WICKED PROBLEM

Language is a vast complex, structured system of grammar and vocabulary which is trained simultaneously, however, acquired separately. The four domains of language are reading, writing, speaking, and listening; while they are acquired simultaneously, proficiency rate for each is often varied. It is common for a language learner to be more confident and knowledgeable in one section such as listening and be less trained in another. Therefore, there is an uneven development in language skills among students who are learning English in academic settings, even at the University level. The wicked problem we are addressing is the differences in language skills acquisition during second language acquisition.

The standardized tests to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers such as TOEFL/IELTS show that students have different band scores for each section. IELTS official website posted a statistic for Academic and General Training test taker performance in 2021 according to which there is a significant difference between listening and writing band scores among both females and males (0.54, 0.62 respectively). There was a study in 2018 that investigated the relationship between English language proficiency and academic performance among international students in the United States. The researchers used data from a large public university in the Midwest and found that students with higher English language proficiency tended to have better academic performance. However, the study also found that the development of English language skills varied greatly among international students and that some students struggled to improve their proficiency over time. The researchers suggest that universities should provide targeted support for these students, such as language classes and academic resources, to help them succeed in their studies.

Wei, H., Qu, A., & Kuklinski, J. H. (2018). English language proficiency and academic performance: A study of international students in the United States. Higher Education, 75(3), 583-598. doi:10.1007/s10734-017-0179-8

For international college students who used to have limited access to an immersive language learning environment, it is difficult for them to practice oral English in daily dialogue with authentic native speakers who can provide learners with prompt feedback. This leads to an inevitable phenomenon of uneven development in their language capabilities and skills. Specifically, learners’ capabilities of reading comprehension and writing are often far better than their speaking and listening.

The uneven development in language capabilities affects international students receiving a degree in their non-native language. Students perform well when the assignment focuses on one language skill like reading, but deal with low confidence when they are required to perform a task that does not match their capabilities in language, like oral production.

Human-centered design thinking will help us to understand international students’ hopes, fears, and desires before proving that the existing wicked problem needs to be solved. The interviews will lead us to the creation of the empathy map, personas, along with storyboard before moving to the ideation phase.

TARGET LEARNERS

The identified wicked problem became visible due to group 3 members’ personal experience as international graduate students at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In order to prove the existence of the wicked problem, our group is planning to gather data by interviewing international graduate students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Therefore, the potential solution will address the problem that our peers from different parts of the world face while starting to pursue their degrees at UNC.

HYPOTHESIS

The wicked problem is hypothesized to exist due to the group members’ own experience as international graduate students at UNC. We hypothesize that international students face difficulties in academic/everyday life due to uneven development of their language skills. We believe that uneven development in language skills such as speaking leads to low confidence level in students. We believe that an app that gives users an opportunity to practice their speaking with native speakers or get feedback from AI, will facilitate their language learning and improve self-efficacy.

DATA COLLECTION (PROCESS)

To prove the existence of the wicked problem and confirm our hypothesis, we collected data from international graduate students at UNC in two ways: an online survey with Qualtrics and in-person interviews. We conducted three interviews and surveyed 20 people (survey link here)

MAJOR FINDING (ANALYSIS OF DATA)

Qualtrics report insights (see the full report here)

Most surveyed people have received master’s degrees and have studied English for more than 20 years. Average age: 30-39 y.o.

Education distribution level of respondents

The duration of time that the respondents have studied English

The most challenging part of learning English is speaking followed by writing. It remains a skill people want to improve.

Users are confident in Reading the materials and less confident in abstracting information in class.

Speaking has the greatest negative effect on their academic performance.

60% of surveyed have not used resources/programs at UNC to help to improve their English

Remaining 40% used: Google translation, Writing center, Speaking group, Study groups

Level of efficiency of resources on campus: 5.58/10

Section with the highest score in language test: Reading

Section with the lowest score in language test: Speaking

Reviewing the survey and interview results lead our group to refine our focus on supporting our target learners in improving their speaking skills followed by writing skills since the most uneven language skills development appears to be among these two language domains.. From our research, these domains appear to be the most challenging parts of learning English for these students and sometimes have a great negative impact on their academic performance. The data-gathering session proved our hypothesis of international students’ language skills affecting their academic confidence and everyday life experiences here at UNC.

When developing the solution for our wicked problem, the focus will be shifted to the improvement of speaking skills among the target learners.

We believe, in order to solve this problem, we must provide students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the community that will encourage them to use their oral language skills that were less developed during language acquisition.

LEARNING GOALS

International students will:

Report an increase in their confidence in using oral language in academic, English settings.
Report an improved ability to effectively express their ideas and thoughts when speaking English in academic settings.