Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the intercultural communication problems and difficulties experienced by African graduate students when they interact with Malaysians in a local public university in the Klang Valley, and how they cope with these problems. The study aimed to...

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Main Author:	Phang, Sce Hwai
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English English
Published:	2002
Subjects:	Language disorders - Students,foreign - Higher education
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10151/1/FBMK_2002_5.pdf
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id	my-upm-ir.10151
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-upm-ir.101512024-03-18T03:28:08Z Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University 2002-02 Phang, Sce Hwai The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the intercultural communication problems and difficulties experienced by African graduate students when they interact with Malaysians in a local public university in the Klang Valley, and how they cope with these problems. The study aimed to answer to three research questions: (a) What are the communication problems and difficulties faced by African students when interacting with Malaysians in the university? (b) What are the factors that contribute to the problems and difficulties? and (c) How do the international students cope with these problems? Data were collected from twelve African informants from Eastern and Western Africa and six Malaysians through semi-structured interviews and observation. There are three general conclusions derived from the findings of the study. The first conclusion is that the intercultural communication experience of the African students while interacting with Malaysians is problematic in nature. There are five categories of problems found in the interaction, namely: (a) Reservations towards foreigners; (b) Issue of greetings; (c) Indirectness; (d) Interrogations; and (e) Gender issues. The second conclusion of the study is that there are four possible factors that contribute to the communication problems and difficulties experienced by the African students in their interaction with the locals, which are: (a) Cultural differences; (b) Language; (c) Prejudices and Stereotypes; and (e) Limited exposure to Africans. And the final conclusion is that the Africans use two coping strategies to regulate the psychological discomfort and stress when encountering these difficulties - problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies. The problem-focused strategies include active coping, restraint coping, confrontive coping, and seeking instrumental social support. The emotion-focused strategies include acceptance, positive reinterpretation and growth, self-control, seeking emotional social support, distancing, and behavioural disengagement. Language disorders - Students,foreign - Higher education 2002-02 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10151/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10151/1/FBMK_2002_5.pdf text en public masters Universiti Putra Malaysia Language disorders - Students,foreign - Higher education Faculty of Modern Language and Communication Tamam, Ezhar English
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection	PSAS Institutional Repository
language	English English
advisor	Tamam, Ezhar
topic	Language disorders - Students,foreign - Higher education
spellingShingle	Language disorders - Students,foreign - Higher education Phang, Sce Hwai Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University
description	The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the intercultural communication problems and difficulties experienced by African graduate students when they interact with Malaysians in a local public university in the Klang Valley, and how they cope with these problems. The study aimed to answer to three research questions: (a) What are the communication problems and difficulties faced by African students when interacting with Malaysians in the university? (b) What are the factors that contribute to the problems and difficulties? and (c) How do the international students cope with these problems? Data were collected from twelve African informants from Eastern and Western Africa and six Malaysians through semi-structured interviews and observation. There are three general conclusions derived from the findings of the study. The first conclusion is that the intercultural communication experience of the African students while interacting with Malaysians is problematic in nature. There are five categories of problems found in the interaction, namely: (a) Reservations towards foreigners; (b) Issue of greetings; (c) Indirectness; (d) Interrogations; and (e) Gender issues. The second conclusion of the study is that there are four possible factors that contribute to the communication problems and difficulties experienced by the African students in their interaction with the locals, which are: (a) Cultural differences; (b) Language; (c) Prejudices and Stereotypes; and (e) Limited exposure to Africans. And the final conclusion is that the Africans use two coping strategies to regulate the psychological discomfort and stress when encountering these difficulties - problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies. The problem-focused strategies include active coping, restraint coping, confrontive coping, and seeking instrumental social support. The emotion-focused strategies include acceptance, positive reinterpretation and growth, self-control, seeking emotional social support, distancing, and behavioural disengagement.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Phang, Sce Hwai
author_facet	Phang, Sce Hwai
author_sort	Phang, Sce Hwai
title	Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University
title_short	Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University
title_full	Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University
title_fullStr	Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University
title_full_unstemmed	Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University
title_sort	communication problems experienced by african graduate students in their interaction with malaysians in a local university
granting_institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
granting_department	Faculty of Modern Language and Communication
publishDate	2002
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10151/1/FBMK_2002_5.pdf
_version_	1794018883738271744

Communication Problems Experienced by African Graduate Students in Their Interaction with Malaysians in a Local University

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