Asian International Students’ College Experience: Relationship between Quality of Personal Contact and Gains in Learning

This study examines associations between Asian international students’ quality of personal contact and gains in learning. Based on a sample of 705 Asian international students, results indicate that Asian international students’ relationships with peers, faculty, and administrative staff are positively associated with five domains of gains of learning (i.e., personal development, science and technology, general education, vocational preparation, and intellectual skills). Academic level, length of stay, and country of origin predicted gains in learning when all independent variables were included in the model. Implications for the positive college experience for Asian students are discussed. Journal of International and Global Studies Volume 6, Number 2 39 In 2013, the majority of international students at American colleges and universities (64.16 percent of the total 819,644 international students) came from Asia (Institute of International Education [IIE], 2013). In that year, students from the top three sending countries— China, India, and South Korea—accounted for nearly half (49.1 percent) of the total international student population in U.S. higher education (IIE, 2013). Students from China (18.5 percent) constituted the largest subgroup of international students, followed by India (15.2 percent), South Korea (10.4 percent), Taiwan (3.9 percent), and Japan (3.6 percent) (IIE, 2011). At this time, the numbers of international Asian students enrolling in U.S. graduate and undergraduate programs continues to rise. Students from Asia primarily enroll in degree programs at the graduate level (46 percent of the total), with 36 percent enrolling at the undergraduate level (36 percent), and the remaining 18 percent attending non-degree programs (Chow, 2011). In 2009/2010, Asian students’ academic levels varied by place of origin and sub-region, with students from South and Central Asia more frequently studying at the graduate level, and students from Southeast Asia studying at the undergraduate level, and students from East Asia studying in equal numbers at both the undergraduate and graduate levels (Chow, 2011; IIE, 2011). Although international students are an important source of diversity on American college campuses, relatively little is known about their college experiences. Faculty, support staff, and peers are the key contact persons of foreign students while on campus. The quality of college experiences and learning outcomes of international students depends on how they assimilate with local cultures. However, because of cultural and language differences, international students encounter social, cultural, and educational challenges upon entry to the host institutions in America (Bista, 2011; Lee, 2011; Lee & Rice, 2007). Students’ relationships with faculty, staff, and other students can potentially affect student college experiences and outcomes (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Studies with first-year American college students have shown greater academic success as a result of student-faculty interactions (Bowman, 2011; Kuh & Hu, 2001), but there is no study that has examined how Asian and non-Asian students’ contact with faculty, staff, and other students impacts their college experiences and educational gains. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of Asian international students’ personal relationships (with faculty, administrative personnel, and other students) and their self-reported gains in learning. Review of the Related Literature Cultural Differences Asian students in institutions of American higher education come with many local values, beliefs, and traditions. Like all world travelers, they leave home expecting cultural transparency; that is, they expect the cultures and values of their overseas destinations to be the same as those of their home cultures. Once in the U.S., Asian students face a higher level of adjustment problems than do non-Asian students because of the cultural distance between Asian and American cultures (Eustace, 2007; Paige, 1993). Paige (1993) writes: It is not cultural similarities which challenge us, but cultural differences. And the greater those difficulties in value orientations, beliefs, attitude, behaviors, patterns of thinking, and communication styles, the more challenging and stressful the intercultural immersion will be. (p.5) Cultural differences become a barrier for Asian students, who must interpret American beliefs, perceptions, and values in academia. Asian cultural behaviors and stereotypes interfere Asian International Students’ College Experience 40 with the meanings and expectations of students in the host country (Campbell & Li, 2007; Skinstad, 2002). When Asian students do not find familiar “Asianness” (meaning Asian norms and values) in American communities, they feel challenged by host cultures, especially by an unfamiliar educational system, academic demands, language difficulties, financial pressure, discrimination, homesickness, and loneliness (Montgomery, 2010; Lin & Yi, 1997). Campbell and Li (2008) write about Asian students in this way: Asian international students live across two cultures.... They live an academic life filled with paradoxes. For example, they [find] independent learning important, but they also [expect] lecturers to “push” them. They [enjoy] interactive teaching approach, but they [are] reluctant to participate and to contribute. They like the pressure-free learning environment, but they [find] it uncomfortable when competition and high pressure [are] apparently lacking. (p. 389) Asian students come from a hierarchical or authoritarian educational system in which they must confer a high degree of respect on their teachers and in which non-verbal participation is a classroom feature (Bista, 2012; Koyama, 2009). In Asian countries, teachers are in charge of classroom interactions and communications and do not expect their students to participate or interact. As a sign of respect, Asian students never challenge the ideas that are presented by the teacher (Jenkins, 1983). Classroom Experience The educational experiences and expectations of Asian students are embedded in the teacher-student relationship. Student attitudes and behaviors are most important in successful learning for Asian students. Koyama (2009) claims that Asian environments place “an emphasis on cultural values such as collectivism, collaboration, harmony, deference for authorities, patience, and modesty” (p. 16). Asian students’ participation depends upon the teacher’s solicitation because students wait for permission from their teachers before speaking (Bista, 2012; Liu, 2001). Students tend to memorize information, take notes and prepare for tests, and apply a “surface approach” to learning (Sakuraia, Parpalaa, Pyhältöa, & Lindblom-Ylännea, 2014), meaning that they receive lecture content from the instructor, commit it to memory, and demonstrate learning by reporting the information back to the teacher. They do not negotiate meaning, challenge concepts, or grapple with information as a means of understanding it more deeply. Asian students may not consider the comments of their classmates significant in the Asian classroom (Nakane, 2005; Tatar, 2005). In contrast, American classrooms are learnercentered, where students take part in debate, discussion and critical thinking, and learning. Koyama (2009) asserts that the U.S. classroom environments value “individualism, competition, equality, informality, pragmatism, personal right, [and] assertiveness” (p. 16). Students are encouraged to learn from their peers as well as from their holistic experiences of everyday life. Students openly ask questions of their teachers and share their views and comments in the classroom. Research supports the conclusion that learning differences in American and international classrooms have brought problems for international students. Lee (1997) studied the major problems that foreign students encountered in U.S. classrooms because of their inability to relate to course content and difficulty understanding the language. Lee found that international students were shocked when faculty did not begin teaching from chapter one or when there was no sequential progress through the text. Lee (1997) also noticed differences in the writing patterns of international students because of different cultural and academic expectations. Journal of International and Global Studies Volume 6, Number 2 41 English and Communication Experiences Asian and non-Asian international students have difficult experiences with lectures and classroom discussions in the U.S. because of their limited knowledge of English and cross cultural communication skills (Bista, 2012). For Asian students in particular, their home classroom culture includes very little or no participation in class discussion and very little verbal interaction with professors. Since Asian culture values ancient knowledge and wisdom—and professors are believed to transmit this wisdom—Asian students are expected to show the utmost respect for teachers, with whom, as a sign of deference, students never make eye contact. Additionally, and quite unlike the direct communications styles used (and expected) in U.S. classrooms, Asian students’ styles of communication are indirect; their communicative approaches are contextual, circular, inductive, and limited (Koyama, 2009), meaning that they use context to communicate meaning, employ circular argumentation to make claims, and rely upon—and expecting others to rely upon—inductive reasoning to provide logic and draw conclusions. Asian students mostly begin their conversation with minor points and abstract comments to introduce a main point in their speech and writing (Tatar, 2005; Wang, 2009). Asian students expect their audiences to intuit or infer their unarticulated thoughts and feelings (Kim, 2002). Intended meanings are assumed to be known in Asian conversations. Johnson (1998) wro