Journal of International Students
Volume 8, Issue 2, 2018, Pages 742-768

How do South American international students experience student life in flanders? A photo elicitation project (Article)

Wang Q. , Leen S. , Hannes K.
  • a Social Research Methodology Group, Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
  • b Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium
  • c Social Research Methodology Group, Centre for Sociological Research, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

Millions of tertiary international students are studying abroad, and the number of exchange students continues to increase. We explored experiences of South American students studying in a non-Anglophone context. A photo elicitation methodology was applied to support data collection. Five participants were asked to visualize their challenges in their adjustment in pictures. We conducted individual interviews where images were used as prompts to narratives. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Three main themes were identified: socio-cultural adjustment, academic adjustment, and psychological adjustment. Our data suggest that adjustment processes do not automatically lead to an adaptation outcome. Individual factors such as students’ acculturation strategies and coping mechanisms, and situational variables like social interaction and cultural discomfort affect their adjustment. © Journal of International Students.

Author Keywords

Internationalization Challenges Adjustment South America Photo elicitation

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85047869482&doi=10.5281%2fzenodo.1250377&partnerID=40&md5=df0e553beb01a7a8e1d92e558d363980
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1250377
ISSN: 21623104
Original Language: English