Before I start, I would like to express my amazement on how linguistics plays an important role in uncovering hidden meaning in texts such as the case of the news channel insinuating that international students are worst compared to native students from Australia. Based on a lot of research papers I have read, I can confirm that non-natives have it the hardest when migrating to an English-speaking country such as Australia especially if they don’t know how to speak English. Since they are unfamiliar with the English language it is hard for them to do everyday tasks that require English communication. In this blog article, you discussed that international students are perceived as having poor English and having problems with income. Though this statement is true for some students, it now has been associated with all international students. Therefore, I do agree with the statement that “stereotyping of international students is widespread in Australia.” Not all international students are quick to plagiarize or have poor English, some have great English speaking and writing skills. In fact, there are poets and literary writers out there who are not from an English-speaking country and yet have produced revolutionary works in English. Australians should learn that English is not the only language in the world. They should also reflect on the beauty of Australia being a linguistically diverse country.

Thank you for the provocative read. I think it is a bit presumptuous to judge someone’s intelligence just because of low English competence. It is necessary to keep in mind that there are multiple intelligences that are not only limited to linguistic ability. It should also be remembered that international students are not only studying their college major; they are also studying how to acclimate in their new environment and interact with it in another language, apart from their native tongue.

This reminds me of another article I read in the past about language and mobility. What I learned from it is that universities, Anglophone ones especially, pride themselves on being international, but only because they attract more student and payments. Despite being international, these educational institutions largely retain their monolingual setting, particularly in the use of English as the primary medium of instruction. Additionally, international students are encouraged to speak English always and suppress their mother tongue. Asking international students to speak English at all time can be justified for convenience purposes, but it is unreasonable to expect them to speak the English of a native, not even English as a lingua franca.

There is a need to modernize language policies among higher education institutions, even more so when it only benefits one language in particular.