In the modern world, racism is not as severe as it used to be several decades ago, yet this issue is still very important because there is a significant level of discomfort that people of non-white ethnicity have to face living abroad. This problem is especially present in the lives of international students. Studying in America, students, who do not speak good English, have to cope with multiple challenges that make their learning process very stressful and influence the results of their studies.
International students lose their focus having to go through the process of adaptation to the new culture and new society, their lack of social and academic command of the English language is causing a lot of difficulties in their learning process and social life.
A foreign student discriminated according to their ethnicity, accent, or the level of their English language skills has problems finding friends. As a result, such student has little chance to improve their command of the English language as constant communication with native speakers is required for that.
One of the sources I have reviewed for this essay was the book by Virginia Gonzalez called “Second Language Learning: Cultural Adaptation Process in International Graduate Students in U. S. Universities.” The book was found on Google Books. I think this book is extremely useful and suitable for my research because the author of this book addresses all the major issues an international student may have to face while studying in the United States.
Gonzalez explores the problems of cultural and social adaptation for the foreigners, who chose to obtain their higher education in America. In the chapter about language-related problems, international students may experience the author researches the issue of the results of the TOEFL test and finds out that they do not always reflect the student’s English proficiency adequately.
Students who have passed this test report about having serious difficulties because their knowledge of English was not enough to successfully study at the University. In the book, the author lists numerous requirements the higher educational institutions should consider before accepting international students. The author also explores the impact the connections with native people make on international students. To my mind, this source provides a big amount of necessary information for my research.
The second source I have found very useful is the article by Jenny J. Lee and Charles Rice called “Welcome to America? International Student Perceptions of Discrimination”. The source was found on Google Scholar. The article follows the experiences of international students studying in the United States. The research was based on the results of a group consisting of twenty-four students from fifteen different countries of the world.
The research was designed to measure the amount, levels, and kinds of difficulties and discomfort all of these students were undergoing during their learning process. The article presents the analysis of the data collected from the focus group of international students and concludes that some of the challenges the students had to face were based on personal issues of the students and are varied from personality to personality, these issues can be overcome.
Besides, the authors of the article state that their research has revealed some of the more serious issues that are inflicted by the host society. I think that this article reflects all the most important problems international students experience in the USA, it also suggests an explanation, and the fact that the researchers worked with two dozens of people from all around the world makes the results of this research valid and reliable.
Works Cited
Gonzalez, Virginia. Second Language Learning: Cultural Adaptation Processes in International Graduate Students in U. S. Universities. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2004. Print.
Lee, Jenny J. and Charles Rice. “Welcome to America? International Student Perceptions of Discrimination”. Higher Education (2007) 53: 381-409. Web.