For Fiona Chen, Peter Huynh and John Nam Ngo, studying at Monash has at times been a double test.
Confronted with complex and unfamiliar concepts throughout their various courses, they have also been up against the language itself.
"There are lots of technical terms," explains Mr Huynh, who is studying for a Bachelor of Business (Banking and Finance) at Caulfield campus. "It's very difficult - I have to read lots."
Fortunately, he hasn't had to go it alone. Thanks to Monash's Language and Learning Services Unit (LLS), the Vietnamese-born part-time student has had help in improving his grammar and expression and his English pronunciation - help sometimes provided after hours.
For Ms Chen, a research officer at the University of Queensland's Centre for Magnetic Resonance, the LLS's help was vital during her three years of PhD studies at Monash. "It was a problem both with the language and with the actual content," the Chinese-born Ms Chen recalls. "The first six months were particularly hard."
Dr Ngo, a lecturer in microelectronic engineering at Griffith University, has a similar story. Born in Cambodia, he says having help to polish the structure and readability of his Monash doctoral thesis was "very helpful, a great relief".
Such stories are common among those using the LLS's varied services. Clients range from undergraduates from non-English-speaking backgrounds to international students and postgraduate candidates returning to study in an entirely new field. Students might have grammatical difficulties or be struggling to with the use of language in a particular discipline.
In the course of a year, the LLS holds hundreds of workshops, courses and one-on-one sessions to improve students' written and oral skills. Many are faculty-specific, dealing with the language and concepts of a particular field. Staff are all experienced teachers in higher education, most with backgrounds in applied linguistics.
"Most learning goes on via language," according to LLS head Ms Rosemary Clerehan. "The thinking and language are very tightly tied together, so if students are grappling with the content and the concepts, they'll have difficulties with the communication."
As the unit's activities have expanded, so too has its client base. The numbers of students involved in workshops, courses and individual sessions across Monash's six Victorian campuses jumped from 4868 in 1995 to 12,458 last year. The increased workload recently prompted a move into bigger offices on the Clayton campus. As with many Monash courses, there is a growing emphasis on flexible delivery to meet students' varying needs.
While
international students from non-English-speaking countries are often at a particular
disadvantage, they're not the only ones who strike problems. Unit staff rem-ember
many native speakers, particularly one mature-age psychology student at Peninsula,
who made good use of their services, squeezing in many sessions each year during
her undergraduate degree. She passed - with flying colours - and is believed
to be doing further study.
Monash student Peter Huynh says the LLS has been invaluable
in helping with his course, even after hours.