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【Abstract】Fifteen ELT teachers and fifteen international students studying in ELT were surveyed about methods to improve English. Outcome reveals that some differences exist between students and ELT teachers. The discrepancies tend to reflect some underlying problems when students study English. Some of them result from students’ bad habits of study. The others arise from cultural difference and a lack of confidence. Further， some suggestions offered by ELT teachers seem to be helpful to reduce the gap between teachers and international students.
【Key words】International students； English studying methods； academic English
1. Background
ELT in University of St Andrews boasts many practical courses covering different fields in English studying， such as vocabulary，academic writing，management，and so on. These courses can give students a comprehensive and systematic basis for English studying and preparation for further study in specific majors. However， some international students are failing to make obvious improvements even though they make great efforts. It is interesting to find out what methods students are using and what methods are recommended by ELT teachers. Furthermore， the cause of the difference in viewpoints towards improving English between two groups as well as possible approaches of reducing the difference will also be discussed.
2. Aim
The main aim of this report was to survey， contrast and analyze the English studying methods which had been suggested by teachers and done by students in order to show the distinction between these two. Teachers recommended some useful English studying methods to students， aiming to maximize their potentials in studying. However， most methods recommended by teachers were not widely used by international students. These are the purposes of designing this report， which include a） looking into discrepancies between ELT teachers and international students regarding English studying methods b） analyzing underlying reasons resulting in these differences c） giving possible recommendation to reduce the gap.
3. Method
3.1 The form of survey：
Before the survey， it was predicted that the viewpoints of learning English between teachers and students differed. After then， the questionnaire was carried out. The procedure of it included collection of data and analysis of results. Comparison of the prediction with the results was also one important step. In this essay， all procedures were run logically as well as rounding the key points. 3.2 Data source
This report was based on two questionnaires which were used to collect the concrete data. These two questionnaires were designed for two groups of respondents， 15 ELT teachers and 15 international students respectively. Both groups were from English Language Teaching Centre （ELT） in University of St Andrews. The major contents of two questionnaires were 1） what suggestions on improving English were provided by teachers 2） what English studying methods students had used 3） what differences existed between these two groups.
4. Findings
In terms of methods to improve academic English in ELT， all the ELT teachers chose ‘Discussing topics in class’as recommendation. Meanwhile all the student respondents also pointed out that they had used this method. Most teachers （87%） thought ‘Using English Resource in self-access room’ as a sound method. Nevertheless， there was a remarkable contrast in students’ response， with only 27% of them had used this way of learning English.
Turning to methods to improve practical English in St Andrews， all the teachers （15） recommended ‘Watching American or British TV Drama’and 14 out of 15 chose ‘Going out together with international friends’ as their recommendation. According to international students’ answers， reassuringly a large percentage （60%） had used ‘Watching American or British TV Drama’method， which conformed with ELT teachers’ suggestion. Nevertheless， only one-fifth students （20%） had tried ‘Going out together with international friends’. No ELT teachers and international students selected ‘Using university nightline’ as a method.
With regard to the evaluation between academic English and practical English， nearly all the ELT teachers （94%） thought ‘Both’ were very useful whereas two-thirds of international students admitted the significance of both two kinds of English. Interestingly， no teachers expected students to put more emphasis on ‘Practical English’ while one third （33%） international students in fact focused more on it. Most surprising finding was that most teachers （60%） anticipated students to pay more attention to ‘Academic English’ whereas only 7% of the student respondents achieved their expectations.
When the survey was analysed according to ‘the difference between talking with native speakers frequently and doing self study’， it was found that a large proportion of teacher respondents， which accounted for 73%， thought ‘Both’ were important. Interestingly， only 7% of the international students thought the latter one was more important. Moreover， no ELT teachers regarded ‘Doing self studies’ as more important. 5. Discussion
According to the questionnaire， both international students and ELT teachers recognise the importance of going abroad to improve English. The main reason is that students tend to involve themselves more into the English speaking environment， which is a contributive factor leading to great English improvement in a short time.
Students’ ideas are reinforced in the question concerning ‘In terms of the difference between talking with native speakers frequently and doing self English studies’， with only 7% of the students think ‘doing self English studies’ as more important. Students’ ideas meet teachers’ recommendation exactly， with all teacher respondents in favor of meeting native speakers very often. It seems that international students in ELT take benefits from talking with British frequently to improve their English. Ironically， the reality reveals that only a minority of the international student respondents think they have ‘plenty of opportunities to talk with native speakers’ whereas an overwhelming proportion of ELT teacher respondents do not agree with that. It is very interesting to try to find the driving force behind the considerable discrepancy.
Students feel like outsiders so they do not participate in social activities with host nations. Indeed， people are different and asking them to transcend traditional ethnocentrism and to explore new relationships across cultural boundaries may be asking for behaviour that is not ‘natural’. （Bennett， 1993） International students studying in ELT are typical representatives. Even if they realize the necessity of talking with British which helps to integrate themselves with local surroundings， they avoid communicating with native speakers because of different culture and background， more importantly lacking confidence. According to the results of the questionnaire for students， most students think one main reason resulting in no plenty of opportunities to talk with native speakers is ‘no common interests’ with them. In the questionnaire for ELT teachers， a majority of teachers think ‘native speakers are surrounded by students， but they must make the opportunity to use them’. However， the chances of socializing with them depend on what attitudes international students have and what effective approaches students take.
6. Conclusions
6.1 Commentary
The result of questionnaire reveals that there are some gaps between ELT teachers and international students with regards to methods of improving English. Students are reluctant to ‘Using English resource in self-access room’ which is considered by ELT teachers as a sound recommendation of improving academic English in ELT. Teachers strongly suggest ‘Going out together with international friends’ as a method of improving practical English whereas students are struggling to meet teachers’ expectation. 6.2 Recommendations
As discrepancies between ELT teachers and international students have been known， some recommendations are provided to help narrowing the gap. Firstly， it is necessary for students and teachers to communicate with each other frequently. For example， tutorial is a good form of mutual exchange whereby they can catch up with ideas from each other. Secondly， students should actively get involved in the new cultural surroundings. If students want to feel more like ‘insiders’， they need to participate in a host cultural milieu in order to acquire new cultural knowledge， cultivate greater emotional and aesthetic sensitivity and expand the range of their behavioral repertoire （Kim 1994） ELT teachers are experienced in understanding the difficulties international students usually encounter. Any foreign students have to go through a period called cultural shock stage after arriving at the UK. Those who are able to overcome troubles arise from it are very likely to improve their English very quickly.
References：
[1]Bennett，M.1993.Towards ethnorelativism：a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity.In：Paige，R.，Editor，1993.Education for the intercultural experience，Intercultural Press，Yarmouth ME，pp.21–71.
[2]Kim，Y.，1991.Influence of language and similarity on initial intercultural attraction.In：Ting-Toomey，S.and Korzenny，F.，Editors，1991.Cross-cultural interpersonal communication，Sage，Beverly Hills，CA，pp.213–229.
[3]O’Connell，H.（n.d.）.Study Abroad – Why Choose to study at a UK University.Retrieved March 1，2010，from http：//www.findarticlesgroup.com/academics-education/article8792.htm
[4]The English Language Teaching Centre.（n.d.）.Our programmes.Retrieved March 1，2010，from http：//www.st-andrews.ac.uk/elt/home/.
作者簡介：程巳益（1988-），女，贵州人，汉族，硕士，主要研究方向：市场营销/企业战略管理/供应链管理。
【Key words】International students； English studying methods； academic English
1. Background
ELT in University of St Andrews boasts many practical courses covering different fields in English studying， such as vocabulary，academic writing，management，and so on. These courses can give students a comprehensive and systematic basis for English studying and preparation for further study in specific majors. However， some international students are failing to make obvious improvements even though they make great efforts. It is interesting to find out what methods students are using and what methods are recommended by ELT teachers. Furthermore， the cause of the difference in viewpoints towards improving English between two groups as well as possible approaches of reducing the difference will also be discussed.
2. Aim
The main aim of this report was to survey， contrast and analyze the English studying methods which had been suggested by teachers and done by students in order to show the distinction between these two. Teachers recommended some useful English studying methods to students， aiming to maximize their potentials in studying. However， most methods recommended by teachers were not widely used by international students. These are the purposes of designing this report， which include a） looking into discrepancies between ELT teachers and international students regarding English studying methods b） analyzing underlying reasons resulting in these differences c） giving possible recommendation to reduce the gap.
3. Method
3.1 The form of survey：
Before the survey， it was predicted that the viewpoints of learning English between teachers and students differed. After then， the questionnaire was carried out. The procedure of it included collection of data and analysis of results. Comparison of the prediction with the results was also one important step. In this essay， all procedures were run logically as well as rounding the key points. 3.2 Data source
This report was based on two questionnaires which were used to collect the concrete data. These two questionnaires were designed for two groups of respondents， 15 ELT teachers and 15 international students respectively. Both groups were from English Language Teaching Centre （ELT） in University of St Andrews. The major contents of two questionnaires were 1） what suggestions on improving English were provided by teachers 2） what English studying methods students had used 3） what differences existed between these two groups.
4. Findings
In terms of methods to improve academic English in ELT， all the ELT teachers chose ‘Discussing topics in class’as recommendation. Meanwhile all the student respondents also pointed out that they had used this method. Most teachers （87%） thought ‘Using English Resource in self-access room’ as a sound method. Nevertheless， there was a remarkable contrast in students’ response， with only 27% of them had used this way of learning English.
Turning to methods to improve practical English in St Andrews， all the teachers （15） recommended ‘Watching American or British TV Drama’and 14 out of 15 chose ‘Going out together with international friends’ as their recommendation. According to international students’ answers， reassuringly a large percentage （60%） had used ‘Watching American or British TV Drama’method， which conformed with ELT teachers’ suggestion. Nevertheless， only one-fifth students （20%） had tried ‘Going out together with international friends’. No ELT teachers and international students selected ‘Using university nightline’ as a method.
With regard to the evaluation between academic English and practical English， nearly all the ELT teachers （94%） thought ‘Both’ were very useful whereas two-thirds of international students admitted the significance of both two kinds of English. Interestingly， no teachers expected students to put more emphasis on ‘Practical English’ while one third （33%） international students in fact focused more on it. Most surprising finding was that most teachers （60%） anticipated students to pay more attention to ‘Academic English’ whereas only 7% of the student respondents achieved their expectations.
When the survey was analysed according to ‘the difference between talking with native speakers frequently and doing self study’， it was found that a large proportion of teacher respondents， which accounted for 73%， thought ‘Both’ were important. Interestingly， only 7% of the international students thought the latter one was more important. Moreover， no ELT teachers regarded ‘Doing self studies’ as more important. 5. Discussion
According to the questionnaire， both international students and ELT teachers recognise the importance of going abroad to improve English. The main reason is that students tend to involve themselves more into the English speaking environment， which is a contributive factor leading to great English improvement in a short time.
Students’ ideas are reinforced in the question concerning ‘In terms of the difference between talking with native speakers frequently and doing self English studies’， with only 7% of the students think ‘doing self English studies’ as more important. Students’ ideas meet teachers’ recommendation exactly， with all teacher respondents in favor of meeting native speakers very often. It seems that international students in ELT take benefits from talking with British frequently to improve their English. Ironically， the reality reveals that only a minority of the international student respondents think they have ‘plenty of opportunities to talk with native speakers’ whereas an overwhelming proportion of ELT teacher respondents do not agree with that. It is very interesting to try to find the driving force behind the considerable discrepancy.
Students feel like outsiders so they do not participate in social activities with host nations. Indeed， people are different and asking them to transcend traditional ethnocentrism and to explore new relationships across cultural boundaries may be asking for behaviour that is not ‘natural’. （Bennett， 1993） International students studying in ELT are typical representatives. Even if they realize the necessity of talking with British which helps to integrate themselves with local surroundings， they avoid communicating with native speakers because of different culture and background， more importantly lacking confidence. According to the results of the questionnaire for students， most students think one main reason resulting in no plenty of opportunities to talk with native speakers is ‘no common interests’ with them. In the questionnaire for ELT teachers， a majority of teachers think ‘native speakers are surrounded by students， but they must make the opportunity to use them’. However， the chances of socializing with them depend on what attitudes international students have and what effective approaches students take.
6. Conclusions
6.1 Commentary
The result of questionnaire reveals that there are some gaps between ELT teachers and international students with regards to methods of improving English. Students are reluctant to ‘Using English resource in self-access room’ which is considered by ELT teachers as a sound recommendation of improving academic English in ELT. Teachers strongly suggest ‘Going out together with international friends’ as a method of improving practical English whereas students are struggling to meet teachers’ expectation. 6.2 Recommendations
As discrepancies between ELT teachers and international students have been known， some recommendations are provided to help narrowing the gap. Firstly， it is necessary for students and teachers to communicate with each other frequently. For example， tutorial is a good form of mutual exchange whereby they can catch up with ideas from each other. Secondly， students should actively get involved in the new cultural surroundings. If students want to feel more like ‘insiders’， they need to participate in a host cultural milieu in order to acquire new cultural knowledge， cultivate greater emotional and aesthetic sensitivity and expand the range of their behavioral repertoire （Kim 1994） ELT teachers are experienced in understanding the difficulties international students usually encounter. Any foreign students have to go through a period called cultural shock stage after arriving at the UK. Those who are able to overcome troubles arise from it are very likely to improve their English very quickly.
References：
[1]Bennett，M.1993.Towards ethnorelativism：a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity.In：Paige，R.，Editor，1993.Education for the intercultural experience，Intercultural Press，Yarmouth ME，pp.21–71.
[2]Kim，Y.，1991.Influence of language and similarity on initial intercultural attraction.In：Ting-Toomey，S.and Korzenny，F.，Editors，1991.Cross-cultural interpersonal communication，Sage，Beverly Hills，CA，pp.213–229.
[3]O’Connell，H.（n.d.）.Study Abroad – Why Choose to study at a UK University.Retrieved March 1，2010，from http：//www.findarticlesgroup.com/academics-education/article8792.htm
[4]The English Language Teaching Centre.（n.d.）.Our programmes.Retrieved March 1，2010，from http：//www.st-andrews.ac.uk/elt/home/.
作者簡介：程巳益（1988-），女，贵州人，汉族，硕士，主要研究方向：市场营销/企业战略管理/供应链管理。