By AMANDA JOO

Australian university students and teachers are concerned that a push for more international students comes without enough support for those struggling with the language. 

Monash University figures show a 12 per cent increase in international student enrolments in the past 12 months.

The university has more than 19,000 international students, about 26 per cent of total enrolment in 2017.

One tutor from the Monash Arts Faculty, who did not want to be named, said there was a level of difficulty in teaching international students, even though they made university life more diverse and interesting.

“The main problem is written English. It is hard to give them good marks on written English,” she said.

“There are sometimes very obvious points I can notice where the students are using Google translate.

“They are just thrown into this other world. There should be more language support from the university,” they said.

Many international students have difficulty with language fluency and contribution to class.

A domestic IT engineering student from the university, who did not want to be named, said expectations of students should be higher.

“My course consists of 80 per cent international students and sometimes reading others’ work makes me frustrated because it brings down the quality of submission,” he said.

He said it seemed some were "unqualified” to be in the class. 

The latest figures from The Department of Education show that more than 556,987 international students matriculate in Australia, 18 per cent more than five years ago.

Monash University provides support programs such as English Connect, but international students said it was still a struggle to participate in class or keep up with group assignments.

Ramona Li and Wenna Lin, international students studying in Monash Business School, said it was hard for them to take part in class.

“I think local students are friendly and speak slow when talking with me,” Ms Li said.

“But it’s hard to join the conversation in class because tutors and students talk fast. Sometimes I can’t get their points,” she said.

They also said Let’s Chat, the English support program in the university, did not ensure students’ English skills improved enough for class.

“The tutor in Let’s Chat speaks not that slowly and uses some difficult words, Aussie slangs,” Ms Lin said.

“But it’s also hard to go there when it’s not the beginning of semester because you have too much work to do.”

Monash University senior media communications advisor Leigh Dawson said Monash University continued to uphold a strict standard of application for all students at all levels.

“This has enabled Monash to remain as one of Australia's top university providers for research and graduate success,” Ms Dawson said.

"If talented young people from across the world want to come and study here and have a positive experience, we should be enabling that through any means possible.”