The Perceptions of Undergraduate Students on Intercultural Communication in Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim)

Abstract

With the increase of globalization and migration, the study of intercultural communication has become more and more vital. The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia has made a move to transform the landscape of tertiary education by intensifying internationalization and ensuring 10%-30% enrolment of international students in local universities and promoting the country as the education hub in the region. Taking the case study of the international students who are undergraduate students in Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), this study focused on the intercultural communication aspect, the cultural barriers as well as the adaptation of these student in the new environment. The data was drawn from in-depth interviews conducted on the basis of the responses on 10 undergraduate students: four from Afghanistan, three from Nigeria, one each from Singapore, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. The findings showed issues facing by these students are not only about food and weather, but language, academic and finance systems and also feeling of alienation and discrimination.

Using Malaysian Independent Film Gadoh as a Pedagogical Tool to Shift Ethnic Boundaries

“…The rationale for this step is to ensure that the participants understand the questions and are given a guideline to construct their answers before and after watching the film. This method of giving questions prior to the film reviewing is a practice that is widely utilized to gain in-depth data as seen in the works of Oliver and Hartmann (2010), Bartsch (2012) and Pillai (2017). The focus group discussion was conducted online via the Zoom application.…”

“…The film depicted themes of interracial marriage and national unity. Pillai (2017) described positive outcomes in her study where students were able to reflect and gain a deeper understanding on the issues affecting interracial marriage; among the many themes highlighted in the subject of intercultural communication. The film is also suggested to be an important space for interethnic dialogue of various issues that are deemed sensitive in Malaysia such as religion, ethnicity and class (Wong, Ong, & Pillai, 2018).…”

“…However, there has been limited research conducted in Malaysia exploring the use of Malaysian films as a pedagogical tool in the education context. Limited studies within the academia included studies by Pillai (2017) who discussed a classic Malaysian film written and directed by the late P. Ramlee with the title Gerimis to teach concepts and theories of intercultural communication. The film depicted themes of interracial marriage and national unity.…”

“…When dealing with the human imagination and active envisioning of one's nation, the medium of film offers a unique social integration platform where one can experience and imagine beyond the physical and psychological ethnic boundaries that has limited our individual experiences as Malaysian citizens. Films can depict the struggles of everyday life, often overlooked and not experienced by the audiences who have limited opportunity to experience interethnic social interactions (Pillai, 2017;Vasanthan et al, 2019).…”

International Students’ Cross-Cultural Adjustment: Determining Predictors of Cultural Intelligence

“…A study on international students aims to discover whether social, administrative and academic factors would affect students' learning condition (Slethaug & Manjula, 2012). On the other hand, an empirical study on international students from Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia found that these students do not only face challenges relating to food or climate, but encounters problems concerning language, academic, finances, and hostility, hence concluding that intercultural communication is vital (Pillai & Hussin, 2017). Studies has also examined the importance of international students' psychological (Yusliza et al, 2010), socio-cultural and academic adjustments (Thuraisingam & Singh, 2010) while pursuing their studies in Malaysia.…”