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  • Essay / The Challenges of Studying Abroad as an International Student

    Student Diversity: Being an International StudentApa khabar? Ni hao ma? How are you doing? Kamousta ka? Kya haal hai? Malay, Chinese, English, Tagalog and Hindi. Students from all over the world manage to take advantage of the opportunity to listen to all these languages ​​and many more. It's amazing how different this is from the normal phrase we hear every day, which is "How are you?" ". International students have developed a very enriching university experience for the universities' home students. According to a study carried out by Hobsons and the International Liaison Association of British Universities (BUILA), it appears that without international students there will be no support for the delivery of university programs and considerable help for local economies and British nationals. The review demonstrated that the positive effect of international students on the university experience was a strong topic for contribution from their respective respondents. Many noted that their presence brought diversity to universities and, in doing so, helped internationalize the university experience for all students. International students help introduce our domestic students to diverse cultures, different ways of thinking and functioning. They help ensure that our students graduate with a diverse opinion on opportunities in the area of ​​interest in which they decide to work in the future. According to the OECD, the number of international students will increase and exceed 8 million in 2025. However, Britain's share of the international market is collapsing as the number of top UK education institutions plan decreases. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the UK had 52 universities, but it has now fallen to 45 in a ranking compiled in 2015-16. Countries like Australia, Canada and the United States are generating an increase in the number of international students. But why is this happening? A few international students from the University of Hertfordshire were pleased to share with me about their experience studying in a country thousands of miles from home. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Studying abroad from your home country can be difficult. There is a kind of fear of meeting new acquaintances. Noticing that there are different people with different beliefs may seem like something new. International students at the University of Hertfordshire believe they feel isolated from local students, mainly because the two sides have different beliefs on many topics. There is also a culture clash between local students and international students. Local and international students face communication barriers and even fear. This is why the majority of university students often spend their time with other people who live in the same country as them. It is well understood that international students want to have a piece of home with them, but this seems to be a different case for international students at the University of Hertfordshire. Mustaqeem Carlos from Malaysia said: “It is difficult for international students to get along with local students here, probably because of the differences in their lifestyle and culture. As international students, we would warmly accept locals as friends if they were a littlemore down to earth. Perhaps they could be more open-minded in terms of social acceptance of how we behave, think, function as well as respecting our cultural diversity. We're coming to the UK and we want to make the most of it, meeting new people and making new friends from all over the world. » In terms of language, international students are more than qualified to speak English. However, Badrul Iman, also from Malaysia, believes there is a stereotypical view among local students about the ability of international students to speak English. He also said that there were instances where local students at the university would say things like "Your English is very good." and international students would take this as an insult because they obviously speak English. This ties in with stereotypes. Ly Tran, lead researcher on two research projects on teaching and learning of international students funded by the Australian Research Council, said "stereotypes about international students have a destructive impact on access for international students for internships and employability”. Stereotypes about international students widen segregation between international and domestic students. This shows that the way international students are mainstreamed makes them feel disconnected and places them in a position of vulnerability and marginalization within the classroom and campus (Tran, 2015). My other interviewee, who chose to remain anonymous, is also an international student at the University of Hertfordshire said: "There is a reason why there is a thing known as culture shock and I think when students International students come here because they are so used to the way things are in their respective home countries, we are not used to the way local students behave. things and how they work. There is also a language barrier where the British have their own loghat or slang (accent/dialect). » The study of “culture shock” is now inspired more by social psychology and education than by medicine. The “cultural learning” and “stress and coping” models were found to be well-established (Furnham and Bochner, 1986) and the “social identification” hypotheses were more visible. These three contemporary theories are more comprehensive, considering the different components of response – affect, behavior and cognition (ABC) – when people are exposed to a new culture (Zhou, 2008). It's hard for someone to step out of their comfort zone and meet people with different beliefs, it's as if everything you've been taught since birth lies on a fine line between right and wrong. fake. Jai Tong, an international student from Guangzhou, China, said, “No offense, but I think local students lack education about international student culture. It is therefore essential that international students teach local students and vice versa. They sometimes think that all Asians are Chinese and we take that as an insult because they describe the language as ching-chong like we describe it. This is a very strong stereotypical view. Local and international students should put their differences aside so that we can open our minds to new things and probably share similar agendas. This ensures that both parties can get along very well. There is also a case where home students speak our national language, because we consider this a mockery in.”