The RSPH community reflects a wide range of linguistic diversity, including international students and US residents (immigrants and non-immigrants) who have completed at least a portion of their education in the United States. In your role as an instructor, as you design and execute your course, it is important to be aware of needs and integrate resources that are relevant to multilingual learners. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill developed this resource that outlines some important considerations in teaching immigrant and non-immigrant multilingual students including the following best practices for supporting the online teaching and learning of international and other remote learners adapted from the UNC Writing Center.
Time zones
Participation and inclusion: Time zone differences may affect learners’ ability to join classes synchronously. Some learners may be frustrated that they can’t join the live lecture and discussion sections, or they may not feel that they’re really a part of your learning community. Think about how you can include them. Solicit ideas from on-campus and remote learners about how the community could feel more inclusive. Learn more about your learners’ locations in this time zone map.
Teaching strategies: See our Learner Engagement page for teaching strategies that can be applied asynchronously.
Group projects: Ask international learners if they’d prefer to work on group projects with people closer to their own time zone, if possible. Ask on-campus learners to try to schedule live project meetings that accommodate the time differences.
Deadlines: Consider learners who are in different time zones as you post assignments and set deadlines. Remember, many countries don’t observe Daylight Saving Time.
Office hours: Provide alternatives to your scheduled office hours by offering “by appointment” meetings that are more convenient in distant time zones.
Technology
Internet access: Learners working from their home countries may have difficulty accessing online resources. For learners in low-resource settings, internet access may be unreliable.
RSPH platforms: Emory’s Canvas platform is not currently blocked in China, so learners will have access to this platform. However, learners have reported these issues: very slow logins and page loads, forced terminations, and “failure to submit” messages with online assessments. Consider integrating alternative assessments that don’t rely on stable internet access.
Website blocking & unreliable internet access: Many websites, social media, and streaming platforms are blocked in other countries, so your learners may not be able to watch YouTube videos, contribute to a Google doc or a Slack project, read a New York Times article, etc., even if the materials are embedded in a non-blocked website. If possible, download content and post it directly on Canvas site instead of using links. Set videos up to open inside Canvas rather than requiring learners to download.
Collaboration platforms and group projects: Many platforms (e.g., Slack, Trello, Google, WhatsApp) are not available in certain countries. If group projects rely on collaboration software and messaging apps, encourage learners to confer with their international group mates on what is available to them. This may be learners’ first experience using American collaborative platforms, so it’s worth the time to assess their level of familiarity and provide some instruction on effectively using them.
Domain checker: Check to see if a domain is blocked in China using sites like Comparitech. See a brief list of other countries that censor the internet in this ReadWrite article. Note: students may be able to visit restricted sites if they set up a VPN; however, many censoring countries actively thwart VPN technology, so learners’ access may be unreliable.
Cultural Differences and Comprehension
Comprehension: RSPH learners who use English as an additional language have often achieved a very high level of English proficiency, but their proficiency may be stretched, particularly in remote instructional settings. When you teach, be cognizant of how quickly you speak and your inclusion of monocultural or idiomatic phrases. Also, recognize that learners may be navigating unfamiliar accents from instructors and peers as they work to comprehend course content. Recording classes with captions is helpful for all learners. Learners can review the recording as often as needed, using captions to support their listening comprehension. Headphones or earbuds also help learners hear your voice more clearly, so encourage their use. Both Canvas Studio and Panopto have captioning functions. Additionally, Powerpoint software has captioning AND translating functionality. Zoom also supports live captions. For more information, review the Technologies for Learning Technologies > Captions for Live Presentations and for Videos
Confidence: Many learners are self-conscious about communicating in imperfect English or expressing comprehension difficulties because they fear it will reflect poorly on their intelligence. Multilingual learners may find the task of posting on message boards to be especially daunting since any sentence-level errors will be seen by the entire class. Making the purpose and expectations clear for any public posting can help to alleviate some of the pressure multilingual learners may feel. Create a supportive environment where concerns can be raised discretely.
Content: Learners from certain countries may be reluctant to comment on topics that may be sensitive to their government, no matter what their feelings are, because of possible retribution. Try to provide ways for learners to demonstrate their engagement with the topic without putting themselves at potential risk.
Source used: Learners working remotely may or may not have familiarity with the American higher education system’s conventions on integrating or citing sources, but remoteness may increase their anxiety about inadvertently plagiarizing. Encourage your learners to share their concerns, to get feedback on their source-use practices, and to use resources that explain plagiarism. Extend grace, and guide learners while they learn this very complex set of skills.
Additional Resouces
Translation
Google Translate can provide translation in real-time by selecting the two languages and clicking on the microphone symbol. Depending on the circumstances, noise level, and clarity of speech, several other phone apps including Itranslate, SayHi, and Microsoft Translator can provide language support.
Academic Resources
Academic Resource Center at RSPH (on-campus writing and quantitative tutoring)
Fall Courses:
ESL 500 Graduate Communication Skills for Multilingual Learners I
ESL 510 Fundamentals of Graduate Writing I
ELSP 505 Communication Skills for Intermediate Speakers I
ELSP 517 Communication Skills for Advanced Speakers I
Spring Courses:
ESL 501: Graduate Communication Skills for Multilingual Learners II
ESL 511 Fundamentals of Graduate Writing II
ELSP 517 Communication Skills for Intermediate Speakers II
Social Connections
Programs and Services for International Students at RSPH
Resources
ISSS Intercultural Communication Workshops for Faculty, Students, and Staff