Realizing the socio-cultural and linguistic challenges that International college students have in their program study, and evidence that they can succeed

Abstract

In recent years, the number of international students studying in the United States has been rapidly increasing (Fass-Holmes & Vaughn, 2015; Kim, 2013; Lee, 2009; Martirosyam, Hwang, & Wanjohi, 2015; Seo & Ljungberg, 2005; Wu, Garza, & Guzman, 2015). Due to distinct linguistic and socio-cultural backgrounds in which this student group has, international students thus may encounter a lot of differences and challenges during their academic study in higher education in the United States. Furthermore, when they get involved with their different focus of academic study in terms of majors, disciplines, even different classroom settings, the challenges become more complex and unique for individuals. Therefore, there is a need for realization and illustration of these challenges. Today, there are a number of studies that have demonstrated the challenges that international students have. Very few studies, however, have focused specifically on the difficulties encountered in terms of disciplines, and majors, which could be more in depth for illustration. The goal of the study is to illustrate the challenges that international students have especially in consideration of the problems that might be encountered in different fields of study and to demonstrate the coping strategies to come to their needs. The participants of this study include international students from East Asian countries and professors from different departments in a comprehensive university in Western New York. An online survey, as well as individual interviews, were implemented to collect data from both international students and faculty. The result illustrated the significant challenges that international students have in two perspectives: language and socio-culture. Besides, practical and constructive coping strategies were suggested and recommended by both international students and professors. This study may serve as a basis for future research in this focus of the area. [from abstract]