.png)
1. Introduction: Do international students understand you?
Do you often communicate with students – whether in writing or speaking? As an adviser, teacher, lecturer, or in a supportive role? If you do, then you are very likely also communicating with many international students who find English challenging and who struggle with some Kiwi expressions and concepts.
In this topic, we explore how staff can make small changes to their writing and speaking to help international students understand more easily. We also provide some tips for students on what to do when communication breaks down. We explore:
- Plain language guidelines that make (written) texts more accessible for second-language learners
- Audience needs and the reasons why we write or speak and students read or listen
- Web accessibility for second-language users
- Practical tips to improve spoken interactions between staff and international students.
This topic also provides other resources to improve your communication with second language users of English, including tools to check the difficulty of your writing.
2. What are the challenges for international students?
Most international students in New Zealand are second language learners of English. When graduating from high school in their home countries, many of them – despite their best efforts – only know around 3,500 to 4,000 words in English (Laufer, 1998, 2001). (And secondary students typically know even fewer words.) In contrast, many 13-year-old native speakers in New Zealand know 11,000 words and will add around 1,000 new words to their vocabulary every year (Coxhead, Nation, & Sim, 2015).
English learners often also struggle with complex grammar. And they frequently have problems with the New Zealand accent, Kiwi slang, and with ‘Western’ and New Zealand cultural concepts.
International students need web pages and learning materials that are easy to read.
2.1 What does it feel like to understand very little?
Do you want to get a taste of what it feels like to understand very little of a text – a text about a service that might help you deal with a difficult situation?
In the example text below, we have replaced some common words with infrequent, difficult words or with pseudowords that don’t really exist. Like an international student, you have to guess those words from context or look them up in a dictionary. Luckily, we have provided a dictionary for you below the text.
While you read the text, write down your thoughts and feelings about:
- Reading a text that is difficult to understand
- Having to work so hard to find information you might need.
Student strife settlement
It’s important to us that all our students study, live, and scradictise in an amicable and respectful environment.
The Strife Settlement team is the place to go for students to procure advice and support when contending with threatening or unseemly behaviour by staff or peers. The Strife Settlement team help students in a supportive and non-delistemanal manner. They appraise risks, identify support needs, and work alongside students and staff to create a safer community.
Students can have an equisembigal conversation or receive advice from the team on any of the following:
- Threatening or combative behaviour
- Praining or primprudity
- Unwanted attention
- Sexually harmful behaviour
- Racism, exorcism, arophobia, partial, inofedrable, or hateful behaviour
- Strife and grievances.
Our Strife Settlement team are available to support students experiencing strife or who have a grievance or an issue with anyone in the university community.
To have an equisembigal conversation or procure advice, students can contact the Strife Settlement team at strife.settlement@school.ac.nz or call under 00 1234 567.
Dictionary
appraise – assess
amicable – friendly
arophobia (pseudoword) – homophobia
combative – aggressive
delistemanal (pseudoword) – adversary
equisembigal (pseudoword) – confidential
eudemonia (from Greek) – happiness
exorism (pseudoword) – xenophobia
inofedrable (pseudoword) – inequitable
non-delistemanal (see delistemanal)
partial – discriminatory
praining (pseudoword) – bullying
primprudity (pseudoword) – harassment
settlement – resolution
strife – conflict
scradictise (pseudoword) – socialise
Reading the text, you might have thought and felt some of the following:
- I don’t understand what this service offers.
- I think I have understood the main gist but I have a feeling of unease. I feel insecure and wonder whether I might have missed really important points.
- I wanted to give up reading.
- I gave up reading after a few lines. Trying to read this makes my life harder, not easier.
- I feel like an idiot. I can’t even understand a simple text. I should just give up and go back home.
2.2 What do students feel and do when they don’t understand?
Not understanding can have a negative effect on the wellbeing and self-confidence of international students. Here is what students told us:
- ‘You are like a child but you are an adult. It is so embarrassing to say that you don’t understand!’
- ‘You are not an adult because you need so much help!’
- ‘In my home country, I was a lead engineer. Here, I am nothing.’
The ‘language barrier’ can affect students’ use of services
In New Zealand, we offer many support services for students. Unfortunately, many international students don’t use them. One reason is the language barrier for second language speakers.
‘I talked to student services, and they told me that the international students in my class had learned all about the student email and the learning management system – the LMS – during orientation. But even in week 3, my students didn’t respond to emails. They also didn’t access the LMS. I asked them what the issue was: They claimed they had never heard about any LMS or having been given a new student email address.’
(University lecturer)
Many international students simply don’t know that certain services exist. Due to the language barrier, many don’t understand your orientation speech, your brochures, or your web page. As a consequence, they won’t know about the services you offer.
Some international students might have used a service previously and didn’t understand much of the interaction. So they won’t try again. Others might simply fear that they wouldn’t understand the student adviser, doctor, or counsellor if they went to see them, so they won’t even give it a first try.
Consequences can be severe: research has shown that many international students who feel overwhelmed by their problems will eventually drop out (see Harryba, Guilfoyle, & Knight, 2012).
‘One thing I think we could probably do better is sell what we do, because I think there are so many people out there working very hard and sometimes I’m not sure it’s getting through to the international students. The student that I dealt with personally just recently who didn’t make any friends, felt isolated and alone, didn’t know about the support services available and now has chosen to leave [the university], it’s all happened this semester.’
(A staff member quoted in Harryba, Guilfoyle, and Knight, 2012)
International students make up a significant part of the student body in New Zealand institutions. Second language speakers of English can also be found among domestic students. We should provide information in simpler language wherever possible to assist all of these students with their comprehension.
3. Use plain language guidelines in your writing (and speaking)
Use simple language if you want to make sure that international students understand your content. Using simple language doesn’t mean that you are omitting important information or that you are ‘dumbing things down’ – quite the contrary. So-called ‘plain language’ makes things clearer and allows everyone – regardless of their abilities and capabilities – to obtain information easily and efficiently.
3.1 What is plain language and why is it important?
The term ‘plain language’ means ‘ language that is appropriate to the intended audience; and clear, concise, and well organised’ (NZ Plain Language Act 2022). Plain language is designed to help readers understand a text in the first reading. It considers different abilities in readers and prioritises simple words, simple structures, and clear formatting. It responds to questions like:
- Can readers find what they need?
- Can readers understand the information the first time?
- Can they act on this information?
‘Plain language is a “power to the people – or the reader – philosophy”.’
(Leslie O’Flahavan, Writing Training Consultant)
We have seen a global trend towards using plain language for several years. Here in New Zealand, the government passed the plain language Act in 2022. The Act requires officials to use easily understandable language when communicating with the public (The Guardian). Plain Language Awards celebrate clear writing, as you can see in this TVNZ interview: Plain language coach talks Plain English on TVNZ’s breakfast show in 2021.
‘The purpose of this Act is to improve the effectiveness and accountability of public service agencies and Crown agents, and to improve the accessibility of certain documents that they make available to the public, by providing for those documents to use language that is—
1. appropriate to the intended audience; and
2. clear, concise, and well organised.’
(NZ Plain Language Act 2022)
Everyone benefits from plain language. But in this topic we focus on international students, whose lives can be much improved if relevant information is presented to them in plain English.
3.2 Which plain language guidelines should I use immediately?
Here are twelve plain language guidelines that can make an immediate impact and can help international students (and all other students) understand your writing better. (Please note that these guidelines also come in handy when speaking with international students.)
Please click on the titles in the list below to see examples – if available.
12 Plain language guidelines
Put the most important information first. And delete unnecessary information.
- 😕Feeling sad and depressed? The Counselling Service is here to help! We can help with personal and academic problems. We really care about our students. Nobody should suffer alone. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. You can email us at counselling@school.ac.nz. You can call us at 012 3456 789.
- 🙂Feeling sad and depressed? The Counselling Service is here to help! Email: counselling@school.ac.nz. Phone: 012 3456 789. Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm. We can help with personal and academic problems.
Use short, easy words instead of long, difficult ones.
- 😕When conversing with international students, utilise succinct, colloquial vocabulary.
- 🙂 When talking to international students, use short, common words.
Avoid technical jargon that your target students might not know – or provide an easy definition.
- 😕Please notify Student Support, should you experience incidents of racism or xenophobia.
- 🙂Please tell Student Support if you experience racism or xenophobia. Racism and xenophobia mean that someone treats you unfairly because you belong to a different ethnic group or you have come to New Zealand from another country.
Avoid New Zealand slang and specific New Zealand or Western cultural concepts. Provide explanations for words in te reo Māori, even common ones like whānau and kaupapa.
- 😕For the school trip, bring your togs and some kai to share. We’ll be out in the wop-wops, so please tell your parents that you won’t have cell phone reception for the day. They can reach us at this landline number: 12345.
- 🙂For the school trip, bring a swimsuit and some kai (food) to share with everyone. We’ll be in a remote rural area, so you won’t have cell phone reception for the day. Please tell your parents that they can reach us at this landline number: 12345.
Write short sentences with no more than 20 words.
- 😕Most experts would agree that clear plain language writing should have an average sentence length of between 15 and 20 words, with no sentence being longer than 25 words.
- 🙂Most experts agree: in plain language, average sentences contain 15 to 20 words. No sentence should be longer than 25 words.
Write short paragraphs with no more than 65 words.
Avoid difficult grammar like the passive or difficult conjunctions like ‘unless’.
- 😕A passing grade cannot be given unless all assignments have been submitted.
- 🙂You can only receive a passing grade if you have submitted all assignments.
Write in a conversational tone and use ‘you’ and ‘we’ if appropriate.
- 😕Enrolment papers must be submitted by the applicant to the institution by the due date.
- 🙂You must submit your enrolment papers to us by the due date.
Write positive sentences instead of negative ones. Avoid double negatives. Negative sentences are harder to process. Double negatives are often impossible to understand.
- 😕No additional information is needed in the absence of any special events like school trips.
- 🙂Additional information is only needed for special events like school trips.
Use active verbs that help readers (and listeners) understand what they have to do. Use direct language like imperatives if appropriate.
- 😕The printed assignment should be placed in the tutor’s mailbox at the office. In addition, a digital copy should be emailed to the teacher.
- 🙂Put your printed assignment in your tutor’s mailbox at the office. Also email a digital copy to your tutor.
Use lists (bulleted or numbered) for similar information or steps to take to complete a task.
- 😕On the day of the school trip, bring: the day-trip consent form – signed by one parent or guardian; a warm jacket; a bottle of water; lunch and a snack.
- 🙂On the day of the school trip, bring:
- Day-trip consent form – signed by one parent or guardian
- Warm jacket
- Bottle of water
- Lunch and a snack.
Use clear, descriptive headings and subheadings that make your text easily scannable.
- 😕Update
- 😐Update: Parking
- 🙂Parking Update: On-street parking no longer available
Tip:
Readers should be able to understand the main gist of your plain language text from the headings alone. So, don’t use generic – and fairly meaningless – headings like ‘Update’, ‘Welcome’, or ‘Counselling available’.
Make your headings a bit longer and include relevant information. If the text explains an action that the readers should take, include that action in the heading: ‘Feeling sad or depressed? Get help from the Counselling Team!’
Would you like to check whether your text is good as it is or whether it needs more work? There are free tools available.
3.3 What are some tools I can use to check my writing?
You can use the free tools below to check your writing for difficult vocabulary and long sentences (free of cost).
Please note: Among other insights, these tools tell you the age or school grade of readers who will be able to understand your text comfortably. Many experts recommend that we write texts at a level that an 11-year-old native speaker can understand – if we write for a broad audience.
- Hemingway: The Hemingway app highlights and explains problems in your text such as the (over)use of adverbs and the passive voice. It tells you the school grade that your readers need to reach to understand your text and suggests a more appropriate goal.
- WebFX Readability Test: This app allows you to check the text difficulty of an existing website by inserting a URL.
- Oxford Text Checker: The Oxford Text Checker checks the words in your text and describes their difficulty based on the proficiency levels: A1 (beginners), A2 (continuing beginners), B1 (low intermediate), B2 (high intermediate), C1 (advanced), C2 (native-like). Many international students in tertiary institutions have a language proficiency of B2. Many secondary students have a language proficiency of A2 to B1.
Self-check your text
To self-check your web page for general readability, here are four ‘tests’ suggested by New Zealand writing expert Rachel McAlpine (2007):
- The three-second test
Can people get the gist of this page in three seconds, without scrolling or reading every word?
- The tip-top test
Is the essential information at the top of the page, in the headline and first paragraph? Does the first paragraph contain a summary, description or key message of the page?
- The ‘So what?’ test
Can your target readers instantly see the relevance of the content to their own needs and situation? Does content use the word you, speaking directly to the reader?
- The action test
Can readers quickly see how to take the next logical action online? Are links useful to the reader? Are links conveniently placed?
3.4 Where can I learn more about plain language?
Great resources to learn more about reader-friendly writing and plain language are the following:
- The NZ government’s plain language guide
- The US government’s plain language guide
- The NZ Plain Language Act (2022)
You can also look at the NauMai NZ website, which was nominated for the Plain English Awards in 2021: NauMai NZ.
Tip:
When you plan your writing or you prepare for a meeting with students, anticipate their questions. Ask yourself: What would the students ask about the topic? What would they want to know?
The ‘tip’ above recommends that you anticipate your students’ questions about the topic. To do so, you need to know who those students are and what they need from you.
4. Audience and purpose: What does your audience need?
The two secrets to good (written and spoken) communication are:
- Understand your audience:
Who are they?
- Understand the purpose of your text:
Why is my audience reading my text or listening to me? What do they want to do with the information?
Sounds too simple? It’s indeed simple – and still, many writers (and speakers) don’t follow these rules. How about you? Do you really consider your audience’s needs and their reason for engaging with you and your text?
4.1 Who is your audience?
‘Essentially style resembles good manners. It comes of endeavouring to understand others, of thinking for them rather than yourself – or thinking, that is, with the heart as well as the head.’
(Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch)
So, you are writing for students, including international students, enrolled at your institution. What else do you know about your audience that might affect how they understand and perceive your communication?
Reflection task: Do you know your audience?
In the box below, please write down a few reader/listener characteristics that might impact how and how well your students might understand your communication. (Please do not share students’ personal information here.)
Here are some points to consider:
- Age
- Literacy
- Computer literacy
- Access to devices and the internet
- Language skills including the (academic) vocabulary they know
- Cultural background
- Educational background
- Context of engaging with your text (location, noise level, time of day)
- Physical and emotional state (time-poor, stressed, distracted, distressed).
Example reflection: Jane from HandsOn ITP (please click to see the full text)
Jane works at HandsOn ITP. She works for the Student Support and Conflict Resolution Team. She writes texts – webpages, brochures, PowerPoint slides – that inform students about the team’s services. Her goal is typically to invite students to seek the team’s help when they experience difficulties with staff or other students. She has reflected on the possible characteristics of her readers and how these might affect their engagement with her texts:
4.2 What is your audience’s purpose?
When you write for or speak to students, ask yourself: Why do I communicate this to the students? Why am I writing this or sharing this information with students in a conversation?
These are good questions. But the better questions come from their perspective: Why would students listen to me or read my writing? What do they want to get out of it?
Reflection task: A good and a bad text
The two texts below (A and B) inform students that there is a service available when they experience conflict with staff or other students and wish to get advice, help, or mediation. Students will seek this information out when they want to make contact with the service. They are probably already in the middle of a conflict, and they might want help right now. They might be distressed, searching for help in the middle of the night.
Which is the better text for these students – A or B? Which text will help them get the help they need quickly and efficiently? And what is wrong with the other text? Identify problems that might prevent them from getting help or from reading the text altogether.
Task answer
If you chose B, you are correct. Text B is a good text because it has:
- A meaningful headline
- Good headings that outline the relevant parts of the text
- Important information early (contact details, confidentiality)
- Secondary information later
- Simpler language
- A conversational tone that addresses the students directly.
You probably identified several problems in text A, including:
- The purpose of the text is unclear from the headline.
- No headings are provided.
- The text appears dense and possibly overwhelming.
- The audience is unclear: Is this talking to students or about students?
- The most important information (contact details, confidentiality) comes at the end. Students might not read to the end.
- Irrelevant information takes up room at the start of the text. Some of it might be interesting but might be better placed in a different text and context.
- Advanced vocabulary makes this text difficult for many international students, for example non-adversarial, xenophobia, inequitable, unwanted attention.
- The text uses difficult grammar and sentence structures.
As you can see, knowing the audience and their purpose can change the structure and the language of a text.
Next, we look at texts that appear on the internet. We explore ideas of ‘web accessibility’ that are relevant for second language learners of English.
5. Web accessibility for second-language users
Web accessibility describes the design of websites and their content without access barriers for people with physical disabilities (for example, low vision), situational disabilities (for example, a broken arm) or socio-economic restrictions around internet access and data caps.
International students can benefit as well, as many good practices of web accessibility are helpful also for non-native speakers of English.
We want to highlight three ideas that can help international students when they search for information on your institution’s website or intranet. Click on each guideline to see more information.
Three accessibility guidelines benefitting international students
Provide captions and transcripts for video and audio material.
Many international students struggle with listening comprehension, with the accent and with the speed of talking in New Zealand. They are often more comfortable when reading a text. Note that Microsoft Office 365 online can transcribe uploaded or recorded audio (with or without timestamps): Transcribe your recordings.
Provide an audio option for online written texts.
Some students understand a text better when they hear it spoken and with intonation and emphasis. For example, Cult of Pedagogy offers ‘12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom’ in writing and as audio: 12 Ways to Support English Learners.
Use images only if they provide or support essential information.
Did you wonder about the photo of the kitten above? It is there to highlight: Don’t use images ‘just for fun’. Irrelevant images can be distracting, especially for students with different cultural backgrounds and learning styles. They might try to puzzle out what the image means in the context of the class. They might not have the skills to decide what is a relevant picture and what is an irrelevant picture. For relevant pictures, provide a caption that briefly explains the meaning of the image.
For a longer list of web accessibility principles and guidelines, have a look at the website of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Web Content Accessibility at a Glance.
6. When speaking: How can I help international students understand me?
International students can struggle to understand the spoken language of teachers and support staff, even after many months or even years in New Zealand. We have prepared a cheat sheet (in pdf format, 46KB) with tips on how to help students understand you better in (1) one-on-one conversations and (2) lessons, lectures, or tutorials:
You can print this cheat sheet and use it when you need a reminder of how to improve conversations with international students.
6.1 A handout for students: Tips for successful communication
We have also prepared a cheat sheet for international students themselves. You can hand it out if you feel that your students could improve their comprehension in lessons, in conversations, and in other social situations:
- For students (pdf, 75KB): What can I do if I don’t understand?
6.2 More resources for spoken interactions with second-language speakers
Here are four web pages offering further tips for communicating with non-native speakers of English:
- Victoria University of Wellington – Communicating with non-native English speakers
- Wiki How – Communicate with a non-native speaker
- Edutopia – 4 Simple Ways to Support English Learners’ Comprehension
- Cult of Pedagogy – 12 ways to support English learners in the mainstream classroom
7. Summary
In this topic, we explored ways to improve our communication with international students – especially those whose first language is not English.
We provided practical guidelines and strategies on how to address language challenges – that is, on how to make your written and spoken content more comprehensible and accessible to international students. We also provided effective communication strategies you can use when talking to international students.
We presented several practical and free tools to check the level of difficulty and accessibility of your written content, and we also pointed to other resources that can help you improve your communication with second language users of English.
8. References
Coxhead, A., Nation, P. & Sim, D. (2015). Measuring the vocabulary size of native speakers of English in New Zealand secondary schools. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 50(1), 121-135. https://esolonline.tki.org.nz/content/download/35378/401411/file/Measuring+the+Vocabulary+Size+of+Native+Speakers+of+English+in+NZ+Secondary+Schools.pdf
Davies, S. (2021, June 2021). Shelly talks plain English on TVNZ's Breakfast show 1 June 2021 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvnONfV9wpc
Harryba, S., Guilfoyle, A., & Knight, S. A. (2012). Understanding the challenges of accessing university support services: The perspectives of staff members and international students. The International Journal of Learning, 18(6), 263-289.
Laufer, B. (1998). The development of passive and active vocabulary in a second language: Same or different? Applied Linguistics, 19(2), 255-271. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=7dd258130713e0ecafec43b5af9ce5629e32294e
Laufer, B. (2001). Quantitative evaluation of vocabulary: How it can be done and what it is good for. In C. Elder, A. Brown, E. Grove, K. Hill, N. Iwashita, T. Lumley, T. McNamara and K. O’Loughlin (Eds.), Experimenting with uncertainty (pp. 241-250). Cambridge University Press.
McAlpine, R. (2007). Better business writing on the web. CC Press.
McClure, T. (2022, October 20). New Zealand passes plain language bill to jettison jargon. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/20/new-zealand-passes-plain-language-bill-to-jettison-jargon
Plain Language Act 2022, No. 54. (2022). https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2022/0054/latest/whole.html#DLM4357607
