According to the OECD, in 2012, more than 4.5 million students were studying overseas at post-secondary level – that’s more than five times the number of students who were studying abroad in 1975. Driven by the exploding demand for higher education worldwide and the perceived value of studying at prestigious post-secondary institutions abroad, students from Asia now make up 53% of foreign students worldwide. The trend looks set to continue. 77% of parents interviewed as part of a global study by HSBC said they would consider sending their child to study at a university abroad. Parents are ambitious for their children. They see an international education as one way to stand out from the crowd in a competitive job market.
Making the most of an academic education overseas
With the US, UK and Australia amongst the most popular destinations for overseas students this means that, for many, studying overseas also equates to study in a second language; it means studying in English. Students need the right level of English skills to win a place at their chosen university and most students heading for an overseas university will need to prove their level of English proficiency before they enrol on their chosen course. But in order to reap the full benefit of the academic programme for their subject of study there are some specific skills in English that all students will need in order to get the most from an academic education overseas. Being able to skim read a set text written in English and pick out the key concepts and ideas presented then taking that information and paraphrasing it; delivering a presentation on the different academic perspectives on a chosen topic. These are all the kind of real life English skills that students will need to have at their disposal in order to thrive academically.
How the GSE fits in
Living and studying in an English speaking environment will mean that a lot English skills are picked up and developed naturally through everyday interaction and practice. This kind of interaction mimics the way that we acquire first language skills – trial and error, feedback and constant practice. But there are times when students will want to focus on specific skills in English to support their academic performance. That’s why we’ve just launched the Global Scale of English Learning Objectives for Academic English, a bank of over 300 ‘can do’ statements that describe the kind of real life English skills needed to succeed in an academic setting. The skills are grouped across reading, writing, speaking and listening and are ranked along the Global Scale of English, a numerical 10-90 proficiency scale.
Enabling English learners to plan a path to proficiency
Learners can use the descriptors to plan their own individual path to English proficiency as they embark on life and education abroad. All the learning objectives reflect real examples of the kind of tasks students will be faced with across a range of difficulty, from writing a conclusion for an academic essay and following different views during a panel discussion to chairing a debate. Using a 10-90 proficiency scale means that progress can be seen step by step as new skills are acquired. It’s a motivating and empowering way to learn.
The Global Scale of English ecosystem of products and services is made up of four parts – the scale itself, the GSE learning objectives, our portfolio of learning services and our set of assessment tools. In creating the ecosystem we want to offer our learners a flexible and interconnected set of learning solutions, improved motivation through evidence of progress and true personalisation of learning by allowing them to focus on the specific skills that they need.
This new bank of learning objectives gives students worldwide the ability to take control of their English skills development and target the areas they really want to focus on. That way they can plot a personalised path to English proficiency that will take help them deliver standout performance in their chosen academic subject.
Source: http://www.english.com/blog/english-enhances-international-education-gse
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