ISANA

Gillian O’Neill and Grant Harris

Abstract: This paper first outlines a 12 week programme of Ongoing Academic Orientation (OAO) which was trialled in the Waikato Management School (WMS) during the 2004 A and B semesters and then reports the results of a questionnaire survey given to the students who followed the programme in A semester 2004. The questionnaire had three functions: to gather data on the trial programme’s efficacy, content, timing, and length; to gain some insights into the extent to which these students were engaging with their New Zealand English-speaking environment on a daily basis; and to determine if those taking the programme had also sought one-to-one Language and Learning (L&L) help, and if so, had they found it helpful. While the majority of students found the OAO programme and the one-to-one tutorials useful, the results on their daily use of English were of concern. Hence ways of encouraging intercultural contact through conversation classes are discussed and then recommended for inclusion alongside the OAO in future.

Keywords: Acculturation, academic support

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