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"It was when the TA made the connection between me and a real place that the students also got more interested. Then they asked me questions about it. I think it was just that they didn't know how to deal with this person. I was their first international person."
"I think [the Americans] don't realize what a major step you took in your life just coming here. How hard it is. I mean they travel from state to state, but that's not the same. You took a huge, huge step and it'll change your life and your thinking and everything. They see you as anyone, any student. They don't take into account that step you've taken."
It is of course problematic to speak of "International Students" as if they could be presented as a homogeneous group. Our international student population includes people from all continents, with a diversity of cultures, races and languages that makes such a grouping difficult. These students do, however, often share similar problems of adjustment to American life and the American classroom.
The international students' most common reaction to classes here is the surprise that teachers expect active participation in discussion, and even make it part of the grade. Most international students come from educational backgrounds that value lecture-style presentations over class discussion, and it may take these students a number of weeks at the beginning of their stay in the US to find the courage to speak in class. Since they do not automatically share an understanding of what will be required of them in an American class, it is useful to find out who they are at the beginning of the semester, and to review the syllabus in detail with them. Such an orientation to your class will make it much easier for any international student to adjust to the "American style" of teaching and learning.
The problem most often mentioned in interviews with international students is that they are made to feel very alien in their classrooms. This happens either when they are explicitly singled out by the teacher as foreigners, or when their classmates ignore them because they do not understand how to relate to international students. In both situations, international students feel that no one in the class has made an effort to get to know them as individuals, and that simply by coming from a different culture or part of the world, they will always be marginalized.
A teacher has the power to change these relations. It is most useful to ask the student to come to office hours to learn more about him or her. Then the teacher can relate class materials to the international student's experience and ask the student questions which show everyone in the class that the special angle this student brings can enrich the topic at hand. It is important not to single out the student to "represent" his or her country. When asking a student about his or her experience, stressing the student as an individual rather than as a representative of a country will encourage the student without making him or her feel alien.
What international students want is to feel that their experience is as important to the class as any other student's. Again and again in the interviews, the international students said that if only the teacher and the other students would come to them with questions and show that they are curious to learn more about what the student's home country is like, then the international students would feel more included. Even students who at first thought they would like to "go under" and appear as American as possible explained that when the TA or the professor made it clear that they were not American and that they had a special angle on the class topic, their relationship with everyone in the class improved. Often it was simply that the other students did not know how to go about starting to ask questions. When the teacher encouraged the international student to speak about topics in his or her own experience, and incorporated the new experience into the classroom, the American students reacted with enthusiasm and curiosity.
Students from other cultures can
often have unexpected reactions, both negative and positive, to things that
happen in your classroom and to American customs. If you have several international
students, it is even possible that there could be tensions between them because
of traditional enmities or a clash of cultural values. Getting to know your
students at the beginning of the semester can prevent any such underlying tensions
from surfacing in your classroom. If the students feel that you have a personal
interest in them as individuals, then they will not feel hesitant about coming
to you to explain a problem that they may be having in the class, of which you
could not even be aware. Establishing a safe classroom atmosphere through the
ground rules of discussion, and keeping channels of communication open in your
office hours will give students the chance to adjust to your classroom more
quickly.
Quotes from interviews with International students on campus
"I'm always sort of in a ghetto of international students in the back row... mainly because we all live together. The Americans who sit around me are people who've been on an exchange to another country and it sort of filters down to the front of the class. It sort of goes by degrees, all the people who must be native to North Carolina must be in the front. It really struck me that everyone around me was from overseas or had been overseas as part of their studies."
"It depends on the size of the class. The problem is more if you have a bigger class like 25 or 40 people. You feel really lost in this crowd of people. The first thing you're looking for is somebody you know from the international orientation ... and then if you've found somebody, then it's not that easy to get to know somebody else."
"[After a while] I was quite accepted in the discussion groups, but not in the classroom. I had the impression that I first had to fight so that they would look at me. I was sitting there beside all the others, and they wouldn't even look at me. "
"In my language class I had problems at first, because I could understand what the teacher was saying in Spanish, but when he explained something in English, I had problems. When I asked the students, they really were quite annoyed with somebody asking them. They were impatient that they have to tell me again what I was supposed to do. It was much better when I talked to the Spanish professor. He told the TA and afterwards the TA mentioned it a couple of times, and he asked me some things about Europe. Then people really, at the end of class, they really got more interested. "
"I think we're very very alien as an international student. I think this annoyance comes from college kids because they just can't place you and they don't know why you have difficulties."
"In my English class they work together in groups. It's a little bit strange, I mean, in Hong Kong we don't do that. It was really a difficult transition for me. I really didn't know what I should do in the group. If I came up with any ideas, I would talk about that and people would just ignore me. But the teachers they might not be aware of that."
"In one class it was the same problem you mentioned, that I came up with a new idea and I really thought it was something new. They listened to me but that's it... class went on. I mentioned [my idea] and everybody was happy that I did that, but then they went down the same path [as before]. My idea was kind of ignored. That was a little bit disappointing."
"The teacher could have encouraged the students to accept other people's ideas. They should do that because the other students, maybe it's because of race, they don't want to welcome your ideas because maybe they think you're Asian, you're not a native speaker. I felt that sometimes I was set aside because I was not a native speaker. I don't think the teacher was aware [that they were shutting me out]."
"I had a different experience. Because I'm not a native speaker, they were all the more attentive to what I was saying. They were like, "She's French, let's see what she has to say."
"There are different problems for undergraduate international students than for graduate students. When you look at the statistics, you can tell that there are more [international students] in the graduate schools- there are not many freshman, or undergraduates. For me it's a problem. I mean the teachers, or the students, they may not be used to working together or studying together with international students. They are not used to accepting international students in class. So sometimes I really feel excluded. So when I first arrived here, I really thought about transferring to another school because my friends in other schools, they don't have this problem. I feel that UNC doesn't have the experience of accepting international students."
"One thing that really bothered me was when the professor asked me to read my midterm out loud to the class 'because it was so good.' I felt like a monkey who can do tricks for everyone. I mean you probably need encouragement, they want to flatter you and give you a sense of confidence. But that's not how to do it. Singling you out makes everything worse. It doesn't encourage you. It's flattering when you realize that they're treating you exactly the same as anybody else. "
"By the third class, the professor has figured out that you're foreign. Well in this one class, he told two students at the end of each class to stand at the door and shake hands with everyone, to get to know them. All of the students were supposed to do this. But the first time he chose just me and this American student, and then he never did it again. The other students didn't have to do this. It was like he wanted to introduce E.T. to these down-home students."
"One time, I was doing a report on Jonathan Edwards and afterward the professor said to the class "Isn't it wonderful that this person is able to experience and comprehend the Puritan tradition." You know, as if he was saying, "and him being a foreigner!"
"My general feeling is that the subtler the professors are in encouragement and being available, the more they do it after class, the better. Talking to people personally, or telling your advisor or your home department about your good progress would be good. But ask the student first. I mean, that encouraged me, when the professor asked if he should tell my department about my progress and how well I was doing in his class. Make it clear outside of class. Be generally available. Have the tact of doing it personally instead of in front of everyone."
"Sometimes I had the feeling that people would be forming stereotypes about me, immediate stereotypes. 'He's like this so that must be Belgian.' If I was different, or studied a topic that was 'out of the way' or unusual it was because I was Belgian. You know, 'Studying that theory equals Belgian equals foreign and strange.' "
"At the beginning I was 'the French one.' They didn't remember my name for the first two or three weeks. It's definitely a problem with international people. [They have] an immediate stereotype, but after they get to know you, it's different."
"In [one class], the TA was referring to the War of Independence and somehow made a comment about how it was my fault, and I said, 'it wasn't my fault- I'm Australian! We didn't exist!'
"The style was sort of different. I had the impression that there was not a hierarchy like it is at my home university. They keep telling each other jokes, and it's just loud and everybody just says whatever comes to their mind. It is a little bit chaotic. At first I thought it was good, but I prefer it if it's quiet and everybody thinks twice about what he's going to say. If it's chaotic it's harder and, especially if you're the only international, it's harder to speak up. If the whole thing were better structured, it might be easier, especially in the beginning, to speak up. "
"The whole European approach was very different. I had to get into their way of thinking to get my ideas out. It was easier in one class because the professor pointed out that I was from a different educational tradition and let me read something I had done. That encouraged me."
"For me it was the participation of the students. The French system is lecturing. Eventually maybe someone will ask a question. Here, it's like jumping in. I think it's great, it's really great. But I'm just not used to it, so when they leave 20 minutes for discussion at the end I'm like, 'Oh no, that's the long part.' "
"I found out that the professor [in the US] actually really cares about the students, that he will involve himself a lot more with the students. And also that the class in general participates a lot more. I kind of like that, I like the back and forth atmosphere of the classes here. It's a lot better."
"In the French system, you go all the way through from the beginning to the Ph.D.- you don't go out. Whereas here, everybody stops after the Master's, and spends years working. So I'm 22, and they're from 35 to 48. It's because the French system's different. I don't have those 10 years experience. The professor might ask questions like "Well, professionals do this or that, what do you think about that?" I don't have this experience. I mean I have more diplomas than any of them, so they sort of admire me too, but I don't have the experience they do. "
"One of [the older students] even told me that he could be my father but it puts [us into] some kind of power relations. Because we worked together [on a presentation] and he knew better and he made it clear that there was a power difference. He made it real clear- 'he could be my father and he had the experience.' This American made it very clear that I might be the little French one but he knew. It's not really an international experience, but I'm younger than them because of the international difference."
"I feel really good, it's kind of well, metropolitan would be too much to say, but, really it's multiracial, there are tons of people walking around at lunchtime and, so I feel it's really a big crowd, but you're a part of it."
"[In the graduate programs] the groups are so much smaller, and we work so hard, so we've got to create this family style relation. There's no choice, we've got to do it to survive. Everybody supports each other, which is not the case for undergrads."
"Yeah, we lack the interaction between the undergraduate students. For example, in my geography class now, I still do not know anyone in it, after the whole semester."
"My feeling on campus generally was that people were very nice. When they find out you're a foreigner, they're really flattered that you're studying here. That's really nice. "
"When we come we have to fill out so many papers. People don't take into account that we have to spend so much time at the beginning doing this... that's killing. I mean I spent two weeks doing that and I thought, when is this going to end? You're doing twice as much as the average American coming into the program."
"The teacher should draw the advantage of listening to the internationals in the classroom, and try to ask them 'how is it in your country' or try to compare and get the best out of that. The international student feels better for it if someone recognizes the richness of his being here. It can only be better for everyone. Whenever they have a chance of making a comparison, they shouldn't miss this chance."
"[Getting the students to respond in class] requires a lot of patience. Some international students don't make it very clear, so the other students are like "phhhhh??here he speaks again." When the international students are not very clear or they speak slowly, then I felt a little impatience from [the other students]. I think [the professor] could have made it clear that having this international person talk was a plus, was something great, and we're lucky to have this one with all the experiences. It's all the more valuable. If he had made it clear to everyone that, in a way, it might be interesting because it's an international student, then they'd be more patient. I thought it wasn't very nice of other students to react that way. "
"They should pay more attention to you, ask you more questions about your home country- what the differences really are. It's good for international students, and also good for the other students. "
"[There are some international students] who have a really, really heavy accent and I guess Americans have a really hard time understanding them. Maybe it would be the responsibility of the TA or teacher to recommend that he study more English, or join a discussion group."
"Both the international [student] and the TA, both of them bear responsibility, to have teaching or get help. I guess the international undergraduates, they have to take more responsibility. If you want to know more, and you want to get help, you really have to go to the teacher. The teacher won't come here and say 'Oh, you're an international student? Do you understand my lecture?' or 'How do you feel?' It is really important for the teacher to take the first step and say 'Are you OK in my class?' The teachers should take the first step to help the international students. That's very important for the international students."
"The TA or professors, they should make use of the international students. They should assign a student to someone from France or from Hong Kong. They should get information from them, like, 'How does your educational system work in your home country?' So that in the future, if they have an international student, they will know [what concepts students from different systems know]. And that would help [the teacher] place them at a certain level, and know how to treat them [in class] because they already know this, and how they can be helpful. "
"It would be useful for any international student, when they first come, to have a kind of an interview with the department to find out more about [the student's] background. That information should be given to the teachers in the department."
"If the TA makes a point of asking you where you come from, and letting the other students know you're somebody from a different part of the world, they'll react well. They just don't realize what your problems are. They don't connect [where you come from] to a real culture."
"One of the profs told them [the students in the class] about the fact that I was from Germany, and so two people came over to me, and grabbed me and said "I just came from Germany!" and told me all about it. That was really good. I had thought I would prefer to go under in that course with American students and not to be noticed. But I had this experience and it was better. It helps if you're recognized."
"I agree. At first I didn't want it, but when it happened it really was better. I thought I would just sit here in the back and put my baseball cap on backwards and look American. But when my professor pointed it out [that I was Australian] during his lectures on Southeast Asia, it got people interested in talking to me, whereas before they thought I was an American and they didn't. "
"I lived for one week on one sentence: 'Do you take your notes in English? Wow!' That takes some thinking on the part of the professor. To have made the connection, 'Oh, she writes in English, but this is not her native language.' It sounds so simple and so silly but it was really kind of recognition of me. Things like that are really nice."
"Relax! Don't be so nervous. Keep cool and not be influenced by us- by the presence of so many people. My point of view is that here, [at UNC] the students really want to learn. In general they're really nice."
"Yes, I think they should probably just relax. The best teachers just starting out with their early lectures are the ones who don't get too excited about it, and accept that they're going to make some mistakes and acknowledge it. That's just going to happen- people who are really really uptight, it makes them hard to approach."
"[Teachers] should know where they want to go, and they should allow for time just to let people contribute to it. With the relaxed atmosphere should come a goal for the end of the day."
"If they have a really tight syllabus, they should think about their syllabus. Because I think it doesn't make sense if you do something nice with people, or have a discussion or read an additional story, and everyone's happy with this lesson. Then next week you have to do twice as much work in one class because you're all falling behind, or you have to tell the people 'OK, we are two hours behind, and you have to do this during the weekend.' That's what I was told, and then I really hated the TA. You should have the flexibility to drop something to make time for the extra work."
"I think in general it would be a good idea if the syllabi weren't so packed. Then you wouldn't have to drop things. You could start from the beginning with less reading and really, sometimes I just have to say, that less reading is more. It's to me really a question of quality- and I have the impression that sometimes quantity is in the first place, or comes before quality."
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Last Updated: January 30, 2001