ABSTRACT
For many decades, UK universities have focused on the importance of competing for students in the global marketplace. International doctoral students make up an important source of revenue, particularly in the context of shrinking resources for research. Consequently, there has recently been exploration into the ways in which ‘host’ institutions and faculty can respond to the needs of international students, rather than simply assuming that adaptation should be one-way on the part of the student. This contrasts with the dominant deficit approach taken towards overseas students in the past, which focused on their problems, their lack of abilities, particularly in English language and ways to help them assimilate into UK university life (see, for instance, Dudley-Evans and Swales 1980; Kinnell 1990). Current policy on the internationalisation of higher education has the potential to take this recognition of diversity in the university classroom a step further. Moving on from an emphasis on how to improve the experiences of the individual student, many universities are now examining their own institutional practices in the light of the internationalisation agenda. What does it mean to learn, teach and conduct research in an ‘international’ higher educational institution? What are the implications of internationalisation for curricula, teaching and learning approaches and research practices?1
