A personalised autonomous model to resolve a prolonged dilemma in international students’ English language needs in higher education

Abstract

This article sets out to introduce a Personalised Autonomous (PA) model as a holistic and sustainable model to address the issue of international students’ English Language Proficiency (ELP) in Australian higher education. This model was embedded in a credit-bearing course entitled Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE). Both quantitative and qualitative data collected over the five years from 2016 to 2020 have revealed that the course has significant impacts on students’ confidence, self-efficacy, motivation and sense of belonging. Data have also shown that such positive impacts lead to behavioural changes in social and academic contexts. It is hoped that this article will add a note of optimism to the ELP issue that remains the most common and dominant challenge for international students in Australia despite various approaches attempted over several decades.