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This article examines the experiences of a group of Japanese study abroad students in response to the purposeful replication of a Japanese environment by the New Zealand-based institution where they studied. Data were collected from 12 students via interviews spread over approximately 20 months, and revealed that management provided specifically for the Japanese students, isolating them from other groups within the college in different ways, which is contrary to frequently cited study abroad objectives. Some initial resistance by participants gave way to acceptance, demonstrated through personal activities which propagated the institution's Japaneseness and an appreciation of management's efforts to provide them with a familiar living and studying environment. The study provides insight into a specific study abroad site unusual in the overtly placed limitations on processes of integration, and subsequent participant responses to that. In doing so, it contributes to the recognition of the diversity of ways in which study abroad may occur.

Many Western universities provide for focused attention on the development of second language writers' academic writing in first-year courses, but there are generally fewer defined channels for such learning after their departure from these courses. This article uses the lens of writing as situated social practices to investigate opportunities for learning about writing and making gains as writers as students continued their study beyond the first semester. Through semi-structured interviews, and examination of the students' assignment scripts and markers' comments, it identifies opportunities for learning provided by various forms of interaction within their courses, as well as barriers to their uptake. It reveals a balance between attention to genre features and content, and to linguistic accuracy, which appears to have allowed the focal students to make gains in their writing.

This article reports on an interview-based study of the academic practices of staff members in a New Zealand university in response to international students in their classes and under their supervision. International students enter academic cultures which are inevitably different from those which have provided their academic preparation. Participant academics often revealed a tension between trying to support students adjusting to new demands and meeting their own expectations of tertiary teaching. Most had implemented some changes to their practices which they identified as enhancing international students' ability to study successfully, but recognised the need for balance between support and an expectation of student autonomy. For some, however, adjustment of practice to reflect these students' different expectations and skills violated their understanding of what higher education should be. Using the lens of different orientations that Fanghanel [2012. "Being an Academic." London: Routledge] identified among academic staff the article considers possible responses to the current situation.

This article draws on findings from a longitudinal study of Chinese international students beginning study in a New Zealand university, and focuses on the very different experience of two students in relation to a single course and its assessment requirements, as they sought ways to negotiate identities as university students in their new setting. While neither student passed the course, one of them was able to learn from his experience of challenge and failure, in particular by developing his reading skills over the period, leading him to a deeper understanding of the course and a growing sense of competency as a university student. The other prided himself on his well-developed speaking skills and favoured oral interaction as his means of clarifying difficulties, but this served him less well in the "DIY" (do-it-yourself) learning expected in the university. The brief encounters available to him for verbal enquiries provided no obvious explanation for the ineffectiveness of his previously successful learning practices, and no counter to unhelpful advice. The suggestion is made that large first-year classes, with no smaller groupings providing timely interaction with teaching staff, can seriously impede the recognition and adoption of appropriate learning strategies. Two paths to an improvement of this situation are posited: better preparation for the practices demanded within the university, signalled by entry requirements for more than just English proficiency, or an acceptance of greater responsibility to provide teacher guidance within first-year courses.