Do Adjustment Problems Hamper International Students’ Academic Achievement?
1. DO ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS HAMPER
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT?
Tengku Shahraniza Bt Tengku Abdul Jalal
Raeidah Bt Ariff
Lim Ai Ling
Multimedia University
Jln Ayer Keroh Lama, 75450 Bukit Beruang, Melaka, Malaysia
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2. ABSTRACT
• 100,000 in Malaysian universities as of 2014
• 200,000 targeted by the year 2020
• Many international students face adjustment problems
• Adjustment problems of international students in Multimedia University?
• Relationship between adjustment problems and academic achievement?
• Recommendations for Malaysian universities and MOHE
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3. INTRODUCTION
• U-curve of culture shock, the earlier studies on adjustment (Lysgaard, 1955)
• Cultural adjustment issues not well investigated in Malaysian universities
• Adjustment problems of internationals students in MMU
• Correlations adjustment problems vs academic achievement
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4. METHOD
• Michigan International Student Problem Inventory (MISPI) is used to measure the 11
adjustment problems encountered by the undergraduates.
• CGPA is used to measure the students’ academic achievement.
• Structured survey questionnaire were administered to 381 international pre-university and
undergraduates.
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7. RESULTS: ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS
International Students in Multimedia University face 3 Adjustment Problems
• Financial Aids
• Living Dining
• Academic Process
From the table, it is noted that Financial Aids has the highest mean(1.9284) of all. It is
followed by Living and Dining problems(1.9197) and Academic Process problems(1.8911).
The Religious Services(1.3845) score the lowest and indicates least problem of all. The other
seven problems are quite close in the scores(1.6052-1.7953) obtained but still of very minor
problems.
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9. RESULTS: ADJUSTMENT VS CGPA
3 Adjustment Problems are significantly related to CGPA
• Financial Aids
• Placement Services
• Academic Process
The multiple regression analysis indicated that the following tested variables were significant
at p<.05 - a 95% degree of confidence. The beta value (standardize coefficients) of
Financial Aids (β=.186), Placement Services (β=.167) and Academic Process (β= -.151)
indicate that these 3 independent variables are related to CGPA. The other 8 independent
variables are found not to be significant
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10. DISCUSSION
The results provide evidence that financial, placement and academic issues contribute to the
low academic achievement.
• Financial Aids
• Self-sponsored or privately funded
• Governments only sponsor public universities & certain courses
• Double fees charged to international students
• Limited amount of money received since families have bigger financial commitments
• No part time work due to Malaysian immigration work restriction
• Low exchange rate, the money they received is lower in value and limited their purchase
of goods.
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11. DISCUSSION
• Placement Services
• Many Middle Eastern countries are politically unstable.
• Uncertainties politically and economically lead to worries of being jobless after graduation
• Lack the connection and assistance from their own education ministries.
• Difficulties and failure in academic caused them to repeat subjects, change courses,
extend stay or switch to other universities
• Having to wait more than 6 months for new visa
• Difficulties to stay, get a job or become the citizen of Malaysia
• Malaysia has strict rules in giving visa, granting PR status or awarding citizenship
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12. DISCUSSION
• Academic Process
• Exam-oriented 40% coursework, 60% final examination
• Frequent quizzes and tests frequently
• Used to less frequent assessments, light weight syllabus
• Compulsory attendance post difficulty as culturally they are quite relaxed with punctuality
• Lower proficiency in writing term paper
• Competitive university grading system compared to a lenient one in their home country
• Lacked understanding on assessment criteria.
• Insufficient help from lecturers and academic advisors with classes of between 50 and 200
students
• Free times often do not match the faculty members’ availability
• Difficulty to connect and interact with faculty unfriendly and racist members, leading to very
limited interaction
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13. FUTURE DIRECTION
Financial Aids
• Students could check the expenses for the whole programme before enrollment
• Avoid exchange rate transaction that causes them to lose the value
• University could make available websites with sponsorships of education from
governments or private organizations
• Government could allocate grants for undergraduates’ researches and projects
• Work restrictions could be revised for students to enable them to work on part -time basis
of not more than 15 hours a week
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14. FUTURE DIRECTION
Placement Services
• Students must be trained with soft skills as this could help boost their confidence in
securing jobs once they graduate
• University must set up alumni, organize career fair and invite the international companies
to link the students and the companies from their home countries
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15. FUTURE DIRECTION
Academic Process
• Students should understand the learning system and academic demand of the university
or country
• University should provides comprehensive information all year round
• Faculty members could be exposed to different culture and learning system to be more
perceptive towards differences
• Exam-oriented system could be changed towards a more comprehensive assessment
system with field work, forum, discussions or presentations
• Ongoing remedial classes for those weak in language skills
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