Challenges Facing International Students and Measures of Global Competence
Literature Review
Challenges Facing International Students and Measures of Global Competence
The modern global environment has shifted to the globalization trend with increased cooperation between countries around the globe. The new global environment calls for higher education institutions to shift their strategies to cater to global competence among their students. Thus, one of the core functions of universities is fostering global consciousness among their students, enabling them to understand the concept of interdependence among individuals and societies and develop global citizens who appreciate respect for different cultures and embrace pluralism (Gracel-Avila, 2005). Globalization is vital for realizing solidarity, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence between nations and achieving global citizenship. Research indicates that promoting global citizenship is crucial to higher education institutions’ missions as they believe that developing a global citizen through education fosters the student’s commitment to advancing public concerns in local and global capacities (Lilley et al., 2015). The globalization trend has seen students enroll in international students to acquire quality education and achieve global competence. In this case, the United States has been a preferred destination for international students. For example, US colleges have registered a rapid enrollment of mainland Chinese students, who account for 31% of all the international students (Gracel-Avila, 2005). However, in pursuit of globalization, these international students face various challenges that make them subjects of adverse stereotypes. Besides that, the term global citizen lacks a precise definition (Lilley et al., 2015). This situation presents a challenge to academic institutions as they lack a definitive paradigm to assess global competence among international students. Thus, this paper shall provide a literature review of the various challenges international students face and measures of global competence used to assess the students’ global competence.
Challenges Faced by International Students
Enrolling in an international academic institution can be an exciting opportunity for international students outside their countries for the first time. However, Dorsett (2017) argues that the students are confronted with a new culture and educational environments in foreign countries. As they migrate to the US and others, these students bring their different expectations, entailing conscious and unconscious perceptions and assumptions of their new countries’ cultures and educational experiences. This argument is presented in Heng’s (2018) article, citing cultural barriers as significant challenges to international students.
Dorsett (2017) found that international students face challenges in class participation. In the US, participating in class discussions is a vital element of undergraduate education. In this regard, international students whose English is not their first language have challenges formulating their responses early enough to reply to their professors before other students provide their answers. Dorsett (2017) asserts that this is due to the student’s limited English vocabulary. In another research studying the challenges facing Chinese students in the US academic institutions, Heng (2018) found that Chinese students in the US experienced significant communication challenges.
Despite learning English in Chinese high schools, the students indicated that their English foundation was inadequate for United States’ speaking and writing. Heng (2018) states that the students struggled to speak with teachers, friends, or in class discussions. Due to their inadequate English vocabulary, the Chinese students needed more time to phrase their arguments. Therefore, these two texts prove that the language barrier is a profound challenge to international Nonnative English-speaking students. Thus, to enable the students to mitigate this challenge, faculty should implement various measures to compensate for this deficiency and improve learning outcomes of Nonnative English speakers. To have balanced class discussions, professors should grant international students extra time to phrase their answers before seeking other students’ opinions.
Besides communication problems, Dorsett (2017) states that international students face challenges getting accustomed to new cultures. Arriving in a new country can present a considerable culture shock to international students, affecting their socialization and educational outcomes. The author argues that individuals from reactive cultures, such as in most Asian nations, tend to be patient, reflective, courteous, employ indirect communication, and avoid direct confrontation. On the other hand, Dorsett (2017) states that the US is a linear-active culture that emphasizes direct communication, facts, reliability, and timelessness. In another study, Heng (2018) found out that Chinese students studying in the US struggled with the new social, cultural contexts as they grew up in the US. In this case, the students were not accustomed to America’s critical and logical thinking, individualism, and brainstorming. Due to challenges with a new social-cultural context, American college peers have stereotyped international students as annoying, poor in English, and unsocial, exposing the students to further diverse challenges.
Contrasting Perspectives on Challenges Faced by International Students
Dorset’s article presents findings on various challenges faced by international students in the US. The article focuses on the diverse challenges without factoring in the root cause of the stated challenges. However, Heng’s article found out that while it is vital to understand these challenges on the surface level, it is crucial to adequately examine the root causes of these challenges to address them effectively. This perspective presents a holistic view of problems faced by international students, avoiding blaming and stereotyping them for challenges caused by systemic problems out of their control. Thus, understanding the root cause of these challenges is an effective strategy to realizing insights to effectively mitigate the challenges. It is vital to recognize that international students are not to blame for the various challenges they face in foreign countries. Instead, dealing with a new culture can present significant challenges to any individual. In this regard, academic institutions accommodating international students should implement measures to accustomed international students to local cultures. Such interventions can include the gap-year program. Addressing these challenges is vital to realizing the global citizen.
Role of Universities in Developing the Global Citizen
The core aim of teaching globalization aspects in institutions of higher learning is to realize the global citizen. In their article, Lilley et al. (2015) found that the global citizen lacks a precise definition. In this regard, researchers define the global citizen in the dimensions of global competence, global civic engagement or social responsibility. The article argues that pursuing the global citizen is central to universities’ mission and advancing global citizenship through education improves students’ commitment to pursuing local and international concerns (Lilley et al., 2015). A global citizen is perceived as having the required skills needed to realize success in a global environment as opposed to being limited to a local context (Lumby & Foskett, 2016). In this regard, the global citizen has the important skills to prosper in the contemporary world, which is global. Thus, a student is empowered to face the challenges of the modern global environment. However, while universities have the “idea” of developing global citizens, little evidence exists to demonstrate how the universities’ idea of global citizenship morphs into practice. Thus, Lilley et al. undertook a study to explore the role of universities in translating the “idea” of the global citizen into practice. In their study, the researchers concluded that universities had a significant role in providing a value-laden educational experience that instilled ethics and values required in interacting in a global environment. However, there were diverse opinions on how to assess the realization of global competence.
Assessing Global Competence
While universities have a consensus to prepare students for a global practice, there is less agreement in the education sector on which abilities and skills adequately define the global citizen. In this regard, Lilley et al. (2015) found out that no agreed means or tools could be employed to assess whether students have achieved global competence effectively. However, for the employed measures of realizing proficiency in traits correlated with global citizenship, there is a need to implement tools that universities of colleges can employ to assess these global skills and abilities.
In their research, Lohmann et al. complemented Lilley et al.’s study by providing a model consisting of five elements to assess global competence among students. This model measures a student’s proficiency in a second language, international course work, immersive international experience combined with a coherent program that ties the various elements together and integrates all of them with the student’s major (Lohmann et al., 2006). Some elements of this proposed model have already been implemented in various academic institutions to improve global competence learning outcomes. Several universities place a high emphasis on students realizing international experience. For example, Penn State’s Prestige Consortium offers students a one-year semester to spend in a foreign country to enhance their global competence skills (Lohmann et al., 2006). In these programs, students collaborate on design projects with other students from European universities and undertake internships in these countries.
This model should be effective in assessing global competence in students. Around the globe, the knowledge of a second language improves a student’s cross-cultural communication as they can effectively communicate with other individuals of a different culture. Additionally, international coursework is vital to learn about other countries’ histories and their respective cultures. Thus, having competence in international coursework is vital in interacting with individuals from different countries. Furthermore, an immersive international experience exposes students to new social-cultural contexts, increasing their cultural competence, a vital skill in excelling on the global scale.
References
Dorsett, J. (2017). High hopes: International student expectations for studying in the United States. New Directions for Student Services, 158(2017), 9-21.
Gacel-Ávila, J. (2005). The internationalisation of higher education: A paradigm for global citizenry. Journal of Studies in International Education, 9(2), 121-136.
Heng, T. T. (2018). Different is not deficient: Contradicting stereotypes of Chinese international students in US higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 43(1), 22-36.
Lilley, K., Barker, M., & Harris, N. (2015). Educating global citizens: a good ‘idea’or an organisational practice?. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(5), 957-971.
Lohmann, J. R., Rollins, H. A., & Joseph Hoey, J. (2006). Defining, developing and assessing global competence in engineers. European Journal of Engineering Education, 31(1), 119-131.
Lumby, J., & Foskett, N. (2016). Internationalization and culture in higher education. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 44(1), 95-111.