Strategies for Encouraging Class Participation

International students often cite class participation as one of the most challenging academic activities. While some may have no experience participating in discussions in a class, others may come with different cultural norms in terms of whether it is appropriate to interrupt and the acceptable volume when speaking. Even highly proficient, non-native English speakers may find the colloquial nature of these exchanges difficult to follow. Instructors can help international students participate in class and small group discussions by using a variety of strategies. I’ve included a few below:

• Define your expectations. Do you expect students to contribute to class discussions once or several times each day? Do you expect students to raise their hands before offering ideas? Be sure to let students know what level of engagement is satisfactory in your class. If you have a class of primarily international students, you may want to try physical activities, such as passing a paper ball around to encourage participation or giving each student three Post-it Notes at the start of class. They then “turn-in” one note for each comment they make. 
• Give students time to respond. It may take longer for non-native English speaking students to gather their thoughts. Encourage all students to take a moment to jot down their ideas on a sheet of paper before responding. 
• Let students know how they are doing by providing regular feedback. Waiting until the end of the term to assign a participation grade doesn’t give students the opportunity to make adjustments. 

Some instructors may assume international students who do not participate in class discussions lack the language needed, or worse, don’t care about the class. Employing the above strategies is a good start to helping your students adjust to this new learning environment.  

What other strategies have you used? Comment below and let me know!