Leong 2015 Coming to America Patterns of Acculturation Friendship for international students

459 Journal of International Students

Peer-Reviewed Article

ISSN: 2162-3104 Print/ ISSN: 2166-3750 Online Volume 5, Issue 4 (2015), pp. 459-474

© Journal of International Students http://jistudents.org/

Coming to America: Assessing the Patterns of Acculturation, Friendship Formation, and the Academic Experiences of

International Students at a U.S. College

Pamela Leong, PhD Salem State University (USA)

Abstract

Using interview data from 11 international students, this paper compares international students’ experiences at a single American university, and the acculturation issues that they encountered. The students assessed their experiences at the university, both positive and negative, and discussed their perceptions of American ways of doing things. The findings suggest that, when compared to students from other countries, students from China face considerable more difficulties both academically and socially, given the formidable language and cultural barriers. These challenges remain regardless of whether the students self-segregate with co-nationals or associate primarily with Americans. While individual-level factors (e.g., language fluency and coping ability) affect the international students’ lived experiences and perceived satisfaction level while studying in the United States, this paper argues that environmental factors (e.g., the culture and reception of the host society) may be more important in shaping the experiences of international students, whether for better or worse.

Keywords: international students, American colleges, acculturation, language and cultural barriers

In the 2012/2013 academic year, the number of international students in colleges and universities in the United States was at an all-time high, at 819,644. The top sending countries were China, India, and South Korea, which represented the countries of origin of nearly 50% of all international students in the United States (Institute of International Education, 2013).

The increased representation of international students in U.S. colleges and universities has proven to have significant effects. For one, the international students contribute positively to the U.S economy, to individual state economies, and to their host institution’s economic health. The presence of international students also has social consequences, contributing to the cultural diversity of nation, state, and local areas. The international students’ intellectual and creative contributions also are felt in American research and in developments in science and technology, and other disciplines. Finally, the international community in American colleges and universities has implications regarding global relationships, whether that is between nation-states, or global business and economic communities. For all of these reasons, it is important that we consider

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the experiences of international college students in the United States. This current study attempts to do just this, with a special focus on students from China, the top sending country.

Literature Review

Studies of international college students from Asia in American colleges vary in focus and scope. Li and Bray (2007) assessed push-pull factors that influence mainland Chinese students’ decision to study abroad in Hong Kong and Macau. Other studies underscored the role of English fluency on international students’ academic performance in American colleges (Light, Xu, & Mossop, 1987; Spinks & Yo, 1984).

The literatures that examine how international students adjust to their new social environment typically conclude that the factors that influence acculturation include: country of origin; English fluency; and social support (Nasirudeen, Josephine, Adeline, Seng, & Ling, 2014; Yeh & Inose, 2003). These factors may help explain the differences in experiences and overall satisfaction level among international students. Generally, students with familiarity and knowledge of the English language and with American ways of doing things were more prepared to handle both institutional and societal-wide demands and expectations. They also developed more friendships. European students, who have greater English fluency and familiarity with American customs, also face greater social support and higher satisfaction levels once in the United States, when compared to students from non-European countries (Yeh & Inose, 2003).

Asian students, in contrast, experience more acculturative stress than their European counterparts, and the Asian students who socialize primarily with co-ethnics experience higher levels of acculturative stress (Poyrazli, Kavanaugh, Baker, & Al-Timimi, 2004; Yan & Berliner, 2013). In fact, Yan and Berliner concluded that life in the United States was not only not easy for the Chinese students, but that Chinese students faced considerable and multifaceted life stresses that included both personal concerns (e.g., job opportunities, visa problems, and dating issues) and sociocultural concerns (e.g., the experience of culture shock and difficulties adjusting to the host culture).

The stress associated with acculturation will affect international students’ overall satisfaction in the host country. Sam’s (2001) study revealed that international students in Norway on the whole reported overall life satisfaction, but that their life satisfaction levels varied depending on country of origin. Students from Europe and North America were more satisfied than students from Asian or Africa. In Sam’s study, factors that affected international students’ self-perceived life satisfaction levels included: number of friends, satisfaction with finances, perceived discrimination, and the adequacy of the information received prior to studying abroad. Interestingly, neither language proficiency nor having a host national friend affected life satisfaction significantly.

Al-Sharideh and Goe (1998) indirectly measured the satisfaction level of international college students by measuring international students’ “personal adjustment,” which they defined as “the maintenance or achievement of high self-esteem by an international student within the context of an American university (Al-Sharideh and Goe, 1998, p. 709). They explicitly assumed that international students who were able to “more extensively assimilate American culture and learn to effectively interact with Americans will be more successful in avoiding personal problems, meeting life needs, and fulfilling academic demands” (Al-Sharideh and Goe, 1998, p. 700)–outcomes that likely shape international students’ perceived satisfaction of their study-abroad experiences in the United States. In Al-Sharideh and Goe’s study, key to

461 Journal of International Students

international students’ successful assimilation were their social ties–specifically, having ties to co-ethnics (people with a similar cultural background or nationality. In fact, the number of strong ties with co-ethnics was found to have the strongest relationship with self-esteem, but only to a certain degree. Beyond the threshold point of 32 people, additional co-ethnic ties became negatively associated with self-esteem (Al-Sharideh and Goe, 1998, p. 720). Thus, having a very strong co-ethnic tie or having only co-ethnic ties exclusively does not buffer international students from problems associated with cultural adjustment. But no matter the size of their co-ethnic ties, international students cannot avoid interacting with Americans, both within and outside of the university context. Thus, Al Sharideh and Goe (1998) suggested that, independent of the strength and size of their co-ethnic ties, international students’ self-esteem ability to develop strong ties with Americans will positively affect their self-esteem (p. 722). Baba and Hosoda’s (2014) more recent study also confirmed the importance of social support to international students’ adjustment issues, finding a direct and positive relationship between social support and cross-cultural adjustment. Their findings, however, did not specify whether the form of social support was co-ethnic support or local support (support by the host members). International students’ satisfaction level also may be inferred through the level of racial or ethnic discrimination experienced. This area is one in which Lee and Rice (2007) explored when they examined the experiences of 24 international students from 15 countries who were studying at a research university in the American Southwest. The international students in their study encountered difficulties that went beyond mere assimilation challenges; there were brushes with inhospitable behaviors, cultural intolerance, and racial and ethnic confrontation. While literatures that examine the experiences of international college students are well- documented, many of the literatures focus on international students’ experiences at large research universities. My study departs from this trend by examining the experiences of international students at a regional, teaching-intensive university. In addition, the current study provides a more holistic treatment of the full college experience; I assess not only the effects of language and cultural barriers on international students’ academic success, but also compare the outcomes of other rites of passage for college students, including friendship formation and dating experiences. Lastly, the current study uses interview data, rather than survey data. The use of interview data allows for a deeper understanding of how the international students make sense of the new world around them, in ways that survey data disallow. The main research question that organizes this study is: What factors facilitate or impede the academic and social experiences of international students at American colleges and universities, and do they vary by country of origin?

Methods Data were collected at a single American university through face-to-face interviews. The interviews were semi-structured, face-to-face, and one-on-one. Each interview took approximately two hours and occurred on campus. The interviews were conducted in English. Participants were asked a series of open-ended questions about their background and about adjustment issues related to the college campus, the region, and the United States in general. Participants also were asked about their social relationships in the United States, and their perceptions of American culture.

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Table 1. Respondent Characteristics

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

GENDER AGE ACADEMIC MAJOR

LENGTH OF STAY IN THE

U.S.

LENGTH OF STAY AT THE

HOST INSTITUTION

Afghanistan male 35 ESL 2 years, 9 months

2 years, 5 months

Cote d’ Ivoire male 23 economics 2 years, 11 months

2 years, 2 months

Nepal female 25 psychology 5 years 1.5 years Sweden male 22 international

business 1 year, 2 months

1.5 months

China male #1 20 business management

2 months 2 months

China male #2 21 accounting 1 year, 2 months

1 year, 2 months

China male #3 21 finance 1 year, 3 months

1 year, 3 months

China male #4 23 athletic training 1 year 1 year China male #5 21 computer

science 1 year 1 year

China female #1 20 international business

2 months 2 months

China female #2 20 international business

2 years 2 years

Sampling At the time of this study, the interview respondents were enrolled full-time at an east- coast, regional university that is located in a small city on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Less than a quarter of the city’s population is non-White. This teaching-intensive university is a medium-sized, four-year university with some master’s level programs. As of 2013, 206 (2.7%) of the undergraduates are international students. The university serves many disadvantaged students, including low-income students and first-generation students. As a monolingual sociology faculty who is an American-born female of Chinese (Taiwanese and Malaysian) descent, I originally recruited international students at the university through the assistance of the director and staff at the Center for International Education (CIE). Faculty colleagues also helped in the recruitment. Additional recruitment occurred through the posting of flyers around campus. Finally, upon the completion of an interview, a respondent might refer a fellow international student to me. Hence, the sampling strategy used a combination of convenience, snowball, and purposive sampling. Chinese students were purposefully oversampled. With the permission of the respondents, I audiotaped the interviews. I transcribed verbatim all interviews, and assessed for patterns across the interview data, both within national groups and across national groups. The study received approval from the Institutional Review

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Board. To protect the identities of the respondents, in this paper I refer to the respondents only by their nationality, sex, and age. Sample Characteristics I interviewed 11 international students during the fall 2013 semester. The interviews lasted, on average, two hours each. All students were undergraduate students. Of the 11 international students that I interviewed, seven were from China, one from Sweden, one from Nepal, one from Cote d’Ivoire, and one from Afghanistan. Eight interview respondents were male, and three were female. The respondents’ ages ranged from 20 to 35, with a mean age of 22.8 years. Table 1 provides a summary of the respondent characteristics. Student Criteria for Selecting the American College

For two of the 11 international students, affordability was the deciding factor in selecting Regional State University (this is a pseudonym, abbreviated as RSU). The Afghani male had started out at a college in a southern state, but the English-as-a-Second-Language classes there were too expensive. He searched on the internet and found that RSU was among the least costly. For the Nepalese female, foremost, too, was affordability, which is why she chose RSU over other colleges in the area. But she also chose RSU because she felt the school was gaining in popularity. Third, she already had friends at RSU, and these friends referred her to the university. The Ivorian male selected RSU because of his family connection at the school. He had a cousin who was attending RSU at the time he applied. This cousin helped him with his application materials and later helped him negotiate the campus, local life, and American society in general. The Swedish male was already a student at a community college in upstate New York when a RSU athletic coach recruited him. In addition, the Swedish student had friends at an area university who had described the area to him. The area surrounding RSU “sounded beautiful,” so he felt it was “right” to attend RSU. All of the Chinese students I interviewed were in a “one-to-one program,” which is a partnership between certain American colleges and certain Chinese colleges. The Chinese students begin their first year of college in China, then spend the next two years in an American college, then complete their fourth and final year back at their Chinese college. The students are able to select from a list of American colleges to attend, including RSU. For the Chinese students I interviewed, the location of the college usually was the deciding factor. All of the Chinese students I interviewed selected RSU foremost because of its proximity to a known metropolitan area. Chinese male #5 specifically wanted to be near a big city, but also wanted to be near New York City, and near the ocean. The city in which RSU is located satisfied these three requirements, leading to his selection of the campus. Before Chinese male #2 came to the United States, he was not very acquainted with the expansive choices of American colleges, but the presence of well-known, elite universities in the region suggested that attending college in this area of the United States was a good choice in terms of quality education. Chinese male #2 therefore selected RSU because of its proximity to a metropolitan area and because of the reputation of the area colleges and universities.

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Results

Language Barriers Experienced A language barrier was the biggest challenge that the international students faced, leading

to other adjustment issues. A lack of full fluency of American English undermined the students’ ability to communicate with peers and others, occasionally leading to miscommunication and misunderstandings, as well as the inability to form friendships. The language barrier also affected some of the students’ academic success. As Chinese male #2 put it: “When I came here, I could not understand what others were saying, and I could not say something I want clearly. Like others could not understand what I was saying. That’s a big challenge for me when I just came here.” Chinese male #4 concurred, noting that when he talks to Americans, “I talk like a new baby.” Chinese female #1 indicated that her ability to study at RSU was hampered by a language difference. As she explained, sometimes she tried to study with her American peers, but was unable to explain her thoughts cogently. This inability to articulate her thoughts into understandable American English also affected her ability to make friends. Similarly, language was the biggest challenge for the Ivorian male, who noted that sometimes he did not fully understand what Americans were saying; meanwhile, some Americans also were unable to understand his line of thought, but pretended to understand him by smiling and nodding. The language barrier also may affect international students’ academic success and everyday communication. For Chinese male #1, the language barrier meant needing to put in double time to complete his homework assignments. For other Chinese students, the use of a translation dictionary was necessitated at times, while on other occasions, they sought the help of their friends, both co-national friends and American friends. As Chinese male #4 put it, because of the language barrier, he became less social and more socially isolated, which affected his confidence level in terms of communicating and interacting with Americans. Cultural Differences and Cultural Misunderstandings Chinese male #2 described an event involving a cultural misunderstanding. His roommate had baked a lot of pizza and Chinese male #2 had helped himself to a piece, because he assumed the food was to be shared, as was customary in China, and also because of the sheer quantity of pizza available. His roommate, however, reprimanded him and told him that “You should ask [first].” Realizing his error, Chinese male #2 was really embarrassed. In other cases, Americans might misinterpret the behaviors of international students. Chinese female #1 explained, for instance, that there were different connotations associated with hand-holding among girls and young women. In the U.S., she explained, girls holding hands might signify a lesbian relationship. In China, however, handholding among girls is common, indicating that two girls are good friends who enjoy spending time with each other. Hence, Chinese girls may be seen holding hands or linking arms but the relationship is purely platonic.

Food. Food represented a major cultural change for Chinese students in particular.

Chinese students seemed to have more difficulty getting used to American food and especially American junk food. Furthermore, the Chinese food that is available in the area surrounding campus, or even in city, tend not to be authentically Chinese; rather, Chinese food in the U.S., according to the Chinese students, tend to be Americanized: The dishes are loaded with sugar, salt, and preservatives. This point was mentioned by Chinese males #1, #2, and #5, Chinese

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females #1 and #2. The Swedish male also observed the ubiquity of American fast food and the general unhealthy nature of American food. Food was not an issue for some of the respondents, however. The Ivorian male, for instance, while yearning for food from his country of origin, noted that he was able to obtain most of the ingredients (or similar ingredients) he needed to prepare Ivorian meals, as most of the ingredients were readily available in mainstream American grocery stores. On occasions, though, the ingredients were not available in the mainstream grocery stores, which then required visits to specialized grocery stores. Food also was not an issue for Chinese male #3, who, in contrast to some of his co- national counterparts, expressed his fondness for American food. He also appreciated how, in this part of the United States, cuisines from different cultures were so readily available, unlike in China, where “Chinese people only eat Chinese food.” His peer, Chinese male #4, also enjoyed American fast food, at least initially. But then he confessed how he gained almost 15 pounds from the American diet.

Pedagogical Differences. There are noticeable differences in teaching methods and expectations across institutions within a country, and across nations. Chinese male #2 suggested that, at RSU, students were required to take greater responsibility for their education, as they were required to work more independently. In contrast, at the Chinese colleges, professors and classmates regularly reminded students of assignments, due dates, and possible grade penalties. These reminders were largely facilitated because Chinese college students take the same courses with the same set of peers, who tend to keep each other on task. In contrast, at RSU and most other American colleges, the student constitution in each class may differ, so that students may see a different set of students (comprising both within and outside of one’s major) in each class. In addition, in China, course grades are dependent on students’ performance on one or two exams only. In contrast, at RSU the course grade typically is not determined by a single exam, but multiple exams, homework assignments, and even participation and attendance. Such a difference in grading expectations was surprising to the Chinese students, who seemed to prefer RSU’s method. The Swedish male student felt that college education in the United States and Sweden was comparable, with some minor differences. One of the biggest differences, he stated, was that in Sweden, there are no homework assignments; instead, there are two major exams for each class, very much like the Chinese system. Hence, a student’s course grade depends on his or her performance on those exams. And very much like the Chinese system, class attendance is not mandatory. All that is required is that students perform well on the exams. The Swedish student, very much like some of the Chinese students, preferred the system at RSU, where a student’s course grade was determined by various elements, and not just a single or even two exams. As the Swedish student put it:

I don’t think you should put that pressure on a student. Think about if you have to take five different classes. You have five mid-terms in one week. That’s going to be kind of hard to remember all those parts, you know?

In terms of class size, the Swedish student noted that RSU classes were larger than classes in Sweden. The Chinese students in this study, in contrast, pointed out that classes in China were much larger, with up to 150 students or so in a class.

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Faculty-Student Relations. The Afghani male observed there was greater faculty- student communication both in class and outside of class at RSU. He further observed that students could email their professors anytime outside of class. The Swedish male felt that American professors were more formal, compared to their Swedish counterparts. In Sweden, he explained, “You can say whatever you want.” And according to his friends back home, the professors in Sweden were not like parents, but more like friends. Chinese male #2, in contrast to the Swede, felt that American college professors were more like friends, when compared to Chinese college professors. As he described it, in the U.S., “You can talk about anything. You can call the professor’s name and easily they don’t mind, but in China, you will never call the professor’s name. You can only call him or her ‘Professor’ or ‘teacher.’” Chinese male #2 felt that there was a difference in the respect accorded to the professors, with more respect given to Chinese professors. Chinese male #2 felt the difference in faculty-student relationships had much to do with the institutional culture. He observed the more informal relationships between faculty and students at RSU. In China, he stated that a professor simply lectures and “nothing else.” In contrast, he felt that the professors at RSU engaged in small talk and would converse with students about non-academic topics, such as the latest sporting event, so discussions did not merely center around class materials. Three of the Chinese male students believed that the professors in China were not as strict as American professors. Their perception was based on a comparison of the quantity of assignments: Very little homework was assigned in their colleges in China. Second, Chinese professors were not as likely as American professors to reprimand students when the students were playing around on their cell phones. For Chinese male #3, American college professors also had more requirements, while for Chinese male #4 it was the American professors’ practice of taking class attendance daily that hinted to their strictness.

Differentials in Academic Resources. For the Afghani male, the most striking difference between the school systems in Afghanistan, Iran, and the United States had to do with the sheer disparity in resources, particularly access to up-to-date information and materials, which schools in Iran tend not to have. In addition, the Afghani student observed that a lot of the academic materials in both Afghanistan and Iran actually come from the United States or other western societies, but the materials were not often translated into Iranian or Afghani languages. Iran poses a special challenge, according to the Afghani male, who described social problems as rampant in Iran and the political structure as “a dictator regime.” As a result, in Iran, the origins and extent of societal problems such as poverty, violence, and drug abuse are concealed. Updated statistics and literatures about crime, for instance, are not issued. And when statistics are released, they are distorted statistics. The absence of accurate information, thus, poses a challenge to not just academics and students, but to the general public. Social Concerns

The Roommate Situation. The Afghani male, Ivorian male, and Nepalese female always have lived off campus. The Swedish male and all the Chinese students live on campus, although second-year Chinese students typically choose to live off campus, in their own apartments. For the students who live off campus, the primary reason had to do with the cost. A second reason was that the dormitories at RSU close during holidays and breaks, which means that residential students would need to find temporary housing during that period, a requirement that proved to

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be either impossible or frustrating for the international students, who may not have family or close friends nearby. During their first year at RSU, the Chinese students are required to live on campus, in dormitories. Roommates are assigned to them, rather than self-selected. Thus, in some cases, a Chinese student may be the single international student in a suite; in other cases, s/he may room with co-nationals (other Chinese students). For the Chinese students who live on campus, there were special challenges, although not all the challenges were specific to their international student status. Personality and lifestyle differences among roommates proved to be a challenge. Chinese male #4’s roommates were all American. While he got along very well with his roommates, they regularly held parties in their suite at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. For Chinese male #1, one roommate, also from China, had a reverse schedule in which he slept most of the day, rather than at night, and spent most of his time playing video games rather than studying. The permissiveness of American culture also proved to be problematic at times for the Chinese students. In fact, some of the Chinese students I interviewed specifically pointed out the sexual permissiveness and overt sexual expressions that they observed among Am

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