Essay Example on International Students in English Speaking Universities

Significant economic contributions are normally made by International students who study in English-speaking institutions or countries. Adjustment issues for these students are therefore of significance to both the Universities and the students themselves. Therefore, Universities should ensure there is an effective and running support services which are adequately available for such students. In this context, understanding of the international students required adjustments affects the whole globe since it ensures intercultural educations success.

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Adjustment issues refer to the experiences and situations that are either problematic or helpful to the adjustment of international students. These issues give information concerning the extent to which these students are capable of adjusting, their success and difficulty areas, resulting programs, strategies employed, and effective techniques of teaching. International students face academic adjustment issues which include language proficiency and educational background and social adjustment issues which include personal characteristics and socio-cultural issues.

Personal characteristics which affect the international students adjustments are such as the students gender, year of schooling, residence, and native country. The other adjustment issue is the language proficiency in which most students from countries that do not speak English as the native language have snags in comprehending the lectures that are given in various institutions. Therefore, this results in lower grades achievements in language papers by these international students thus affecting their overall performance. Sociocultural issues such as friendship affect these students in that they feel more lonely and unsupported. This is due to the fact that they are far away from their relatives and friends while at the same time having very few or no friends in these foreign countries.

The strategies that these international students use in copping up with adjustment issues are test taking, self-testing, and motivation. These strategies together with teacher and peer help, show relatively positive impacts on these students performance. The services that these students use in copping up with their adjustment issues include attending English-language courses, supplemental courses and tutorials. Evidence from studies of the effects of these services suggests that they aid in faster adjustment and enhanced academic achievement.

Students responsibility is social adjustment issues such as friendship, institutions environment adaptation, and loneliness. The students should strive as much as they can to ensure they choose good and adequate number of friends who will ensure they get acquitted best with the institutions environment. Additionally, these students should constantly keep in touch with their loved ones and families back at home to avoid feeling lonely and misplaced. Finally, these students should learn to adapt to the new environment by conforming to domestic students way of life and survival tactics to avoid feeling inferior.

University responsibility is academic adjustment issues such as language proficiency and they can rectify this through modification of teaching styles. The modifications in teaching that the universities can effect include subjecting lecturers to speak slowly and audibly, writing of key terms on the board, providing background information to enhance understanding of the main points, provision of enough time for students to make clear reflection of the key points, and recognizing the culture shock that these students have gone through. The other ways the university can help in curbing academic adjustment issues is through setting up supporting services such as tutorials and offering of special language skills classes for these international students.

From the discussion, adjustment issues for international students in English speaking universities are extremely crucial in determining the probability of excellence that these students have in the foreign universities. The main academic adjustment issue for the international students is English-language proficiency which they can easily overcome through the support services offered by the universities. Social adjustment issues such as friendship, loneliness, and adjusting to new environment are primarily students responsibilities and therefore they should work harder on them to ensure their success.