LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:8 August 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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A Cross-Cultural Study of International Students at
Higher Level Education

Hassanaath Beebee Heathy, Ph.D. Research Scholar

Abstract

It is said that culture and personality are correlative terms; that to know the culture of a people is to know the types of personalities to be found within it and that to know the personalities is to understand the culture. International students from different countries interact differently in class and communicate and respond accordingly to their culture. Henceforth, with the help of Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions: Power distance, collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long term orientation, this study provides an understanding of how students from Thailand and Yemen studying at higher level education interact in class.

Keywords: Culture, International students, higher level education, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

Introduction

Culture is an accumulation of knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, morals, laws, and customs that distinguishes members of one group from another group. Different scholars have defined culture differently. According to Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov (2010), “Culture is the collective programming of mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.’’ It consists of shared values, beliefs, practices, habits and laws. It is not something that can be inherited it rather describes a group of people who were raised up in the same social environment and shared the same life experiences and education. People learn culture from childhood as they live in a society and a kid learn the basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviors as s/he lives with family, go to school, mix with other kids in the area (Hofstede, et al., 2010; Kotler, et al., 1999). People from different cultural background communicate in different ways. For example, in Thai society pointing with a single finger is considered to be rude and accusatory while in Yemeni society male cannot have direct eye contact with the female as it is considered as a taboo. Similarly, students from different countries carry out different cultural mindsets and they differ in attitude, habits, and beliefs. International students are not students of their home country, henceforth their expectations and interactions in education are different. In order to understand those differences, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions were employed in this paper. Hofstede defines “dimension as an aspect of culture that can be measured relative to other culture.’’ This study sought to compare the five cultural dimensions of Hofstede between Thai and Yemeni students in Higher Education (HE).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Hassanaath Beebee Heathy
Ph.D. Research Scholar
Department of Mass Communication
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh, U.P, India
Hassanaath08@gmail.com
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