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International Students Need Help Understanding Lectures
 
By Kim Sun-woo, Student Editor, Ahn Seon-woo, Tribune Reporter
 
The number of foreign students at Chonnam National University (CNU) has increased steadily over the last several years and it has reached 1,024 this semester. As the number of international students enrolled at CNU grows, however, they have problems related to taking lectures in Korean. Most of the foreign students taking classes with Korean students, to be sure, are good at Korean to a degree. Yet they have many difficulties following the lectures that are mainly conducted in Korean. Let’s think about the difficulties that international students may have in the classroom and find measures to help them understand the classes more easily.
Since 2009, CNU has applied an absolute evaluation system to foreign students’ grades for the course. The absolute evaluation system has relieved them of a great deal of stress because their course grades are separated from Korean students, but the difficulties that foreign students feel are still there. One of the major problems is that they are limited in following lectures due to the language barrier. A student from China, Li Yin-zhu (Sophomore, Dept. of Geography) said, “It is hard to follow the classes. Since lectures are focused on Korean students, foreign students are having a hard time following the lectures.” Korean students are aware of international students’ difficulty in the classroom. Kim Da-sol (Sophomore, Dept. of Business Administration) said, “Many lectures is difficult to follow even for Korean students. I can imagine how difficult it must be for foreign students who are not good at Korean.”
The absolute evaluation system may help international students get better grades, but it causes some new problems. For instance, it contributes to less desire for Korean and international students to communicate with each other in and outside class. Psychologically, the class is divided up into two groups on the basis of Korean language proficiency and then makes international students feel left out. Professors also have much difficulty focusing in class. Jang Il-gu (Professor, Dept. of Korean Literature) said, “Every foreign student has a unique level of Korean language ability. It is difficult to focus on foreign students who have various levels of Korean. Therefore, I have to focus on Korean students during my class.”
In order to solve the problems at class and help foreign students comprehend the class and adjust to school, CNU has been operating a number of programs such as 1+1 Buddy Buddy and NuriDuri programs. Both of these programs have the purpose of improving international students’ academic ability and adaptability to CNU. In particular, the NuriDuri program is designed to offer counseling services to international students connected with learning in class to help them improve their learning habits by implementing a learning community. With the increasing number of academic programs for international students, some colleges and departments make efforts to provide extra academic support for international students. For instance, the Dept. of Economics gives international students guide books which provide notes explaining some of terms related to their major in English. International students have been using the book when they encounter incomprehensible words. In addition, the Dept. of Korean Literature is running group study programs in which domestic and international students study together.
Now CNU is pushing to attract more foreign students. At this moment, it is of the utmost importance that each individual at CNU understands international students’ problems and attempt to help them. Just bringing lots of foreign students to our university does not make a global university. CNU would become a real global university if international students could enjoy an active school life and feel welcome.
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