A recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Education said many foreign students report
feeling lonely or unwelcome in Australia. Those feelings are among the reasons why
Australia is taking a close look at its international education industry. The government
has formed an advisory council to help (develop) a five-year national (strategy) for the
future of international education in Australia.
But wherever international students go, making friends may not always be easy. The
Journal of International and Intercultural Communication recently published a study done
in the United States.
Elisabeth Gareis of Baruch College in New York surveyed four hundred fifty-four
international students. They were attending four-year colleges and graduate schools in
the American South and Northeast.
Students from English-speaking countries and from northern and central Europe were more
likely to be happy with their friendships. But thirty-eight percent of the international
students said they had no close friends in the United States.
And half of the students from East Asia said they were unhappy with the number of
American friends they had. Professor Gareis says thirty percent said they wished their
friendships could be deeper and more meaningful.
ELISABETH GAREIS: "Students from East Asia have (cultures) that are different on many
levels from the culture in the United States. But then there's also language problems,
and maybe some social skills, such as small talk, that are possibly not as important in
their native countries, where it's not as important to (initiate) friendships with small
talk."
She says many East Asian students blamed themselves for their limited friendships with
Americans.
ELISABETH GAREIS: "The vast majority blames themselves, actually for not speaking the
language well enough, not knowing the culture well enough. There were also some comments
about the college environment, like many of them were in the natural sciences or worked
in labs where they were (surrounded) by other East Asians."
VOA's Student Union blogger Jessica Stahl did her own survey to find out how American
students and foreign students relate to each other. More than one hundred students,
about half of them American, answered her online questions.
Half of the international students and sixty percent of the Americans said they related
as well or better to the other group than to their own group. Professor Gareis says
students who make friends from their host country return home happier with their
experience.
ELISABETH GAREIS: "International students who make friends with host nationals are,
overall, more satisfied with their stay in the host country. They have better language
skills, they have better academic performance and they have better attitudes (toward)
the host country."
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Jim
Tedder.