Southeast Asian International Students Adjusting to Jordanian Universities: Views From the Field

Using a qualitative research methodology, we interviewed 20 Southeast Asian undergraduate students from Malaysia and Indonesia attending universities in northern Jordan to identify any adjustment problems they may have been facing. These international students experienced pressure to succeed from th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of college student development 2016-09, Vol.57 (6), p.730-741
Main Authors: Alazzi, Khaled, Al-Jarrah, Abdelnaser
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adjustment
Anxiety
Arabic language
Asian students
Asians
College students
Communication
Coping
Educational Environment
Families & family life
Foreign Countries
Foreign Students
Higher education
Host country
Hypotheses
Institutional Characteristics
International Education
Interviews
Jordan
Language culture relationship
Language Proficiency
Learning
Multicultural Education
Perceptions
Phenomenology
Problem Solving
Qualitative Research
Research Methodology
Researchers
Sociocultural factors
Sociocultural Patterns
Stress
Stress Variables
Student Adjustment
Student Attitudes
Student Characteristics
Student Experience
Studies
Study abroad
Undergraduate Students
Universities
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Summary:Using a qualitative research methodology, we interviewed 20 Southeast Asian undergraduate students from Malaysia and Indonesia attending universities in northern Jordan to identify any adjustment problems they may have been facing. These international students experienced pressure to succeed from their sponsoring agencies and families, a very common type of stress. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine this issue to learn more about this problem and discover possible solutions. These students experienced academic, personal, sociocultural, and/or language problems. We examined how the students defined their situations, as well as the strategies they developed to cope with their problems. The study revealed that Southeast Asian international students attending Jordanian universities experience stress and anxiety from studying abroad for several years, leaving behind family responsibilities, fearing whether they can meet academic goals, and losing all that is familiar (language, culture, friends, food) because of leaving their homeland.
ISSN:0897-5264
1543-3382
1543-3382
DOI:10.1353/csd.2016.0071