Low proficiency in English language is the most significant barrier to success for international students studying in UK higher education. “Language ability is possibly the most important challenge affecting international students in British Higher education.” (AISA report, 2014, p323). High-grades scored, in pre-entry university exams, do not guarantee success in a further career. Partial consent to the thesis statement is obvious. English fluency may be a significant barrier to obtain an academic degree. However, other factors may have a major impact on student success. Most popular English certificates; TOFEL and IELTS may be insufficient guidelines to measure further student success. Nor for students either for lecturers. Screening tests, do not obstruct access to academic careers. On the other hand, the majority of studies do not require the highest level of English proficiency.

Not verifiable pre-admission results, encourage universities to organize new nodes of learning for foreign students. One of the requirements to enter a British University is to achieve sufficient results in IELTS screen examination. Eyere – the former head of English at St. Johns believes that it is not a reliable tool to predict student’s performance at University. Students are often couched to pass the test, or even cheat to get desirable results. Lack of English proficiency has a significant role in student thrive and survival. However the education process has a wider context, it is influenced by multiple factors often not easy to indicate. Morrison (1987, p156) defines study skills “as strategies and methods to efficiently manage learning”. Universities arrange into their programs new subject. English for Academic Purposes. It covers many further associated with academic skills and learning methods. In the past few British universities conducted research on students who attend. Results reveal, that students who attend the EAP lessons, gained significantly better grades, compared to those who not attend (Leech, 2015). On the contrary. Researchers did not conduct screenings on representative and a qualitative sample of students.

A severe issue for international students is the written part of modules, especially writing an assignment. Incorrect usage of English in assignments can be induced by the mother tongue of foreign students. According to American linguist Kaplan (1966), in his theory of Contrastive Rhetoric. The scientist claimed that the student’s native language influences the writing structure in a second tongue. Kaplan differential four cultural patterns emerge both from culture and various languages. Those patterns can reveal the student’s ethnic and cultural background. Kaplan claims that those works can provide a new view on the subject. Work and claims conducted by Kaplan were widely criticized.

Non-native student’s adaptability to rapid learning may be underestimated. The Association International Student Assimilation (AISA) in their report revealed “language ability is possibly the most important challenge affecting international students in British Higher education.” (AISA report, 2014, p323). Both universities and non-profit organizations conducted screening in order to find a satisfactory resolution for all stakeholders. They discovered that students use the advantage of technology at University. Script like google translator has widely used some students pay for professional writing services. One of the requirements to enter a British University is to achieve sufficient results in the IELTS test. However, Eyere – the former head of English at St. Johns believes that it is not a reliable tool to predict student’s performance at University, because students are often coached to pass exams or even cheat. Under those circumstances, blame to technology is inadequate.
Essay constraints the subject to three provided text sources. The majority of those documents are acute outdated, do not represent current reality. Partially it is agreeable, that low English proficiency can be a severe obstruction to obtain an academic degree. It is also obvious that some of the faculty required higher-level English proficiency than others. An unavoidable fact is that students should possess perfect English skills. Furthermore, international students who study subjects; chemistry, mathematical or physical do not aim to upgrade their English skills to the same level as English Literature students do. Perfect English fluency is useful further. On the other hand, some of the students will use gained academic skills, ones to prepare dissertation work. or never if they decide to study art. Nonetheless provided source materials do not indicate the final student success or defeat. Despite lecturers complaint, universities do not rise the test difficulty rather adopt new program ease the learning for international students. All of those circumstances lead to the conclusion that students’ attitude has a more significant role than entry English proficiency.

Reference list:

• Kotter, 2015. Language: Still a barrier to success for international students. UK Higher Ed. 54, pp. 56
• Marten, J.S, 2003. Analysing the Contrasts in Academic Writing between Native and International Students in a UK Context. Vol. 4, pp. 122-37
• Vance, F 2016. Finding International Student Success. Belfast: Queens University Press.