Developing a Host Culture for International Students: What Does It Take?

Abstract

This article argues that international student integration is not only a university issue, but a community one. Thus, the next step for universities’ internationalization strategies requires expanding efforts to include engagement with the greater community and bringing a community-based approach to internationalization processes. Doing so will both better serve the international student population and also create a more well-rounded internationalized university experience for all students by acknowledging and harnessing the inherent diversity of the local community. In particular, this article discusses the university’s role in facilitating such a community-based approach. It will then examine possible strategies and practical suggestions for how universities can step beyond campus-specific policies and instead foster student engagement with and within the greater local community.

Acculturation and adaptation issues among International students: Experiences from the largest Public University of Bangladesh

“…Currently, there exists an alarming perception among some domestic students that the quality of education is lowered due to the presence of international students, that grades are negatively affected by group work with international students, and that entry requirements have been lowered for international students (Harrison & Peacock, 2010;Marangell et al, 2018). Marangell et al (2018) described that interaction between international and domestic students, if poorly managed, may also result in negative interaction experiences and subsequently lead to feelings of resentment by all parties. By being academic-centered, most interactionpromoting strategies ignore the social issues and tensions that the students bring with them and simultaneously disregard students' fears of reduced grades, communication challenges, and con icting expectations.…”

“…By being academic-centered, most interactionpromoting strategies ignore the social issues and tensions that the students bring with them and simultaneously disregard students' fears of reduced grades, communication challenges, and con icting expectations. Marangell et al (2018) proposed that it is time for universities to move beyond the idea that internationalization strategies can be limited to either the classroom or the campus. Despite how well international students may do academically, there is consistent evidence that they are often unable to successfully integrate into the host community.…”

International Students in Multicultural Classrooms

“…Significant increase in Student mobility has been identified as an impact of internationalization of Higher Education institutions (Marangell, Arkoudis, & Baik, 2018) International students need to develop three types of social network: monocultural, bicultural, and multicultural network (S. Li & Zizzi, 2018). Monocultural network is the interaction they need to have with the peers from their home countries, while Bicultural network exist when the international students interact with the students from host country.…”

Investigation into the Professional Culture of a Foreign Language Teacher in a Multicultural Classroom from Faculty and International Students’ Perspectives

“…Literature analysis highlights some important issues. They are the following: international students are considered as an object for understanding the global landscape of higher education [27], the process of integration with university life [28], problems of cross-national communication and relations between international and domestic students [29][30][31][32], questions of creating a friendly, equal university atmosphere with acknowledgement of international students' diversity [33], international students' processes of adaptation [34,35], the role of mentors in these processes and in the process of fostering leadership development outcomes for international students [36,37], issues of academic and social support [38], psychological wellbeing of international students and their psychological, academic and university adjustment [39][40][41][42][43], international students' motivation [44,45] and the impact of education abroad and its importance for international students' future career [46].…”