To Chinese International Students
Active Engagement & Academic Performance Improvement
If IEC are approved by the University and CIS are allowed to take these courses with experienced teachers abovementioned, they are able to make progress in their English skills by mastering native language expressions and intercultural communication skills. Researchers have demonstrated that lacking local culture and proficient English skills prevent international students from actively participating in various communications with local students (Berman & Cheng, 2010; Huang & Klinger, 2006; Li, Chen, & Duanmu, 2009). As a result, IEC allow CIS to make up their cultural and lingual shortages, paving the way for effective communications. For instance, CIS could be able to write a grammatical correct paper so that their supervisors can provide feedback focusing on content rather than keep correcting grammatical mistakes. I remember that in my first semester at McGill, my instructors commented on my writing assignments and suggested that I should have obtained higher grades because I did not make my argument clear and concise in English. It leads me to argue that by taking IEC, CIS will be more likely to improve their academic performance, because as aforementioned, Huang and Klinger (2006) indicate that English proficiency is correlated with academic performance, which is supported by other researchers such as Li et al. (2009), Berman and Cheng (2010). Given their unevenly developed English skills, IEC help student improve their writing and speaking skills to illustrate ideas clearly and concisely.
A Better Adaptation at McGill
In addition to the active engagement in communications and academic improvement, I believe that IEC would equip students with sufficient English skills to help them better adjust to their studies at McGill. Li et al. (2009) found that CIS “tend to be less keen to participate in group discussions or debate in class and do not like to raise or answer questions” (p. 5). Other scholars also describe similar situation in different English contexts (Andrade, 2006; Berman & Cheng, 2010). Considering their less advanced English proficiency, CIS are not willing to express their ideas in front of their peers (Huang & Klinger, 2006).