Trainingtutorstowork Withinternationalstudents

TRAININGTUTORSTOWORK WITHINTERNATIONALSTUDENTS

CarolR.Lyon

St.Ambrose UniversityDavenport,Iowa

WHYINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS?

"TrainingTutorstoWorkwithInternationalStudents"isoneofthebest-attendedtrainingclustersprovidedforallCollegeReadingandLearningAssociation(CRLA)leveltutorsatSt. AmbroseUniversityinDavenport,Iowa. Inadditiontointensivetrainingatthebeginningofeachsemester,smallgrouporclustertrainingonspecifictopicsisprovidedduringtheyear. St.AmbroseUniversity,aCatholicuniversitywiththreecollegesandseveralgraduateprograms,hasastudentpopulationof3,000. TheStudentSuccessCenteremploys37peertutorseachyear. Theuniversityhasaninternationalstudentpopulationof50individualsfrom26countries. Internationalstudentsoftenseekassistancefromtutors;however,manytutorslackexperiencewiththisdiversepopulation.

NeedforTraining

Howdid9111 affecttutorialprograms?Buildingrelationshipsisevenmoreimportantastheseedsofinternationalunderstandingareplantedinourtutorialprograms. Learningcenterpersonnelandtutorscontinuetoexaminemethodsandservicesofferedtothevarietyofpopulationsthattheyserve. Salientquestionsforinitialdiscussionamongtutorialstaffmembersare:Howmanyinternationalstudentsareattheinstitution?Wherearetheyfrom?WhatlevelsofEnglishdotheyuse?Aretheyimmigrantstudentsoronstudentvisas,thus sojournersintheUnitedStates?Howmanyinternationalstudentsusethetutorialservices?

Whatmainsubjectsaretheybeingtutoredin?Whichtutorshavehadinternationalexperiencesormeaningfulinteractionwithinternationalstudents?Whatresourcescanbe

identifiedoncampustohelpwithtrainingtutorstoworkswithinternationalstudents?Howdostudents'successesorfailuresdependontheirculturalbackgrounds andexpectationsandontheinstitution'sabilitytoprovideappropriatetutorialandacademicsupportservices?

Whatmethodsbesthelpinternationalstudentslearntotheirhighestpotential?Howdowe demonstratetostudentsofallculturesthattheirdifferencesarevalued?

TipsforTraining

Thefollowingstepswillmakethetutorawareofthetypesofstudentsandissuesthatmaybeexperiencedinthetutorialsetting.

Stepone: (10-15minutes,needposterboard,markers,andadesignatedreporter)Atthestartofthetrainingsession,breakthetutorsupintogroupsinordertodiscussahandfulofquestions. Oneparticipantcanrecordtheanswerstothefollowingquestions:Haveyoueverknownastudentfromanothercountry?Whatwereyourperceptionsofthis student?Howmanyoftheinternationalstudentsatouruniversitydoyouknow?Whatdo

youknowabouttheirhomecultures?Haveyoututoredaninternationalstudent?Ifso,pleaseshareyourobservationsaboutthetutorial.Haveyoueverexperiencedinterculturaladjustmentyourself,perhapswithoutevenleavingAmerica?Whataresomeexamplesofthingsthatyoudothatseemnaturaltoyou,butastudentfromanotherculturemayfindrude?

Steptwo: (15to20minutes,needmaskingtape)

Ifthereareonlyfourorfivetotalgroupsoffourpeople,havethereporterforeachgroupreadtheanswerstothequestions. Encouragespontaneousdiscussion.Goaroundtheroomjumpingfromgrouptogroupdependingonthequestion. Ifthereareover20peopleintheroom,thenposttheanswersaroundtheroomonthewallswithdesignatedareasforeachquestion. Encourageeverybodyintheroomtowalkaroundandreadtheanswerstothe

questionsanddiscusstheminformally. Wheneveryoneisseated,askwhatsurprisesthey foundorwhatthingstheylearned.

Stepthree: (15minutes)Eachstudentshouldwritedownquestionsandideastoplan forbuildingrapportduringthefirsttutorialwithaninternationalstudent. Questionsthatmaybebroughtuphereare:Howlonghaveyoubeenatouruniversity?Whatmadeyoudecidetocomehere?Wheredoyouliveinyourcountry?HowlonghaveyoustudiedEnglish?Tellmeaboutyourfamily. Inaddition,thetutorsshouldbepreparedtotellthetuteeabouthim/herself. Givethetutorstimetosharetheirplansinsmallgroupsorinalargegroup.

Compilealloftheideasattheendsothattutorswillhaveavarietyofwaystogettoknow thetutee.

WAYSTOCOMMUNICATEWITHINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Attheendofthesession,trainersshouldemphasizeseveraleffectivecommunicationtechniquesbetweentutorsandinternationalstudents.(Indeed,theseareprobablytechniquesforworkingwithallstudents)!

•Knowwhattocallyourtutee;learntopronounce his/hername. AstudentfromMalaysiaoncesharedthatshewasatthetopofherengineeringclass,buttheprofessorwasdauntedbyherlongnameandalwayssaid,"Heyyouwiththe

scarf."Herlengthynamewaseasilyshortenedtoonethatwasmanageableforanybody.

•Tellthetuteewhatnametocallyou!Americannamesseemstrangetoo.

•Writedownwhatyouaresaying. StudentsoftenlearnedreadingandwritingEnglishoverseasbetterthanspeakingorlistening. Inaddition,thespoken

EnglishthatisusedintheUnitedStatesmaybedifferentfromthatintherestoftheworld.

•Talkslowerandpersonably. Tutorsshouldapproachtutees,as theywouldwant tobeapproachedinanothercountry.

•Taketimetorecognizethetuteeoncampus. Individualsmaynotknowmanypeople;thetutorhasalreadybecomeasupportsysteminthelearningcenter.

•WhatamIdoingwrong?InternationalstudentswanttoknowiftheyaredoingsomethingdifferentlyfromhowitisdoneintheUnitedStates. Showingthemwhattodoandwheretogocanhelpthem. Sometimestheylooklost,butare reluctanttoaskforhelp.

•SomeAmericanbodylanguagemaybedistasteful!Ifastudentdoesnotmakeeyecontact,itmaybeoutofrespect. Womenfrommanyculturesmaynotwant totouchorshakehandswithamale. Oftenpointingafingerorputtinghandsonthehipsisasignofdisrespectinmanycultures.

•"Yes"canmean"No"!Someculturesneversay"no"becauseitisdisrespectful.Tutorsmayneedtoworkwithtuteestogetanunderstandingabouthowtolineupfuturesessions.

•Timemeanssomethingdifferent. BeingontimeisveryAmerican. Workwith tuteestohelpthemunderstandthattutorsareonaschedule.

•Smile!Itcannothurttosmile,butinsomeAsianculturesasmileisasignofembarrassment.

•Tutoringis shameful?Inmanyculturesitisshamefultoaskfortutoringassistance. OnesuggestionistotellthetuteesthatmanyAmericanstudentswork

withtutorseveniftheyaregoodstudentsandtheinternationalstudentswillbeincompetitionforthesamegradesasthosestudents,sowhynotusetheservices?

•Learnaboutthecountriesrepresentedinthetutorialprogram!Makeadisplayinthecenteraboutacountry,encourageinternationalstudentstosharefoodfromhome;andencouragetutorstogotoeventswheretheculturesofinternationalstudentsareshared.

THEBEATGOESON!

Afewyearsago,astudentfromJapanspenthoursinouracademicsupportcenter!Notonlydidhereceivetutoringinallsubjects,butalsohefeltcomfortablejustsittingthereandstudying. Astimewenton,wehintedaboutotherplaceswherehecouldgotostudyoncampusbecausewehadlimitedspaceforourtutorials. OnedayhestartedfumblingthroughhisJapanese-Englishdictionaryforaword. Finallyhesaid,"ButIdonotwanttomove,itissosecurehere!"Afterthatwestartedcallingourselves,theAcademicSecureCenter!

Relationships andfriendshipsbuiltthroughtutorialprogramsatourinstitutionshavethepotentialtoflourishforalifetime. Inthe21stcentury,itisimperativethattutorsunderstand whattoexpectwhentutoringastudentfromanothercultureandtobeprovidedwith techniquestomakethetutorialexperienceasuccessfulexperienceforall.