ERIC Number: EJ1141483
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-4632
EISSN: N/A
The Disquieting Tension of "The Other": International Students' Experience of Sojourn in Hong Kong
Ladegaard, Hans J.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v38 n3 p268-282 2017
Recent research has shown that increasing the number of international students and staff in universities does not necessarily make the campus more "international". Ladegaard and Cheng (2014) found that local and non-local students live completely separate lives on campus and do not work together, let alone socialise, unless forced to do so by their teachers. This article argues that one of the major obstacles for successful integration between local and non-local students is negative outgroup stereotypes and prejudice. It reports on an ongoing study of international students' experience of sojourn in Hong Kong. The article analyses examples from informal group discussions among non-local students, and the examples show that for some students, meeting "the other" has been associated with disquieting tension more than anything. Despite their commitment to the intercultural endeavour, they feel their integration has been inhibited by their own or other students' prejudice. The article suggests that intercultural dialogue, which addresses taboos and painful issues and seeks compromises, and the courage to criticise our own and other people's ethnocentric discourses, should be the way forward if local and non-local students are to integrate and work together in meaningful ways.
Descriptors: Foreign Students, Study Abroad, Foreign Countries, College Students, International Education, Barriers, Social Integration, Student Adjustment, Social Bias, Intercultural Communication, Criticism, Ethnocentrism, Intergroup Relations, Cultural Differences, Discourse Analysis, Student Attitudes
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A