2 articel

Surname 1

Students’ Name:

Course:

Professor:

Date:

Straker, John. “International Students participation in higher Education; changing the focus for ‘international student’ to’ participation’.” Journal of Studies in International Education 2016, Vol. 20(4). Web.

In pages 299 to 318, it discusses how individuals have the preconceived idea that international students cannot participate on a similar basis with local students, or attain institutional requirements of full participation, the idea of being branded as international students is what makes them distinct instead of their participation.

The author points out there has been continued literature focusing on the issue of class participation by international students. He states that although this literature is based on why international students may not participate on an equal basis with local students, it has focused on that aspect of ‘international students’ and what makes them distinct instead of focusing on their participation.

The next part of the chapter emphasizes how international students’ differences encourage understanding of their participation in lectures and explains reasons for their poor dialogue. Language barrier is always seen as the main cause of international students’ struggles in studies, in addition to the fact that there is self-criticism by international students since their English language level is illustrated.

The author acknowledges that the main hurdle is proficient language requirements, ignoring the probability that many international students are not native English speakers, thus may not have studied using English as their first language. The majority of international students view their language competence as the main reason why they struggle in lectures. Their language level causes problems, such as communication breakdown, language fatigue, and urgent need for native students to proof-read international students’ work.

The authors also looks at the concept that posits that language and culture cannot be separated, he analyzes questions filled by a Native American student and that filled by an Asian student. The result is that American students have been trained to speak in class without being asked by the instructor as opposed to students of Asian origin. This depicted the individualistic nature of American students and the collectivistic nature of the Asian students. The author draws the conclusion that there is no relation between cultural factors and class participation.

This article was written recently, so it still applies. Because John Straker is a professor at the University of Exeter, he has experience with international students; this gives him authority on this topic. This article is also very relevant due to the fact, in the current time, there is a larger number of international students enrolling for higher education and a good number of them did not use the English language as their first language. They are not native English speakers, thus they find it difficult to effectively communicate with both their lecturers and fellow students who are original English speakers. This highly affects their class participation since they lack confidence when speaking, thus affecting their self-esteem. The notion that culture and language cannot be separated is farfetched. There is an actual relationship between the cultural influences and participation. However, the relationship between language and participation has a significant effect of creating language anxiety and fear of negative analysis.

Students have different understandings of class participation – to some participation means answering the instructors’ questions and giving one’s view when given the chance. It requires some time for non-original English speakers to take part in a class discussion because they have to understand the lecture and at the same time come up with an answer in English in order to engage with the discussion. Before they comprehend what is being taught, the discussion will already have been taken over by native English speaking students, hence class participation will always be a problem.