Canada is among the top four most popular destinations for international students. Using narrative inquiry, this chapter explores lived experiences of two international students. The study is guided by three broad questions: 1) What are the main positive experiences of international students in Canada? 2) What are some of the challenges faced by international students during their studies in Canada? and 3) What should be done to enhance academic success of international students? Data were collected using semi-structured interviews as conversations. Data analysis reveals three main themes: mismatch between the students' academic expectations and reality, challenges relating to language, and self-efficacy and resilience. Recommendations are presented. These include working with international students to help identify factors that are likely to enhance the success of international students as identified by the students so that universities can create campus environments that allow for success.
TopIntroduction
Canada is among the top destinations for international students from across the world. In 2020, 530,540 international students from over 200 countries were enrolled in various educational programs in Canada – a 135 percent increase from 2010 (Global Affairs Canada, 2020). While international students are unevenly distributed across the country, ranging from a low of less than one percent in Yukon Territory to a high of 46 percent in Ontario, there were international students in all Canadian provinces and territories in 2020. Top source countries include India (34% of international students in Canada), China (22%), Vietnam (4%), South Korea (3%), and Iran (3%), accounting for close to seven out of 10 (or 66%) international students in Canada. A great majority of students from these countries could be described as coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, often speaking at least two languages, including mother tongue that is neither English nor French – Canada’s official languages. A survey of international students by the Canadian Bureau for International Education (2018) found that the number one reason for choosing Canada was because of “The quality of the Canadian education system” (p. 2).
The rise in the numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse international students presents opportunities and challenges for the students and the institutions where they study. International students bring several funds of knowledge, including social and cultural experiences and resources, with them that they draw upon to attain success (Kiramba & Oloo, 2019). However, as Macgregor and Folinazzo (2018), in their study of experiences of international students at a Canadian college, noted, “international students [often] face distinct challenges that arise from language issues as well as ones of a personal and social nature, all of which can lead to frustration and failure” (p. 299). Yet, not much systematic research has been conducted to examine academic experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse international students from a strength-based perspective as narrated by the students themselves.
The goal of this study is to explore experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse international students in Canada. The study contributes to research by disrupting deficit-centred discourse around international student experiences while amplifying the voices of three culturally and linguistically diverse international students and validating their strengths. This study is based on experiences of three international students in Canada and is not intended to make a general conclusion about experiences of international students.
Researcher Positionality
As a researcher, the author brings his identity and experience to this study. He is a Black Kenyan-Canadian educator who came to Canada as an international student and is currently working as an assistant professor in Ontario. His students include those from outside Canada and of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The author adopted relational ontology in his interaction with the study participants because it privileges their experiences and positions them as experts while helping reshape the author’s role regarding who he is and is becoming in relation to this research, namely, a learner.
Literature Review
In 2018, international students in Canada contributed an estimated $21.6 billion to the country’s economy (Global Affairs Canada, 2020). Other than the economic advantages that result from increasing the numbers of international students, there is also benefit in knowledge sharing, engagement with individuals from across the world, and preparation for a globalized world. International students do “enrich the Canadian post-secondary landscape [by] providing meaningful opportunities for multilateral dialogue in various intellectual and cultural spheres, thus enriching all students’ knowledge of global history and issues” (De Moissac et al., 2020). Such dialogue can potentially “assist emerging adults seeking to develop cross-cultural competencies, invaluable in our globalized world” (p. 53).