Different Aspects of Life of International Students - Essay Example

Different Aspects of Life of International Studying Abroad Introduction: The concept of going abroad for study purpose is very common in most of the students. Students always try to grab this opportunity for making their professional degrees more attractive and thus getting good jobs. Whenever any student goes out of his own country in some of the foreign country then definitely he or she will have to face certain challenges (Luget 2014; Mason 2002). The most important and the prevailing challenge or the hurdle for the adjustment in the foreign country is the huge difference of the cultures between the homeland and the international culture. There are a few numbers of students who do not suffer the cultural issues, while on the other hand there are many other people who have to face many hurdles just because of the lack of understanding with the host cultures (Luget 2014; Mason 2002). In addition to the cultural aspects, there are many other issues, which can create a problem for the settlement of the student in the international environment, which is not at all his homeland. In this paper, the topic of the research is the concerns of life of an international postgraduate student. By the end of the paper, we will be able to highlight major issues just because of the research based on actual interview of a postgraduate student. Qualitative Interview of a Post Graduate Student: There are many categories of the qualitative interviews as described by the research. The three most common types of such interviews are structured, semi - structured and unstructured interviews. The structured interviews more frequently fallout in incisive quantitative data and therefore the format of this research study would be on either semi - structured or unstructured interview, preferably semi-structured (Robert 2013; Saunders 2006). The unstructured interviews usually refer towards the collection of observational data while on the other hand semi-structured interviews are the one and only reliable source for qualitative research. Semi - structured interviews are concerned about the around already constructed open-ended questions, or we can say free opinion based questions. One question direct the interview session towards the next question. More questions could follow relating to the previous one, and the whole perspective could be brought into light (Robert 2013; Saunders 2006). The most suitable type of interview for the study is semi - structured format just because of the nature of questions. As the topic is ‘Different aspects of a life of an international post graduate student,’ it would always be a better idea to gain a deep insight about the perceptions and the actual difficulties, which a student may face in a foreign culture. In this type of research study, the semi - structured interview would help the interviewee to take a chance to know just the actual factors or the facts and detailed response instead of just a yes or no for an answer. It would help to know the reasons behind the perceptions of difficulties in the people’s minds. This will help to get the answers for such ‘why this and why that’ factors in all the aspects relating to studying abroad. Selection Criteria of the Interviewee: For the sake of this interview, we require a post - graduate student who is a foreign student and living in the host country from last three years. It is required just because of the reason that we may get insights about the problems and then the possible solutions of those problems. The postgraduate student will share his or her experiences and the ways to handle the difficulties with the interviewee. For the sake of the fulfillment of all the requirements, I asked my friend to search for any student who meets the criteria. Then I met a post - graduate student who has been living in the country from last two years, he is doing MS Management here. I asked him if he agrees to give me an interview about his life experiences in the new and international culture. Initially he asked for the privacy of his opinions and then he was ready to share the experience with me. We settled down the timing and the place for the interview. We decided to meet in the University Library on Friday evening. Transcription of the Interview: Here in this section, a detailed written prescription of the Interview session is given. Interviewer: Do You think that a certain level of patience is required for making the adjustment in a new culture that is really opposite to the home culture? Interviewee: Definitely, there is a requirement of extreme level of patience if you decide to adjust in this culture, which is entirely different form the home culture. These differences will make a hurdle in your way but with the passage of time they will be dissolved just because of you will and desire to put them down. A post - graduate is mature enough to be flexible about the certain situations of life. This situation is not an uncertain one because we have planned for it and no one forced us to move to any other country for the study purpose. Therefore, if we want to improve the quality education then we must have to settle down. It is evident that time will be required for this purpose; first, we have to observe deeply about the surrounding things and the people, their behaviors and life styles. After deep analysis we may get familiarize to it. In this way, we can have an adjustment quality with the environment just based on our own observation and the understanding level. Interviewer: What are the symptoms of not adjustment in the new culture? Interviewee: The biggest emotion of this phase is the sadness and the loneliness. The person may feel headaches and other pains in the body just because of the mental and emotional weaknesses. In actual it is nothing rather just a feeling or we can say emotion. In the initial days, the student may have to suffer due to disturbed and irregular sleep patterns. All these factors may leads towards uncertain mood changes, depression, anger, mood swings and thus causing a rude or critical attitude. At first the new student may not want to interact with others not even with the class fellows just because of the over whelmed emotions of sadness and loneliness. In this way, a student can even suffer from lack of confidence in front of others. Thus, he will lose his identity. All this mixed ride of emotions may run in the minds and hearts of the new students. Interviewer: Do you think that the opportunities of cultural exchange study are really beneficial for the post graduate student? Interviewee: However, it is quite evident that students have to face a lot of challenges and barriers to be settled in the new environment. Still I am in favor of these exchange student opportunities of different study programs. Because students will ultimately adjust in the new environment but the benefits, which will be given to them in their future professional life is really great. Therefore I must say that students should not miss this opportunity and thus polish their educational skills and degrees. Interviewer: What about the internal feeling of being an outsider in this country and especially in the University environment? Interviewee: It is hundred percent true that during entire phase of degree completion, the internal feeling of being an outsider may remain with the student. The reason behind the feeling is the physical appearance or the mental approach towards many other things. This feeling is not dependent upon the level of patience or the time required to be settled in the new environment. Rather the students have to face this feeling throughout his or her stay in the international country. Interviewer: How you advise to handle the communication problems in the international country? Interviewee: Communication is another biggest concern in the new cultures. This may happen due to the changes in the languages or the style or we can say way of speaking or writing the things. The high point is that the communication gap sometimes may change the meaning of the content and thus it may create an unwanted situation for the student. Certain things are required for filling the communication gap. A fluency in the respective language, which can be attained by a lot of practice sessions or by specially designed courses for the foreign students. The pronunciation may also create problems or even sometimes change the meaning of the content. Therefore the students should be informed about the language courses which are specially designed for the cultural exchanged students. Interviewer: Are weather and other significant changes creating a difference for the settlement in the new set up? Interviewee: For sure, these things also matter a lot when you are far away from family and home. The weather changes may affect the physical fitness of the students. In this way we should take care of ourselves in the initial days so that we can face the hard weathers of European countries. The student from different sub continents may face serious problems because of the extreme weather changes. Interviewer: Which types of changes are more significant; Financial, Academic or Social? Interviewee: If we talk about the significance of the type of change then I must say that all the three changes are equally significant and effective on the student’s behaviors. A student needs strong financial aid to settle in a new place. Therefore, most of the students have to go for jobs along with their studies. There is a lot of difference in the academic patterns of every country therefore student have to adjust according to the academic criteria. After both financial and academic changes, the social issues are equally important because of their influence on human behavior. Technical Issues: I decided to record the entire interview session with my recorder, therefore many of the technical issues and concerns should be discussed here. There are many technical issues linked with audio recording though it is one of the best methods to gather and later analyze data, just because of the fact that we can have full record of each and every single word of the interviewee. Otherwise, in case of written record we may skip many of the important points just because of the speedy writing. One of the most fundamental problems is to maintain a high - quality audiotape to pass on to in some point in time (Wendoroff, F 2014; Silverman 2001). The biggest hurdle in the audio recording is the noise factor in the background. In addition to noise factor, weak batteries of the recorder could affect the quality of the sound. Another important aspect is the placement of the recorder it should be placed in a direction that it can catch both voices very clearly, i.e. voices of interviewer and the interviewee. If not placed well then it can create problems for the clearance and the understanding of the voices at some points of recording (Wendoroff, F 2014; Silverman 2001). The fresh and innovative devices can be complex to use as there are brands in hundreds each having different options to run it. We can say that every device has separate working set up and directions, which may create a confusion. Most institutions and individuals necessitate paperwork or the written record before opting for this technique of recording the interview session. Some persons are of the opinion that recording is a testimony of something a person has said and could be used in a negative way at a later point in time (Wendoroff, F 2014; Silverman 2001). Ethical Issues: In the research studies the ethical concerns are very important. It is very significant to complete the work in the dominion of good and desired ethics so that justice could be done to the research. This study will look to maintain ethical behavior anticipating the harm that could be brought to the interviewee, holding on to the information provided, accurately defining the nature of the study to the interviewee and trying not to exploit the interviewee (Gummesson 1991). Another ethical concern is the privacy of the information provided by the interviewee. This research study will not use the personal information for any other purpose other than data analysis. The queries are carefully designed, and current discussion would be based on general and common things about the perceptions of the difficulties faced by international students rather than things too personal like the experiences in a more personal way. This is very common among most of the students that they usually face drastic changes in the life styles and the social concerns of the home countries and that of the host countries (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2008). Therefore, it is not highlighted that only the particular interviewee is facing the challenges rather any other person can have the same opinion and the challenges. Information and particulars regarding the interviewee and his audio recording would not be leaked or handed to someone else. The purpose of the study has explained in detail to the interviewee, and he would be ensured that he would not be exploited upon the accurate and honest information he provides (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2008). Limitations: Like many other research studies, this particular research has also some points that may limit the generalization of the findings. All the research findings and the concluding remarks are based on single interviewee opinion. It confines the scope of the study as it only brings a single perspective into the topic of discussion. Had there been more respondents it would have allowed the researcher to analyze and compare the interview to gain a better insight into the subject matter. Reflection Findings: After completing the interview session, I can assess the finding by applying certain data analysis tools and techniques. It is generally perceived that students in the international setting have to face financial, social and academic problems, which can be solved but definitely, time is required. A certain level of patience may help them to adjust in the new settings. Emotional and physical suffering is not a new thing for an international exchange student and thus they should be mentally prepared for it. The most important or the high point is students should not be dis-hearted by these perceptions. They should always try for grabbing such opportunities. Expectations of the Themes vs. Actual Themes of the Interview Session: There is not a significant difference in the expected and the actual theme of the interview session. The only thing, which I may highlight, is the patience level of the interviewee. It seemed that he easily crossed all the cultural barriers and now well settled in the environment contrary to this I was expecting an emotional behavior form the interviewee regarding the barriers and the hurdles. It is evident that students have to suffer financial problems but the interviewee is of opinion that it is quite normal to have job along with the study so that student can bear the expense of the education (Bryman & Bell 2007; Denzin & Lincoln 2005). Success of the Interview: The overall research findings show that the results are the same as expected by the interviewer. Therefore, we can say that the interview session reading the aspects of lives of international post - graduate students is quite successful. All the research findings and the results are evident to draw opinion based on them. Strengths and the Weaknesses of the Interview Technique of Being Semi – Structured Format: The entire interview session is based on the semi - structured format that is quite beneficial because of the exact results as expected from the interview session. The audio recording of the entire interview session was very good because it really helped out to keep the whole scenario in the remaining data analysis session. Initially I was planning to have written notes on the but now I realized that written notes may not help me to reach the final and exact conclusion. It is evident now that the written notes would not have had the same effect and success. With just a press of a button, I can hear and analyze the interview as many times I feel like. I have already made notes of all the important and surprising things I found in the research. I am working on more things that could be penetrated through the recorded interview. There are some weaknesses like in a couple of occasions I cannot hear what the interviewee is saying just because of the noise factors which may sometimes disturb the audio tape fluency, but I do get the picture as I conducted it. Something similar could also have happened if I had noted down the interview in writing and failed to recognize what has been written down due to lack of clarity. Where there are positives there are also a few negatives. Overall, I am very impressed with the nature of the interview that was conducted. This all happen just because of the credibility of the interviewee, reliability of the audio recorders and the comfortable environmental conditions of the University Library that I am able to get exact and expected research findings. Works Cited Bryman, A & Bell, E 2007, ‘Business Research Methods’, 2nd Edition, page 102 - 112, Oxford University Press Denzin, N & Lincoln, Y 2005, ‘The SAGE handbook of Qualitative Research London’, 1st Edition, Sage Publications, page 98 - 106 Eriksson, P & Kovalainen, A 2008, ‘Qualitative Methods in Business Research London’, Special Edition, page 26 - 39, Sage Publications Gummesson, E 1991, ‘Qualitative Methods in Management Research London’, 3rd Edition, Sage Publications, Page 124 - 135 Luget, L 2014, ‘The Common Challenges Students Face When Studying Abroad’, Future Challenges, viewed December 8, 2014 from https://futurechallenges.org/local/the-common-challenges-students-face-when-studying-abroad/ Mason, J 2002, ‘Qualitative Researching’, 1st Edition, Sage Publishers, page 145 - 165 Piekarit, R & Welch, C 2005, ‘Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for International Business London’, 2nd Edition, Edward Elgar Publishers, page 89 - 98 Robert, L 2013, ‘The Dark Side of Studying Abroad, and How to address it’, The Huffing Post, viewed December 8, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-quigley-md-dphil/mental-health-study-abroad_b_2852843.html Saunders, M et al 2006, ‘Research Methods for Business Students’, Financial Times, Special Issue, Prentice Hall Silverman, D 2000, ‘Doing Qualitative Research’, A Practical Handbook of Research Book, Volume 2, Number 3, page 14 – 19 Silverman, D 2001, ‘Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analyzing talk, text and interaction’, 1st Edition, Sage Publishers, page 134 - 142 Wendoroff, F 2014, ‘Top Five Challenges of Studying Abroad’, Top Universities, viewed December 8, 2014 from http://www.topuniversities.com/blog/top-5-challenges-studying-abroad Read More