Born Postsecondary Students’ Perspectives

“…Social solidarity is promoted by minimizing the social distance between the second language group and the target language group, facilitating acculturation and language acquisition. Schumann's model of acculturation has also been applied to academic contexts in studies that explore the relationship between scholastic achievement and cultural adaptation (Berry, 1997;Cheng & Fox, 2008). Cheng and Fox (2008) suggest that Canadian second language postsecondary students who perceive their academic achievement as successful are more likely to have developed stronger strategic learning and social skills during their acculturation process.…”

“…Schumann's model of acculturation has also been applied to academic contexts in studies that explore the relationship between scholastic achievement and cultural adaptation (Berry, 1997;Cheng & Fox, 2008). Cheng and Fox (2008) suggest that Canadian second language postsecondary students who perceive their academic achievement as successful are more likely to have developed stronger strategic learning and social skills during their acculturation process. This suggestion validates the significance of attempting to shed light on the acculturation process in Canada by exploring the differences in cultural personality perceptions between internationally-born and Canadianborn groups.…”