Tutorial participation

For some students, taking part in tutorials in Australia may be a new experience, or somewhat different to what they experienced in their own country.

The tutorial is intended to give you an opportunity to:

• Interact more informally with lecturers and tutors
• Ask questions
• Solve problems with other students.
  

Tutorials in Australia generally (but not always) have the following characteristics:

Informality

Generally, tutorials in Australia are much less formal than they would be in other countries.

Required/set reading and preparation

You are usually asked to prepare something for tutorials, either in the form of set readings, or questions, case studies or other tasks. Preparation will help you to get a lot more out of tutorials.

Speaking out, asking questions, discussion

Speaking out and discussion is not only encouraged but also expected in tutorials in Australia. Indeed, many units have a component of marks allotted to participation in tutorials. For a variety of reasons, some people find speaking out difficult or embarrassing. If you are reluctant to take part in discussion you should try to slowly increase your participation during semester.

Other things to watch

The language of 'Australian' students

If you are an international student, you may have difficulty understanding the casual language of some 'Australian' students. This is because the language they use may be informal, or contains local references, everyday jargon, short or abbreviated forms and so on. Mixing more with local students, watching Australian television programs and greater exposure to everyday conversational Australian English will help you in this area.

Picking up the accepted ways to interact

You should also try to identify (by listening and watching carefully) useful linguistic forms and polite ways to:

• Ask questions
• Agree and disagree
• Interrupt
• Ask for further clarification.
  

Remember what is considered polite or acceptable varies across cultures. If unsure, ask your lecturer or tutor or staff at the Communication Skills Centre.