Experiences and Adjustment Challenges of Nigerian International Students in United Kingdom Higher Institutions

Abstract

International mobility for study purposes has witnessed rapid increase in recent times; which demands that experiences and challenges faced by these group of students be explored continuously, to assist in their acculturation processes. This study sought to quantitatively examine the experiences and challenges of fifty-six Nigerian international students in United Kingdom universities. A 34-item International Students' Questionnaire was designed to elicit data regarding challenges and experiences of international students which included some demographic data of participants. The purpose of this study was to investigate how international students would rate some challenges and experiences; verify if there is an association between participants' demographic variables and perceived challenges and experiences; and find out if there is a positive correlation between challenging areas and students' experiences. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and Pearson correlation. Results revealed that social/external challenges are the most disturbing issues faced by most international students. Also, some association between demographic variables and challenges international students encounter, and some positive correlations between challenging areas and students' experiences were found. Implications of these findings are discussed alongside suggestions and recommendations for further research. Recommendations are also made to students and institutions on how to facilitate international students' integration into their academic lives and communities.

Academic English Adaptation

“…International students must adapt to the host country's culture. According Raji (2019), the international students will find that they spend most of their time in the learning community, and they need to adjust to the other students' and teachers' languages and cultures. The study focuses on undergraduate and graduate students, both full-time and part-time, who were international students from Nigeria studying in the north-west of England.…”

“…Nigeria is a large country with linguistics, religion, culture, and ethnic diversity, but English is retained as the official language (Fadairo & Obasa, 2023). While there have been different studies on how 'Nigerian' students adjust to new environments outside the country (Cowley, 2016;Raji, 2019), some students initially need help understanding their lecturers' spoken English. However, despite initial difficulties, students will eventually comprehend their lecturer as they adjust to the community.…”