Difficulties Facing International Students in the US (Research Paper Sample)

DIFFICULTIES FACING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES
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Chapter Two: Literature Review
Cross-cultural adjustment is the procedure in which individuals positively or negatively interact to a new environment. It’s a combination of extreme psychological pressure and uncertainty that faces students when studying abroad. It gets to be tense when the country is very different from the place where the student grew up throughout his life. It can be seen in foreign students, immigrants and refugee. Out of all the terms that describe this adjustment the anthropologist Kalervo Oberg in 1954 described it as culture shock: a sense of loss and isolation for those who travel to a new country that have new customs, traditions, law and atmosphere. Prior to these shock students are aware of the new culture and what it is like from media or social networks. This research may mentally prepare them for the shock but it does not prevent them from going through the stages of the cultural shock. Whatever can be said about this phenomenon, most agreed that it is a natural phenomenon. It is not a mental disorder or psychological syndrome. It occurs regardless of location or cultural background. It can have the same intensity and sometimes less when there is similarity between the two places such as United Kingdom and United States. It is known that this phenomenon occurs among people who travel to a distant country for the purpose of work or study, and may occur to those who travel for tourism as well. Some believe that culture shock affects students coming from developing nations this is not true, it also effects native students when they apply for university away from their comfort zone.
Hirai, Reiko, Frazier, Patricia & Moin Syed (2015) mentioned theorized courses of international student adjustment that follows certain models. One domain model is recuperation model or the U-curve theory. The shock from interacting with certain culture aspect psychological recovery follows; this model cares about mental health and well-being. The second model is socio - cultural adjustment model which focuses on learning from behavior and the ongoing social communication on daily basis. Most studies showed that U-curve theory of adjustment is vague and has some flaws. A study applied U-curve pattern of adjustment over 6 months among international students and American students as stated in Hirai et al, (2015), it showed that both students were affected by academic calendar rather than the new cultural encounter. On the other hand, studies showed that international students have the lowest rank when it comes to socio cultural adjustment model especially at the beginning. They intend to isolate themselves from American students, and show interest in international students. Most of their relationships are superficial. This starts to break-off the longer they stay aboard.
In foreign countries, the teachers and professors typically dress formally and in turn require their students to do the same while they are in class but for American schools some professors are informal in their dressing and even sit on desk, are very creative, interactive and flexible which to may international students is an approach which very uncommon to them (Ladd and Ruby, 1999). Therefore to be successful in American classrooms, international students may be required to change from their more formal cultures and lectures as used in their countries to learn in a more interactive , critical thinking, problem solving and resource skill environment which are often common in the united states.
Cross-cultural adjustment is a complex process, and one model is likely insufficient to describe it (Anderson, 1994; Kim, 2001). Indeed, the Wang et al. (2012) study documented heterogeneity in the course of psychological distress in the first year of sojourn. From a practical perspective, both international students and the universities that serve them need information about what to expect regarding how the adjustment process unfolds over time. It is better when studying changes that international students experience to consider these models but not to follow any of these given models. It’s limited and it doesn’t give accurate and realistic picture of individual differences. It only highlights physiological and social aspects.
Students who move to the United States for studies normally have very high abilities but it is interesting that when they reach there, they are sometimes faced with some serious challenges when it comes to sustaining their prior good performances. Some of the difficulties include taking tests, following a given set of curriculum ad registering, reading materials for their courses besides understanding the grading system in America (Leong and Sedlacek, 1989).
Language Challenges
It is noted that students who chose to take their studies in the United States often are the brightest from their countries origin and they are the most motivated but they may not have the required proficiency in English which is a problem for most international students (Wan, 1999). For instance the type of English in china puts more emphasis on writing that on speaking and as a result several students from china in the United States know more of grammar and vocabulary, having difficult time with conversational type of English. Such students therefore have difficulties with answering questions, answering essays and verbal communication. More difficulty is noted understanding lectures, taking part in their class discussions, taking class notes, writing papers, American accent, and understanding American slangs and jokes. In academic life, such difficulties lead to academic stress in their classrooms especially when they communicate and participation are encouraged by their professors.
Non – European graduate students also encounter academic problems (Sharma, 1973). Such academic problems include making oral reports, taking class notes, involvement in class discussions, understanding lectures, as well as taking appropriate courses for their studies and preparing reports. Besides the academic stress caused by limited conversational skills, several of these students have challenges with regard to instructional methods in American college classrooms. At graduate level of studies in America, class participation is expected and emphasized but it can be very stressful for students who originate from Asia, the Middle East and from Africa who normally sit attentively in class and take notes as they listen to their professors. It is pointed out in Wan (1999) that it is respectful to listen attentively to professors but in America, students are allowed by their teachers to eat and drink in class with student participation in lesson well encouraged and sometimes can be part of grading.
International foreign students are also expected to adjust to the accents of their teachers as well as the teaching styles and in the same way they may be hesitant with regard to class participation and discussions when they not clearly understand the lectures (Alias, 2013). The tone of the professor and the appropriateness to responses can also be a difficult for instance a student may not really know how to respond to questions they have not been asked before.
It is suggested in Payind study of academic, personal and social problems involving Iranian and afghan students who are found in the United States, several problems like completion of examinations in the same time length like American students, improving English to necessary academic required standard, communication of their thoughts in English language, presentation of oral reports, notes taking, writing reports besides competing for high grades with American students. Therefore Payind (1979) concludes that limited proficiency coupled with limited English language as well differences in the systems of education between home countries and that of the United States play an inconveniencing role greatly.
Pedagogy and Learning Expectations
Styles of pedagogy as well as learning expectations are known to differ in America students’ home countries (Andrade, 2006). For example students from Asian cultures are familiar with lecture instruction method (Harris, 1995) yet in America there is independent, interactions, class discussions, self directed learning, asking questions as well as critical analytical learning. There could be need and desire to adapt to the changes but this could be onerous for international students who are familiar with backgrounds which base on passive learning with respect to authority where challenges and criticisms are not tolerated (Tedman et al., 2011). Therefore international students may have more difficulties than asking questions to understanding questions, knowing what and when to ask and the approach of which (Ellis et al., 2005). This is not to mention the mechanisms of assessment which may not only be problematic but discriminative against international students learning styles (Harris, 1995). Institutions therefore may find it important to develop different mechanisms of assessment in order to support international students.
Concerns of Curricular
Some studies have indicated a cultural bias against international students which almost very visible with western curricular besides the absence of interest displayed by some instructors (Arthur, 2004). Several students indicate course content which in most cases is North American oriented yet class texts are problematic (Chen, 2006). But for humanities, science, social sciences as well as engineering some students are not negative to their courses and the content therein because some of them are universal. Despite all these challenges in American colleges, there are studies which indicate faculty members have not prioritized social, cultural or aca...