Paper Example on Challenges That International Students Experience in the US

Introduction

International students are essential stakeholders in the US as they give revenues to local colleges as well as promoting diversity within the community. However, despite the advantages associated with them, they face challenges that inhibit their stay and learning process in the US. In this regard, the research question will be:

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What are common challenges facing international students at various institutions of higher learning within the US and what are the probable solutions to these challenges?

This research question will be essential since it will not only focus on students from a given institution within the US but across the entire country. By so doing, the research will establish challenges that students across different geographical locations within the country experience. The research question will also help to recommend various solutions to these challenges to help international students get the best experience while studying and staying within the US.

The research involved the use of credible online libraries to help in finding peer-reviewed articles that contained relevant information regarding the research questions. These online libraries included EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, PubMed, and ProQuest. These databases

The research customized the range of search to articles published between 2008 and 2018. It is essential to understand that articles published in the last decade contain the most recent and relevant information required to conduct research.

Various keywords were instrumental in obtaining the relevant pieces of information regarding challenges that international students faced. For example, "challenges facing international students" was used extensively answer the research question. "Problems facing US-based international students" was another keyword that was vital in the research. These keywords helped in obtaining articles with general information on international students studying in the US. However, to be more specific, other keywords such as "challenges of Asian international students," "English language challenges," and "acculturative stress facing international students" were used to find relevant articles regarding the research topic and question.

The criteria that were used to ensure that all the ten articles were relevant included limiting the search options in the database to include finding all the search terms, applying related words, and searching the articles within the full text. By limiting the search options, the articles obtained were pivotal in investigating and identifying challenges that inhibit the well-being and academic excellence of international students learning and staying in the US.

Charles-Toussaint, G. C., & Crowson, H. M. (2010). Prejudice against international students: the role of threat perceptions and authoritarian dispositions in U.S. students. Journal of Psychology, 144(5), 413-428. doi: 10.1080/00223980.2010.496643

Charles-Toussaint and Crowson are researchers working at the Department of Educational Psychology at the US's University of Oklahoma. This article is unique because rather than focusing on general challenges that international students experience, the study has narrowed its focus on prejudice. The authors observe that international students face numerous challenges despite the benefits associated with them. This article is instrumental as it helps readers, policy and program development, and future researchers to understand prejudice as a challenge to international students. The researchers used regression analysis based on 188 students randomly sampled from Southwestern University. The article is therefore vital since it bases its conclusion on scientific approach and analysis. Nevertheless, the article based its analysis on students from a particular region in the US. For this reason, it did not represent the state of prejudice across the entire country. Admittedly, if the researchers had sampled their respondents from across different geographical locations within the US, they would have established the problem of prejudice across the country.

Jennings, R. (2017). International students at community colleges: challenges and opportunities for this unique segment of U.S higher education. New Directions for Student Services, 2017(158), 61-71. DOI: 10.1002/ss.20220

Jennings is a scholar who investigates the challenges as well as opportunities associated with international students who stay and study in the US. Jennings has a particular strength in research by critically analyzing various opportunities that the US colleges and the government. The researcher notes that the primary motivation behind admitting international college students is revenue that the institution earns from them. The other opportunity includes diversity within the school and the community. However, Jennings is keen to note that not all schools benefit from international students as some may face challenges in their bid to recruit and retain them. These challenges may be erotic such that instead of guaranteeing these schools opportunities associated with international students, the colleges may end up having a damaged reputation both locally and internationally. Another captivating part of this article is that rather than identifying challenges and opportunities, Jennings goes ahead and gives suggestion regarding the best program to adapt to ensure that the chances of community colleges accommodating international students become successful. Jennings proposes a program that gives independence, protection, support, and resources to international students. By so doing, the author believes that this program will help international students to integrate in the US community colleges easily. However, the article does not outline strategies to implement this program, a situation that requires further research and brainstorming. Despite this shortcoming, the article will be imperative in understanding the challenges that international students go through in the US.

Kwon, Y. (2009). Factors affecting international students' transition to higher education institutions in the United States. -- From the perspective of office of international students. College Student Journal, 43(4), 1020-1036.doi: eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ872317

Kwon is a researcher in matters regarding international students. He bases his research on the findings he obtained from 165 international students that were randomly sampled irrespective of their demography. The study was superb in identifying factors that affect their transition to the higher institutions of learning in the US. Kwon noted that Asian international students had low English proficiency. Also, all international students suffered from loneliness, homesickness, and isolation irrespective of their country of origin. It is important to note that the article is prudent in enlisting and explaining factors that hamper integration of international students in the American higher learning institutions. The article also provides empirical data to various agencies and personnel such as professors, international legislators, and educational administrators among others to help these students adapt quickly to life in the US. However, the article provides no strategy on how to avert these inhibitive factors to make international students to have a smooth transition. Typically, the article offers critical information that can be a good starting point for any researcher who would wish to explore available options to facilitate students' transition.

Li, J., Marbley, A. F., Bradley, L. J., & Lan, W. (2016). Attitudes toward seeking professional counseling services among Chinese international students: acculturation, ethnic identity, and English proficiency. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 44(1), 65-76. doi: 10.1002/jmcd.12037

The authors of this article took a unique approach to their research work. Rather focusing on the challenges associated with international students in their pursuit for undergraduate or post-graduate degrees in the US, these authors narrowed their study to determine how Chinese international students perceive professional counseling services. They used a random sample of 109 Chinese students to conduct their study. One major advantage of this research is that it uses statistical analysis tools to evaluate the likelihood of a Chinese student in seeking counseling services. The article, therefore, offers a scientific assessment regarding Chinese international students' perception and ability to seek professional counseling regarding their ethnic identity, acculturation, and English proficiency. Despite its specificity in address issues with international students, the research has various limitations. The study used an online survey, and therefore there was no physical contact with respondents. This means that the researchers had no causal relationship with respondents, thereby unable to determine their attitudes. The study also used convenience sampling which is prone to bias. Nonetheless, the article helps to understand the shortcomings associated with professional counseling and how relevant stakeholders can improve the attitude of Chinese international students towards seeking these services.

Lin, S., & Scherz, S. D. (2014). Challenges facing Asian international graduate students in the US: pedagogical considerations in higher education. Journal of International Students, 4(1), 16-33.

Lin and Scherz are accomplished researchers from Idaho State University who used the qualitative phenomenological study to identify linguistic challenges that students from non-English speaking nations experience while studying the US. It was noted that these students have linguistic challenges which are detrimental to their learning and staying experience in the US. Quintessentially, these authors noted that linguistic challenges inhibit their ability to understand lectures, take part in classroom discussion, and socialize with native speakers among others. This article is resourceful because, other than identifying challenges that non-English speaking learners face in the US, it has also explained in great details strategies that can be used to avert these challenges. The authors categorize these strategies in subgroups such as linguistic, cultural, academic, and instructional strategies to enable students and other stakeholders involved to understand the solutions to challenges facing non-English speaking learners in the US. One strategy that I find intriguing and vital in solving challenges facing non-English speaking students is the internationalization of teaching. This strategy will help to avert academic, cultural, and social challenges associated with students from non-English speaking nations. Thus, this article is invaluable for research regarding the challenges that international students experience while learning in the US and strategies to alleviate these difficulties.

Ravichandran, S., Kretovics, M., Kirby, K., & Ghosh, A. (2017). Strategies to address English language writing challenges faced by international graduate students in the US. Journal of International Students, 7(3), 764-785. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.570033

Ravichandran and Kretovics are scholars at Kent State University while Kirby and Ghosh are professionals at Global Ambassadors Language Academy and Education for Innovation Inc. in the US. These authors interviewed 15 respondents or participants, all of them being international students from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to establish their difficulty in English language writing. While the article acknowledges that despite the increasing number of international students with good command of the English language, many still experience difficulties associated with plagiari...