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A Practical Proposal
TAVLEEN KAUR (Student)

Mr. Tugrul Polat Director International Students Services, UALR Education 101 2801 S. University Avenue Little Rock, AR 72204

Dear Mr. Polat: I am enclosing my proposal on The Frustrations due to Language Inefficiency and Cross-Cultural differences of International Students in UALR. In this proposal, I included some experiences of the international students and a few solutions to minimize the problems. International student gatherings where the students are assigned groups with people of crosscultural, language, and demographical differences can help to reduce the disparities. This way both social connections and English communication can be improved. I will be very glad to provide any additional information on the proposal if you need any. I look forward to hearing your reviews. I hope this proposal will be helpful in your future course of actions. Yours truly, Tavleen Kaur Undergraduate Dept. of Computer Science UALR

A Proposal to Reduce the Frustrations due to Language Inefficiency and Cross-Cultural differences of International Students in UALR Submitted by Tavleen Kaur (Student) Introduction The international students frequently undergo many problems due to language and cultural disparities during their stay in UALR. Inefficiency in English language among the international students results in isolation from peers as they are unable to express themselves. As a result, depression is quite common among the internationals during their initial years in the United States. Large cultural difference is another problem that creates a drift in social adjustment in their environment. Loneliness, homesickness, depression, stress and anxiety are some immediate consequences due to language and cultural differences. The proposal shares some individual experiences of the international students of UALR and assesses the impact of the problems on their academics and social life. The proposal also contains some solutions like interactive introductory sessions to make the stay of the international students comfortable.

The Problem The cross-cultural disparities and English language inefficiency are the major problems faced by the international students during their stay in UALR. The cultural differences affect the social adjustment of the international students making them homesick at times. Language inefficiency creates a hindrance in communication, and thus the students hardly share their problems with someone. The frustrations due to these problems affect both the mental and physical well being of the student. As a result, the performance of the students in academics is adversely affected. Almost all the international students in UALR are from the countries which are

considered ESL (English Second Language). Some of the students learned the English alphabets only in the high school. Thus, they find it difficult to learn the English language in a very short period of time soon after their arrival in the U.S. This lack of efficiency in English language among the students often results in poor class participation and hampers the academic performance of the student. All the international students in UALR come from different cultural background which makes their social adjustment difficult. These students are hesitant to face questions regarding the cultural differences from the local people, and hence avoid socializing. Even if someone wants to interact, the English language inefficiency becomes an issue, and they are unable to share their thoughts. Differences in food habits, dresses, beliefs, traditions, and customs make the students to isolate themselves. They are unable to express their feelings because they are afraid of being questioned or criticized. As a result, they undergo depression due to loneliness. They feel alienated and have no one to share their thoughts with. The problems related to English language inefficiency and cross-cultural differences results in frustration among the international students. Acculturative stress is one major problem due to the frustrations in their social life. This report discusses some of the recent experiences of the international students in UALR, describing how the differences of language and cultural affected the academics, social, and work life of the students in the UALR campus. The proposal includes some solutions like interactive introductory sessions for all the departments on the first day of the class each semester, assigning each international student of UALR in a group of people from different countries and cultures with the help of ISS (International Student Services) of UALR to make a comfortable stay for the internationals in the campus. The international students of UALR mostly belong to the ESL (English Second

Language) nations of the world. Some of them might not have used English until they reached United States. According to Wei, Heppner, Mallen, Ku, Liao and Wu, the opportunity to study in a country like United States is one of those big opportunities for students across the world. The International students study abroad program initiates cross national collaboration and knowledge exchange. The surveys state that when students come to study specifically from countries like China and Taiwan, they face problem of English language inefficiency most of the times. They find it difficult to participate in the class discussion which affects their academic performance in the long run (385). During the personal interview with few students from China, Rwanda, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia in UALR, they mentioned some of them learned English alphabets only in their high schools. They enrolled themselves in Intensive English Learning Course (IELP) in UALR before registering for regular classes in their field of major. But, they still struggled when it was time for verbal communication. One student said that the freshmen year was the toughest for her as she hardly participated in the classroom discussion; she was in fact ashamed to ask her doubts because of her poor vocabulary. Another student from Rwanda shared that he failed a course in the freshmen year because it was difficult for him to understand the class lectures in English. Poor performance in academics further resulted in depression among the students, and they started feeling inferior. Thus, the English language inefficiency acts as a hindrance in the academic performance of a student. Additionally, language not only affects the academic performance of the international students, but also their social life. Unlike the previous group of students, these students from India, Pakistan, and Nigeria knew the English language, but for this group problem was pronunciation and accent. Either way, communication was difficult for one or the other reason. Thus, the international students avoid mingling with the natives.

Gebhard says that the International students have to undergo a lot of mental preparation before they get ready to attend the classes in an American University. They have to let go of their usual self at times, and adapt to the totally new American culture to avoid isolation and maintain a social strata. Due to the cross-cultural differences, many times the international students are unable to make friends and hang around with people in America. It takes time for students to learn new things in a totally new environment when they have their academic concerns to take care of. Some students can handle this pressure of social adjustment and academics together, but most of the time students are seen frustrated in the beginning because of the academic pressure and social well being (184-185). The international students in UALR often undergo social insecurity during their initial period of stay. Cultural disparities among students create a lot of issues in social adjustment. Different groups have different beliefs which sometimes create rift among the peer mates. According to some Indian students in UALR, they had difficulty in coping with the food habits. Some of them are purely vegetarian who do not eat eggs even. They used to avoid get-togethers as they were too introverting to mention that dont eat some of the food items. Also, during any international students gatherings in the UALR campus, the international students of similar demography try to cling with each other. The reason is that they feel comfortable with people of similar background and avoid people with cultural differences as they can avoid questions on their culture and differences this way. Thus, their social group remains confined to the people from same community or country with a little interaction with the other groups or ethnicity. These cultural disparities also affect the psychological condition of a student. They frequently suffer from homesickness, unable to concentrate in their studies. Slowly, they develop

unwanted stress due to isolation from their native peer mates making them totally lonely in the university campus The lack of efficiency in English language has affected most of the students in their academic performance. The students were ashamed to participate in the class activities due to poor vocabulary in English. Also, some of them never approached to a professor to clear the doubts for the same reason. Thus, they ended up scoring poor grades in their classes; some even failed the courses. Poor grades often resulted in stress, anxiety and depression among those students. Thus, one conclusion can be made that that English language inefficiency caused a lot of trouble in the academic performance of the students in UALR. The second major problem is the differences in the culture. The cross-cultural differences create a major drift among the natives and the international students in UALR. Some of the students come from a country with conservative beliefs, and thus find it difficult to answer the questions raised by the natives on their beliefs. A difference in food habits and lifestyle often affects the social life of the international students. The internationals slowly feel alienated, and undergo stress problems in their life. They are more often homesick which further affects their studies. Proposed Solutions To familiarize the international students with their classmates in the classroom, an interactive introductory section on the first day of the class each semester can be assigned by each department. The Rhetoric and Writing Department of UALR has already assigned the sessions in their curriculum. The interactive introductory session will help the international students to mingle with their classmates. They can approach them for help if they need any, and hence, they will know a good number of people from different cultures. This will help in improving the

social life of the students. Moreover, they can overcome the fear of approaching their instructor in case of any doubts during the semester. The second solution takes care of both the problems of language inefficiency and crosscultural differences. The International Student Services of UALR can assign groups to the international students with cross cultural differences during the student gatherings. If not assigned in groups, the international students tend to cling to the students from common backgrounds which affect their social circle. If they are assigned groups, the first advantage is that they can improve their language skills because people from different lingual and cultural background will have one common language of communication i.e. English. Thus, the communication efficiency in English will improve drastically. Secondly, they will develop a keen interest on sharing things about their culture with one another. They will learn to deal with the differences, and their social life will be better. Justification All the solutions suggested for the proposed problem statement can be easily implemented within the university campus. They are cost effective and will minimize the intensity of the problem. To implement the first solution, the instructor needs to encourage all the students to speak up. They should take care that the international students do not hesitate to speak in front of the class because of their accent. Friendly conversations with the students during the interaction can be more effective to make them comfortable. This interactive session would not cost anything as the set up is in the classroom itself. The second solution will be mostly coordinated by the International Club of UALR. The gatherings wont be much expensive because they already have arrangements for the international gatherings. However, there can be little expense on the food and snacks during the

gatherings. The important thing about the group gathering is that the internationals will open up with their new friends, share thoughts, and feel at home. The American friends need to support them. Thus, both cultural bonding and language learning will take place. Conclusions The international students have to face a lot of odds during their stay in UALR. Lingual and cultural differences play a major role in creating the oddities of the students. While working on this proposal, a number of issues were identified which were the results of the frustrations due to English language inefficiency and cross-cultural disparities among the international students in the UALR. Thus, the solutions if implemented can help overcome the frustrations among the internationals to a large extent. In the end, we all are same.

References Abrahao, Andre de Araujo. Adjustment Issues of International Students Enrolled in American Colleges and Universities: A Review of the Literature. Higher Education Studies. 1 (June 2011).2-8. Web. Burant, Christopher J. Melanee Crist, Ranjita Misra. Relationships Among Life Stress, Social Support, Academic Stressors, and Reactions to Stressors of International Students in the United States". International Journal of Stress Management. 10:2 (May 2003). 137-157. Web. Gebhard, Jerry G. International Students Adjustment Problems and Behavior Journal of International Studies. 2 (2012).184. Web. Hamera, Sadia. Personal interview.18 Feb.2014. Heppner, P. Paul, Kelly Yu-Hsin Liao, Meifen Wei, Michael J. Mallen, Tsun-Yao Ku, and TsuiFeng Wu. Acculturative Stress, Perfectionism, Years in the United States, and Depression Among Chinese International Students. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 54:4 (2007).385394. Web. Iradukunda, Pierrette. Personal interview. 17 Feb.2014.

Khanafriboor, Mona. Personal interview.17 Feb.2014. Mutambuka, Vedaste. Personal interview. 15 Feb.2014. Ota, Akiko. Factors Influencing Social, Cultural, and Academic Transitions of Chinese International ESL Students in U.S. Higher Education. (2013).1-270. Web. Pillai, Vishnu. Personal interview.15 Feb.2014. Shang, Fangyu. Personal interview. 17 Feb.2014. Rajjoub, Abdullah. Personal interview. 18 Feb. 2014.

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