Arab Postgraduate Students in Malaysia: Identifying and Overcoming the Cultural and Language Barriers

Abstract

In recent times there has been a rapid increase in the number of Arab postgraduate students in Malaysian universities which typically expect international students to submit dissertations in English. Whilst these students often achieve good qualifications in their home country, many struggle with the cultural or social as well as academic adjustments to a foreign university, to a different culture and to the requirements of undertaking research and writing in a second or foreign language. This paper will investigate the particular cultural as well as language barriers which typically confront Arab students undertaking postgraduate study in Malaysia. As well as identity key challenges faced, it will inquire into the possible strategies for assisting students to more effectively engage with many of the larger cultural barriers and academic challenges faced in language proficiency issues. The paper will report on a study undertaken into the perceptions and experiences of Arab postgraduate students at five Malaysian Universities: UM, UTM, UKM UPM, and IIUM

Intercultural Learning Challenges Affecting International Students’ Sustainable Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions

“…In terms of academic challenges, the current study showed that this construct has a negative effect on students' learning sustainability, which supports the findings of previous studies [6,40]. That is, international students usually move to study in countries that offer a better education than that available in their homeland.…”

“…Language challenges affect international students' sustainable learning because they limit students' acquisition for knowledge and improvement for learning skills [51,73]. The findings of this study in terms of English language challenges are in line with previous studies [6,15,28,30,73,81], since language barriers may inhibit the ability of international students to take an active learning role inside the classroom. Even through the findings of the survey showed that international students face language challenges upon their arrival to study in Malaysia and could overcome language challenges with the passage of time, this does not eliminate the negative effect of language challenges on gaining sustainable learning among international students, especially since weak English language skills do not help them to improve their knowledge and skills, which they need for their future careers [53].…”

“…English language proficiency is a main requirement of international HEIs, and international students therefore cannot join these HEIs unless they have mastered the English language. Previous literature showed that international students gain English proficiency before traveling to study abroad, but they face language barriers, which has a negative influence on their academic achievement [6,29,33,51]. Hence, this might affect their opportunity to engage in sustainable learning, which led to the second hypothesis of the study that: Hypothesis 2 (H2).…”

“…The term "intercultural challenges" is related to adaptation barriers, which international students encounter when they move to study in a new culture. Intercultural challenges have been investigated by different studies, which showed that such challenges have a negative effect on students' learning and academic achievements [6,59]. The negative effect of intercultural challenges might have a negative effect on international students' learning outcomes, which is related to gaining sustainable learning [7,53,54].…”

“…Academic challenges are related to learning processes and understanding lecturers and the educational systems of the university. Previous literature shows that international students encounter challenges in the host university because learning process and requirements are different from their previous experience [6,60,61], and such academic challenges might have a negative influence on gaining sustainable learning [62]. Accordingly, it was postulated that: Hypothesis 3 (H3).…”