Language Challenge
Language Challenges Faced by International Graduate Students
in the United States
Ya-Hui Kuo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages
900 Mintsu 1st Rd., Sanmin Dist., Kaohsiung 80793, Taiwan
TEL: 886-7-3426031 ext. 5331
94101@wtuc.edu.tw
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Language Challenge
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Abstract
Universities and colleges in the United States require international students to provide
certain English proficiency documents along with their admission applications before
they are admitted to their programs. However, many international students with
required TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores or IELTS (The
International English Language Testing System) still experience language challenges
on campus and off campus. Lacking the language capacity in listening, speaking,
reading and writing certainly affects international students’ academic performance
and takes away opportunities to blend in with the locals and different ethnicities.
There are two objectives in this paper. One is to explore the language challenges
faced by international graduate students at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama in
the United States. The other is to offer recommendations and suggestions to prepare
and assist international students in adjusting, adapting, and overcoming their language
challenges.
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Introduction
According to Petersen (1991) & Carney (1989), international students are
primarily from one of two educational backgrounds. One group is very weak in
academic achievement and is not able to enter or admit the universities back home
due to entrance requirements. Once in the United States, these students usually go to a
school for one or two semesters and then leave school. The second group is welleducated and often receives scholarships and institutional aid or uses their own
personal funds. Most international students are in the second group. Consequently,
their family, friends, sponsoring organizations or universities, and others have high
expectations for their success.
Despite their high abilities, when these international students arrive on the
university campus, they often face serious challenges to sustaining their good
academic performances. They often have difficulty taking tests (memorization vs.
formulating their own ideas), reading material for courses, following a set curriculum
and registering and understanding the American grading system (Breuder, 1972;
Amoh, 1984; Leong & Sedlacek, 1989; Mau & Jepsen, 1990 & Razavi, 1988).
Language Challenges Faced by International Students
Constantinides (1992) asserted that international students who choose to study in
America are often the brightest students in their home countries and are also very
motivated students. However, proficiency in the English language may be particularly
problematic for most international students. For example, the way that English is
taught in China is more through writing than through a speaking form. As a result,
many Chinese international students know English grammar and vocabulary, but have
a difficult time with conversational English (Wan, 1999). Further, Chinese students
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often have difficulty answering questions verbally and writing essays (Feng, 1991).
International students often have problems understanding lectures, taking notes,
taking part in class discussions, and writing papers (Huntley, 1993). These students
may also have difficultly understanding English American slang, accents, idioms, and
jokes. These difficulties with the conversational usage of English or cultural language
can create a great deal of academic stress in university classrooms, particularly when
communication and participation are encouraged (Bolanle, 1996). International
students may think that they are incompetent in conversational English to participate
in class. Writing can be another problem for international students as well.
While universities require international students to meet the minimum language
proficiency, many of them do not have adequate practice with the verbal usage of
English. Antanattis (1990) found that a language deficiency is the major academic
obstacle to the success of Asian students who experienced more serious academic
difficulties. For example, Jenkins, Jordan and Weiland (1993) found that in science
and engineering more than 25% of students’ theses/dissertations were re-written by
the faculty themselves. Sharma (1973) also identified the non-European graduate
students’ academic problems to include giving oral reports, participating in class
discussion, taking notes in class, understanding lectures, taking appropriate courses of
study and preparing reports.
Hagey and Hagey (1974) investigated the kinds of services that 265 Middle
Eastern students from Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria,
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates received and the kinds of help they would like
to have while attending colleges in Oregon. The results showed that for overcoming
difficulties with the English language, 61% of Middle Eastern students desired to
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have more time during tests, 50 % desired more explanations while working on test
and 43% desired to have lecture notes available.
Belcher's (1994) case study examined the international doctoral student / faculty
relationship at the dissertation writing stage. She suggested that mismatches between
faculty advisors and students (e.g., students and professors can not reach an
agreement with research and academic English expectations) could partially affect
degree completion, job placement, and professional development. On the other hand,
a good match between the student and faculty member could at least make language a
lesser problem for international students. Unfortunately, Saleh’s (1980) study of Arab
students’ personal, social and academic adjustment problems at North Texas State
University, Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech University reported that
professors were not considerate of their feelings. 56.6 percent of the students reported
that they had to take courses that they did not want to take.
While participants in Saleh (1980) reported that they did not want to take the
courses they took, many international students are unaccustomed to the freedom they
have in choosing their own courses, thus they may look to their advisors for direction
(Cadieux & Wehrly, 1986). In addition to the academic stress caused by a lack of
conversational English skills, many international students face academic challenges
with regards to the instructional methods that are used in American college
classrooms. Class participation, especially at the graduate level is expected in
American classrooms (Aubrey, 1991). However, this may be very stressful to students
from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa who have been taught to sit in the class
quietly, and to take notes while listening to professors. Wan (1999) pointed out that it
is regarded as respectful when students listen attentively and quietly to their
Language Challenge
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professors. However, in America, teachers allow students to eat or drink in class, and
often, student participation is encouraged or even part of the grade.
Further, international students must also adjust to the various teachers’ accents and
teaching styles. Likewise, international students may feel hesitant to participate in the
class discussion if they do not understand the lecture (Lin & Yi, 1997) due to the tone
or cultural appropriateness of their response. For example, one student said that when
the teacher asked him / her to introduce him / herself to everyone on the first day of
the class, he / she did not know what to tell other people about himself/ herself
because that is not what he or she would be asked to do back home (Dillon & Swann,
1997).
Kao and Gansneder (1995) surveyed three hundred and fifty-five international
students from forty-five different countries enrolled in an American University
regarding the reasons why they did not participate in American classroom discussions.
Results suggested that cultural factors make Asian students less likely to participate in
the class. Parker (1999) studied a group of Taiwanese students who studied at
Louisiana Tech University. He found that many of these students felt uncomfortable
asking repeated questions even if they did not understand a concept or technique
demonstrated by the faculty. Chinese students often prefer to be good listeners rather
than talkers. Even though they have questions concerning course material or class
assignments, they seldom ask teachers questions. Instead, they prefer to figure out the
answers by themselves or get them from their classmates. In a study of African
graduate students conducted by Antwi & Ziyati (1993, p. 9), African graduate
students prefer to keep silent and avoid saying asked “Excuse me,” “What did you
say?” and “Can you repeat what you said, please.”
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Many international students also think that to be active in a group discussion is a
sign of showing off. In many countries, if students interrupt professors who are
lecturing, it is considered to be impolite and even insulting (Balas, 2000). Further, in
many foreign countries, professors dress formally and require students to do the same
in class. In America, some professors sit on the desk and dress informally. In many
American classrooms, the teacher is more interactive, creative and flexible, but to
many international students, this approach does not seem to have a structure at all
(Wan, 1999). Therefore, to be successful in American classrooms, international
students must make a shift from the more formal lecture methods used in their
countries and learn more active problem solving, critical thinking and resource skills
(Ladd & Ruby, 1999).
Not only can learning inside the classroom be frustrating for international students,
but learning outside of the classroom can be frustrating as well. Angelova &
Riazantseva (1999) examined four international students’ first years of study in
America and found that they lacked experience with computers. This study further
indicated that participants indicated that paper writing is not a common practice
outside of the United States, and they found this to be difficult as well. Zain (1965)
conducted a study involving 147 international students from 50 non-English speaking
counties at University of Oregon in 1965. Zain reported that the largest problems
reported by those students were writing essays and reports, participating in classroom
discussions, and taking and organizing notes. The least troublesome problems were
understating textbooks, locating information in the library, and understanding
lectures. In examination methods, finishing on time in objective tests were the most
difficult problems reported by the largest percentages of the students.
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In the Payind (1979) study of academic, personal and social problems of Afghan
and Iranian students in several institutions in the United States, the most severe
academic problems for both groups were completing written examinations in the same
length of time as American students do, improving English to the level necessary to
pursue academic work, communicating thoughts in English, presenting oral reports,
competing with American for high grades, taking notes, and writing reports. The
causes of the academic problems, Payind suggests, are related to the lack of
proficiency with the English language and, to a certain extent, to the existence of
differences between the educational systems of home counties and those of the United
States.
Asian students found that completing forms for registration, student aid, or student
employment to be confusing source. The procedures for registration may seem
awkward and adding or dropping a course is unusual for them (Jensen & Jensen,
1983).
Method
The structured survey that was chosen because it allowed the researcher to gather a
large amount of data from the 716 international graduate students at Auburn
University.
The survey participants were recruited through an invitation letter sent on behalf of
the investigator by the Office of International Education. Within one week after the
initial invitation letter was sent out, an e-mail entitled “International Graduate
Students Survey (Sent only to Graduate Students)” was sent on the behalf of the
researcher by the Director of the Office of International Education via electronic mail,
since the Director had all of the e-mail addresses of the international graduate students
enrolled at Auburn University. There were 714 e-mails sent out, but only 152
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international graduate students who responded to the structured Internet survey
resulting in a 21.3 % return rate.
Results & Discussion
The major English language challenges faced by many of the international
graduate students in this study were their listening comprehension and oral
proficiency. These English language challenges were faced by many of the
international graduate students, especially those from Asia. When the English
language was mentioned as a challenge, the researcher made the assumption that it
might relate to the international graduate students’ listening, speaking, reading, and
writing proficiency. The listening comprehension challenge for international graduate
students in the present study was not being able to understand the lectures in classes.
Difficulties in understanding lectures were due to the speed at which the professors
talked and their accents. Participants in the study said: “Don't understand what teacher
says,” “Difficult to understand their talking, especially terms and phrases,” “Some
professors spoke too fast and it was hard to keep following him/her,” “The accent of
some of the professors was a challenge for me. I had difficulties understanding them,”
and “Coping with the southern accent.” Finally, one participant mentioned that it was
“Hard to participate when my fellow classmates discuss some topics. They talk fastly
[sic] and unclearly.”
With regard to listening comprehension, many international graduate students
stated that they have a hard time understanding what other people at Auburn say as
they believe the southern accent is different from what they are accustomed to and
have practiced back home. For example, participants in the study said, “southern
accent is difficult to understand.” Another participant added:
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“Here iam [sic] facing accent problem with english.Eventhough[sic] iam [sic]
also
studied my studies in english,the [sic] way they pronounce words is
different compare to my country.so [sic] for it will take some time to understand
their language clearlyand [sic] also to talk in their accent.”
However, the international graduate students in this study also pointed out that their
own accents have also made it difficult for others to understand them. Participants
explained, “American can't understand my Englis [sic],” “A little bit of problem with
people understanding my accent and me able to understand their ….,” and “… We can
talk but the recievers [sic] cannot understand and you have to try in their own way.”
Language is an important and necessary medium of communication. Therefore, when
communication was mentioned throughout the study as being central to other
challenges faced by international graduate students, this led to two assumptions made
by the researcher. One possible reason for these communication challenges may be
the way in which students learned English in their home country.
In addition, because they are not well-versed using the English language, many
international graduate students state they feel like children who are powerless and
unable to express the thoughts and feelings they have. Not being able to do what they
are able to do back home, such as bargaining, shopping, arguing, and communicating
can lower international students’ self-esteem since they are adults, some of have a
very high social economic status in their home country. Communication difficulties
might also cause people to look down on them. Some international graduate students
in the study indicated that American students thought they were stupid and not
intelligent because they could not express themselves fluently in English. For
example, there was one participant in Kuo’s (2002b) study whose husband protected
her (not letting her have opportunities to practice her poor English by taking care of
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everything from grocery shopping to communicating with others) and this resulted in
the fact that she did not have any opportunity to learn how to use the English
language. Thus, when she started to go back to school, she felt she was discriminated
by her classmates who thought that her poor English was associated with low
intelligence.
However, based on the findings of this study, the researcher has also made the
assumption that international graduate students’ communication and language skills
seem to be an important factor contributing to the fact that international graduate
students have a hard time making friends with Americans. One participant answered
“difficult to communicate with other students” and another admitted “at a party, I
could not understood the jokes while Anericans [sic] were laughing.” In addition,
many participants in Kuo’s (2002a) study shared that Americans do not have the
patience to listen or talk to international students whose English skills are poor. As a
result of that, it is the opinion of the researcher that language barriers have created a
barrier to building friendships with Americans.
Another possible reason for these communication challenges could be the gap
between the two different cultures, or backgrounds. For example, communication and
interaction between international graduate students and the academic advisor and/or
boss were both listed as challenges in the survey responses. Participants listed such
challenges as: “I was hesitant to ask for help with my research problems. I wanted to
show him that I could learn on my own and crack these problems,” “communication
problem,” and “understand his field and intention.” One participant in the survey
expressed “ … Getting advisors to get on borad [sic] with you timing as an
International student.”
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Working with graduate students is a very challenging task and it is more
demanding to work with international graduate students whose backgrounds are
different than the academic advisor and/or boss. After September 11, 2001, there are
more regulations and restrictions for international students. For example, F-1 students
are required to enroll in at least 9 credit hours to keep their immigration status and
international students can only work 20 hours on-campus during the normal semester
terms. Therefore, when one participant expressed “… Getting advisors to get on borad
[sic] with you timing as an International student” as a challenge, the researcher
assumed that the participant tried to tell her advisor that she wanted to finish up her
doctoral study before her visa expired or her funding ran out.
In addition, unless the advisor and/or the boss used to be an international
graduate student in the United States him/herself or s/he has many experiences
working with international graduate students, it is sometimes hard for him/her to
understand the difficulties that these students face. For example, obtaining or
renewing a visa can be costly, time consuming, and difficult. The only way to renew
or obtain a U. S. student visa is to go to the Embassy of the United States of America
overseas, in which Mexico and Canada are the closest countries that international
students can go to. Still, for certain nationalities, there are other visas requirements for
entering Mexico or Canada, thus the travel time and the process of obtaining a
Mexican or Canadian visa prior the US visa can interfere with student’s study.
Frequently, international graduate students wait until they visit home to renew their
visas, some try to finish up their studies before their student visas expire, and other
never visit home until they are done with their studies. Therefore, faculty who were
born outside the U. S. have fewer problems with foreign students in communicating
than U. S. born faculty members (Barber, Morgan, & Torstrick, 1987). Further, the
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presence of foreign–born faculty may help to alleviate some of the foreign-student
problems.
Participants in the study recognized other language challenges they have, such
as “reading papers in English,” “Reading textbook…,” “To keep up date with so
much reading in my career (rural sociology),” and “some weeks are real rough with
lot of deadlines of assignments combined with tests, research etc all at the same time.”
Since most of the international graduate students were not using English in their field
of study, getting used to the terminologies of their field in English textbooks and
keeping up with the readings could be challenge. “The following of new concepts in a
different and new language” was a challenge experienced by one participant in the
present study. Furthermore, the writing styles and standards might be very different
from what international graduate students were used to, and to meet the expectation of
different professors can also cause frustration.
Most of the participants in the present study noted that their language
challenges were primarily in the classroom or in interacting with other people.
However, the researcher of the present study believes that there are more language
challenges that international graduate students experience beyond these academic and
social areas. For example, one participant from Romania in Kuo’s (2002a) study
experienced difficulty communicating with his long distance phone service and credit
card company. Another participant from Turkey did not know what to order in the
restaurant and she still asked people what the menu items were even though she had
been in the United States for a while. In conclusion, English proficiency not only
affected these international graduate students academically, but also contributed to
their social, cultural, and personal adjustment.
Conclusion
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With regard to language aspects, international graduate students should
understand that no matter how high they score on the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), it does not ensure
that they are not going to experience language challenges once they arrive on campus.
A Taiwanese participant in Kuo (2001b) pointed out that TOEFL scores only showed
how well one performs in the English language, not in one’s academic area. Thus, it is
not a good predictor of the academic success. Based on the researcher’s experiences, a
lot of English training courses and programs are targeted to help students pass the
standardized exams overseas. However, these programs do not focus on developing
the language skills that students need to participate and study at an American
university. As the result, there are a lot of Asian students who have high scores on the
TOEFL, but still experience an enormous amount of difficulty with their oral and
listening comprehension. Another way of practicing the English language is to have
roommates who do not speak the same language as one do. Further, because little or
no field-specific academic training in English is available in many countries,
international students need to master their field-related terminology. The lack of
terminology might result in reading difficulties.
The researcher also suggests that international graduate students not only learn
the terminology in their field, but also some terminology for basic daily living. This
terminology should include the vocabulary necessary for: Opening a bank account,
visiting physicians, fixing cars, ordering food in restaurants, or even getting a haircut.
For example, one Taiwanese male participant in Kuo’s (2001b) study shared that he
had hard time communicating with barbers. In some cases, English is the official
language of the country that international graduate students are from. However, due to
different accents and language usages, even this can create listening comprehension
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difficulties. Therefore, before coming to the United States, international graduate
students should try to have some training in listening comprehension or gain some
type of access to the way that people speak in the United States or in the regions
where they will be studying.
Another suggestion that international graduate students should take into
consideration is to enroll in the classes in their fields that are taught by American
professors while they are still at home. This will not only provide practice interacting
with Americans, but will also provide practice with learning field terminologies,
understanding the American education system and culture, and provide practice with
listening and speaking skills. If there is no such opportunity available, international
students could try to find an opportunity to work in American companies or even to
get involved in church activities where there are a lot of ministries from the United
States.
In short, before international graduate students decide to study in the United
States or have started to apply for schools, international graduate students should ask
themselves if they are well-prepared in communicating in the English language and
can adjust to the different accents and word usages. If international students rate their
language proficiency at about 90%, they would have less of an adjustment for
example, than those who would only rate their proficiency at 75%.
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