Discourse Community: Arab Students Studying in the United States of America
Abstract
The number of the Arab students in the United States of America is increasing a day to the other. The Arab students are termed as the discourse community because they are not the natives of America, and they face common problems. The majority of the Arabs in the United States are Muslims, and they are said to face the common challenges of religion, culture, and other social dimensions. For that matter, the paper conducted explains the various dimensions of Arab Students studying in the United States of America. The study tackles the areas such as how the Arab students adapt to the new environment, how they are united in the country, the cultural challenges they are facing, and the general challenges they come along. The paper finally comes up with recommendations on how the government and the administration should take it as their responsibility to address the issues related to the foreign students.
Arab Students Studying in the United States of America
Introduction
The United States of America has the highest number of foreign students as per the research. Many countries see America as a developed country that offers quality education. The parents taking their children to the universities and the colleges in the United States also argue that the country is peaceful and, it advocates for equality irrespective of gender, color, and social class. For that matter, it has seen the foreign students increasing to the country a day to the other. Arabic countries are taking this as an advantage to have their people study abroad in the name they would come back to society and help in the research. Out of the foreign students studying in the United States of America, 20% of them are approximated to come from Arabic countries (Abunab et al., 2017). The Arabic countries, in this case, include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait, among others. Sometimes those students tend to go through hard times in their first days at the college. It takes time before the students fully adapt to the new environment. Of late, the students have been facing tough times in schools, especially in addressing their views. As the minority students in the school, they tend to be assumed, and most of the time do not get equal opportunities like the other students. For this matter, research was carried out to investigate the lives of Arabic Students as the discourse community in the United States of America. The main objectives of the research were to understand how the Arabic students easily adapt to the new environment, the challenges they face, the achievements they have made, and how they see the future Arabic students to the country.
Research Methods
In any research, it is necessary to use the different methods which would help you get the necessary information about the subject matter. In this case, the research paper used both primary and secondary sources to collect information. The primary sources are the ones where one has to go to the field and interact with the environment, and the people with the aim of getting the answers to the specific questions. The secondary sources are the ones where one has to research from books, journals, websites, and other written tools to collect the idea about the topic of the study. On the secondary sources, the research paper had to go through several articles talking about foreign students in the United States of America and how they tend to interact with others. While reading the secondary sources, I ensured to note down the important points which would help in analyzing the research question. There were two journals that were highly used during the research. The first one was written by Al-Hattami and Al-Ahdal in 2014, explaining how the Arab Students adjust to the social life in the United States and some of the challenges they face during that period of adjusting. The second journal that was used was written by Rabia and Hazza in 2017, explaining the life of Arab students in the United States of America. The two journals were very relevant since they helped in knowing many things concerning the Arab students and some of the problems which they are currently facing. In addition to that, I also went through other books and websites to research the same all as a way of getting the relevant information.
On the primary sources, the research carried out direct interviews with the Arabic students so that first-hand information could be obtained. The primary sources mostly applied included administration of the questionnaires, direct interviews, and surveying. In this case, the research questions were noted down and which were designed for the different individuals and also the groups (Shammas, 2015). The questionnaires were designed for the Arabic students’ leaders, Arabic staff, the University management, and the Arabic students. The responses to each group were gathered together to help in coming up with the relevant findings and the problems to the question. Additionally, the paper used a survey whereby the general environment of the University was observed, and any important information regarding the topic was taken care of. Finally, sometimes the paper used face to face conversations with some of the students’ leaders and has their views on the same. Through this, the paper came up with the relevant information that would be used to know the truth of the Arabic foreign students studying in the United States as the discourse community.
The study questions in the questionnaire
- What are some of the reasons why you chose to study in the United States of America?
Quality education, exploring new places, and academic qualifications
- How long did it take you before you adapt to the new environment?
Around a year
- What are some of the cultural challenges which you face in the United States of America?
Religious, dressing, and greetings
- What other challenges do you face in the United States of America?
Political, economic, and disease pandemics
- Do you feel safe at school?
Yes
- What does your community at home expect you to take back home after the studies?
Help them in research that would take away the poverty
Body of Report
From the study carried out, various findings were obtained about the Arabic students as the discourse students in the United States of America. The findings were classified into the different subtopics, including the How Arabic Students adapts to the new environment, how they are united, cultural challenges, general challenges, and the societal expectation from them. The paper also comes up with the recommendations on the topic.
How Arabic Students adapt to the new environment
According to the research, Arabic students sometimes take time before they adapt to the new environment. When you look at the geographical map, Arabic countries are far away from the United States of America. The main language for most of the Arabic countries is Arabic, while in the United States is English. This makes it a challenging factor when intermingling with the new people. Sometimes when you are new at the school, you may not hear some of the words communicated by your fellow friends in the United States of America. The English assent of the Arabs is different from that of the Americans (Rabia & Hazza, 2017). This sometimes takes to communicate effectively with both the students and also the instructors. Additionally, the weather in the United States of America is different from that one in the Arab countries. Sometimes one gets sick easily. According to the response of many students, it takes around two years before adapting to the new climate of the United States of America.
How the Arab Students are united
Just like any other group of students in the United States of America, Arabic students have their representatives in the students’ leadership. They have also organized themselves, whereby they met on specific days to discuss the problems they generally face. Sometimes the students have to share a lot about their experiences, culture, and how they want their college life gets improved (McDermott-Levy et al., 2011)). The Arabic students’ association also tries to solve the problems on their own and present their grievances to the authorities. Through their unity, they have been able to deal with all the challenges which they pass through.
Cultural Challenges that the Arab Students face
Culture simply means the way people live and interact with one another. It may take the religion, greetings, or even the mode of dressing. The majority of the Arabs in the United States of America are the Muslims. On the other end, the leading religion in the country is Christianity. This sometimes becomes a challenge to the Arabic Muslims, especially when addressing their views about religion (Al-Hattami et al., 2014). There are some dimensions of the Arabic religion that sounds bad to Christianity hence bringing a challenge to the Arab students. In most cases, the Muslims have their modes of dressing. Sometimes they are molested by the other people for wearing such clothes hence becoming another big challenge. The way of greeting is also a challenge since the Arabs have their specific ways of greeting people, which is different from the other people. For that matter, it takes time before there is a clear understanding of the different cultures. Many times, the students are advised to respect one another culture until he or she adapts to the new system.
The general challenges
Apart from the cultural challenges, there are others which they face a day to the other. Sometimes the foreign students tend not to be given equal opportunities like the natives. There is no time when an Arab student stood for the top positions in the University’s leadership. This makes it difficult for their grievances to be taken care of. Another challenge that they face is political pressure. Sometimes, the state of politics in the country becomes difficult to contain (Al Khaiyali et al., 2018). The minority students tend to be assumed, and they end up experiencing difficult times. This makes even sometimes has the difficulties in attending classes for the fear that they would become the victims of the circumstance. Other general challenges include the coronavirus pandemic and the economic pressures, among others.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Foreign students are sometimes finding it difficult to adapt to schools in the United States of America. The number of the Arab students in the United States of America is increasing a day to the other. As a discourse community, their study is carried out to know how they interact and live in the United States universities. The paper has used both the primary and secondary sources of data to collect the relevant information that has helped in coming up with the findings. In the study, it is true that the Arab students in the United States of America have their own ways of uniting, take time to adapt to the new environment, they face cultural and the other general problems. Even though the Arab students pass through difficult times in the United States, they have ways of dealing with it. For that matter, the paper recommends that the government of the United States of America should intervene and ensure that all the students are taken care of equally irrespective of their country. The school’s administration should also ensure that there is no pressure on foreign students, and they have equal learning opportunities. With all those considerations, the Arab students will have something good to celebrate about.
References
Abunab, Hamzeh Y., Dator, Wireen Leila T., Salvador, Jordan T., and Mary Grace C. Lacanaria “Solitude, Religious and Cultural Uniqueness in a Foreign Environment: Adjustments as an Arab Student.” Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 56, no. 5, 2017, pp. 1701-1718.
Al Khaiyali, Al Tiyb, Nuseir, Nadia A., and Rawia Kharruba “Study of Cultural Challenges Faced by Arab Learners of English in the United States of America” International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies, vol. 6, no. 2, 2018, pp. 36-40
Al-Hattami, A. A., & Al-Ahdal, A. A. M. H. (2014) Academic and social adjustments of Arab Fulbright students in American universities: A Case Study. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 4(5), 216-222.
McDermott-Levy, Ruth. “Going Alone: The Lived Experience of Female Arab-Muslim Nursing Students Living and Studying in the United States,” Nursing Outlook, 2011, vol. 59, no. 5, pp. 266-277
Rabia, A., & Hazza, M. (2017) Undergraduate Arab International Students’ Adjustment to US Universities International Journal of Higher Education, 6(1), 131-139.
Shammas, Diane. “We Are Not All the Same: Arab and Muslim Students Forging Their Own Campus Communities in a Post-9/11 America.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol.35, no. 1, 2015, pp. 65-88, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2015.1019730