Introduction
Chen, a freshman student from China that enrolled in the University of Tampa this summer, was nervous. The environment around him was very unlike that which he grew up in, as the variety of new colors, noises, and words filled his senses. Florida was much unlike Mainland China, in a variety of ways. The spaces were larger, the sea breeze was cool and salty, and the people were different. They were tall, almost intimidatingly so, and they spoke a language that Chen was only beginning to understand.
The reality of the situation abroad was much different from that in the classroom. He was taught to speak academic English, and while his performance in class was above average, having to interact with other people without preparation and understanding slang and contraction was proving to be a daunting task. It was much easier to simply blend into the background, avoid talking to others, and try to figure things out on his own. Chen’s struggle is one of many examples of challenges that foreign students have to face on a daily basis.
At the start of my research, I did not fully realize the magnitude of the problem or its significance to the University of Tampa. As an upstanding person, I was always nice to other foreign students, offering help when needed, and doing my best to make sure to interact with them appropriately. However, my relationships with them never went beyond that. Foreigners were always considered an odd bunch of individuals that strayed away from the rest of the class, mostly interacting with each other in their own tongue.
This issue is much greater than most of us would be willing to admit. The US amounts to 17% of the world’s foreign scholarship (Lee, 524). Thus, foreign students make up for a sizeable portion of the University of Tampa’s income. Foreign students come to the US in search of better education, which they cannot find at home. Alternatively, they seek to further their knowledge of the US and practice English. When they come home, they offer their perceptions of the US education system and its people by sharing experiences. Therefore, ensuring that the transition to a different scholarly environment continues as smoothly as possible should be among the university’s top priorities.
The purpose of this research is twofold. First, I interviewed some of the foreign students in my university in order to hear their stories and thoughts on the matter and highlight some of the important tendencies in regards to the University of Tampa. The second part involved synthesizing academic literature to provide a theoretical framework for my findings. Using both, I will do my best to create a coherent picture of the struggles of foreign students in our university and offer potential solutions to some of the problems.
Methodology
In order to understand the scope of the problem, I first conducted qualitative literature research on the subject. Aside from the sources found at the university library, I performed a thorough examination of materials found in various electronic data vaults, such as the Elsevier and Taylor & Francis databases. In addition, I utilized Google Scholar to find sources and books available on open access. Researchgate was also a valuable source of information. The search used several keywords, both separately and in conjunction, in order to narrow down the evidence and analyze its content in the scope of this research.
The keywords utilized were as follows: ESL students, foreign students, international students, adaptation, stress, language barrier, Tampa, acclimatization, culture change, and cultural challenges. Due to the relatively narrow subject area, there was no hard limit on the age of the sources used. However, most of them were published within the last five years in order to ensure the accuracy of the research.
The interviews were conducted among five to ten foreign students, who agreed to participate in the research under the condition of anonymity. Some of them were worried that voicing out their concerns would attract the unwarranted amount of unwanted attention. All names in this paper are changed in order to preserve their privacy. The survey template borrowed heavily from the International Student Survey (ISS) and covered a variety of topics pertaining to foreign students and their experiences at the University of Tampa, namely:
- Overall student satisfaction;
- Academic experience satisfaction;
- Social engagement and interaction;
- Housing;
- Views on the performance of university support services;
- Finances and value/cost issues;
- Cultural experiences.
The results of the surveys and interviews were analyzed qualitatively and synthesized into a coherent framework of views, experiences, and beliefs, which was then compared against information extracted from the academic sources. The proposed solutions were based on student suggestions as well as several programs tried and adopted in other universities or reviewed as part of larger researches on the subject.
Literature Analysis
The issues of cultural and geographical displacement of foreign students are not new. There is plenty of academic literature investigating the challenges of international learners abroad. The information I found can be classified in the following groups:
- Linguistic challenges in foreign students
- Cultural challenges in foreign students
- Social isolation, depression, and associated issues
- Financial struggles of foreign students abroad.
- The effects of various challenges on academic performance.
There is no academic consensus on which issues are deemed more prevalent then the others. According to Ee (72), Fass-Holmes and Vaungh (60), and Lowinger et al. (141), language barriers and financial issues present the most prominent challenges to foreign students from a short-term perspective. As Ee (73) describes in his research, foreign students do not receive adequate accommodation times, which makes them lag behind both in studies and social interactions.
Personally, I believe that this argument is the strongest in terms of the effect on foreign students. Without a firm grasp on the language, a student will have trouble understanding even the most basic of subjects. Comprehending complex matters, where linguistics go together with calculations and mathematics, would be even harder. As a result, most non-native students suffer from a marked drop in academic performance.
While some sources, such as Fass-Holmes and Vaungh (63), state that the majority of foreign students are actually performing better in comparison to average American students, it does not manage to prove that the language barrier is not a significant source of stress in education. In fact, it proves that the majority of the students excelling in the USA are doing so through sheer tenacity and willingness to learn rather than because of university support.
The subject of culture and the need for human interaction is explored by Kusek (122), who states that the language barrier and poor understanding of the US culture prevent many foreigners from making friends with others, be that fellow students or teachers. From my understanding of the situation, this is a major disadvantage, as the students, as being unable to network harms not only their academic capabilities but also their future career opportunities, as connections play a large role in the western business world.
Lin and Scherz (17), Lowinger et al. (142), and Mesidor et al. (262) highlight the importance of cultural acclimatization in its interconnection with the students’ academic performance. Asian culture is vastly different from that of Europe and the US, which adds on to the challenge. Without support and feeling out of their element, the students are less interested in achieving academic prowess, which leads to depression and procrastination, which is especially evident in Chinese students. Oramas et al. (24), as well as Tummala-Narra and Claudius (135), state that racism and religious discrimination are some of the more widespread cultural problems for foreign students in the US. They enforce segregation and separation, which in turn results in poor academic performance.
From my observations of American and foreign students, dislike and distrust of Muslim students gradually grew over the years, exploding after the presidential victory of Donald Trump. Chinese students, on the other hand, came under fire after the beginning of the trade war between the USA and China. Such treatment, according to Valenzuela et al. (6), results in greater amounts of stress, depression, and social anxiety.
The economic side of the issue with foreign students is addressed by Wu et al. (7), who states that student life in the US is associated with expenses not covered by the government mandate, which is how the majority of students from poorer countries manage to afford to study in the USA. Additional expenses include books, transportation, food, amenities, clothes, entertainment, and many other things that students require in real life. Being forced to save on some of these positions not only reduces academic prowess but also contributes to increasing amounts of stress (Wu et al. 9). In my experience, foreign students save much on food. However, without a car or any other reliable means of transportation, they cannot buy in bulk, which further exacerbates the problem.
Interview Summaries
My interview involved ten students, the majority of which were of Asian origin, coming from China, Vietnam, and Japan. Three students came from Middle-Eastern countries. These individuals were very different in terms of communication and culture. The middle-eastern students were, in general, more laid-back and friendly, whereas Asian students could be characterized as very polite and grateful for the attention provided to them. The questions they were asked related to the five areas of interest identified in the literature review, namely the language barrier as well as social, institutional, financial, cultural, and academic struggles.
On average, Chinese students proved to be more displaced by the circumstances of their academic pursuits in the USA. The majority of Muslim students, especially those coming from Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), are familiar with Europeans and various business ventures run by multinational companies (Field Essay 1). Chinese students, on the other hand, are less familiar with western culture. They are more collective-minded, respect authority and subordination, which comes into conflict with the individualistic and freedom-promoting teaching strategies at the University of Tampa. The necessity to choose between different paths in education often confuses them and results in inaction. In addition, they suffer from the isolation of more than Middle-Eastern students.
In regards to the language barrier, Asian students are the ones to have harder times during initial adaptation, but better overall progress. The majority of them managed to learn and understand the language on a professional level by the end of the third year. Middle-Eastern students are usually more fluent in speaking the language than in writing. At least, it is what I understood from interviewing Muslim students. All three of them said they were having trouble doing written reports. According to all 10 students, the accommodation services and facilities at the University of Tampa provided an efficient starting course on English, but with very little follow-up, which made the transition to higher learning more difficult (Field Essay 1).
Regarding finances, all participants agreed that it creates additional difficulties for them on a daily basis. Asian students, except for the Japanese, were all paid for by the government, but the amount of money received was only enough to cover studies, housing, and flight tickets. Other expenses had to be paid for by the students, which severely limited their finances. The middle-eastern students mentioned that the best grant available to them is the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KARP), which covers the majority of expenses.
However, it is not for everyone, and a good portion of middle-eastern students pays for the scholarship out of their own pocket. The students also mentioned a 35-hour language course prior to the start of the program (Field Essay 2). They say that it is impossible to learn a new language in 35 hours. Even grasping the basics is extremely difficult, especially considering the lack of similarities between Arabic and English languages.
None of the students mentioned depression or any other kind of psychological disorders related to the ever-present stress of adaptation and living in a foreign culture. I did not expect them to, as Asian and Middle-Eastern cultures view those as weakness of character. However, both groups presented distinct reactions to certain stimuli. The majority of Asian students expressed feelings of homesickness, which could be attributed to poor adaptation to the highly US-centered culture of Tampa Bay, Florida (Field Essay 3). Muslim students, on the other hand, expressed annoyance at being treated as second-class students because of their religion. These factors can lead to stress and reduce academic performance.
Lastly, all students I have interviewed agreed that all the aforementioned issues, together, affect their academic performance at the University of Tampa. It forces them to put considerably more effort into studying than everyone else, just to remain on par with the others. They are often unable to receive top marks on papers because of misunderstanding the questions or not having perfect grammar.
Discussion
The connection between the primary and the secondary sources is evident, as the responses provided by the students largely mirror the findings of larger researches performed on the subject. If I were to single out the most prominent challenge that foreign students have to face, it would be the language barrier. The majority of other issues, including social, psychological, and academic discrepancies, largely stem from the inability to communicate with others effectively.
The issues escalate as time progresses, forcing the students to work harder just to remain afloat. This issue is very important for the University of Tampa, as the language barrier results in discrimination of foreign students on social and academic levels. These negative experiences result in less efficient studying and poor reputation abroad. Because of this, the university is losing students, while the US presents itself in an unfavorable light.
In the scope of the University of Tampa, the options for assisting foreign students are somewhat limited. For example, the university staff cannot influence government programs in Saudi Arabia or China. However, the financial side of the issue can be partially alleviated by providing discounts to foreign students at the local cafeteria as well as opening up facilities and specialty clubs for foreigners to spend time in, being acquainted and making friends with the locals. In regards to other issues, the University of Tampa would need to focus on ensuring that foreign students are more capable of English than they are right now, at the beginning of their studies.
To do so, it would need to extend the acclimatization period to 6 months, at the very least, during which the students would learn the language and interact with other students without the pressure of being engaged in academic studies. In addition, the University should run English courses for foreign students to assist them throughout the first 6 semesters, providing advanced vocabulary and knowledge.
The University of Tampa should adopt a proactive approach to counteracting racism in all forms around the campus. As it stands, while the university authorities state their commitment against hate-speech and other forms of discrimination, these efforts do not prevent the students from thinking and considering foreigners as subhuman just because they are different. I think that professors should actively engage their students in political and racial questions. Through personal example and solid argumentation, some of the students can be encouraged to interact with foreign students. Assimilation into the student body would be the best way to make foreign students feel welcome, as they would be treated just like everyone else, with no prejudice towards skin color, gender, religion, and various other differences.
However, I believe this effort should be decentralized. If the university authorities openly declare war on racism and hoard people into classrooms to listen to speeches about tolerance, it would only breed annoyance, if not outright hate. This issue had been skirted in all of the researches and analyzed in the scope of this paper. The role of the “other side” is crucial to the success of the interventions. Socialization and understanding between different cultures should be built upon common traits as well as differences that make them unique and colorful. Forced obedience and tolerance is not the right way to go, as it would degenerate into bullying as soon as forces of control are out of sight.
One of the ways to increase inter-cultural understanding is by encouraging students to have fun with each other. A cultural fair, for example, can expose native students to foreign cultures in an amicable and exciting manner. They will be able to experience different foods, music, songs, dancing, and other proclivities that would make them more accepting of foreigners.
The body of literature reviewed in the scope of this paper enlarges the number of potential issues to be investigated beyond those discovered in the interviews. Cultural challenges are often misrepresented, and their importance is not realized by the campus authorities in Tampa and even by the students themselves. Many foreign students are forced to learn the intricacies of a foreign culture on the go after the classes begin. Some of the concepts of western culture can be bewildering to them.
For example, in Muslim-dominated societies, women are not allowed to participate in numerous activities, such as driving cars, visiting the physician without male company, disclosing faces and doing various other things that are considered taboo in other cultures. This may cause frictions between foreign and native students. Therefore, cultural training is necessary to prepare the students for the unexpected realities of living in a foreign country.
All articles have demonstrated that the issues of depression and healthcare are very important for foreign students. While many statements were made that an appropriate campus policy in Tampa would help alleviate the majority of the issues associated with dangerous physical and mental diseases, the other side of the issue is that none of the on-campus interventions are targeting healthcare professionals that would be assisting the students should they contract a disease. In many Asian and oriental cultures, depression and mental disorders are treated with scorn, as evidence of the weakness of character.
It is the reason why the reasons why depression is very hard to detect even in the students’ home countries, such as Japan, China, and the UAE, which have a large percentage of depression-related suicides. Considering that traveling abroad greatly increases the chances of developing depression due to various socio-cultural stressors, the medical facilities in Tampa should put an increased emphasis on inter-cultural training of their nurses, in order to accommodate foreign students.
However, for the available healthcare facilities to be effective, it is also necessary to screen the student population for signs of depression, anxiety, and other mental disturbances. It would be a challenging task, because they are likely to be against such an intervention, and would try hiding it from peers and doctors. I think that the participation of teachers would be pivotal to this process. Teachers would need to establish a relationship built on mutual respect and trust between themselves and the foreign students and become someone they could talk to and ask for help. Effectively, they would act as intermediaries between the students and the local nursing facilities, referring the students to doctors, if need be.
They must be watchful for common signs of depression, such as a lack of academic prowess, decreasing interest, lack of joy and happiness, moodiness, and suicidal tendencies. Although teenagers and young adults can display many of these signs from time to time, a more frequent demonstration of these symptoms may lead to greater problems.
Lastly, Tampa University should adopt a different strategy when teaching foreign students. The current paradigm evaluates students through the lens of how much time they have spent on studying. A standard course lasts from 5 to 6 years, during which both native and foreign students are expected to learn and perform equally. It is a wrong approach for many reasons stated above. Foreign students do not have an equal starting point when compared to natives, as they are essentially moved from one cultural and educational landscape to another. It does affect the effectiveness of studying in a negative way for the majority of the students.
While small minorities may excel even under these circumstances, most of them will not. The suggestion is to make the studying periods for foreign students to last longer (if necessary), in order to ensure that they have learned the tenets of their future professions rather than simply learned to pass the tests with a modicum of efficiency. Ensuring foreign students’ success in their respective trades and jobs after graduation should be Tampa University’s first and foremost priority.
Conclusions and Personal Reflections
In the course of this study, I learned much about the issues affecting foreign students in the US educational system at large and at the University of Tampa in particular. While I was subconsciously aware of the issues that international students experience, I never realized the scope and depth of the problem. While it is understandable that individuals from other countries with a poor grasp on the English language would struggle to perform, I did not realize that the existing system basically throws them in with inadequate preparation and subpar student support. It made me think about how foreign students think and feel, and what could be done about it.
Although I think that the University of Tampa should take action to improve the learning conditions for international students studying within its walls, it is also the duty of the local students to show themselves as gracious hosts and help relieve the tensions of adaptation. The USA was built by the labor of intelligent, diligent, and hard-working migrants, and is now one of the most academic nations because of it. Negligence and racism should be opposed on an individual level. To summarize my findings and opinions on the challenges encountered by foreign students: the majority of obstacles in the way of knowledge and learning can be overcome by a better language preparation routine as well as by elimination of racism on the individual and institutional levels.
Works Cited
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