education sciences Article Learning and Living Overseas: Exploring Factors that Influence Meaningful Learning and Assimilation: How International Students Adjust to Studying in the UK from a Socio-Cultural Perspective GeorgiaTaylorandNadiaAli* SchoolofHumanandHealthSciences,UniversityofHuddersfield,HuddersfieldHD13DH,UK; [email protected] * Correspondence:[email protected] AcademicEditor:JamesAlbright Received:28October2016;Accepted:16February2017;Published:1March2017 Abstract:Thereisaconsiderableamountofresearchinvestigatingstudents’transitionfromcollegeto universitybutitisimportantthisfocusisdirectedspecificallytowardsthetransitionofinternational students,asthedifficultiestheyfaceareprofound. Theliteraturesurroundinginternationalstudents seemstolackanin-depthunderstandingofhowmultiplecontextualfactorsinfluencehowstudents adjusttoHigherEducation. Therefore,thepresentstudyutilizesBronfenbrenner’s(2009)ecological theory of human development in order to understand both immediate and distal environmental influences and how they interact to impact on the individual’s development from a holistic perspective. Five international students participated in a time line interview. Findings suggest thatinternationalstudentsfaceanumberofchallengeswhentransitioningfromtheirhomecountry tostudyinhighereducationintheUK,particularlyintheareasoflanguagecompetence;cultural assimilationandsocialrelationships.Thisinturnpreventedmeaningfullearningoccurring.Applying Bronfenbrenner’stheory,theparticipants’broaderenvironmentwasanalysed,whichencouraged an examination of the challenges they faced which regards to cultural influences, government influencesanduniversitypolicies,aswellasinfluencesfromwithintheirimmediateenvironment. Keywords: internationalstudents;learning;Bronfenbrenner’sapproach;transition;highereducation; thematicanalysis 1. Introduction 1.1. TransitiontoHigherEducation Thereseemstobeaconsiderableamountofliteratureregardingthetransitiontohighereducation, particularlyasthepopulationofstudentsinuniversityisontheincrease,withstudentnumbersrising from1,918,970in1999to2,496,645in2011[1]. Universitylifecanhavemanychallengesasstudents arethrownoutoftheircomfortzoneandmadetofacenewresponsibilitieswhichoftenrequirethem todevelopnewstudyhabitstofitthenewcurriculum,re-organisetheirpriorities,makenewfriends andaskforhelp. Firstyearstudentsinparticularmaystrugglegettingusedtotheindependencethat university brings, which may cause feelings of anxiety and distress. This is due to the immediate shiftfromthecontrolledenvironmenttheywereoncepartoftoanenvironmentwherestudentsare expectedtobecomeresponsibleforthemselveswithregardstobothacademicandsocialaspectsof theirlives[2–5]. Educ.Sci.2017,7,35;doi:10.3390/educsci7010035 www.mdpi.com/journal/education Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 2of25 Research investigating students’ expectations of university life has revealed that often their expectationsarenotconsistentwithwhattheyexperienceoncetheyareonthecourse,thusmaking transitiondifficult. Comparisonsofstudents’expectationspriortoenrolmentandafter2monthsof studyrevealedinconsistencies. Findings[6,7]concludedthataninaccurateperceptionofuniversity lifecontributestowardsthestudentdisengagingfromtheacademicandsocialenvironment,whichcan haveunfavorableeffectsontheiracademic,personalandsocialdevelopment. Basedontheirfindings theauthorsuggestedthatinorderforthestudenttoformanattachmenttotheirnewacademicand socialenvironmenttheymusteliminatetheirunrealisticperceptionsofUniversitylife[6,7]. Althoughfindingsindicatethat80%ofstudentsmanagetheprocessoftransitionsuccessfullyit stillmeansthatapproximately20%ofstudentsarefailingtocometotermswiththeacademicandsocial demandsofuniversitylife[7].Itislikelythatmanyinternationalstudentsliewithinthisminorityresult, asliteraturecomparingdomesticandinternationalstudentssuggeststhatthedifficultiesinternational studentsfacearegreaterthandomesticstudents[8,9]. Thisisduetomorespecificchallengessuchas acculturativestress,languagebarriers,homesickness,copingwithseparationfromfriendsandfamily anddiscrimination[10]. Thereforemoreneedstobedoneinuniversitiestohelpsupportandprepare internationalstudentsfortheiradjustmenttohighereducationinordertominimisethechallenges thattheyfaceandtoensuremeaningfulassessmentoflearningisoccurring[8–10]. Intermsofsupportingpracticestherecommendation[6,11,12]wastoencouragethepromotionof peergroups,increasestaffstudentinteraction,aswellasacademicpreparationsoonafterenrolment. Thissupportsthegrowingliteraturethatarguesthatappropriateinterventionswouldhelpstudents adapt,especiallywhenadjustingtolearningandassessmentatdegreelevel. Forexample,thepractice ofpeermentoringhasbecomeincreasinglypopularasasupportinginterventionintheUKforstudents transitioningfromcollegetouniversity[11,12]. Findingsrevealthatmentorshelpedstudentswith problems concerningorientation, courseinformationand assessmentwhichthen helpedstudents’ bridgethegaptheyfacedbetweencollegeanduniversityquicklyandeffectively[11,12]. Althoughthereisaconsiderableamountofresearchconcerningpeermentoringforuniversity studentsasawhole,itwouldbeinterestingtofocusspecificallyonhowthepracticeinfluencesthe adjustmentprocessofinternationalstudents. Ithasbeensuggestedthat[6]mentoringonlyappearsto benefitmoststudentsduringthefirstweekofuniversitybutcontinuestoproveadvantageousforthe minorityofstudentswhoarecontinuingtostrugglewithuniversity[6]. Researchthathasexamined theuseofpeermentoringspecificallywithethnicminorities[12]foundthatindividualmentorsand mentoringprogrammesaresuccessfulstrategiesformentoringacrossracialdivides. Althoughthearea ofcross-culturalmentoringhasnotbeenamajorfocuswithintheliterature[12]itprovidespreliminary insightsforfurtherresearch—suchasexaminingthepracticesofmentorsofthesameinternational originpairedwithprospectiveinternationalstudents. 1.2. Rationale Whilst there is growing literature surrounding internationalisation in universities globally, the majority of the focus is on specific aspects of international students’ adaptation, such as their social or academic experience. Without knowledge of the holistic accounts of their experience, itbecomesdifficultforprofessionalstoimplementsupportingpractices,astheirattemptstoimprove theadjustmentandlearningexperiencesforthisparticulargroupofstudentsmaybeunnecessarily disconnected[2,3,13]. Thepresentstudywillthereforefocusonexploringtheissuesinternationalstudentsfaceliving andlearningintheUKfromabroadersocio-culturalcontext[2,3,13,14]. Thiswillallowforaholistic consideration of the student experience, from the immediate influences that influence learning to macroinfluencesthatshapetheirlearningexperience. Usingsocio-culturaltheory,broaderinfluences on adjustment (such as culture) can be analysed as socio-cultural theorists argue that [2,3,13,14] human behaviour varies by environmental context as well as proximal influences relating to the individualperson. ThecurrentresearchwilldrawBronfenbrenner’secologicalframework[2,3]to Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 3of25 advance our understanding of how socio-cultural changes affect international students transition toHE.Thisparticulararearequiresincreasedattentionasthepopulationofinternationalstudents studyinginuniversitiesintheUKisgrowingrapidly,andthereisanescalatingconcernoverwhether appropriateandresponsivelevelsofsupportisbeingcontinuouslyprovidedforinternationalstudents byBritishUniversities[10,15]. 1.3. TransitiontoHEforInternationalStudents It is important to explore the experiences of international students in order to recommend supportingpracticesforthem. Itisevidentthatmanyofthechallengestheyfaceoccurintheacademic settingwithaparticularemphasisonthestudentsEnglishlanguageproficiency,aslanguagebarriers areaprominentacademicissuethatultimatelyimpedeadjustment[8,9,16]. Languageproficiency hasadirectimpactonhowmeaningfulthestudent’slearningisandcanhinderstudentperformance on assessments dramatically. For example, Liu [16] documented her own experiences regarding herstrugglesasaninternationalstudentinCanada,statingthatsuccessfulparticipationwithinthe host-communitywasnotpossibleduetoherlackoflanguageproficiency. Shestruggledtounderstand whatherlecturersandclassmateswerediscussing,whichalsopreventedherfromaskingforhelp, whichnegativelyaffectedheracademicperformance. Therefore,inthecaseofinternationalstudents languageproficiencyshouldbecentraltomeaningfullearningandassessment. Furthermore,variousstudiesusingasampleofEastAsianinternationalstudents[17]havefound thattheyfacesignificantchallengesadjustingtowesternpedagogyinuniversities,duetotheextreme cultural differences in education. Western pedagogy focuses on critical thinking and encourages discussionanddebate. Incontrast,EastAsianstudentswouldviewsuchbehaviourasadisrespectful challengeoftheinstructor’sknowledge. Theperceptioninsuchculturesisthatthestudentfocusneeds tobewhollyonknowledgeimpartedbytheteacher,duetotheperceptionthattheteacherisinpower andapositionofauthority. Thismakesitdifficultforinternationalstudentstocometotermswith thecriticalelementofmeaningfullearning. Theresultisthattheyconsistentlyavoiddisagreement andconflictastheyfindtheideathreateningandperplexing[17]. Theimplicationsofthisarethat meaningful assessment of learning is not possible unless the clash in perceptions regarding what constitutesanacademicdebateisaddressed. Anotherparticularareathatisconsistentlyfocusedonthroughouttheliteratureistheroleof socialsupportonthestudent’sadaptation,withthemajorityofliteraturefocusingonquantitative studiesthatmeasuresocialsupportagainstvariousothervariables. Forexample,Poyraziletal.[18] conductedresearchwith141internationalstudentsatvariousuniversitiesintheU.S.Thestudents participated in surveys measuring social support, demographic variables and acculturative stress. Findings indicated that international students with higher social support and English language proficiencyexperiencedlessacculturativestress,particularlythosewhodevelopedsocialrelationships withhostnationals. However,studentswhosocialisedwithnon-Americansandthosewhooriginated fromAsiancountriesexperiencedgreaterlevelsofacculturativestresscomparedwithothersubgroups (suchasEuropeanstudents). Althoughthefindingsprovideinsightintofactorsthataffectadjustment, theuseofquantitativeapproaches,particularlysurveys,makesitdifficulttograspthecontextofthe studentexperiencein-depth. Therefore,thepresentstudywillutilizeaqualitativeapproachinorder togatherrichdetailfromtheperspectiveofstudents. Social support predicts psychological well-being and academic performance. Lack of social support negatively affects academic outcome and causes negative psychological affect such as tension,confusion,anddepression[19]. Researchhasfoundthatinternationalstudentshavemore psychological problems than domestic students do, which again emphasises the importance of recommendingsupportingpracticesforthisparticulargroupofstudents[20]. Accordingtoresearch whichinvolvedthestudyofAfricanundergraduatestudentsinanAmericauniversityandChinese postgraduatestudentsinSingaporeuniversities,lonelinessandisolationweretwoofthemostcommon psychologicaldifficultiesthatinternationalstudentsface[21,22]. Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 4of25 Finally,acommonareaconcerningsocialaspectsandpsychologicalwellbeingisdiscrimination. The type of psychological reactions international students’ exhibit reflects their country of origin. Forexample,internationalstudentsfromAsia,Central/SouthAmericaandAfricareportexperiencing more acculturative stress than those from Europe [20,22]. Non-European international students mayexperiencemorediscrimination,whichmayleadtolowerself-esteemanddepression. Salient differences such as limited language proficiency and strong accent can trigger discrimination for studentswhooriginatefromNon-Europeancountries[22,23]. 1.4. TheoreticalFramework As briefly discussed, the present research will implement the use of socio-cultural theory to analyse the data [2,3,14]. Specifically, data will be analysed in relation to the proximal and distal influences identified in Bronfenbrenner’s theory [2,3] and the interaction between them. There is a complex link between international students’ academic and social world with events within the classroom influencing events outside of the classroom and vice versa [14]. Bronfenbrenner’s [2,3] ecologicaltheoryofhumandevelopmentwastheappropriatetheoreticalframeworktoemployas itspecificallyexaminesbothimmediateanddistalenvironmentalinfluencesandhowtheyinteract toimpactontheindividual’slearninganddevelopment. Applicationofsocioculturaltheoryallows ustounderstandinfluencesonhumandevelopmentbeyondthedirectlyobservableormeasurable, thusallowingforaholisticconsiderationoftheinternationalstudentexperience[14],whichistheaim ofthepaper. Thetheoryconsistsoflayeredsystems(illustratedinAppendixA,FigureA1)andstressesthe interactionbetweenthepersonandthesestructuresascontextsfordevelopment. Eachcircleproximate totheindividualdenotestheenvironmentalvariableswhichwillhaveanimpactondevelopment. Themicrosystemistheinfluenceclosesttothepersonandtheindividualispositionedattheverycore ofthemicrosystem. Inthemicrosystemtheindividualhasdirectcontactwiththesystemsandthey arepresentintheperson’simmediateenvironment(forexample,family,school,peers(andwhenof acertainagetheworkplace)). Themicrosystemisthemostimmediateinfluencerelatingtotheperson. Connectionsandinteractionsoccurbetweentwoormorecomponentsofthemicrosystem,whichis representedbythe‘meso-system’layer. Thequalityandstrengthsoftheseinteractions(forexample thequalityoftherelationshipbetweenachild’sfamilyandtheirschool)isknowntohaveasignificant developmentalinfluenceonthechild/individual[2,3]. Thelayerthatisthemacro-systemiscomposedofculturalvalues,traditionsandlaws. Itrefers totheoverallpatternsofideologyandorganizationthatpersonifyagivensocietyorsocialgroup. Theeffectsofsocietalvaluesdefinedbythemacro-systemhaveacascadingeffectontheinteractionsof allothersystems. Duetothefocusonculturethislayertiestosharedidentitybetweenindividualsand sharedvalues. Thetheoryarguesthatthemacrosystemchangesovertime,assubsequentgenerations maymodifythemacrosystemleadingtothepersondevelopinginauniquemacrosystem. Thisisvery relevanttotheinternationalstudentexperience,astheyhavetomovetoadifferentplacewithavery differentcultureleadingtoanewmacrosystemfortheinternationalstudent. TheChronosystemlayer referstothedimensionoftime. Theoutermostlayerisrelevantiftheanalysisisfocussedonmajor transitionsoverthelifecourse,aswellassocio-historicalcircumstances. Thislayer,whichisusually not,studied[2,3,14]isveryrelevantasindividual’sre-locating,learningandlivinginanewcountry withadifferentculturetotheirown. Theirexperienceisamajorlifetransitionandforthestudent adimensionoftimewheretheirenvironmentchangesandallthelayersintheecologicalsystems theorychange. Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 5of25 Thistheorythereforeactsasausefulframeworkforaholisticunderstandingoftheinternational student experience—although addressing aspects of the whole framework is not possible in one article[14]. However,thecurrentanalysisismorecomprehensivethantheanalysisofinternational post-doctoral students’ experience [14], which focused solely on the Chronosystem layer. In the currentanalysistheexosystemlayerwasnotanalyzed(notehowFigureA1,AppendixAdepictsthis layerbutFigureA2,AppendixAdoesnot). However,applicationofthemicrosystem,mesosystem, macrosystemandchronosystemtothedataanalysiswillprovideamoreholisticunderstandingof direct and indirect influences on the experience of international students. This application of the ecologicaltheoryisintheAnalysisandDiscussionsection. 1.5. Aims Takingintoaccountpreviousliteratureandtheuseofsocio-culturaltheory,thepresentresearch willthereforeaimto: (1) Explorethesocio-culturalfactorsthatinfluencehowinternationalstudentsadjusttolivingand studyinginhighereducationintheUK; (2) Considerationofsupportingpracticeswhichcouldassistinternationalstudentsintheirtransition toHigherEducation. 2. Methodology 2.1. Participants Thesampleofparticipantsconsistedoffivestudentsrecruitedonavolunteerbasiswhowere currentlystudyingintheirthirdyearofadegreecourse. Theparticipantswererecruitedthrough thepsychologyresearchparticipantscheme(wherestudentsarerequiredtoparticipateinresearch inreturnforcreditsontheirdegreecourse). Allthosewhoexpressedinterestinthepresentresearch participatedinanin-depthinterview, whichtookplaceinaprivateroomintheuniversitylibrary. Threeparticipantswerefemaleandtwoweremale,agedbetween20and21yearsold.Thehost-country of the participants differed, with participants originating from Bangladesh, South Korea, Nepal, Bulgaria and India. Table 1 provides an overview of the sample’s composition. All participants receivedaparticipantinformationsheetpriortotheinterview. Theywereinformedaboutwhatthe interviewinvolvedandsoprovidedinformedconsent. Participantswerealsodebriefedfurtherabout how the data would be analysed in relation to the research question. The ethics committee at the universitygrantedethicalapproval. Table1.Atablelistingthefiveparticipants’countryoforigin. Participant CountryofOrigin Participant1(P1) India Participant2(P2) Bulgaria Participant3(P3) SouthKorea Participant4(P4) Bangladesh Participant5(P5) Nepal 2.2. DataCollection Timelineinterviews(alsoknownassnakeorlifehistoryinterviews)werethemostappropriate methodfordatacollection,inordertogathertheparticipant’ssubjectiveexperiencesinrichdetail. Thetimelineinterviewisaconstructivisttechniquethatisusedtoencouragereflectiononcriticallife eventsthatoccurintheparticipants’personalhistory[24]thusprovingadvantageousinthepresent study,asparticipantswererequiredtoreflectontheirexperiencesovertheir3yearperiodofstudying inhighereducation. Thetimelineinterviewisdesignedtoexplorepeoplesownperceptionoftheir Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 6of25 livesasitrequirestheparticipanttocreatetheirowntimelinebyfreelytalkingabouttheirsubjective experienceswithoutanypre-determinedquestionsbeingasked[25]. Incontrasttousingmethodsthat includepre-determinedquestionstheprocessoftheparticipantchoosingwhattheywanttodiscuss enhancesthepersonalimportanceoftheeventsandgivestheparticipantanalyticalpower,asthey areinvitedtoparticipatein‘constructingthestory’[26]. Theflexibleandunpredictablenatureofthe interviewalsocontributestowardsreducingresearchbias[27]. Thetimelineinterviewisabletogather insightintotheparticipant’sbeliefsaswellasinsightintotheparticulareventsthatmayhaveledto thebeliefs. Themethodachievesthisbyunravellingtheconsequentialincidentsthatwereimportantto theparticipant,andcapturinghowtheirbeliefsmayhavechangedovertime[28]. Inthepresentstudy thetechniquewasusedtounderstandhowthepatternofdifferentlifeeventsthatoccurredduring theparticipant’sadjustmenttothenewenvironmentcouldberelatedtothewidersocial,historical, politicalandenvironmentalcontext[26]. Beforeeachinterviewtookplacetheresearcherexplainedtotheparticipantwhattheresearch question was about, what a time line interview is and what it entailed on their part. Participants thenpreparedtheirtimelineonasheetofpaper. Eachparticipantwasremindedofthenatureofthe researchbeingconductedandwasinstructedtotalkabouttheirexperiencesoflivingandlearningin aforeigncountryoverthethree-yearperiod,startingfromwhentheymovedfromtheirhost-country upuntilthepresenttime(soalineartimeline)includinganypositiveandnegativeinfluencesthey mayhaveexperienced. Asthemethodrequiredtheparticipanttotalkfreelyabouttheirexperiences, pre-determinedquestionswerenotprepared. However,participantswereencouragedtoexpandon someoftheissuestheyraised. Theresearcheremphasizedthattherewasnorightorwrongwayof talkingthroughtheirexperiencesoverthethree-yearperiod. Eachparticipantwasawarethatthe interviewwasbeingrecordedandthattherecordingswouldbetranscribed. AppendixCcontainsan exampleofaninterview. Theinterviewslastedbetween30and40min. 2.3. DataAnalysis Qualitative analysis provides an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analysing data. Thedepthandflexibilityofqualitativemethodscontributetowardsthecreationofanin-depth understandingoftheparticipant’ssocialword[29].Theunderlyingframeworkinformingdataanalysis was a socio-cultural perspective [2,3]. Therefore the thematic analysis was theory (socio-cultural theory) driven and not data driven [29]. Application of socio-cultural theory to data analysis will provide insight into the importance of inter-psychological processes (i.e., between the person and theenvironment)duringtheparticipant’sexperienceofadaptingtolivingandstudyinginaforeign country. Qualitativemethodsandapplicationofsocioculturaltheorytodataanalysiswilltherefore helptoexploretheinfluenceoftheparticipant’senvironmentbeyondtheimmediatesituation[2,3,14] fromtheparticipantsuniqueperspectivethusachievingtheaimofthepaper. Data was analysed using thematic analysis following the systematic guidance provided by BraunandClarke[29]. ThesestepsaredescribedbelowandsummarizedinTableA1AppendixB. This method was appropriate as the data collected provided insight into socio-cultural influences on learning. Therefore, socio-cultural theory [2,3] was appropriate to guide the thematic analysis and identify the themes within the data. Through its theoretical freedom, thematic analysis is aflexibleresearchtoolthatprovidesarichanddetailedaccountofthedatawhilstalsoencouraging complexity[29]. Thematicanalysisalsocomplimentsthenatureoftimelineinterviewsinthatthey bothheavilyfocusontheparticipant’sinterpretationoftheirownpersonalexperiences,ratherthan relyingontheresearcher’sguidanceandinterpretation. Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 7of25 Dataanalysisstartedwiththeresearchertranscribingthedata,whichwasalsothefirststepto becomingfamiliarwiththedata. Aftertranscription,thefirstphaseofthematicanalysisinvolvesthe researcherreadingthetranscriptseveraltimestoidentifyinitialcodes. Theseinitialcodescharacterise afeatureofthedataandcanrepresentliteral,semanticandlatentcontent(foranexampleseeannotated transcriptinAppendixC).Theprocedureofcodingispartofanalysis,astheanalystisorganisingdata intomeaningfulunits[29]. However,codeddatadiffersfromtheunitsofanalysis(thethemes)which areusuallybroader. Onetranscriptwasreviewedbybothauthorstoensureagreementconcerningthe contentoftheinitialcodes. Identificationofthemesisthenextphase;itisatthisstagewhereinterpretationofthedataoccurs. Thisstageisshapedbywhetherthethemesare‘data-driven’or‘theory-driven’. Ifitistheformerthe themeswilldependonthecontentofthedata,butinthelattercodesareinformedbytheory. Asthe analysisisdrivenbysocioculturaltheorycodesweredeterminedbywhichlayerofBronfenbrenner’s framework they related to. This involved two researchers (the first author and an independent academic) specialising in the area of socio-cultural theory working together to ensure agreement on this component of the analysis. So, for example, when participants were talking about loss of friendsduetomovingcountriesthethemeis‘break-upofmicro-system’. Similarlywhenparticipants were talking about the importance of building new friendships in England the microsystem is of chiefinterestagainandcanbethoughtofas‘creatingnewmicrosystems’;boththemesrelatetothe importanceofthemicro-systemforassimilationintheUK.Thisisillustratedinthecodedtranscript in Appendix C. Any disagreement between the coders was resolved through discussion between thecoders. Itisatthisstagethatanyrelationshipbetweencodesisnotedandcodesarecollatedtoidentify relationships between codes and themes. This progresses onto a consideration of the relationship between different levels of themes (e.g., main overarching themes and sub-themes within them, seeFigure1foranexample). Someinitialcodesmaygoontoformmainthemes(e.g.,importanceof makingfriends)whereasothersmayformsub-themes(e.g.,barrierstomakingfriends)andothers stillmaybediscardedormergedwithotherthemes. Thisrequiresare-checkofindividualtranscripts to establish whether the themes are supported by the data (described as a level 1 check [29]) and amorecomplexcheckofalltranscriptstoestablishwhetherthethemescharacterizeimportantissues across the data set (described as a level 2 check [29]). An example from the current data set is initially five overarching themes were identified: the importance of social relationships, cultural differences, the importance of speaking English, differences in education and influences beyond university. However,aftercarefulexaminationthetheme‘culturaldifferences’wasremovedasthe themewastoobroad[29]inthatitrelatedtotoomanydistinctareas. Inadditiontothis,theprocess of checking themes against all transcripts (level two check outlined above) revealed this theme is discussedthroughouttheotherfourthemes. Thereforeratherthanculturaldifferencesbeinganoverly broad theme the process of refinement resulted in the analysis embedding the discussion about cultural differences in relation to social relationships, education, influences beyond universityand speakingEnglish. Thefinalstageisnamingtheoverarchingthemesanddataanalysisinrelationtothetheme. Itis thisstagewhereanalysisinvolvesreviewofevidencefromtheresearchliteratureandinterpretation involvesapplicationoftheoryifrelevant. Thisstageistheanalysis/discussionbelow. Themesare discussedinrelationtothepedagogyliteratureandinterpretedusingBronfenbrenner’secological systemstheory[2,3]. Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 8of25 Educ. Sci. 2017, 7, 35 8 of 24 Figure 1. A diagram to show major themes and sub-themes where arrows connect sub-themes to Figure1. Adiagramtoshowmajorthemesandsub-themeswherearrowsconnectsub-themesto overarching themes (depicted in bold boxes). (Note: Sub-themes can relate to other sub-themes, and overarching themes (depicted in bold boxes). (Note: Sub-themes can relate to other sub-themes, more than one overarching theme. For example, the sub-theme of ‘the importance of making friends andmorethanoneoverarchingtheme.Forexample,thesub-themeof‘theimportanceofmakingfriends with English students’ relates to two over-arching themes, ‘The importance of social relationships’, withEnglishstudents’relatestotwoover-archingthemes,‘Theimportanceofsocialrelationships’, and ‘The importance of speaking English’. It also connects to the sub-theme of ‘Difficulties taking part and‘TheimportanceofspeakingEnglish’. Italsoconnectstothesub-themeof‘Difficultiestaking in leisure activities’. Overarching themes can also relate to each other, in our data there is only one partinleisureactivities’. Overarchingthemescanalsorelatetoeachother,inourdatathereisonly example where the over-arching theme of ‘The importance of speaking English’ is connected to oneexamplewheretheover-archingthemeof‘TheimportanceofspeakingEnglish’isconnectedto ‘Differences in Education’. The only dashed arrow in the figure above illustrates this connection.) ‘DifferencesinEducation’.Theonlydashedarrowinthefigureaboveillustratesthisconnection.) 3.2. The Importance of Social Relationships 3. Results The main theme that emerged from all five interviews was the importance of social relationships. It is evident that coping with the loss of social support, making new friends and eventually building 3.1. Analysis/Discussion up a new social support system is considered a major part of the adaptation process for international stuIdneonrtds e[1r8t,o30p]r. eFsreormve thpea rdtaictiap gaantthsearnedo nity ims citley,arth theyatw thilel fbiresrt effeewrr medontothass otfo aarsriPvi1n–gP s5e.eTmh etoir bceo tuhnet ry ofomroigstin criuscrieafle triemnec efodr itnheT satbuldee2n.t and the development of their new social support system. Two of the participants, P1 and P2 both immigrated with their boyfriends, which seemed to prevent them from developing new social relationshTipasb ilne 2th.ePiar rftiircsitp aacnatds’ecmoiucn ytreyaro. fPo2r isgtainte.d: I didn’t want to leave my comfort zone, especially because halls were so noisy, so I stayed Participant CountryofOrigin with my boyfriend. We didn’t communicate with anyone, so at the end of year 1 hadn’t Participant1(P1) India spoken to anyone or anyone on my course, so I didn’t have any friends at first, I was so Participant2(P2) Bulgaria lonely and it affected my confidence... Before if I was stressed during exam period, I could Participant3(P3) SouthKorea talk to my friends and itP awrtoicuilpda nbte4 f(iPn4e). But hereB aIn cgaland’te sthalk to anyone and then I get Participant5(P5) Nepal Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 9of25 FouroverarchingthemesemergedfromthedatacollectedandtheboldboxesinFigure1depict them. Figure1isathematicmap[29]andthefootnotebelowthemapguidesinterpretationofthe map. ThesamethemesaredisplayedinTableA1inAppendixB.FigureA1presentsBronfenbrenner’s socio-cultural theory which is described in the theoretical framework section of the introduction. FigureA2(AppendixA)presentstheapplicationofBronfenbrenner’stheorytothedata. 3.2. TheImportanceofSocialRelationships Themainthemethatemergedfromallfiveinterviewswastheimportanceofsocialrelationships. Itisevidentthatcopingwiththelossofsocialsupport,makingnewfriendsandeventuallybuilding upanewsocialsupportsystemisconsideredamajorpartoftheadaptationprocessforinternational students[18,30]. Fromthedatagathereditisclearthatthefirstfewmonthsofarrivingseemtobethe mostcrucialtimeforthestudentandthedevelopmentoftheirnewsocialsupportsystem. Twoofthe participants,P1andP2bothimmigratedwiththeirboyfriends,whichseemedtopreventthemfrom developingnewsocialrelationshipsintheirfirstacademicyear. P2stated: Ididn’twanttoleavemycomfortzone,especiallybecausehallsweresonoisy,soIstayed withmyboyfriend. Wedidn’tcommunicatewithanyone,soattheendofyear1hadn’t spokentoanyoneoranyoneonmycourse,soIdidn’thaveanyfriendsatfirst,Iwasso lonelyanditaffectedmyconfidence... BeforeifIwasstressedduringexamperiod,Icould talk to my friends and it would be fine. But here I can’t talk to anyone and then I get depressedandthenIcan’tconcentrateonmyworkandIstartedtomissmylecturesinthe firstyear. Research supports the importance of social support systems on academic achievement, with findingspresentingasignificantrelationshipbetweenabroadersocialsupportnetworkandhigher academic achievement [23]. An improved social system contributes to healthy psychological adjustmentthatleadstopositiveacademicoutcomes. Therelationshipbetweensocialrelationships, stressfuleventsandpsychologicalwell-beingintheabovepassageisalsosupportedbythestress buffering model [31] which proposes that individuals with social support are protected from the harmfuleffectsthatstresscancause,suggestingthatsocialsupportwouldmoderatetherelationship betweenstressfuleventsandpsychologicalwellbeing[31]. ItseemsasthoughP1’ssocialinteractionswithherfriendsfromhomewereanimportantpartof herlife,theywereaninfluentialpartofherimmediateenvironment,andthereforetheywerepartof hermicro-system. However,sincemovingtotheUK,thecontactwithherfriendsdissolvedandthe micro-systemstartedtobreakdown,whichproveddifficultforP1. Itseemsasthoughtheonlything thathadnotdramaticallychangedinherimmediateenvironmentwasthecontactwithherboyfriend. Althoughspendingallhertimewithhimprovidedcomfortandfamiliarityatthetimeandseemed tohelpwithheradjustmentintheshortterm,itpreventedherfrombuildinganewsocialsupport systemwhichhadnegativeeffectsonherlong-termadjustment,leadingtolonelinessanddepression. Bronfenbrennerstressesthattheindividualmustengageinprogressivelycomplexactionsand tasksinorderfordevelopmenttotakeplace. ItseemsasthoughP1isstrugglingtodevelopinthe newenvironment;sheisnotmotivatedtodeveloprelationshipswiththestudentssheisinteracting with,bothonhercourseandinheraccommodation. Bronfenbrenner[2]proposesthat“theattributes ofthepersonmostlikelytoshapethecourseofdevelopmentforbetterorforworse,arethosethat induceorinhibitdynamicdispositionstowardtheimmediateenvironment”. Thistheorytherefore supportsthepresentfindingsasitisevidentthattheisolationthatP1iscreatingbetweenherselfand theenvironmentisdelayingthedevelopmentofhersocialsystem,whichhindersheradaptationby causingdepressionandnegativelyaffectsherlearningandacademicinvolvement. ItisalsointerestingtonotethatunlikeP1andP2,P4hadcontactwithhisroommatewhohad livedinHuddersfieldforayear,priortoarrivingtoHuddersfield. ThisimmediatesocialbondP4 developedwithastudentwhowasfamiliarwiththeareaandcultureseemedtoeasehistransition, Educ.Sci.2017,7,35 10of25 and gave him the confidence to develop various different social systems and build up important micro-systems,allowingP4tosettleinalotquickerthantheotherparticipants. P4stated: Thefirstdaywasreallytough,itwasveryoverwhelming,andIwastraumatised. Iwentto bedstraightaway.ButthenextmorningIwokeupitstartedtogetbetter,myhousematelet meborrowhisphonetoringmyfamilyandthenhecameintotownwithme,showedme aroundandhelpedmefindajob... Imetlotsoffriendsfrommyjobanditgavememore confidence,andthenwewentoutandImetmorefriendsfromdifferentplaces. AccordingtoBronfenbrenner,themostcommontransitionexperienceinvolvesmodificationof themeso-systems,asoldmicro-systemsbreakdownandnewonesemerge. Theinterplaybetween P4’snewmicro-systemsisrevealedintheabovepassage,asP4’ssocialnetworkinworkhelpedhim createfurthersocialsystemswhentheywentout. ThebroadsocialnetworkP4developedtherefore increasedhisconfidenceandhelpedhimsociallyadjusttothenewenvironment. Participantsalsodiscussedtheimportanceofformingsocialrelationshipsspecificallywithpeople fromEnglishculture,whichsupportstheresearchoutlinedintheintroduction. P1,P2andP3allstated howimportantitwasforthemtomakefriendsfromtheUK,inordertolearnmoreabouttheculture andimprovetheirEnglishlanguageproficiency. P2stated: I wanted to understand their mentality; it was so different to Bulgarians. I wanted to be friends with them so I could understand how they think, their views, their beliefs, theirtraditionsandIthoughtmaybethiswouldhelpme,anditdid...Irealisedthatit’snot politetotalkaboutpoliticshere,butthat’sallwetalkaboutathome,sonowIlearnthow to‘smalltalk’. Itseemsthatthestudentseventuallydevelopednewmicro-systemsovertime,througheffective participation within the new social environment. The macro-system influences the nature of the developmentofthesedifferentsocialrelationships,duetothedifferencesinsociallyacceptedvalues and beliefs within the different cultures. As the students began to develop relationships with individuals from the host culture, their experiences started to become more positive, and as they becamemoreconfidentwiththenewculturetheybegantosociallyadjusttotheirnewenvironment. P2stated: Istartedtospeaktopeople. ImadeabestfriendfromEnglandwhoalwayshelpedmeand tookmetoplacesandIwasn’tafraidtotrydifferentwordsorphrasesbecauseIknewifI messedupshewouldn’tlaugh,shewouldjustsayyoudon’tsaythathere. Societalacceptanceisoneofthemostcommonneedsforinternationalstudents. Findingssuggest thatforstudentstoadjustintheirnewenvironmenttheyneedtodevelopadegreeofsocialcompetence inthenewlanguage,feelrespectedandaccepted[22]. P3alsopowerfullyillustratedthemacro-system influenceinherdesiretoconformtothesocialnormsofEnglishculture,inordertobeacceptedbyher Englishpeers. P3stated: InKorea,UniversitygirlsputonhighheelseverydaybutBritishgirlstheyonlywearflat shoes. Peoplestartedtoaskwhyyouweartheseshoeseveryday,andtheythoughtitwas weird,soIstartedtowearflatshoestoo. This finding supports research that suggests that international students must change their behaviour and adopt the ritualized routines of the host country so they can successfully become partofthecommunityanddevelopasharedidentitywithhostnationals[32]. Itisevidentfromthe datagatheredthatinternationalstudentswhoimmediatelybuildupasocialsupportsystemadjustto thenewenvironmentquickerthanthosewhodonot,whichemphasiseshowimportantthefirstfew monthsfollowingtheirarrivalarefortheirsocialandacademicdevelopmentaswellastheirwell-being. AlthoughtheUniversitytheresearchwasconductedatoffersstudentstheopportunitytomeetother