International Students' Achievements and Adaptation to the United States' Culture

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Autor/in	Moussa, Nahla Mohamed
Titel	International Students' Achievements and Adaptation to the United States' Culture
Quelle	In: Qualitative Research Journal, 21 (2021) 4, S.498-512 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Moussa, Nahla Mohamed)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1443-9883
DOI	10.1108/QRJ-11-2020-0145
Schlagwörter	Foreign Students; Graduate Students; Undergraduate Students; Study Abroad; Student Adjustment; Student Motivation; Arabs; Muslims; Young Adults; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Academic Achievement; Acculturation; Stress Variables; Intercultural Communication; Social Life; Psychological Patterns; Foreign Countries; Saudi Arabia; Jordan; Iraq; Egypt; Libya; Sudan; United States + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Adjustment; Schüler; Schülerin; Adaptation; Schulische Motivation; Arab; Araber; Muslim; Muslimin; Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Schulleistung; Akkulturation; Interkulturelle Kommunikation; Soziales Leben; Ausland; Saudi-Arabien; Irak; Ägypten; Libyen; USA
Abstract	Purpose: As there are many Arab students seek to earn an international degree, this research article aims to explore the factors that influence Arab students' adaptation to the foreign cross-culture of the USA and how it is related to their academic achievement. Exploring these factors will introduce different insights into the effectiveness of adaptation and studying in a foreign country and earning an international degree. Besides, this study contributes to the body of knowledge of international higher education by including Arab students as a less-researched group. Arab students' adaptation process is explained in terms of the Cross-cultural Adaptation Theory (Kim, 2001). Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative research study was conducted using a focus group discussion (FGD). Multiple face-to-face interviews were conducted to obtain data from the participants. Participants were divided into four groups, each female group contained nine participants and each male group contained seven participants. The researcher explained to each group independently about their perception, beliefs and attitude toward earning international degrees, the adaptation to the host culture and their academic achievement. The researcher carried out five FGDs for each group. Each interview continued for 60 minutes in length. All participants received a consent form. The discussions were audio-recorded and then transcribed. Findings: Arab students are a group of enthusiastic learners; however, their feelings of homesickness enable them to develop overwhelming sorrowful emotions, howbeit their communication with their ethnic group facilitates the adaption and acceptance of the host cultures, which requires quite some time to adjust to new surroundings. Arab students are recognized with high academic achievements; nevertheless, they require prolonged periods to complete course assignments. American society gives international students a warm welcome; this may encourage other Arab students to consider earning an American degree and prepare themselves for this intercultural transition. Research limitations/implications: This is subjective qualitative data; some limitations need to be addressed when interpreting the findings. Participants are English as a Second Language (ESL)learners, which may influence their word choice during the discussion. Interesting future research could be related to designing an assessment model to evaluate the academic achievement of ESL in different methods that focus on their achievement motivations and communication skills. Practical implications: Based on the findings, professors can integrate the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to help multi-cultural students to learn and earn an international higher education degree. Social implications: Higher education institutions can offer more social multi-cultural opportunities to include multi-cultural students and develop their social skills to facilitate the adaptation process to the new host culture. Originality/value: This qualitative research study represents an original work of the researcher, and it has not submitted elsewhere. All research ethical codes were followed by the researcher and participants. There is no fund for this research project. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01