International postgraduate students, their academic skills and their academic sense of self

Many of us teaching in-sessional EAP courses are aware of research into International students studying at university in the UK or elsewhere. Studies have reported many issues students face. These include transition itself, culture shock, motivation, adaption, intercultural communication, issues with socialising, language acquisition, academic performance, writing conventions, gender issues and changes in requirement in terms of what is expected of them as students in the UK (see: Coertjens et al., 2017; Kaufold ,2015; Hennerby et al., 2012; Menzies et al., 2015; Morgan, 2014; Pike & Harrison, 2011; Quan et al., 2013; Rientes et al., 2011 and Schartner, 2016,). However, in reviewing the literature there seems to be little on international students’ sense of academic-self in relation to the tasks required of them at a postgraduate level. Academic-self is defined by Lent, Brown & Gore (1997: 308): “Academic self-concept is commonly viewed as incorporating “attitudes, feelings and perception” relative to one’s intellectual or academic skills. As such it represents a mixture of self-beliefs and self-feelings regarding general academic functioning.” Research that focuses on academic-self may reveal more about how students approach academic tasks that are required to complete their courses of study. This presentation aims to provide some initial findings from the first phase of data collection consisting of questionnaires and individual one-to-one interviews from my PhD research. In relation to the topic of integration, the data reveals how students are making sense of and attempting to integrate into the new study arena in which they have chosen to embark.