Public letter about ‘Homesickness Among Inter
Public letter about "Homesickness Among International Students"
the assignment about three later:
a draft of a cover letter
a draft of a Genre Re-Design (English version)
a draft of a Genre Re-Design (Arabic version)
400- to 500-word cover letter. In this letter, explain the following:
● What information did you keep from the literature review, and why?
● Which conventions of the genre did you use in order to achieve your purpose for each audience?
(You can focus on 2-3 of the conventions you feel are most important.)
● How are your two versions of the genre similar and how are they different? Why did you make these
choices?
Project 3: Bilingual Re-design Project In English 108 so far, you have worked with several academic genres, including a response and a literature review. For
this last module, you will consider how the rhetorical situation (including audience, purpose, and context) in which a
text is written and read will influence its content and form. Modifying your writing to suit the rhetorical situation will
help you become a more flexible and persuasive writer.
This last project asks you to draw on the work you have done in your literature review assignment, but to now write
for a new audience and in a new genre—in other words, you will re-design your literature review paper into a new
kind of text (or genre). You may choose from one of the following genres:
● An infographic ● A blog post ● A public letter (e.g., letter-to-the-editor in a campus newspaper or newsletter)
There is a twist to this assignment: You will prepare two versions of your text–one in English and one in another
language (most likely this will be your first/dominant language, but it can also be another language that you have
learned at school). Your general audience (students, university administrators, instructors…your choice!) should
remain consistent, but the language shift will require that you think about any differences between your two
different linguistic audiences. For example, you might ask: How might my text change when
writing for Spanish-speaking international students vs. English-speaking domestic students?
Importantly, you are not writing a direct translation of one text to the other. Your texts
will necessarily be a little different (perhaps in content, language choices, length,
organization,
design, etc.) because your audiences are a little different.
Summary and example
Genre options Possible audiences for your text Possible purposes of your text
● Infographic ● Blog post ● Public letter
(e.g., letter to-the-editor for a campus newspaper)
● University administrators ● To inform
● International Student Service ● To persuade
staff ● To share an opinion
● Current international students ● To argue a position
● Potential international students from your home country
● Students in {your department or college}
● …
For example, you might write a…
Blog post
Infographic
for international students in the U.S. to inform them of strategies for
(English-language version) and potential success as an international
international students from Turkey student.
(Turkish-language version)
for faculty and students (English and to persuade them of the value of
Chinese speakers) in Eller internationalizing an undergraduate business
curriculum.
Why is this assignment bilingual?
As a multilingual writer, you can and should use what you know about writing in all of your languages. This project
aims to give you practice in doing so. The goal of preparing this project in two languages is that it will help you to think
about how one type of writing (genre) might be similar and different across languages. You may have some knowledge
of these genres in your first language, and you can use that knowledge to learn more about the genre in English. Steps
1. Identify the genre that you will write in. Think about the topic you wrote about in your Literature Review. What audiences might be interested in that topic and why? What genre would be appropriate? (Genre Selection activity)
2. Look through the English-language samples of your chosen genre in D2L and collect additional non- English samples. You will analyze the genre samples in terms of their context, purpose, audience, content, structure, and language. You will also compare the genres across languages. (Genre Analysis activities; Cross-language Genre Analysis)
3. Consider your options in terms of genre form (structure, content, word choice, grammar, etc.) given your chosen audience(s) and purpose(s). Here, you will also want to consider how your two texts (English and other language) might be similar and different from each other.
4. Draft and revise both versions of your text (one in each language). 5. Create a cover sheet that includes the following information:
(a) the genre you have chosen (infographic, blog post, public letter); (b) the intended audience and purpose for each language version (these might not be the same!) (c) a 400- to 500-word cover letter. In this letter, explain the following: ● What information did you keep from the literature review, and why? ● Which conventions of the genre did you use in order to achieve your purpose toward each audience?
(You can focus on 2-3 of the conventions you feel are most important.) ● How are your two versions of the genre similar and how are they different? Why did you make these
choices?
First draft: DD33- April 13
Peer review: DD34- April 15
Final due date: DD35- April 20
Note: If you are creating an infographic for this assignment, here are some applications that may be useful in
designing your text: Piktochart, Venngage, Infogr.am, Readymag (Example), Canva, Piktochart, easelly, visually
Assessment criteria
Your Bilingual Re-Design project will be graded according to the following criteria (exceeds, meets, approaches,
unsatisfactory, not present):
● The texts draw on at least some of the research from the author’s literature review assignment (16 pts.) ● Cover letter explains differences between two texts and provides clear reasons behind these differences (24 pts.) ● Cover letter clearly explains how the texts use some of the genre’s conventions effectively for the
two audiences (24 pts.)
● Text appears to be well-crafted, showing the writer’s thoughtful effort. (24 pts.) ● Re-design meets the assignment guidelines including submission of all drafts and revision. (12 pts.)
,
Safwan Alhawsawi
ENG 108
Dr. Nicholas Barlow
4/21/2022
Homesickness Among International Students
Homesickness is a major issue for international students. It is among the most frequently reported issues of international college learners in the United States. International learning involves, leaving family, and friends as a home culture in pursuit of an academic opportunity abroad (Wu, Garza, & Guzman, 2015). International students are interested in this issue due to their experience with homesickness. International students tend to experience homesickness at least once. They tend to miss people as well as places, establish new social networks as well as adjusting new cultural and environmental needs. It is thus not surprising to hear that about 50% of international learners report frequent feelings of home sicknesses (Oghenerhoro, 2020). Homesickness can as well be perceived as mini grief in which relocation and adjustment to college life may turn into major stressors when resources, as well as coping techniques, are not sufficient (Stroebe, 2015). Therefore, in this review, we will concentrate on the impact of homesickness among the international students.
Causes of Homesickness among international students
International students tend to have issues with feeling alone as well as in relationships. When the majority of the international learners come abroad, there are no families and no friends. They tend to be lonely and thus international students tend to do everything by themselves (Stroebe, 2015). Additionally, at times it is hard to contact families and friends due to time differences. Basically, they tend to be so lonely and thus they try making friends abroad. Some people have the ability to make friends in an easy way, however, some people do not have the ability to match other people. If international learners cannot make friends easily, they tend to be so uncomfortable (Oghenerhoro, 2020). International learners tend to be emotional or wish to go back to their nation. Therefore, international learners can become home as soon as they get into the new nation.
According to Gebregergis (2018), language is another main reason behind homesickness is language. International students are always required to study a second language, though they do not have the ability to speak well, and they cannot listen well. Therefore, international learners may experience challenges with language. For instance, when they wish to complain to someone, they may not be in the capacity to tell one why they want to say it (English, et al., 2017). These factors may result in homesickness. Culture shock is another aspect that may result in homesickness. International students live abroad and therefore there are various cultures. In addition, in college, there are many students that have various cultures. International learners tend to get culture shock on food, money, and other things. Majorly, food tends to be the main factor for homesickness. Though international learners are hungry, they cannot eat sufficient food due to the different foods in their countries. They tend to get uncomfortable, and they get sick. International students cannot get energy without eating. It is difficult to understand the various cultures of international learners when they come to the nation. In addition, local people do not really understand the different cultures (Thomas, 2020). Thus, at times, international learners are in trouble in different cultures.
According to Ferrara (2020), an individual’s geographic distance away from home is a risk factor. The further away an individual is from home, the high the likelihood of experiencing homesickness. The longer the physical distance from home and the less frequent physical contact a person has with the people and places that they miss, the higher the chances of experiencing homesickness. Therefore, the inability to contact home and attachment figures places learners at a high risk of suffering from homesickness. Mainly in higher education, the learners that were away from home were at a high risk of experiencing the feelings of home sicknesses.
Effects of Homesickness among the International Students
When a learner is homesick in college it tends to easily show. While other learners have the ability to come right out and claim what they are going through, others may not be so forthcoming. The knowledge of the symptoms of homesickness can maximize the chances of identifying it. The signs of homesickness can differ from one learner to the other. Some of the signs which can be easily identified by learners include anxiety, depression, feeling as though they do not fit in, reduced motivation, loneliness, sadness, irritability, desiring a connection with an individual, and a sense of grief as well as loss (Sun, Hagedorn, & Zhang, 2016).
Basically, being a homesick college student tends to be distressing, and it can inappropriately affect their lives. For instance, they may miss classes since they feel sad as well as depressed to attend or may struggle to remain focused thus leading to the tumbling grades. Avoiding social activities as well as isolating themselves are as well potential signs of homesickness (Kegel, 2009). Basically, homesickness impacts the academic performance of college students negatively. Excessive acculturative stress tends to lead to eating and sleeping issues, low energy as well as migraines. Additionally, there have been several studies that bring out the connection between homesickness and depression. Homesickness is highly related to depression scores. Some alarming impacts of homesickness-based depression among college learners have been documented including suicide.
Interventions
Assisting international learners to develop friendships in the host nation is among the mainstay of acculturation techniques for college students. Poyrazli and Devonish (2020), advocate for initiatives to enhance the quality of social networks rather than an improvement on the number of close friends. Thus, a counselor may assess the degree of social support that learners have and if support is limited as a result of personal features which may include shyness as well as language barriers and environmental aspects. The majority of the international learners tend to stay in groups of fellow nationals through major interactions with the host natation students tends to be predictive of better cultural adjustment. Thus, peer programs that connect internationals with host county peers may be an appropriate technique for minimizing homesickness. Basically, peer pairing programs that associate international learners with host nation students tend to be more effective in comparison to the formal counseling techniques.
According to Rathakrishan, et al (2021), It may be beneficial to develop acculturative approaches for different subgroups of overseas students. For example, while forbearance is a common coping strategy among African foreign students, it is critical to organize informal outreach seminars that emphasize the importance of receiving high-quality assistance when stress levels rise. In terms of cultural collectivist traditions, counselors can use counseling programs to tap into the existing social support of Asian and Latin American international students.
Learners should embrace as well as accept the new school. They should major in exploring the school as well as its surroundings. They should embrace new opportunities to assist them to feel better in addressing the issue of homesickness in school. They should focus on the reason why they came to the facility. This can be achieved by noting the reasons why they chose the new school as well as the reason why they came to study in the nation. They should as well major in staying active. Staying active by going for walks, hitting the gym as well as exploring the new campus are effective methods of feeling more energetic as well as positive. Learners should as well consider staying connected to home even when they are far away. This aids in making it easy to feel as though one is missing out back at home (Billedo, Kerkhof, & Finkenauer, 2020). One may consider staying connected through regular chats, staying connected with social media, and sharing one’s culture.
References
Billedo, C. J., Kerkhof, P., & Finkenauer, C. (2020). More facebook, less homesick? Investigating the short-term and long-term reciprocal relations of interactions, homesickness, and adjustment among international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 75, 118-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.01.004
Ferrara T. (2020). Understanding Homesickness: A Review of the Literature. Journal for Leadership and Instruction. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1255848.pdf
Gebregergis, W. T. (2018). Major causes of acculturative stress and their relations with sociodemographic factors and depression among international students. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 6(10), 68-87. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2018.610007
Kegel, K. (2009). Homesickness in International College Students. Compelling Counseling Interventions, 67-76. https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/vistas/2009-V-Print/Article 7 Kegel.pdf
Oghenerhoro, A. A. (2020). Homesickness among International Students in Famagusta, North Cyprus (Master's thesis, Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU)-Doğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi (DAÜ)). http://i-rep.emu.edu.tr:8080/jspui/handle/11129/5034
Poyrazli, S., & Devonish, O. B. (2020). Cultural Value Orientation, Social Networking Site (SNS) Use, and Homesickness in International Students. International Social Science Review, 96(3), 2. https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/issr/vol96/iss3/2/
Rathakrishnan, B. A., Bikar Singh, S. S., Kamaluddin, M. R., Ghazali, M. F., Yahaya, A., Mohamed, N. H., & Krishnan, A. R. (2021). Homesickness and socio-cultural adaptation towards perceived stress among international students of a public university in Sabah: an exploration study for social sustainability. Sustainability, 13(9), 4924.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4924
Thomas, D. (2020). Factors that contribute to homesickness among students in Thailand. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 41(1), 136-141. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/kjss/article/view/235043
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