Challenges Faced By International Students In American Universities
Problem faced by International Student
The last few years in Canada have witnessed the scenario of number of international students aspiring towards the obtaining of the qualification in the foreign universities (Sheppard et al., 2015, pp. 8). Although the international students benefit from the education system, they encounter certain difficulties and problems in adjustment such as the language barriers, lack of social support and adjustments in the field of academics. There has been growing number of evidences regarding the international students for whom English is not their first language (Leong, 2015, pp.461). With the requirements towards meeting certain standards of the proficiency of English, the international students often face difficulties in writing and studying English. The thesis statement for the assignment argues the identification of the relevant challenges that is faced by the international ESL students during their study in the universities of United States. The assignment furthermore targets the factors that might influence the success of the international students. The purpose for choosing this particular topic for research is for the effective identification of the problems and the challenges if the ESL students of other countries, their academic barriers and needs for guidance for the facilitation of support programs for their assistance. The essay focuses on the needs of the English language program (ELP) towards addressing the challenges of the international students. The aim of the essay is to identify the issues and the problems faced by the international students whose first language is not English in their academics and their cultural lives in United States. The study furthermore intends to give the international students some of the opportunities or chances to reflect on their problems and their experiences being a second language learner of English.
One of the primary motives of the international students to travel to other countries for the purpose of study is for the learning of the foreign languages for the improvement of their opportunities in their career path (Wu, Garza & Guzman, 2015, pp. 13). According to the report of the Institute of International Education, the enrollment of the international students has comparatively increased from the last few years (The Power of International Education, 2018). The highest number of the student belong from Asian countries like china, India, South Korea, Japan and from Canada, Mexico, Turkey and Germany in case of non-Asian countries. In the survey conducted by Almurideef (2016, pp. 23), most of the international students face adjustments problems that include barriers in English as one of the main factors apart from financial aids, faculties and other administrative issues. Yang, Salzman and Yang (2015,pp. 216) in their research furthermore explains the problems faced by the students belonging from the Asian countries whose mother tongue is not English and who study English as their second language in their academics and regular communication.
Language issues for International Student
Students who are less fluent in the English tend to face more troubles in the integration of the peer groups. Cheng and Erben (2012, pp. 481) in their study highlighted the importance of TOEFL and IELTS as the tool for the evaluation of the skills and the fluency of English for the international students during the time of admission. Their studies furthermore revealed how the international students from China reported to feel anxiety while using the English in case of reading, writing and speaking in classroom together with the understanding of the lectures by the professors (Martin, 2017, pp.32). In short, the strategies of the English language programs (ELP) mainly focus on the addressing of the academic barriers and for the international ESL students from the Asian countries.
Learning as a second language tends to be leveraged by diverse range of individual divergences such as personality, behavior and motivation. In the view of Dörnyei (2014, pp.2), as it has been observed that adult learners bring a reservoir of life as well as educational experience to classroom, it persuades that such learners might develop multifaceted psychology and intricate personalities in learning English as a second language. Trudgill and Hannah (2017,pp. 21) at this juncture have noted that combined apprehension related to expectation to make progress along with lack of desired progress pose unconstructive impact on the quality of life of the international ESL learner studying in some universities in the United States. Such shortfalls can be act as an obstruction to the success of the immigrant ESL learner and can further develop a sense of marginalization from culture they desire to join (Fareed, Ashraf & Bilal, 2016, pp.88). Furthermore, such marginalization with associated lack of access towards attaining ESL practice opportunities might be highly concerning for international learners of the US universities (Nair, Krishnasamy & De Mello, 2017, pp. 32). Meanwhile, Dörnyei (2014,pp.2) is of the perspective that such aggravation can compound the impact and source of the perceived incompetence to progress in successfully obtaining ESL. However, such critical sense of failure can be consequential to significant amount of shame and further hinder the process of practical as well as natural acquisition of English language program (Trudgill & Hannah, 2017). Thus, Trudgill and Hannah (2017) have noted that attainable ESL learners necessitate more than what they inherit with a strong sense of interested participation of any other individual.
Nair, Krishnasamy and De Mello (2017, pp. 29) at this stage, has indicated the way determinants of motivation serves a critical factor in adult ESL learning. According to Trudgill and Hannah (2017,pp. 19), as motivation relates to why certain individuals decide to perform something, the duration of the sustainability of their interest and level of enthusiasm integrated to it, this factor tends to influence ESL learners at significant rate. However Gilakjani and Sabouri (2016, pp.125) on the other hand, have distinguished forms of integrative motivation that is learning language to efficiently recognize and penetrate into a community which speaks the language with individuals who show greater amount of inclination in acquiring ESL regardless of being motivated by a desire to overcome individuals of the English language program (ELP) (Nair, Krishnasamy & De Mello, 2017, pp.34).
Conclusion
The international students have been facing diverse challenges in the field of communication, language barriers and engagements towards social and cultural environment. English has emerged as the most important form of international communication because of its predominance in the globalization era; educational officers engaged with the American educational institutes must arrange proper guidance as well as orientation programme in English to aid the international students engaged with US educational system. Thus it can be concluded that sincere encouragement is greatly needed for the management of universities of the Canada to conduct reading test in English and further provides suggestions for improvement in the ESL curriculum.
References
Almurideef, R. (2016). The challenges that international students face when integrating into higher education in the United States, 10-70. https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/2336
Cheng, R., & Erben, A. (2012). Language anxiety experiences of Chinese graduate students at U.S. higher institutions. Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(5) 477-497. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315311421841
Dörnyei, Z. (2014). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Routledge, 10(1) 1-4. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/357316/1/Zheng_2006_TESL_EJ_book%2520review.pdf
Fareed, M., Ashraf, A., & Bilal, M. (2016). ESL learners’ writing skills: Problems, factors and suggestions. Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 4(2), 81-92. doi: 10.20547/jess0421604201
Gilakjani, A. P., & Sabouri, N. B. (2016). Learners’ listening comprehension difficulties in English language learning: A literature review. English Language Teaching, 9(6), 123-129. doi: 10.5539/elt.v9n6p123
Leong, P. (2015). Coming to America: Assessing the patterns of acculturation, friendship formation, and the academic experiences of international students at a US college. Journal of International Students, 5(4), 459-474. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1066267.pdf
Martin, K. J. (2017). International students in higher education: More than a fish out of water. In Cultural Awareness and Competency Development in Higher Education (pp. 21-39). IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-2145-7
Nair, R., Krishnasamy, R., & De Mello, G. (2017). Rethinking the teaching of pronunciation in the ESL classroom. The English Teacher, 14, 27-40 https://www.melta.org.my/journals/index.php/tet/article/viewFile/312/208
Sheppard, B., Rice, J., Rice, K., DeCoster, B., Drummond-Sardell, R., & Soelberg, N. (2015). Re-Evaluating the Speaking and Listening Demands of University Classes for Novice International Students. ORTESOL Journal, 32, 1-12. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1152428.pdf
The Power of International Education. (2018). Students. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/Connect/Students
Trudgill, P., & Hannah, J. (2017). International English: A guide to varieties of English around the world. Routledge,14-30. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315192932
Wu, H. P., Garza, E., & Guzman, N. (2015). International student’s challenge and adjustment to college. Education Research International, 2015, 1-20. doi:10.1155/2015/202753
Yang, S., Salzman, M., & Yang, C. H. (2015). Exploring the Adjustment Problems among International Graduate Students in Hawaii. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3(3), 214-219. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1056115.pdf