Culture shock and the international student ‘offshore’

Abstract

English

Within the context of higher education, it is the international student who travels to another country to study who is typically identified as the subject at risk of culture shock. This paper attempts to go further by suggesting that international students studying in their home country with an overseas institution may also experience culture shock as an effect of this engagement. To support this contention, the paper reports findings of an interpretive case study of a group of masters' degree students in Singapore taught by an Australian university in partnership with a local provider.

French

Dans l'enseignement supérieur, les étudiants internationaux s'installant dans un pays étranger dans le cadre de leurs études sont en principe identifiés comme des sujets à risque de choc culturel. Cet'article tente d'approfondir cette réflexion en suggérant que les étudiants internationaux scolarisés dans un établissement étranger implanté dans leur pays d'origine connaissent également un choc culturel. Pour justifier cet argument, l'article rend compte des résultats d'une étude de cas interprétative portant sur un groupe d'étudiants de maîtrise à Singapour étudiant dans une université australienne en partenariat avec un prestataire local.

Spanish

En el contexto de la educación superior, son los estudiantes internacionales que se trasladan a estudiar al extranjero a quienes generalmente se identifica como individuos con riego de choque cultural. Este artículo va más allá y sugiere que los estudiantes internacionales que cursan estudios en sus países de origen en una institución extranjera también pueden experimentar un choque cultural. Para justificar este argumento, el artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio de caso de carácter interpretativo sobre un grupo de estudiantes de un máster impartido en Singapur por una universidad australiana en asociación con una institución local.

Keywords

culture shock international students offshore education

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