Class Participation of International Graduate Students in Social Sciences

• In Event: International Students in Different Disciplines

Proposal

Graduate programs in Social Science attract almost 20% of all international students coming to the US (Open Doors, 2021). The presence of international students is associated with academic and research diversity on campuses and provides campus communities with deeper understanding of global society and culture (Goff &Snowden, 2016). However, bringing international and domestic students together to the classroom does not necessarily result in effective intercultural communication and knowledge exchange (Leask, 2009). Existing empirical studies show that international students experience considerable challenges in classroom discussion and associate those challenges with language barriers (Dao et al., 2007; Yildirim, 2017) and international students’ culture (Wen & Clément, 2003; Wright & Lander, 2003). However, associating communication only with international students’ skills is a deficit approach (Marlina, 2009). Collective roles of instructors and domestic students shape the discussion experience of international students.
Classroom discussion with the presence of international and domestic students is regarded as an intercultural communication process (Yildirim, 2017). Intercultural communication is defined as any interaction among people with different backgrounds (Deardoff, 2011). Graduate-level courses in Social Sciences require active classroom participation, therefore, students are prone to face various challenges regarding intercultural communications. As previous studies show, effective communication among international students, domestic students, and instructors is desired but does not always occur due to the overrepresentation of the US context and domination of domestic peers (Tatar, 2005). On the contrary, student-centered teaching styles, discussion structure, and instructors' attitudes to inclusivity may create supportive intercultural environments for discussions (Marlina, 2009).
Existing research on intercultural communication mostly evolves around undergraduate students’ experiences (Wang & Lin, 2019), students coming from specific world regions (Marlina, 2009; Tatar, 2005), and international students communicating within a single course (Yildimir, 2014). More research is needed to explore the experience of international students coming from different countries and attending graduate-level courses in Social Sciences disciplines. To bridge the gap, this study explores factors that positively or negatively impact the participation of international graduate students in social sciences. The research questions are:
1. What are the factors that negatively impact international students’ participation in a classroom discussion?
2. What are the factors that positively impact international students’ participation in a classroom discussion?

Theoretical Framework
Intercultural competence is the ability to effectively communicate in a cross-cultural environment (Deardorff, 2006). Deardorff (2006) created a process model of intercultural competence that includes four fragments (Figure 1). Individual attitudes, such as respect and openness to other cultures, curiosity, and discovery are fundamental starting points in obtaining intercultural competence. Coming to an intercultural context, individuals obtain knowledge and cultural awareness through listening, observing, and interpreting. The knowledge about other cultures leads to one's improved adaptability and flexibility and effective communication skills in an intercultural situation. According to Deardorff (2006), individuals can achieve effective communication with positive attitudes or cultural knowledge. Applying Deardorff’s model to classroom discussion, we explore the factors that hinder effective classroom communication between international students and home culture. Specifically, whether those factors relate to individuals’ attitudes or lack of knowledge about other cultures.

Methodology
To investigate challenges international students’ experience during the classroom discussion, we used a qualitative, descriptive, multi-case approach as a research methodology.
Settings and Participants
The participants are international graduate students coming from different countries and pursuing a graduate degree in Social Sciences (Table 1). All our participants had been studying in the United States for at least one year by the moment we interviewed them and all of them had an experience of studying in or visiting other foreign countries.
Data Collection
The data were collected through six semi-structured interviews with international graduate students on a midwestern campus during the spring semester of 2019. Human subjects committee approval was obtained before the data collection. To recruit participants, we sent emails to graduate international students with the invitation to participate in the study. Each interview lasted about 60-90 minutes and was recorded with the permission of the participants.

Data Analysis
We used Deardorff’s Intercultural Competence Model to guide our interview coding, specifically, whether attitudes (i.e., respect, openness, curiosity), cultural sensitivity, and cultural awareness of the domestic peers and instructors influence international students’ participation in the classroom discussion. To apply the principle of investigator triangulation (Yin, 2016), four researchers met regularly to code the interviews together. Using the constant comparative method, we refined the initial code and constructed themes. At this point, we have completed coding three interviews and are still analyzing three other interviews.

Preliminary Findings
Four themes have emerged to date. The willingness and ability of international students to participate in the classroom discussion are affected by: 1) covert ethnocentric attitudes; 2) difference of contextualized knowledge; 3) imbalance in cultural sensitivity among international students and domestic students; 4) appreciation of international perspectives and experiences. We found that covert ethnocentric attitudes of domestic students and instructors in the classroom as well as their low cultural sensitivity to peers with foreign perspectives and experiences reduces the ability and willingness of international students to contribute to the discussion. The dominance of the US context and lack of interest in other countries makes the classroom discussion less rich than it could be. It is critical to raise awareness among instructors of the challenges international students experience in the US classroom. Otherwise, international students can be culturally adrift and fail to gain maximum value from their education (Kingston & Forland, 2008). Domestic graduate students as future scholars in Social Sciences need to develop intercultural competence skills for effective scholarly collaboration and interaction with international peers can help them develop those skills. The findings of this study can be used for faculty consideration to make the classroom environment more inclusive and richer for domestic and international students.

Authors

• Daria Ivleva, Boston University

• Seonmi Jin, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Veronika Rozhenkova, University of California, Irvine

• Yih Tsao, Indiana University - Bloomington