Welcome to the design project!

Target Learners: International Graduate Students at UNC 

Learning Problem: International graduate students at UNC face uneven development in English abilities, especially in speaking and writing, which are the most challenging parts of learning English for these students and sometimes have a great negative impact on their academic performance. 

Cause: Due to students’ limited access to an immersive language learning environment before entering graduate school and the difficulty in practicing speaking with native speakers. This results in a lack of prompt feedback, which has an impact on their language development. 

Learning Goals: International students will 1) report an increase in their confidence in using English daily, overcoming the obstacles affecting their academic performance 2) report an improvement in their ability to effectively express their ideas and thoughts when speaking English.

Design Insight: Providing students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in the community will encourage them to use their language skills that were less trained during language learning. Giving students a place to train their speaking skills with native speakers. Informing students about differences in a learning environment and active participation requirements in the US education system.