ABSTRACT
Newly enrolled international students enter a vibrant campus speech community with many varied forms of language use, from social, conversational language to complex written texts. Language in the classroom is interactional and informational, requiring active oral and aural communication skills to fully grasp lectures, discussions, and group work. For students to effectively learn content and demonstrate learning requires the language skills and knowledge base to discuss technical and abstract topics; apply, analyze, and interpret data; and to frame and solve problems in social, technical, and ethical contexts. Students unfamiliar with the English medium of instruction and the pedagogical expectations of the US classroom may be unfamiliar with these tasks. Language socialization experiences help students gain experience with academic language use in context. Scaffolded pedagogies support academic language and content learning through modifications in classroom instruction and course structures. Adjunct, augmented, and sheltered course structures have been effective in supporting students’ academic and linguistic needs. Achieving a high standardized test score may gain a student entry into the rich world of academic language, but on-campus diagnostic assessment in relation to a student’s plan of study is recommended to inform post-matriculation coursework and possible further language support.
