Ian Aird's background and the ELICOS sector

Rob: Ian Aird, welcome to the National Virtual Expo. Thanks for joining me.

Guest: Thanks for having me, Rob. It's great to see you.

Rob: Oh, actually, before we kick off, mate, maybe just a quick couple of words about your background and your role.

Guest: I am the CEO of English Australia, which is the national peak body, the industry body for the English language teaching sector, which in Australia we call ELICOS. I have been in this fantastic sector for about 30 years. I started as an English language teacher travelling the world, and find myself here all this time later on.

Rob: This is really exciting for me because of course, coming to Australia, whether it's to go to university or vocational ed and you need a little bit of top-up English to get you ready for that course, or whether it's literally just coming here to do some shorter-term experience to learn some English, it's an amazing place to come and do that. So thank you for joining me to share some insights on how we make that happen. I might just pass over to you and off we go.

Why Australia is a great place to study English

Guest: As you say, it's a fantastic place to come and study English. It's a fantastic place to come, full stop. But if you want to study English, Australia is a great choice, and there are a few reasons why. I'll work through a bit of a presentation on why Australia and how to choose a college, and how to get the most out of it.

Guest: Starting with why you would choose to study English in Australia: the first thing is that you're going to be in an English-speaking country, so you're going to be surrounded by English every day. Anyone who's tried to learn a language in their own country, where they go home at the end of every lesson or even just step outside the classroom and switch straight back into their own language, knows that it takes a really long time to learn the language in a way that you can actually communicate. So being surrounded by English is absolutely vital for making good progress.

Guest: The second thing I'd say about studying English in Australia is that we are world-renowned for the high quality of the English courses that you'll come to and enjoy here. A big part of that is the teachers. To be an English language teacher in Australia, you've got to be qualified, and the qualifications are pretty tough. They cover fantastic teaching technique and skills, so the teachers are going to be able to help you really effectively. They're not just going to be standing at the front making you do drills. You're going to have a fantastic time and you're going to learn really effectively.

Guest: Part of this is that we have in Australia a really strong teaching culture. Teachers really value their professionalism and work really hard to be the best teacher they can be. English Australia is a big part of that, and there's a really active professional development scene in Australia for English language teachers.

Comprehensive courses and academic preparation

Guest: The other thing you'll find in Australia that is different to many places in the world is that the courses are really comprehensive. If you are studying English to travel and have fun and learn a bit of communication, that's fine. You can do that in lots of places, and you can do it really well in Australia, as I say. But if you are studying because you want to go on to university or you want to do a vocational course, the English courses in Australia are very comprehensive. They will cover not just learning new language and new grammar, and not just good reading skills and writing skills, but how to use English in a tutorial, how to listen to a lecture and take notes, how to do research in English, and how to write essays in a way that is standard in Australia.

Guest: You'll find that's really valuable, because the academic culture in Australia is going to be different from where you are from, even if you're from many English-speaking countries. The academic culture in Australia is quite different, and we'll talk more about that in a moment.

Student protections, safety, and quality of life

Guest: The next thing I'd say is that we have really strong regulations in Australia, which means really strong protections for students. There's protection for students as consumers. There's protection for the money that you spend on your courses, and at English Australia colleges it doesn't even matter what visa you're on. There's protection for your investment in your study as well. There are also external mechanisms: if you're not happy with the way a problem is being solved, there are lots of external government organisations that will help you and make sure that you are being looked after.

Guest: In that respect, Australia is fantastic, and a lot of parents are very happy about sending their kids here because it's so safe. Australian cities are some of the most safe cities in the world. Most Australian cities are in the top ten safest cities in the world. Melbourne was recently ranked number two and Sydney has been up there as well. So these are big cities, but they're very safe cities, easy to get around, and safe, easy places to study and live.

Guest: As for living, the quality of life is fantastic. Great weather, clean cities, and absolutely tons to do. Lots of it is free, like going to the beach, going for a walk, walking along the coast. Even where it's not free, it's pretty cheap to catch a train to see some amazing sites around the city that you're in and around the country. Another great advantage of studying in Australia is that you can work while you study, including while studying English, so if you need some extra money to keep living a fun, exciting life, you can work while you're here.

How to choose the right English language college

Guest: How do you choose a college to go to? The first thing I'll say is that choosing an English Australia college is a great way to make sure you're choosing one of the best colleges in Australia. For the last 40-plus years, English Australia has been making sure that its members are the best colleges in the country. They're colleges that are really committed to high quality and high levels of professionalism. Colleges do an awful lot to become an English Australia member, and when they're part of English Australia, they're part of a community of professionalism and they work very hard to make sure their quality levels are really high.

Guest: The next thing I'd say is: when you're choosing a college, work back from your principal course. If you are going to come to Australia to study a university degree, start with that degree and work out which English college is going to work best for it. Often the universities will have their own English language college, and it's a great idea to study with the university. You're going to be on campus, you're going to be getting used to the culture of that institution and the whole location. If they don't, then they'll generally have a partner college. Your agent, if you have one, can help you make sure that the college you go to is connected to that pathway course.

Guest: Next, you want to think about the location and the lifestyle you want. Every city in Australia is quite different. Sydney is very different to Melbourne, which is very different to Perth and Adelaide and Hobart and Brisbane. I've got to name them all or I'll get in trouble. But they're all quite different in size, weather, and lifestyle. So you want to choose one that matches you, whether you're comfortable in a big city or you prefer a small town, because we do have English language colleges along the East Coast in particular, well out of the city in a really relaxed environment next to the beach.

Guest: The last thing I'd say is: reach out to the college. There's nothing like getting in touch with the college to get the answers straight from the source, but also to find out who you're going to be studying with. The way they answer the question will tell you a lot about how they work and what it's going to be like to study with them. Do reach out to colleges. They love to hear from prospective students and they'll be able to help you a lot. And look for the English Australia logo on the college's website. That'll give you a really good starting point for identifying a great college.

What to expect in an Australian English language classroom

Guest: The next thing I'd say is to prepare and to know what to expect. You're going to find that studying English in Australia is almost definitely really different to studying English in your experience. You've probably studied English in school, maybe even in classes after school, but studying English in Australia is quite different. You're going to be engaging with your classmates a lot. There are lots of activities where you're working together. This is a great way to practise those communication skills, but you are going to be doing a lot of activities and a lot of speaking in class.

Guest: The other thing is that Australia is a really informal place. We're an informal culture and our classrooms are quite informal and relaxed too. It may be quite unusual for you, but most people in Australia will refer to their teacher by their first name once they're out of high school. In school it tends to be the family name, but outside of high school, even at university, some lecturers much prefer you to use their first name. So we're quite informal in that way.

Guest: Teachers love talking to students and they love students talking to them. They don't expect to walk into the classroom and not actually interact with you. They're really keen to have a conversation with you. So do feel comfortable to talk to your teachers when you're in Australia.

How to get the most out of your English language study

Guest: How do you get the most out of studying in Australia? The classic phrase is: you get out what you put in. The more effort you put into your learning, the more you're going to get out of it. I'd add that your teachers are the experts in learning and will give you a lot of feedback on how you can learn better. Do listen to that feedback and try to act on it.

Guest: The next thing I'd say is: learn to communicate. Language is for communication. It's not just an academic exercise. When you're learning, it's not about how many words you know or how complicated the sentences are that you can make. It's about how well you can communicate. So always try to think about how you're going to use language to communicate.

Guest: The last thing I'll say is: have fun. Make sure you're having fun in the classroom, and make sure you're having fun outside the classroom. It's outside the classroom where most of your hours will be spent. Even if you're studying really hard, you might do 20 hours a week, but there are a lot more waking hours than that when you could be practising. So get lots of practice outside the classroom by talking to classmates, getting out and meeting people, and doing what you can to make the most of your time in Australia.

Student protections and how to apply

Rob: Thank you, some incredibly good advice there. Just to pull out a couple of points I'd really re-emphasise: the first is around the protections for students. Australia leads the world when it comes to protections for students, not only from the government level but, as you were saying, being able to look for that English Australia logo and knowing that means that institution has reached a level of quality. I think that's a great reassurance for students. I've got a couple of questions for you. How would a student apply to do English? Is that through a university if they're going on to university, or is it directly with an individual college? How does that work?

Guest: As I said, you want to start with your ultimate goal and then work backwards. If your ultimate goal is a degree from a particular university, go to that university and say, "I need to get my English language level from here to here so that I can do that degree. Where should I study English?" If the university has its own English language college, then generally that's the best place to get the English for that university. The English language department will work with the department you're going to. They'll have designed lessons and assessments so that it's integrated into that course.

Guest: Same with vocational study. If you're coming just for English, or if the institution you're going to doesn't have its own ELICOS department, you can find our members on the English Australia website and scan through all of those colleges there. You can also do a Google search and look for colleges, but I'd always recommend looking for the English Australia logo. Then reach out to either the college directly or through your degree course provider, and get them to help you. Lots of students use agents, and those agents are expert in the whole enrolment process. Colleges are always very happy to hear directly from students too. They'll have application forms on their website, and you can even just email them and say, "I want to apply. How do I do that?" and they'll guide you through the process.

Why English language study in Australia improves degree outcomes

Rob: During your presentation you were saying language is fundamentally about communication. A student going on to do a master's or a bachelor's degree may already have the right mark, like an IELTS level or a TOEFL level, but what do you think about the idea of even doing a couple of weeks of preparatory English when you first arrive in Australia? I know that with the accent and the usage of language in a new place, it can be quite different to what you might be familiar with, even if you've got quite a good level.

Guest: Absolutely. I would suggest going even further than that. We actually have research to show that students who come in with the same level of English required to enter their course, but who have developed that English through an English language college in Australia, perform better in their degree programs. They're getting better grades and they're having a better time. Because it's not just about your English, it's about being comfortable using your English in a classroom setting, having those classroom and lecture and tutorial skills, knowing how to engage and how to get the most out of it, and learning how research and group work function in Australia.

Guest: What many universities in Australia are finding when they look closely is that students who come in through an English language college in Australia, and generally they'll do a minimum of around 10 weeks of study, do much better once they get into their degree. There's so much more to English than just knowing the words, knowing the grammar, and being able to pass a test. Those tests are getting better and better all the time, and they are very good. But there's a lot to be said for acclimatising and getting used to the environment.

Rob: That just came to me as you were presenting: if you're going to be spending 50 or a hundred thousand dollars on a degree program, the investment of a few thousand extra dollars right at the start to get oriented, to get your usage up to that level, to get familiar with the classroom environment in Australia, to me is a fantastic investment. It builds your confidence before you hit that master's class where you might be sitting with a whole bunch of native speakers, which can be overwhelming and frightening. But if you've done that study in advance, you're going to have more confidence going into that rigorous academic environment.

Guest: Absolutely. And let's face it, going from high school into university is a huge hurdle in itself. I'd suggest that even native speakers, even Australians, would do well to do a short course at an English language teaching institution to get those study skills and essay skills up to scratch, because there's a big difference between a high school education and jumping into a degree program.

Rob: Completely agree. I think high school students might resist that, but they'd be pleased that they did afterwards. That's the truth, isn't it?

Guest: They sure would.

English language testing and direct entry pathways

Rob: Some students may arrive in Australia with a score that is lower than what they need for entry into their degree program. Testing isn't handled by Australia itself, is it? That'll be handled by another agency. How do those sorts of things work?

Guest: There are a couple of ways you can enter a program. There's the test system. Depending on where you're studying and where you're from, you may be required by immigration to have an English language test. That might be your PTE, your TOEFL, your IELTS, the CELPIP, LanguageCert, the Michigan Test of English, and others. There's a whole range of different tests you can do, and sometimes sitting one of those is just a good idea.

Guest: Other times you can do what's called a direct entry course. A lot of universities and some private providers will have what they call a direct entry course. This is an academic English course where you'll do a set period, generally 10 weeks or maybe 20 weeks depending on your level, and you'll do a pretty rigorous assessment. You'll have to write a researched essay, do a presentation, and there can be an English exam at the end as well. When you finish that, it can give you what's called direct entry. Those courses have been designed so that they have the same level as the testing systems, so if you complete the course with a certain grade, that'll be equivalent to an IELTS 6.0, 6.5, or 7.0, or the equivalent in other tests, and you can go straight into the program without having to sit one of those official tests.

Balancing your home language and English immersion in a multicultural Australia

Rob: My last question. Australia is a very multicultural country, and a lot of students coming here to study English can quite easily find their own community. In Manly you have the Brazilian community, in different places you've got the French community. That's reassuring in some ways, but there's also the risk that you end up speaking more of your home language than English. Do you have a view on how to balance that interaction with people from your own background as opposed to being more fully immersed in Australian English?

Guest: My view is probably increasingly common now, though in the past it's been a bit controversial. I'd say two things. One is: be ready for the multiculturalism of Australia, because I know that some English language students arrive thinking everyone's going to look like you, Rob, or me, and we just don't. We come in every colour, shape, and size. We have one of the most multicultural populations in the world, and your teachers of English can have backgrounds from anywhere in the world. Don't judge them on that. Judge them on how great a teacher they are. It's a fantastic feature of the world.

Guest: In terms of how much you practise, my view is that it's going to come down to the individual. The multiculturalism of Australia, and having other students from your home country, can definitely slow down your English if you overuse your first language. But I'd also say that each student has to be the best judge of that and be honest with themselves, because sometimes you really do need to just take a moment and relax and be able to speak your first language. Sometimes it's a security blanket. Sometimes it's a safety thing where you're just not sure about a situation.

Guest: I'd say that in a lot of the really great English language colleges, they staff the college with an A to Z of languages. I've worked in many English language colleges in Australia and I've never worked in a college where fewer than five or six languages were spoken by the staff. That's invaluable, particularly when you've got a lower level student, or when you've got a student who is quite distressed and needs that support, or a parent who needs to be able to communicate with the college, or when a situation requires going back to the first language. So I'm certainly not a believer in "you must speak English 100% of the time." The more you speak English, the faster you'll learn, but that's going to be down to the individual person, their stamina, and their day-to-day circumstances.

Rob: Ian Aird, CEO of English Australia, thank you so much for joining me at the National Virtual Expo.

Guest: Thanks for having me, Rob.