Two research questions guided this study:
1. What are international students’ experiences of taking a Language and Media Studies Honours specialisation at a South African university?
2. Why do international students have such experiences of taking the Language and Media Studies Honours specialisation at a South African university?
The main findings are summarised in response to the two questions above.
5.2.1. International Students' Experiences of taking a Language and Media Studies Honours Specialisation at a South African University
In this study, differences in the participants’ years of study were found to have made a difference in their experiences of taking the specialisation. This could be related to a change of students and staff during the stated years, as it was noticed that some of the participants who had studied in
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the same year had similar experiences, which in some cases contradicted those of participants who had studied in a different academic year.
Some of the participants who had studied in the same academic years (2011 to 2013) had similar experiences in terms of their responses concerning the negative experiences that they had with the teaching styles, international relations office and funding, academic writing, rigid programme structure, relationships with their lecturers and local peers, as well as fellow international students. They also had similar positive experiences.
Participants who did their studies after 2013 focused on initial confusion, loneliness and English as a second or third language. They explained that the availability of reading facilities enabled them to have some experiences which led to their success and thirst for more education in the same department. This could be important in noting the progress made thus far in the specialisation (with regards to international students), or it may be that the more recent Honours graduates did not experience some of the difficulties that the previous students had experienced during their own years of study, and this made it more important to ruminate on the reasons for their stated experiences.
5.2.2. The Reasons for International Students’ Experiences of Taking the Language and Media Honours Specialisation at a South African University
Participants pointed out the many reasons to explain their experiences. An overriding idea was that ‘this is not home’. The majority of participants noted that they constantly had feelings of foreignness and being ill-treated (which may connote that for them, foreignness equals ill treatment). Some of them also noted the case of unfamiliarity with the environment and the differences in the context of learning (from their home universities). Participants believed that local students were comfortable and able in their environment while the international students felt foreign. Perceptions such as these indicated a lack of healthy relationships between the two groups of students, which may have been influenced by their historical and cultural differences.
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Another point which was raised was the issue of the structure of the programme which the participants believed was different, rigid and newer than the previous approaches which they were more familiar with, before embarking on the journey of international study. One such noted difference is the writing culture that was experienced in their host university. There was also a struggle between part-time students’ success and concentration rates as a result of the time constraints of their work and study. This, they explained, impacted on their experiences more negatively than positively.
There were also findings related to lecturers’ impacts on the participants’ failure and success rates. Issues of being criticised based on writing and speech production were raised, and the participants noted that they did not feel that some of their lecturers realised the possibility of different languages and their usage as they exist in the university. It was found that language differences were highlighted as participants struggled with speech production, and as diverse accents appeared unwelcome. Based on these findings, one may say that failure to acknowledge such immense diversity that exists in the classroom may readily give way to all kinds of presumptions and preconceptions, while it also breeds perceptions of being disliked or excluded from the learning community.
Likewise, this study’s participants felt further excluded by being unable to express their concerns to the lecturers because they did not want to seem rude. This connotes that these international students saw expression of feelings to their lecturers as being confrontational. Some of the reasons for this could be linked to the students’ diverse cultural differences, upbringing and their level of interactions with people in the learning environment. This thus enables discussions on the issue of assertiveness, which apparently these concerned participants did not seem to have exhibited. This study’s researcher at this point thus presumes that due assertiveness on the part of international students could have worked out well for them rather than their outright avoidance of expression and communication with their lecturers, which they feared could be termed
‘rudeness’. Therefore, it might be prudent to say that both cultural and historical factors could have influenced participants’ experiences in this regard, as they possibly also did not have close interactions with their lecturers in their previous home universities. Some of the participants also noted that a lack of finances affected their studies negatively. In addition, the majority of the
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participants did not have productive and healthy relationships with their local peers. This research also brought to light the language barrier that existed during the process of the participants’ group work.
Nonetheless, working within the premises of the university was said to have helped the participants in getting familiar with their host institution. Besides making friends during this period, these international students were able to gain profitable work experiences that motivated them to study. Some other participants explained that they were given opportunities to work at the university which settled some of their financial worries. This thus serves as a pointer that when international students are given an opportunity to work on campus they are able to meet all kinds of people, build healthy relationships with them, learn new concepts, break barriers and get acclimatised to their new setting. Self-motivation and determination were repeated themes that speak volumes about the students’ readiness to learn and their refusal to go back home as failures or worse still, empty handed. Overall, the participants expressed their satisfaction with the overall results of the Language and Media Studies Honours specialisation as well as its relevance, stating that it was eye opening. Participants went further to note that the modules could prove useful to other specialisations as well.