Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Increases in international enrollment and in technology use provide an important opportunity for English Language Learners (ELL) to access support prior to and during their academic studies. As students negotiate the intersection of their existing identity and the emerging identities available in their new environment, the home support network may serve as an escape from the challenges to identity. In contrast, students may choose to use these technology resources for reflection, exploration, and support as they engage with potential new roles. This study seeks to explore student use of technology and language to generate a fuller exploration of students’ experiences and how educators can support students in the transformative journey.
International students are recruited by colleges for financial reasons: they pay higher tuition rates and are ineligible for many scholarships that domestic students might receive. Over 67% of these students pay for their studies from their own family resources (Institute of International Education (IIE), 2016). According to the Open Doors project by the IIE, in 2015-2016, there was an overall increase of 7.1% from the prior year bringing the number to over one million international students enrolled in undergraduate programs. Over 60% of these students are from China, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea (IIE, 2016). Throughout Europe, the population of international students has been increasing after the introduction of the Bologna Process in the early 2000’s (Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO), 2017a). It is also one of the largest destinations for international academic studies, with over 45% of 4.1 million students worldwide selecting a European destination for their studies (IIE, 2016). In Switzerland, international students make up 22.3% of higher education students (SFSO, 2017b).
Over one in five United States residents speak another language at home, with Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic being the most-spoken languages other than English (Camarota & Zeigler, 2014). In Switzerland, there are three official languages – German, French, and Italian. This creates a challenge for statistics about languages spoken at home, as multilinguism is embedded in society. In 2016, over 51% of European students in upper secondary education reported learning at least two foreign languages in school (EuroStat, 2016). At home, permanent Swiss residents reported that 60% of the population speak Swiss-German, 23% speak French, 10% German, 8% Italian, and 5% English (SFSO, 2017). Although the situation in Switzerland has different complexities compared to the United States, these diverse student populations require strategies specific to their language learning needs, in addition to their overall academic objectives.