The PELE program in UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture helps multilingual students unlock their learning potential.
A research-led English language program at UNSW fosters sustained gains in communication confidence, engagement and belonging for multilingual learners.
The Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE) program is designed for students who speak English as an additional language. Students design and pursue individual communication goals across academic, professional and personal contexts.
Multilingual skills are invaluable assets in today’s globally connected workforce, says Professor Mira Kim from UNSW’s School of Humanities & Languages.
“Many highly capable students navigate study and professional life in an additional language, but in high-stakes communication contexts they experience reduced confidence, visibility and influence,” she says.
“PELE takes a student-centred approach, empowering learners across diverse disciplines and career stages to develop stronger communication skills and more effective learning strategies.”
Prof. Kim is an expert in personalised autonomous language learning, translation studies and systemic functional linguistics. She developed the PELE model in response to the decades-long call for a holistic approach to international students’ English proficiency in higher education.
Her research has demonstrated that PELE’s targeted identity-affirming language development model delivers improved self-efficacy, motivation and sense of belonging. It also shows that communication confidence and well-being are inseparable from professional participation and leadership.
These positive impacts lead to behavioural changes across social and academic contexts and help alleviate the English language proficiency challenge for today’s international students, Prof. Kim says.
“PELE is not just a course but a warm and encouraging learning community. Teachers, mentors and students, past and present, help each other to learn better throughout the course.”
For many advanced English language learners, the most significant missing piece is confidence, she says.
“Confidence grows through learner autonomy, reflective practice and a safe and supportive learning environment. Together, we’ve built such a community at UNSW.”
PELE is operationally proven with more than a decade of delivery. Recognised with multiple teaching excellence awards, it has attracted more than 3,000 participants from more than 100 countries.
It is offered as an elective or general education course across all faculties at UNSW for commencing and continuing undergraduate, postgraduate coursework and higher degree research students.
The program provides personalised learning, guided self-reflection and a supportive and inspiring community of learners.
“PELE is not a typical English course where students are told by their teachers what to learn,” Prof. Kim says.
“This kind of learning may work at beginner and intermediate levels, but at an advanced level, students’ needs differ depending on how they learnt English and in what context they want to use it.”
A one-size-fits-all approach does not work, she says. “We take a different approach. We let students decide what aspect of communication they want to improve and how they want to work on this.”
For example, students might choose to improve their fluency in academic presentations or in the case of HDR students, improve communication with their supervisor.
Alternatively, they might want to focus on increasing their confidence speaking in everyday scenarios, such as ordering a coffee, or their pronunciation of specific sounds, such as ‘th’.
Teachers introduce useful tools and resources, guiding students to find their strengths and areas for development. In addition to improving language proficiency, the course enhances essential skills in teamwork, reflective practice, leadership, emotional intelligence and active learning.
“PELE supports students to participate in academic and professional life more effectively, to develop their voice and build sustainable communication practices,” Prof. Kim says.
PELE runs every term, including summer term, drawing cross-disciplinary participation across law, engineering, science, health, arts, education and business. Weekly classes include an interactive lecture and an in-person tutorial.
Through critical analysis, strategic practice and structured reflection, students strengthen their voice, agency and capacity for long-term growth.
Students break down their goal into achievable steps using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) framework. They identify metrics to assess their progress under the guidance of their tutor.
Students share their ongoing progress and give each other feedback in small groups, supported by peer mentors (former PELE students).
The course gave former international student Ying Dong greater confidence, problem-solving skills and invaluable insight into herself. She wanted to improve her confidence to contribute during tutorials.
"We’re encouraged to think about what's challenging in that context. Why couldn't I speak in the class tutorial? Of course, it's about my confidence, but also there was something lacking,” the Master of Translation & Interpreting alumna says.
“I realised it was because I didn’t have enough vocabulary. I understood a lot of vocabulary, but I couldn’t use it.”
She identified quantitative measures of progress: adding 30 new words to her productive vocabulary and reducing the number of filler words and pauses in a one-minute speech to improve fluency in oral presentations.
Her tutor suggested she watch Ronny Chieng: International Student, a comedy series about foreign students in Australia, as a helpful resource for improving her tutorial skills. “It was a very fun show.”
She also drew on her lecture and tutorial slides to build her vocabulary. Finally, she created a survey to send to her Translation & Interpreting tutor at the beginning and end of term to benchmark her progress across specific criteria and receive feedback.
Ms Dong enjoyed the course so much she signed up again and again as a volunteer PELE mentor. Mentoring provides a professional development opportunity for former students. Ms Dong is now a full-time associate lecturer in the PELE program.
Social engagement is central to the course design. Students are required to do eight hours of social activity, for example, by joining one of UNSW’s many societies and clubs or volunteering with a government agency.
There are learning festivals and social clubs run exclusively for PELE students, including ukulele, singing, running, board game and film clubs, for those who find engaging with local students intimidating.
“Many PELE students report making new friendships with students from different backgrounds and disciplines,” Prof. Kim says.
In addition to increased confidence in using English in authentic contexts, they report enhanced professional communication skills for better interpersonal relationships; improved time management and productivity skills; greater knowledge about useful methods and tools for autonomous learning; and opportunities to develop critical thinking and reflective skills.
Shawn Shi, an audit manager who undertook PELE in 2017, says: “I landed my job through talking to people and PELE gave me the confidence to do that. It’s a really safe environment for you to try things out, to make mistakes.’
The PELE methodology provides a repeatable process for problem-solving, promoting sustained personal and professional growth. Isaac Addo, 2016 PhD alumnus (UNSW Medicine & Health), has returned to the PELE strategy over and again: “If I face any challenges in life, then I reflect back to the [PELE] principles and then see the problem as a project.”
Camille Lapierre, 2018 alumna (Master of Interpreting), PELE mentor and tutor enrolled in PELE to improve her presentation skills.
“Really what I learnt was to reframe my thinking around learning and how I could be more empowered to make my own decisions,” she says. “The impact was really that change of mind and the relationships that came with it.”
UNSW School of Humanities & Languages
Professor Mira Kim | Ying Dong
Pillar 7: Advance economic and social prosperity
