Summary

Article Summary The article by Lissa Petersen focuses on meeting the needs of international in learning and understanding the English language. When the students decide to pursue their studies in the US, they imply that they are proficient in English, but as a second language. According to Petersen, the international students go through several challenges before they complete their studies. The students must first of all adapt to the new social and cultural setting. The students have to a struggle with the typical American issues. The students take time to understand the foreign land’s issues such as politics, current events, and television shows among others (Petersen).
Petersen also notes the students have problems with their listening skills. Native Americans speak quickly and fluently, and with vocabularies, but the international students lack a background on such complex terms. Listening then becomes difficult if they cannot follow and understand what lecturers and other students are saying (Petersen).
The international students also shy away from speaking in front of others. They are aware of their problems in pronunciation, fluency, intonation, and word stress. They know they cannot fully understand what others say and cannot express what they mean correctly. Their participation in class, therefore, becomes limited. The author, Lissa Petersen, also indicates that the students have problems in reading comprehension, using idioms and grammar. If, however, the students can apply Benjamin Bloom’s strategy of thinking, they can overcome some of the problems.
Lastly, Petersen points at rhetorical differences as another hindrance to effective learning by the international students. American academic writing features several differences with other cultures. Although most of the international students are taught English grammar in their countries, the teaching is not up to the American standards. Their English can, therefore, seem to be illogical and disorganized, but is acceptable in another culture (Petersen).
Works Cited
Petersen, Lissa. ” Meeting the Needs of International Students.” CGU. CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. .