As a Centre, we have a lot of thoughts about what the content and goals should be of our courses, and we get input from all areas of the University on how these should evolve and develop.

However, getting international student (and looking at our courses demographics, Chinese student) input can be tricky for a variety of reasons, not least the sometimes shorter periods students are with us, and the obvious challenges of those teaching / assessing also asking their classes for honest feedback and critique.

It was with this in mind that we approached JISC to collaborate on the focus group in the hope that we could get more genuine insights that would help us in the future.

Some of the resulting views in the report one could guess (e.g. student requests for guidance over punishment), but the thoughts on how GenAI could be a potential equaliser, and detection tools could further bias with ‘false positives’ gave food for thought.

The JISC piece was followed with a University Language Centre Directors’ Network meeting on ‘the future of Pre-sessionals in a world of GenAI (November 2025) – with both these events contributing to a more rethink of the University’s Pre-sessional for Summer 2027.

Work was recently started on a project to assess the use of AI chatbots embedded into some of our asynchronous study materials. This was very much exploratory in nature and aimed at preparing for a larger scale study this coming semester. Our two main areas of interest are: the development of a valid and reliable tool to measure the impact on self regulation; and also to develop students AI literacy skills and to monitor how student engage with AI tools for a variety of purposes.

For more information on the project please .

In their daily interactions, hospitality colleagues enjoy conversations with students and visitors from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. This includes many who may be new to communicating in English in a UK context, such as international students embarking on their HE journeys in 91ֱ��.

Working in a University means we all have a wealth of practical experience ‘communicating across cultures’. Our popular workshops are designed to share these experiences, discuss common linguistic challenges and explore solutions in a collaborative environment.

 For more information on the workshops, please 

An array of interesting and valuable topics was explored, including the use of Generative AI in course development and delivery, the integration of gamification techniques for pedagogical purposes, and the promotion of inclusive EAP provision. UCAE was delighted to host an opening plenary talk, 'Transformative potentials for teaching with international students', by Dr Jenna Mittelmeier, Senior Lecturer in International Education, University of Manchester. A further highlight was the closing panel discussion, 'Teacher professional development in times of change', hosted by UCAE Deputy Director Ruth Fordham and bringing together esteemed guest speakers from the fields of EAP and HE Pedagogy.

Building on the success of this successful day, we greatly look forward to hosting our 8th annual UCAE Conference in 2027! 

For more information, .

Decades on, observing some 91ֱ�� students, it doesn’t seem like we’ve made much progress. The assumption existed then, and seems to exist today, that just because students are surrounded by people from different countries, they’ll implicitly learn how to manage exchanges, they’ll ‘figure it out’. There is little indication, though, that this is the case.

Communicating across languages and cultures is complex. It involves awareness, understanding, adaptability, a willingness and confidence to step out of our comfort zones.        

This matters because what could be a strength, can easily become a silent barrier to learning and participation. In my experience the challenges of communication often become most pronounced during groupwork, especially where there is a shared, assessed outcome.

To gain a better understanding of these communication difficulties and how we can support students to overcome them, my colleague Rachel Heasley and I worked closely with students and academics in FSE.

We observed and analysed how groups of students, who didn’t know each other, communicated when completing a task. Through student consultations we then explored our observations.

A few themes emerged:

• some students speak less, not because they lack ideas, but because they’re shy or worried about being misunderstood because of their language skills
• others take over unintentionally because silence is interpreted as agreement or disinterest
• cultural norms influence the language students choose to disagree, question or express uncertainty.

What is clear, though, is there’s a willingness to make it work. Students just don’t know how to with confidence. For most, this needs to be explicitly taught. Without it, students likely default to what feels safest – talking only with familiar peers.

With that knowledge, we created two targeted interventions: a 120-minute workshop and a 60-minute self-directed resource.

Both feature videos of Manchester students sharing real-life stories – honest reflections of the awkward moments and the breakthroughs. They’re accompanied by interactive and reflective tasks, which guide students to think about their own communication styles, assumptions and strategies and reach a shared understanding of how to communicate in groups.

In semester one, we piloted these with two year-one undergraduate courses in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Department of Materials, each cohort comprising roughly 140 students.

The timing was deliberate. We didn’t want to wait until students were struggling, we wanted to address it head on, aiming to normalise the idea that communication is a skill to be worked on, it’s not something you ‘have’ or don’t. Exposing students to this early in their academic studies gives them time to hone their skills before completing higher stake group assessments in years two and three.

Student response was overwhelmingly positive with over 90% of students reporting that they would recommend the workshop or self-study resource to another student. There was a notable shift post workshop in both students’ preparedness and confidence levels, with the percentage more than doubling.

Following up with students a month on, one student shared:

Another described beginning to find their voice:

Academics noticed the difference too. Compared with previous cohorts, they reported students participating more equally and taking greater responsibility for group dynamics. They also observed a shift in tone with clearer, more respectful communication, and a greater appreciation of the challenges others might be facing. With less time spent managing group conflict and troubleshooting communication breakdowns, the ‘wins’ were obvious.

Moving forward, if we want students to communicate confidently, we need to create the conditions for that to happen. That means moving beyond assumptions, recognising that diversity alone doesn’t guarantee meaningful interaction, and it means equipping students – all students – with the skills they need to navigate difference, not avoid it.

Further Reading:

• exploring the 
• connect ruth.fordham@manchester.ac.uk   rachel.heasley@manchester.ac.uk

Acknowledgements:  Thanks to Dr Katherine Harrison and Dr Barbara Waters for collaborating on the pilot and their year one undergraduate students on EARTH11300 and MATS11701 for taking part and providing valuable reflections.