The UK is increasing its popularity among international students. Especially the ones from developing countries admire the educational standards of UK. Millions of students strive to get admission in top-notch UK universities each year and many of them face communication difficulties. The reason for the popularity of UK as an educational hub includes the following things;
- World’s Top-rated universities
- Highly qualified staff
- Culturally diversified environment
- Welcoming nature of the natives
- Frequent fully funded scholarships
- Financial, as well as educational Security
These qualities of the UK’s educational systems cause mass-transit of international students. According to statistics, in academic year 2018-2019, 4,85,645 international students travelled to the UK. It is known that the UK administration is competent enough to manage all educational affairs. Still, international students have to face several challenges during their educational tours. In this context, communication difficulties are universal factors that affect almost every international student.
Different Communication Difficulties That Affect International Students In The UK
Verbal Communication
Verbal communication imparts a long list of challenges for international students. This is because words are tools that help in effective communication. So the careful selection of words is crucial. But the students who have completed their Bachelor’s through in-town universities have different accents. There’s no doubt that English is the second language in almost every country. But such students often feel difficulties in understanding the British accent.
In 2018, Sutiyatno explored why international students hesitate in communicating with the natives. He reported that linguistic difference was the cause of this hesitation.
The Asians, who are not ready to leave their mother tongue, face such problems. In China, the institutes prefer Chinese as the teaching language. They think that instructions in the first language deeply affect children’s grooming. So as international students in the UK, verbal communication is the biggest problem.
Written Communication
International students in the UK also face difficulties in written communication. Students with English as a second language have some grammatical mistakes as well. This is mainly because they lack fluency in writing, which results in academic failure. For avoiding this, the British Council made IETS compulsory for admission in the Universities. But still, they feel difficulties in competing with the native students. At around 14 years, most students learn to prepare the American version of the manuscript. American versus British English has lots of differences. So this sudden switch from American to British creates problems for the international students.
Other written communication difficulties include the use of Cliché. Among international students, the use of clichés and jargon is often trendy. But in the British set up of education, they avoid jargons for increasing the worth of writing. Further, many times written communication also reflects geographical constraints. For example, international students lag in presenting cultural aspects during the exams. The reason here is that they’re not familiar with which socio-cultural factors can affect a UK organisation. These gaps reflect in their writings as well. It also imparts written communication challenges for the international students.
Electronic Communication
International students are facing digital communicational challenges. The reason for these challenges include the technological differences between different countries. There’s no doubt that digital devices take charge of education throughout the world. Yet the extent of use regarding technology varies among the different countries. Here the students of third world countries are especially customary to the aspect of face-to-face communication. This Covid-19 pandemic has also changed the educational trends in third-world countries.
But in the UK, digital modes of communication have been common for decades. According to new research, the UK classroom is flooded with innovation. Hence UK stands at the top among the ED technology adopting countries due to this innovation. From submitting assignments to report card receiving aspects, the UK is highly advanced. This is why the international students often lose confidence. They feel hesitation in the handling of digital devices for academic communication.
So different forms of communication impart a different set of difficulties for students. But with time, students learn to cope with all these communications related obstacles as well. Moreover, there are other ways too for removing the communication barriers. Like they can buy assignments online in UK. This will cater to most written communication difficulties faced by students.
