Enhancing International Graduate Students' Written and Oral Communication: A Discussion of Their Perceived Needs and Pedagogical Recommendations

Abstract

Competency in written and oral communication is viewed as important for graduate students to be competitive in academic and non-academic careers; however, writing and speaking support provided by graduate institutions is often limited. International graduate students (IGSs) in particular face challenges in disciplinary communication and research collaboration. To investigate the challenges IGSs face and inform pedagogical changes, a needs assessment was conducted at a large U.S. public institution. An anonymous online survey designed to measure IGSs' perceptions of their current written and oral communication abilities, needs, and behaviors revealed that activities involving partnership with faculty or peers, such as grant writing, were particularly challenging to IGSs. We argue that collaboration with other graduate students and faculty plays a key role in advancing the skill sets of IGSs, and we provide several suggestions to graduate instructors and program coordinators on how to encourage IGSs' participation in such activities.