Cultural and linguistic diversity in a selected South African higher education institution: International postgraduate students' experiences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20853/40-2-6394Keywords:
internationalization, international postgraduate students, higher education institutions, cultural and linguistic diversity, intercultural and multilingual competenceAbstract
This study explored the intricate dynamic of culture and language diversity within a selected South African higher education institution (HEI), focusing mainly on the experiences of international postgraduate students. The study was framed under the invitational education theory of practice to investigate how the selected HEI creates a safe, inviting, and enabling learning environment for its international postgraduate students. The study was qualitative and interpretivist in nature and employed in-depth semi-structured interviews and storytelling to generate data. Furthermore, thematic data analysis was employed. The paper is distilled from the experiences of 10 international postgraduate students, two each from Cameroon, Lesotho, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, who were selected through the snowball sampling method. The findings indicate that many international postgraduate students experience psychological challenges and struggle with adjustment in the line of cultural and linguistic diversity existing in HEIs in South Africa. The study insists that South African HEIs should employ the traditional integrative learning technique with their international students since it is a useful pathway to help them achieve their academic goals.
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