4.3. The Reasons for International Students’ Experiences of Taking the Language and Media
4.3.7. Language Barrier
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changes that they are bound to make in their lives. That is, even as host universities prepare to receive diverse groups of students from different nationalities, those students should also be knowledgeable about the university’s procedures, prepare for unforeseen circumstances and determine ways of handling them.
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according to Harris (2002, p. 169), is some form of animosity towards foreign nationals that is caused by a detestation of their presence in another country. These feelings of fear for these international students thus existed before and after these incidences due to the language barrier that existed between themselves and their local peers. This is in agreement with Chen and Lewis (2011) who state that when there are clashes, international students find it difficult to adjust to the new setting .
This study’s participants (for example, Participant 2) also noted that due to some of these incidences, a language barrier existed between themselves and their local peers. Language- related issues make it impossible for international students to have clear interactions with the people in their host country (Fischer, 2011). The participant explained that even in group tasks, the local students knowingly or unknowingly would switch to their local languages regardless of the fact that there was a non-language user of that language in their midst.
PARTICIPANT 2: …most local students ...sometimes when you are working with them in groups or something, there tends to be so much use of isiZulu and when you don’t speak isiZulu, you find out that you are the odd man out so it doesn’t really help…
This finding indicates the feeling of loneliness that the participants may have been exposed to, because the language differences had automatically led to the case of “us” and “them” in the class. This agrees with Brown and Aktas (2011) and Kim (2005) that interactions between students of diverse roots is expected to yield a minimised feeling of isolation; and according to Cross and Johnson (2008, p. 311), most students who are South African are still very xenophobic. In this case, however, the lack of adequate communication may have led the participants into having misunderstandings and misconceptions about their local peers regarding certain issues. This, on the other hand, may be influenced by the socio-linguistic backgrounds of both parties (local and international students), in the sense of what their cultural stances are regarding human relationships. It is thus important that communication is encouraged at all times between local and international students.
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Participant 5 also explained that the language barrier that existed between him and his local peers enhanced his level of loneliness and lack of social interactions:
PARTICIPANT 5: …I was more like on my own in the foreign land, and the language barrier was a big issue for me as well …The environment was very different from where I was coming from. There is a huge language barrier compared to my home country where everyone uses English or pidgin as a language of inter-tribal usage….Before coming here, I thought I would be able to make a lot of local friends but the language issue just seems to be a huge blockade in making friends. Because I could not interact freely without feeling like a foreigner and you could see it in the classrooms too. People would sit with the other people with whom they share a common language and this prevented a lot of social interactions…
One would have expected that both the international students and their local peers would excitedly share languages and cultures with one another while also seeing it as another opportunity of enlightenment. These reasons, as Glass, Buus and Braskamp (2013, p. 6) note, could lead international students into an astute academic backwardness and dislike for local students. This section of the findings thus contradicts Gunaratne’s (2004) assertion that students (local and international) are fascinated about the acquisition of another language that is different from theirs. It also explains the feelings of loneliness that the participants expressed that they went through as they were far from home and were not able to feel at home. Similarly, it brings to mind the question: how do you feel welcome when not all parties seem interested in learning each other’s ways?
This possibly is also another point where the term ‘assertiveness’ as used by Poyrazli, Arbona, Nora, McPherson and Pisecco (2002), has a notable impact because none of the participants actually made mention of having ever moved close to the local peers, except Participant 3 who had a slightly different story to tell. Participant 3 explained that he had a more friendly relationship with his local peers, as he explained that they were friendly and that he communicated with them.
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PARTICIPANT 3: …it was fine. My relationship with them was quite okay. I interact well with them, I get along with them, we talk, we chat together, at times we find ourselves in the same group…In the class, yes, where we talk together, we encourage them, at times I also lend a helping hand to some of them, you know encourage them in their academics.
This participant happened to be the only one with a different view about his local peers; this could mean that he probably had an accommodating spirit and open mind when dealing with them. During the discussion Participant 3 explained that he made an attempt to encourage a local student when she felt like dropping out of the programme and she probably did not drop out as she had planned. These interactions took place during the class activities where they had to do some group tasks that required that the students interacted with one another on certain topics.
Another possible reason for this participant’s experience could be that he overlooked what barriers existed in order to cultivate good relationships with his local peers.
This finding indicates the importance or value of the group activities that were encouraged in the classroom, as without that, this slightly different view with regards to language barrier may not have been achievable. In addition, if only Participant 3 had this experience of proper interaction with his local peers, does it really mean that international students are not ready to accept or agree with new cultures and rather pick only the aspects that they feel would be useful to their academic progress (Kettle 2011)? Or is interaction meant to be a collective task by both the local and international students in order to make their experiences of taking the Language and Media Studies Honours specialisation worthwhile?