查克·徐（Chuck Xu）和爱迪生·丁（Edison Ding）已经在特拉华大学的英语课程学习了整整一年。他们的英语顶多只能算是凑和，连和记者进行基本的交谈都费劲。丁同学说，他向中介支付了3000美元来准备标准化考试、填写申请表并帮自己用英语写申请论文。那篇论文写的是关于什么的？他已经想不起来了。

Mr. Xu just completed the program and is now enrolled in freshman classes. Mr. Ding has yet to pass the final stage and hopes to begin regular classes in the spring.

徐同学刚刚念完了语言课程，现在正在修大一课程。丁同学还没有通过最后阶段的语言考试，他希望能从春季学期开始选修常规课程。

About 5 percent of students in the language program flunk out before their freshman year. In addition, Chengkun Zhang, a former president of Delaware’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association, has known students who simply got frustrated and returned home. “I know a couple of students who have complained to me,” he says. “They think that the E.L.I. program is doing nothing more than pulling money from their pockets.”

语言课程里大约有5%的学生没能撑到开始念大一课程就被退学。此外，特拉华大学中国学生学者联合会前任主席张成昆（ChengkunZhang，音译）还知道一些学生仅仅是因为丧气而打道回府的。他说：“我认识几个学生，他们来跟我抱怨。他们觉得英语语言学院的课程毫无用处，只会从他们口袋里掏钱。”

THE university’s push to attract more foreign students is part of the “Path to Prominence,” a plan laid out by Delaware’s president, Patrick T. Harker. When Dr. Harker came to Delaware five years ago, less than 1 percent of the freshman class was international. He knows firsthand about the classroom challenges because he has taught a freshman course each year. “They’re very good students that struggle with American idiom and American culture,” he says. Dr. Harker says he’s aware that applications from China aren’t always what they seem to be. He notes, though, that it’s a problem lots of universities, not just Delaware, are grappling with.

特拉华大学努力吸引更多外国学生，这是该校校长帕特里克·哈克（Patrick T. Harker）推出的“卓越之路”计划的一部分。当哈克在5年前上任的时候，该校大一班级中的国际学生比例还不到1%。他对于课堂上的挑战有第一手体会，因为他自己每年都会给大一学生开一门课。他说：“他们都是非常好的学生，努力学习着美国习语和美式文化。”哈克说，他了解中国申请人并不总是像他们的申请材料所展示的那样。但是，他指出，这个问题是很多大学都为之头疼的，而不仅仅是特拉华大学。

“Do I think the budget squeeze is driving the rush to international?” Mr. Melcher says. “Unfortunately, yes.”

麦彻说：“我是不是觉得预算缩减在促使大家争着去国外招生呢？不幸的是：是这样的。”

At Delaware, officials are trying new strategies. They’ve started a program that pairs Chinese and other international students with mentors to help ease their transition to American academic life. In addition, the English Language Institute runs workshops for faculty members who have Chinese students in their classes. Other institutions are also rethinking their approach. Valparaiso University, in Indiana, has started a special course to give international students on academic probation extra help with English and study skills.

在特拉华大学，校方在尝试新的策略。他们启动了一个项目，把来自中国和其他国家的国际学生跟指导老师结对，把他们向美国学业生活的过渡变得容易些。此外，英语语言学院为那些课堂上有中国学生的教职员开办了讲习班。其他大学也在反思它们的方法。印第安纳州瓦尔帕莱索大学（Valparaiso University）启动了一门特别课程，给那些处于试读阶段的国际学生提供英语和学习技能方面的额外帮助。

There are ways to improve the admissions process as well, including interviewing applicants in person to get a sense of their actual English abilities and to discover more about their academic backgrounds beyond test scores. A handful of institutions, including the University of Virginia, have alumni and students interview prospective students, either in the home country or via Skype, and the Council on International Educational Exchange, a nonprofit group, has begun offering an interview service. Such changes are welcome to some educators on the ground. Mr. Jiang, the deputy principal in Beijing, believes oral interviews could give colleges a better sense of students’ readiness for an American classroom.

也有一些方法可以改进录取程序，包括面试申请人以了解其实际英语能力和考分之外的更多学业背景。包括弗吉尼亚大学在内的几所高校请校友和在校学生面试未来学生，有的在申请人所在的国家进行，有的是通过Skype网络电话。而非营利组织国际教育交流委员会（Councilon International Educational Exchange）已经开始提供面试服务。这些改变受到了业内教育人士的欢迎。北大附中校长助理江学勤认为，面试可以让美国高校更好地了解学生是否为进入美国课堂做好了足够的准备。

Some universities, too, are hiring outside evaluators to review transcripts or are opening offices in China with local staff members who can spot the application red flags that colleges are missing. But interviewing and thoroughly evaluating every applicant, considering the deluge, would be an enormous and expensive undertaking.

还有一些大学聘请了外部评估师来复核成绩单，或在中国设立办公室，招聘当地职员来找出学校会错过的申请材料中的可疑点。但是，由于申请人数太多，对每个人进行面试和细致的评估将会是沉重而昂贵的负担。

For officials like Dr. Stevens, who has been dealing with international students for nearly three decades, Chinese undergraduates are like a code he’s still trying to decipher: “How can we reach them? How can we get them to engage?”

而对于史蒂文斯这样已经和国际学生打了将近30年交道的大学官员来说，中国本科学生就像一个他还在努力解密的代码：“我们怎样才能触及他们？我们怎样才能让他们真正投入到美国的学习生活？”

“That,” he says, “is something that keeps me up at night.”

他说：“那是让我在深夜辗转难眠的事情。”

节选自纽约时报中文网

由《纽约时报》授权之《时报信息》翻译

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