International Students and Cross-Cultural Communications in College Classrooms

Haochen (Andy) Long 

One of the most prominent features of Higher Education in the United States over the last ten years has been the increased number of international students. However, even though international education is hardly a new concept nowadays and the majority of U.S. college campuses have some proportions of exchange scholars or students from different cultural backgrounds, international students still face some very real challenges on and off their campuses. More specifically, while the presence of increased numbers of international students has enhanced opportunities for developing interaction between domestic and international students within the learning and teaching environment, the challenge for the students lies in how to take advantage of these opportunities. 

As the research article, Finding common ground: enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education, indicates: “Cultural and linguistic diversity provides a unique and often underutilized opportunity to develop skills for communicating and working effectively with diversity.” (Arkoudis, Watty, Baik, Yu, Borland, Chang, Lang, Lang & Pearce, 2013) UCSB, just as other campuses with a predominantly English-speaking curriculum, is still experiencing difficulties in enhancing interaction between domestic and international students. This phenomenon is pervasive as we see very few international students developing connections and productive dynamics with their domestic peers in classrooms. The fact that the majority of international scholars stay within their home cultural group for social life also attests to this room for improvement for internationalization and cross-cultural communications between student groups. 

It is of great importance that campus faculty and staff on campus, not just students, are included in these conversations though, as “cross-cultural skills do not happen by magic. They have to be inculcated, they have to be valued and they have to be built into the curriculum.” (Arkoudis, Watty, Baik, Yu, Borland, Chang, Lang, Lang & Pearce, 2013) A lot of international students, especially those who have just arrived in the states, do not know how to start talking to and making long-lasting connections with other students in their classes. It would be immensely helpful if instructors or professors could incorporate some kinds of activities or assignments that encourage cross-cultural teamwork that could help break that barrier among students, which could start as early as the very first class. Such cross-cultural activities in classrooms are important to international education as they not only encourage all students to participate in discussions from the first class but could also develop confidence within the international student group that can help them speak up and participate in more active and engaging ways in their academic journey in the future.

In conclusion, college education in the U.S. has done an incredible job at internationalization and maximizing exchange opportunities among the student body for the past few years. The increasing number of international students and cultural diversity on campus is the living proof of the effort. On top of these achievements, I believe that there is still room for improvement for the educational experiences of international students, and that is to promote cross-cultural communication between domestic and international students. Incorporating a more internationalizing curriculum in classrooms that stimulate such interactions could be greatly beneficial for enriching the educational experiences of all UCSB students.

References 

Sophie Arkoudis, Kim Watty, Chi Baik, Xin Yu, Helen Borland, Shanton Chang, Ian 

Lang, Josephine Lang & Amanda Pearce (2013) Finding common ground: 

enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education, Teaching in Higher Education, 18:3, 222-235, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2012.719156