Learning the Rules of the Game

Abstract

This author investigates some important issues that affect Asian international students' academic and social acculturation at New Zealand universities. Twenty students from China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand who were studying at four New Zealand universities participated in the study. English language proficiency was a persistent academic challenge. However, language often masked other fundamental deeper-level issues that affected the educational performance of non-English speaking background [NESB] Asian students and denied them their legitimate academic identity and full acculturation into the academic community, including academic and socio-cultural issues stemming from their unfamiliarity with the dominant academic culture, writing conventions, unwritten rules of the game, “correct” ways of writing, and styles of interpersonal communication. It is argued that host universities are obliged to investigate these critical issues and identify more programmatic strategies to facilitate academic acculturation of NEBS international students.