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Overseas students not job-ready with English skills

Overseas students, who have a basic competency of English are unlikely to graduate with the level that is demanded by employees in Australia, according to new research

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20 Jul 2012

Overseas students, who have a basic competency of English are unlikely to graduate with the level that is demanded by employees in Australia, according to new research.
In the study, only two of the 40 students managed to receive the IELTS level 7.0 that is needed to gain employment and six of the students fell under the minimum score.
This went against the assumption that non-English speaking students would improve and they studied and become “employable as professionals” academic language researcher Elizabeth Craven told The Australian.
Ms Craven said that the universities and educational institutions have to do more to help overseas students as they seem unwilling to lift their English standards and that overseas students should be warned about how difficult it was to lift their English to the IELTS 7.0 or high to gain employment, professional registration or a skilled migration visa.
"Those who promote study in Australia and other English-speaking countries have a responsibility to raise students' awareness of this fact," she said.
"English language proficiency is the area in which there is most scope to better prepare graduates for their careers," IDP says in a submission to the International Education Advisory Council chaired by businessman Michael Chaney.
The company says there is "increasing recognition that international students need English language training in order to graduate as job-ready.
"Many students need to mix more with English speakers or take part in structured English-language tuition programs."
The study was carried out at the University of Technology, Sydney, where Ms Craven used to work, and funded by IELTS Australia, which is owned by IDP.
The aim of the study was to see how many students could reach an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with at least 7.0 in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Most students believed their English had improved since they began their studies.

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