How do International Students cope with culture shock The WritePass Journal

How do International Students cope with culture shock Introduction How do International Students cope with culture shock Introduction Culture according to anthropologist Peacock refers to taken-for-granted but powerfully influential understandings and codes that are learned and shared by members of a group. (Peacock 1988,7)â‚ . Oberg (1960,cited in Kim 1988,23) defines Culture Shock as the anxiety   which results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourseâ‚ . These shocks include living with host families, the gap between the expectations of the host culture and the reality and the difference between the language acquired in the home country compared to the language faced in the socio-cultural environment of the country where it is spoken. According to Furnham and Bochner (1986), international students face several difficulties as compared to native students when they try to adjust in a new culture. Sometimes these difficulties are related to academic stress when students are expected to work very hard with complex material and loads of assignments while there are times when they ar e confronted with other difficulties like accommodation problem, separation reactions, financial stress, misunderstandings and loneliness. All these difficulties can have a significant psychological impact on the students which can prove to be detrimental to their over-all being and academic life. International students are really different when compared to local students when it comes to culture, language and educational experience and they have to deal with a lot of challenges and adjustments when they move to a Western University. According to Beasley and Pearson (1999), while many international students would have done their first year of study elsewhere, their first experience of a western university is especially challenging because they are doing their second year of study often without the same support and infrastructure which would be offered to first year students. This leads to an increase in the culture clash of language or dialect and the worldview that most internation al students are likely to experience. The international students are not only trying to adjust themselves   with another culture or language but they are also dealing with the need to change their ways of thinking , studying and learning to meet the demands of the foreign education system. Literature on both local and international graduate students experiences show that there are perceptions of isolation, unfamiliar approaches to study and distance supervisors ( Channel, 1990; Elsey, 1990; Aspland ODonoghue,1994; Zuber-Skerritt,1994; Spencer-Oatey,1997). For example, in a study that took cultural differences as the starting point, Spencer-Oatey (1997) examined students and tutors perceptions about an unequal role relationship in two kinds of society- a high power- distance (Chinese) society and a low power-distance ( British) society. The Chinese respondents viewed the role relationship to be closer and related the power differential to their customs and culture whereas the Brit ish respondents gave a thought on the legitimacy of the power differential. Coping strategies are the various methods which the international students adopt when they try to adjust themselves in the new environment of academic cultural transition. Some of these strategies include self- determination where the students change their way of learning and become more independent in their studies. However, sometimes this strategy varies from student to student depending on their educational background and how they have been taught previously. Sometimes, its hard for international students to cope with culture shock especially when they dont have a strong support system on their arrival in a new place. This can either be due to their own family problems which they get along with them in the new environment and then dont know how to deal with them in the new situation or it can also be due to the fact that they were not ready to adapt to the new phase of academic   transition but had to c ompromise on the situation much against their willingness to do so.   As a result of all this , when the students come into contact with a new culture and a new environment, they find it hard to mentally adjust to the new life. This results in a severe culture shock where they find themselves suffering from things like loneliness, homesickness, depression, lack of concentration on studies and the inability to complete their assignments, inability to speak about their feelings and situation with someone and excessive drinking. In order to help the students with this shock, there has to be a strong emotional support especially in a place like a university where they are made to feel settled in their new home. The people in the host culture have to understand that culture shock is something which is a part of students experiences in trying to adapt to the their culture and moreover it cannot be prevented although with adequate help and assistance  Ã‚   it can become a part of their learning that they have to do in the transition to a new phase. Some people view culture shock as a disease or a psychological disorder especially with the signs related to the shock but they have to realize its not a disease instead its something that the students experience when   they are thrown into an unfamiliar environment away from home, family and friends and a completely new academic life. Orientation in the home country   such as cross-cultural seminar, workshops and may be again repeated in the induction programme on their arrival in the new country on some of the main aspects of   â€Å" difference† ,   can prove to very effective in preparing the international students to face the shocks and identify the   areas where these may happen. The development of a proper support system is important in order to to help international students reconstruct an important identity or role in the new culture. The greater the perceived differences in the work and socia l environment, the greater the adjustment, complexity and culture shock. Social isolation for international students may arise from various sources which include being born and brought up in a home country where â€Å" collectivism† rather than â€Å" individualism† is the main norm, perceived and actual racial discrimination and confrontation with cultural differences when international students do not understand the host culture norms and social rules. Problems with proficiency in English language can severely affect international students ability to succeed in academics, to communicate effectively with the lecturers and classmates and also to establish friendships with fellow students and others. International students who are not confident about the language find it hard to adjust to their new environment. Transition shock may influence the academic life   and can also affect the overall success and well-being especially mental health. Since international student s prefer to seek advice about their personal issues from their family and friends, they rarely use the university services especially personal counseling. Another reason due to which international students rarely use the personal counseling depends on their country of origin and culture. For some counseling as an option would be new because it may not be available to them or practiced in their own culture. Therefore, it is important that some universities develop ways to provide counseling services to international students in informal settings and in non-traditional ways such as presentations and group settings. The university could also pair new international students with other international students from their home countries who are already there to mentor the new arrived students. The system of independent study   over time management, the indispensable skills   which students have to achieve in the English system also leads to students experiencing culture shock and this a ffects all the international students in a big way. The overall consequences of such stress is that it is easier to opt   from interaction but this only results in isolation, failure, to form bonds or friendships with other students and the failure to establish a communicative relationship with teachers as well. Such   an isolation as result only makes the progress with the study even harder for students. International students do not face a totally different set of problems from their â€Å" home† student counterparts. Group work, presentations can be more stressful because a student who is generally silent is more or less excluded, whether its voluntarily   or not and therefore, they have a great difficulty in dealing with them because of lack of integration into the new system. Therefore, they find it hard to develop social networks to effectively communicate with their tutors and peers and to express their concerns to the host community that is providing the support services. Thus , culture shock   is a totally a personal experience. It does not effect all the people in the same way or even the same person in the same way when it reoccurs. It something that occurs inside each individual when they face unfamiliar events and circumstances. As the situation changes in unexpected directions, the individual needs to construct   new perspectives on self, others and the environment that fit with the new situation. References 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Xiaoqiong, Hu (2008). The Culture Shock that Asian Students Experience in Immersion Education. Changing English: Studies in Culture and Education,15/1, pp 101-105 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   aaa.uni-augsburg.de/ausland/downloads_vz/furnham_foreign_students.pdf ( retrieved on 15th May 2011) 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sayers, Janet; Franklin, Trish (2008). Culture Shock! Cultural issues in a tertiary course using reflective techniques. Reflective Practice, 9/1, pp 79-88 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   McClure, Joanne (2007).   International graduates cross-cultural adjustment: experiences, coping strategies and suggested programmatic responses. Teaching ij Higher Education,12/2, pp 199-217 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   McLachlan, Debra A.;Justice, Jessica (2009). A Grounded Theory of International Student Well-being. Journal of Theory construction and testing ,13/1, pp 27.32 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sovic, Silvia (2007). Coping with stress : the perspective of international students.   Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education,6/3, pp 145-158