Building Social Capital to the International Students - Essay Example

Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW ON EDUCATION Literature Review on Education of the of the Literature Review on Education Building Social Capital The purpose of this study is to review the articles that are related to the difficulties faced by the international non-English students in order to build social capital. Social capital is based on the interaction, connection, and levels of trust individuals have with each other. Without programs or activities that provide interaction, connection, or the building of trust, then the social capital of that community decreases. But the availability of programs doesnt always determine social capital. Instead, the people in that community must be willing to take part in any activities or programs that are available. Social capital could be regarded as the "product" or "outcome" of a sound and sustainable social ecology. Learning (Falk and Harrison 1998; Harrison and Falk, 1998) is the principal process for building social capital and contributing to the sustainability of human and physical systems among the non-English international students. In the article “The Social Capital Experience of International Students in Australia: The Wollongong Experience”, written by Frank Neri and Simon Ville. It was discussed that when the international university students come to the another country where they face the language problem, as if an Asian non-English student come to the English university then the weak skills of speaking English is one of the major problem along with it the difference in culture stop them to involve among the local students of university. Obviously it has a great impact on their academic performance and sometimes they feel them unsatisfied as well. In the article it is also given that how can these international students can make their social network and can adjust in the environment. In the article Frank Neri and Simon Ville (2006), implement the framework of social capital and analyze the pattern of non-English students’ attitude in relation to building new sources of social capital in the Australia where they come for studies, the results of analysis show that there is a high degree of inconsistency of social capital renewal among the students it was found that mostly the international students build close association only with the students who belongs to their own country. Overall this article is a good effort to discuss the social capital renewal among the international students. In order to bring people together who belongs to different cultures the process of internationalization works for the migration of students from one place to another. The article “Venturing into the unknown a framework and strategies to assist international and Australian students to learn from each other” that was written by Betty Leask. It was mentioned that there are lot of international students who are studying in Australian Universities. Leask (2003), wrote that there is a discussion on the strategies and goals of internationalization, there is a discussion on the University of South Australia it is written that in order to achieve the goals there is a need to adopt different strategies by the staff and the students of universities, there is a need of skills and motivation among the international and Australian students to cross the border between them. In 2004, Trice, Andrea G., in his article, “Mixing It Up: International Graduate Students Social Interactions with American Students”, presents an analysis of a survey. The survey was conducted from the international students regarding their social network, friendship and association with American Students. Along with achieving the academic goals it is also necessary to make the social circle and there is an importance of social capital theory as well. Trice (2004) concluded that the international students who mingle with the American Students gave better academic results as compare to others and can adopt the culture soon, even it was also noticed that in these patients the chances of anxiety and alienation are less. Social capital theory (Stanton-Salazar, 1997) can give better explanation of it. As per the theory of Social Capital, the social interaction plays an important role because for an international student it is difficult to access a resource and opportunities present in an institutional setting are not distributed in a proper manner in the institutional members. When an international student comes to other country he faced many social and cultural problems. There is an importance to know these issues and find a better solution to resolve them. In an article “Korean Students in Australian universities: intercultural issues”, that was written by Myonghee Choi, there is research on the social and cultural problems occur in Korean students when the come to Australia for studies. It is to be observing that there is a lack of confidence in the Asian born and they face social problems during their studies, there is also a discussion on the problems that teachers face during handling Korean students. In the article Choi (1997) explored the problems faced by Korean students during their studies in universities in Victoria in 1992 and 1993.  He was mainly doing survey research on the participation of Korean students during lectures, association with the teachers and the relationship with the Australian students. It was found that language is the main problems that stop a person to show his or her participation within the class. The analysis shows that as per the perception of Korean students the Australian students and the teachers with their discriminatory attitude are responsible in lack of confidence among international students. There is an importance of Social Capital in all the areas, Liz Thomas highlight the significance of it in his article “Building social capital to improve student success”. Social capital isnt just important to one single person in the community but it is important to everyone together in the community because the factors of social capital can influence what we do and what we do can influence the social capital. Liz Thomas (2002) explains that social excepting in education is not only happen at one site within the university or any other institute, but is an effect of the interaction of relations in different areas including academic, economic, social, support and democratic. The growth of social capital can come about in all areas and help to prevail over social exclusion in all features of education, but the worth of social capital conversely is often disregarded.  The altering demography and lifestyles of new student buddies is often unobserved, and institutions are not varying to make students to use and build up social networks in all areas. It can only occur if we make out the importance of relationships in all the areas and it can be helpful for a student to get success. References Falk, I. and Harrison, L. 1998. Indicators of social capital: Social capital as the product of local interactive learning processes. Learning Communities: International Journal of Vocational Education Learning. Harrison, L. and Falk, I. 1998. Community learning and social capital: Just having a little chat. Journal of Vocational Education and Training. Stanton-Salazar, R. (1997) A Social Capital Framework for Understanding the Socialization of Racial Minority Children and Youths. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Educational Press. Bibliography Choi, Myonghee, (1997). Korean Students in Australian Universities: Intercultural Issues. Higher Education Research and Development 16, no. 3: 263-82 Leask, B., (2003). Venturing into the unknown – a framework and strategies to assist international and Australian students to learn from each other. In C. Bond & P. Bright (Eds.), Research and Development in Higher Education: Learning for an Unknown Future. Christchurch, New Zealand: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Inc. (HERDSA), 26, 380-387. Liz Thomas, (2002). Building social capital to improve student success, British Education Research Association Conference, University of Exeter, September. Neri, Frank & Ville, Simon, (2006). The Social Capital Experience of International Students in Australia: The Wollongong Experience, Economics Working Papers wp06-19, School of Economics and Information Systems, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. Trice, Andrea G., (2004). Mixing It Up: International Graduate Students Social Interactions with American Students Journal of College Student Development - Volume 45, Number 6, November/December, pp. 671-687 Read More