The topic is of particular interest to me due a number of reasons. First among the several motives behind my interest in this topic are the differences in approaches to education in Canada and the United States, and in foreign nations. Secondly, the other cause of my interest in this subject are the challenges that foreign students are faced with in their attempt to adjust from postsecondary education curriculum in their mother nations to that of the United States and Canada. Finally, aside from having to adjust to the education curriculum in Canada and the United States, foreign university and college students also face the challenge of having to attune to the socio-economic aspect of life in Canada and the United States when they transition from postsecondary education in their homelands to university and college education in Canada and the U.S. Getting accustomed to banking procedures, conducting grocery shopping, transport, and even finding accommodation have proven problematic to some foreign postsecondary education students.
Methods of Data Collection
Several data collection procedures were used in this study to scrutinize the cross education experiences of 30 international students in two separate English Universities in the United States and Canada. The foreign student sample in this study were from varied demographic origins (Asians, Arabs, and students from the Caribbean nations). One of the data collection techniques recruited in this study was phone interviews. Face to face dialogue was also used in the case of the American English University. Questionnaires were also pivotal in the realization of the success of this research. Several questionnaire forms were dispatched to the Canadian University but only a handful were completed and sent back. The little success realized by the questionnaires obliged the need to resort into the use of records and documents. Data in the form of reports and databases regarding cross educational experiences of foreign university and college students in English American and Canadian Universities was imperative to the realization of accurate study results in this research.
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Discussion
Similarities in the Education Experiences of Foreign Students in American and Canadian English Universities
This study publicized that there were more differences than there are similarities in the education experiences of international students in the two English Universities. The only two reported similarities were the use of assignments to test students’ understanding of the class content in both the mother nations of the foreign students and their respective host nations. However, even then, the foreign students who participated in this study revealed that the study assignments in these two English Universities were actually too much compared to the little contribution they have towards a student’s weighting grade. Assignments were given less more frequently in their former universities back in their mother nations. Similarly, Asian and a section of Arab students in this study also revealed that just like in the English Universities, technology was an imperative component of their education back in their parent nations. They reported use of PowerPoint slides in their class studies prior to moving to Canada and the United States. However, the students from the Caribbean nations recounted little to no se of technological techniques in their former colleges.
Differences in the Education Experiences of Foreign Students in American and Canadian English universities
As stated before, there were more dissimilarities than there were parallels in the education experiences of international postsecondary students in the two Canadian and American Universities. One of the discrepancies was manifested in the teaching methodology. The students favorably reported that teachers back in their parent nations are welcoming and easily accessible to their students, consequently creating a fairly tranquil school environment (Abukhattala, 2013). Some of the students, especially those from the Caribbean nations also conveyed that their postsecondary school education was encompassed with comparatively more social events than in America and Canada. The students in this survey also favorably informed that while rote learning and memorization of syllabus contents are widely used in the education systems back in their mother nations, the Canadian and American university education did not quite seem to emphasize on the same. The education system in their host nations is more focused on developing the students’ abilities to think critically and also convalesce the students’ communicative strategies. Contrary to rote learning and memorization especially in Arabian and Caribbean nations, the American and Canadian education systems were found to be focused on dialogue and cooperative learning. These group of students had even been discouraged from memorizing and instead urged to embrace critical thinking by their educators.
Still on teaching methodology, the foreign students, particularly those from Arabian and Caribbean nations were moved by the effectiveness of classroom discussions in their host education systems. Unlike in their parent nations where individual learning was more prominent, American and Canadian education systems are centered on well-organized classroom group works and discussions. These group of students have also come to appreciate the fact that the effectiveness of the learning process is not solely dependent on the excellence of the teacher as it is known in their home nations. Classroom and outside classroom exchange programs and two-way communication among students is also key to learning effectiveness and success.
Advancing the arguments above, another variation in the learning experiences of the international students in the two English universities was the approach to learning and teaching of foreign languages. Even though a section of the participants were taught foreign languages such as English and French in the parent nations, they were evidently critical of the methodologies recruited towards learning of these second languages. The participant group from the Caribbean for example, cited that that the English they had prior learnt in school did not prove of so much help when they needed to transition and survive in their new learning environments. As with the Arabic students who participated in this research, they exposed that learning of languages back in their homeland is regarded as a static procedure, rather than an imperative life process. Contrary to the new learning strategy the participants have been exposed to in America and Canada, they insisted that their countries heavily depended on a reproductive approaches to learning. The Arabic approach to learning second languages for example, emphasized on the mastery grammar and vocabulary (Abukhattala, 2013). The Canadian approach to learning of foreign languages on its side for example, stresses on the general process of learning, language use, writing skills, as well as communication skills.
Finally, there was also differences in the importance attached to examinations in the report. The participants opened up on exams and their influences on the learning approaches in their parent and host nations. Arabic and Caribbean participants revealed that excelling in exams is the goal that all students share back in their mother nations. One’s success and ability to attract job positions is dependent on the average points one scores at the end of university education. In America and Canada however, other means of evaluation have been implemented by the governments. Other than performance, students’ statement of career objectives, personal teacher evaluations, and letters of recommendation from the school administration could help one secure job opportunities even when they did not perform comparatively well in their examinations (Sherry, Thomas, Chui, 2010). In short, whereas failing in university examinations in Arabia and the Caribbean nations would mean failure in life, it does not spell the same in America and Canada.
Additional Lessons on the Impacts of Cultural Differences
The report helped publicize that cultural misunderstanding could stem from cultural differences. Majority of the participants pronounced that they felt that their culture was not sufficiently comprehended by the host nations. The students from the Caribbean nations went a step further to reveal one bit of their culture that is not comprehended among the Canadians. They articulated that their friendliness and warmth had been on many occasions wrongly understood by the Canadians. They said that back in their motherland, people greet, embrace and cheerfully complement whenever they come across each other. However, when they tried doing the same in Canada, all they got were weird looks, and sometimes no replies at all. This does not imply any discrimination towards the foreign students though. The disparity in expressions and experiences is just brought about by cultural differences.
How this study has influenced my understanding of the Education Experiences of Postsecondary Foreign Students in Canada and America and some of the questions that remain unanswered
The insights and concerns of cross cultural learners has helped me appreciate some of the difficulties that these group of students encounter trying to acclimatize to the education systems in their host nations. I have also come to learn that cross cultural learning requires persistence, determination and courage if in case one is to emerge successful. I have also been able to comprehend the importance that cross cultural learners attach to the American and Canadian education systems. One question that arises from this report however is the issue of what can be done by teacher educators, language teachers, textbook writers, and curriculum developers alike to ease the challenges that foreign students are faced with when striving to adapt to the American and Canadian education systems.
References
Abukhattala, I. (2013). What Arab students say about their linguistic and educational experiences in Canadian Universities. International Education Studies, 6 (8), 31-37. Doi: 10.5539/ies.v6n8p31
Sherry, M., Thomas, P., & Chui, W.H. (2010). International students: A vulnerable student population. Journal of Higher Education, 60, 33-46. Doi: 10.1007/s10734-009-9284-z
