How Self-perception of One's English Skills Influence Interaction With Domestic Students

Every year, thousands of international students move to the US to pursue their education in American universities and institutions. In addition to pursuing and gaining access to top research opportunities and highly  advanced infrastructure, many international students are also interested in the college experience. However, upon arrival many choose to stay within their comfort zone, interacting mainly with people from their own cultures. The interaction between international and domestic students is enriching to both parties and should be encouraged by faculty and staff. 

International students often find it intimidating to jump into American culture and groups. For instance, the Chinese international students tend to close their social circles to mainly other chinese students, “thus they have little opportunity to socially adjust to the new country” (Ma, 85). This claim can be evidenced by some of the responses received from the interviews conducted during winter of 2020. According to interviewee 1, many of the Chinese students join the Chinese Student Association and remain within that circle of friends. They also claimed that they had mostly Chinese friends during their first two years at UC Santa Barbara. Additionally, interviewee 2 claimed that they had spent most of their first year studying in their dorm instead of going out of their comfort zone to meet new people. The intimidation stems from the fact that many international students have low self-perceptions of English skills and from feeling the sense of belonging among their own cultural groups (Ma, 85). 

Establishing friendships, communication, and connections between domestic and international students can be beneficial to both parties. Their interaction encourages the parties to share and challenge their different opinions and general knowledge “continually reorganising their own cognitive processes” (Arkoudis et al, 223). Moreover, the interaction can also help international students become more confident about their English skills. Interviewee 1 posited that although in the beginning they did not feel comfortable talking to domestic students because of their low confidence in their English skills, domestic students were helpful and taught them meanings of words and slang. 

However, beneficial domestic and international student interaction can be encouraged by faculty and staff. According to  Arkoudis et al, “students do not often engage in this level of discourse unless prompted to do so” (223). When asked to describe a moment when they felt included at UCSB, interviewee 2 described the freshman year party in front of Storke tower organized by UCSB. They said that they felt flattered when domestic students would talk to them and compliment their English skills.  Furthermore, Arkoudis et al references creating environments for interaction as a way to incentivize interaction between the two groups (228). These environments can be in class as instructors may choose to include icebreakers and to arrange seats in a way that contributes in the blending of students (Arkoudis et al, 228). The article also suggests that instructors should also plan curriculum so that interaction is encouraged and supported such as making it a course objective (Arkoudis et al, 229). Interviewee 2 described working in group projects with domestic students as what makes them feel part of UCSB.

International students often have lower self-perceptions of their English skills compared to the level of their actual skills which discourages them from interacting with domestic students. This is unfortunate because learning can be enhanced by the interaction between both groups, and international students’ english skills and self confidence can improve through interaction. Therefore, they should be incentivized to talk, learn from each other’s point of views, and challenge each other’s differences and ideas. 

Works Cited

Arkoudis, Sophie, et al. “Finding Common Ground: Enhancing Interaction between Domestic and International Students in Higher Education.” Teaching in Higher Education, vol. 18, no. 3, 2013, pp. 222–235., doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.719156. 

Ma, Junqian. “Supporting Practices to Break Chinese International Students’ Language Barriers.” Journal of International Students, vol. 10, no. 1, 2020, pp. 84–105., doi:10.32674/jis.v10i1.773.