The Language Problems at Northeastern University Community

About Myself

I am an international student from China and I am currently a freshman at Northeastern University.

Overview

In the space where people live every day, language becomes a necessary element to build bridges. It is generated so that everyone can communicate more efficiently. The learning of language is not only taught in the classroom, but can also be influenced by the surrounding environment. Everyone uses language in their daily lives, but not everyone is fluent in expressing their inner thoughts. Especially in a community like Northeastern University, where most of the local professors and students are living inside.

There are also people including students from around the world in addition to the local people. They are using a second language to complete their studies in a foreign country. Most international students grew up in a language other than English, but now they are taught in English at the university. This is a challenge not only in terms of language in life, but also in terms of the difficulty of using the language at the academic level.

So...Here is what I did for the research:

• I asked three participants to conduct interviews.

• I found two websites about my target research area.

• I found three websites about the causes and effects of my research topic.

• I got additional two websites about how to solve such a question in the future.

Two people who communicate together can easily give off an atmosphere of interviewing each other. (See Figure 2)

Figure 2. two people are discussing their discoveries from the work. From "Strada education foundation" https://stradaeducation.org/educators/. Copy right 2023 by Strada.

These are what I found：

From my interviewees:

According to Haozhe from China

"from all the language difficulties I have, I think the most likely one is I think the most likely thing to cause me difficulties is shopping. Especially when I first arrived in the U.S., I didn't know the names of the items in the supermarket. I could only decide whether to buy such an item by looking at the shape of the item and analyzing the item itself. In addition, there are many differences in the appearance of goods in the U.S. and in mainland China, so the language of English became a very important part of the shopping process” (Haozhe)

According to Angel from South Korea

According to Everlyn from South Korea

A group of people are walking inside the campus.

Figure 3. A group of people is walking inside the campus. From "Social Ventures Foundation" https://www.socialventuresfoundation.org/copy-of-home. Copyright 2023 by Social Ventures.

According to Northeastern University’s data, there is about 20.5 percent of international students coming from 147 countries studying in this community, which can definitely show the diversity of people inside this area (undergraduate admissions, 2023)

Language difficulties could be usually happened in:

1. Shopping process

2. Daily conversation

3. Academic work

4. Emerging words, like slang

So, these issues are closely related to the academic aspects of students' lives. The top message conducted a brief overview of the language difficulties people faced at Northeastern University Community, and this also brings people many...

Causes and Effects

A girl who seems to be introverted looks out of the window by herself

Figure 4. A girl who seems to be introverted looks out of the window by herself. From "nytimes" https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/06/well/mind/adult-adhd.html. Copyright 2023 by NYTimes.

Formation of psychological segregation:

Language issues are an overwhelming problem for international students and can create psychological segregation in their difficulties and this is also referred to as self-isolation. Due to the weakness of each individual's language skills, they may avoid interaction with the outside world as much as possible and live in their own apartment for long periods of time, because in such a relatively "safe" language environment, international students do not have to worry about the problems caused by language difficulties. According to the international students' tips from Indiana University, “international students may be invited to some occasions, such as class reunions or new student meetings with other students. At this time, if he develops timid thoughts, he may refuse to meet with others. This can also lead to eventual disconnection from others” (Dbauman, 2019). Actions such as these that are caused by language difficulties can greatly affect students' interactions with the outside world and lead to detachment.

Reduction of students' well-being:

Language problems can largely lead to frustration and a loss of well-being for students. Many international students, like myself, feel inferior because they do not have the same level of English fluency as others. Sometimes people also compare themselves to others because of the gap between their language levels. Therefore, this language difficulty can lead to negative feelings among students. These situations basically happen in the school classroom because students with higher language proficiency will complete more efficiently in the same content topics. In contrast, outside of the relatively "harmonious" academic environment, students may suffer more from difficulties in society outside of school.

According to the publication of Inquiries, “Language difficulties can also lead to a deficit in students' well-being. This is because language difficulties can manifest themselves in everyday life as well as in academic learning. Therefore, students often experience a drop in GPA due to language difficulties, and these problems can cause students to feel a lack of well-being” (Gatwiri, 2015). By analyzing the sense of well-being mentioned in the article, a strong correlational role between well-being and language can be drawn. The lack of language skills may lead to an eventual lack of well-being. Through these various effects, it is possible to visualize the negative harm that language difficulties can have on this group within the community. However, there are ways to overcome language difficulties that exist through research and interviews.

Sometimes, because of international students' language difficulties and corresponding language errors, others may view these "international faces" in a different way. They may be ridiculed by others or they may suffer from racist type remarks from others.

A boy who has lost his sense of well-being looks across the room by himself.

Figure 5. A boy who has lost his sense of well-being looks across the room by himself. From "Just breathe: Simple changes can reduce student stress and improve learning, say Stanford researchers" https://ed.stanford.edu/news/just-breathe-simple-changes-can-reduce-student-stress-and-improve-learning-say-stanford. Copyright 2023 by Stanford.

Ways to Solve the Language Problems

Try to adapt to the English Language environment

A good English Language environment could make people learn English easier and faster because while you got involved in the environment, you will be affected by the surroundings, such as gestures and facial expressions from the environment.

Take a movie as an example, according to Koyfman (2021) "The movie can help people to expose to a more natural form of the language with authentic vocabulary and slang and you can also learn some connected words with associated body language"

Speak slowly and clearly

Conclusion

The language difficulties that exist among individuals are very diverse and complex, so each of them is affected by various aspects of language difficulties. These adverse effects can create challenges for people. So, what we need to do is to overcome the negative effects of language through our own efforts.

Finally, hope that this article can help anyone who has language difficulties.

This is a picture I took from my research area "Northeastern University."

References

Dbauman. (2019, January 10). Tips for overcoming language barriers for international students – Deep thought. IU Blogs – Educational blogs from our community. https://blogs.iu.edu/dbauman/2019/01/10/tips-for-overcoming-language-barriers-for-international-students/

Chand, G. (n.d.). ERIC - Education Resources Information Center. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1319829.pdf

Gatwiri, G. (2015). The influence of language difficulties on the wellbeing of international students: An interpretive phenomenological analysis. Inquiries Journal. https://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1042/the-influence-of-language-difficulties-on-the-wellbeing-of-international-students-an-interpretive-phenomenological-analysis

Admissions. (2023). International applicants. Undergraduate Admissions. https://admissions.northeastern.edu/application-information/international-applicants-2/

Rajesh, P. (n.d.). How northeastern students aim to break college language barriers. Global Observer. https://gobserver.net/3747/student-experiences/how-northeastern-students-aim-to-break-college-language-barriers/

GmbH, L. N. (2021, January 21). How to use movies to learn a language. Babbel Magazine. https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/use-foreign-movies-for-language-learning

Berardo, K. (2007). EUROPARC Federation. https://www.europarc.org/communication-skills/pdf/10%20Strategies%20for%20Overcoming%20Language%20Barriers.pdf

Strada. (2023, March 20). Strada. https://stradaeducation.org/educators/

Home | Social ventures Foundation. (2020). Social Ventures. https://www.socialventuresfoundation.org/copy-of-home

Donald, B. (2015, October 12). Just breathe: Simple changes can reduce student stress and improve learning, say Stanford researchers. Stanford Graduate School of Education. https://ed.stanford.edu/news/just-breathe-simple-changes-can-reduce-student-stress-and-improve-learning-say-stanford