In her contribution to the Journal of International Students, Lopez (2020) sought to understand the challenges faced by international students, particularly in the United Kingdom. This study brings a different approach to the topic of the challenges faced by international students. “Challenges Facing Mexican Students in the United Kingdom: Implications for Adaptation During the Early Stage” does not generalize international students but specifically focuses on Mexican students. This is a different approach because international students come from different cultural backgrounds meaning they will interact differently with the culture of the nation where they are studying. The study’s main point is linked to understanding the unique challenges faced by Mexican international students in the United Kingdom. The methods used were valid, considering they involved focus-group discussions and interviews collecting first-hand data from the students, thus, contributing significantly to the research and literature on the topic.
Some keywords used in this study include Mexican international students, challenges, culture shock, and early period. These keywords are significant because they guide the whole study. The study sought to understand the academic, sociocultural, and affective challenges Mexican international postgraduate students faced in the initial stage of their sojourn. Secondly, it investigated the impact of the challenges on students’ adaptation and well-being. Based on these research objectives, the authors effectively addressed them in detail. This is because they have highlighted the challenges and focused on each without generalization enabling one to understand how they affect the students. Also, the study has identified some affective challenges, including homesickness and financial stress. In this case, the affective challenges jeopardize one’s moods and emotions, which is a different approach as most studies usually focus on academic and sociocultural challenges. Effectively discussing these challenges independently provides more insight into the issue. This is important as it shows that the author has done a good job.
The study’s independent variable is identifying the challenges faced by Mexican students in their initial stages of studying in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the dependent variable is the impact of these challenges on the students’ adaptation and well-being. Lopez (2020) used qualitative research methodology as it intended to understand the opinions, views, and perspectives of the students. Therefore, data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups on deeply understand the situation under investigation. The study involved twenty-seven participants who had yet to gain experience abroad. Among the general group of international students, the study focused on Mexican students enrolled for their postgraduate education for a minimum of one year from a reputable university in the United Kingdom. The study used homogenous sampling to ensure that the participants had similar characteristics. These include Mexican originality, pursuing their postgraduate studies, they are in the initial stages of arriving in the United States, and do have never been abroad before. The author followed the standard requirements of conducting a qualitative study guaranteeing results. Thus, she did a good job identifying the most effective research design and data collection methods.
The main results include identifying the various challenges the participants encountered within the first two weeks in the United Kingdom. One of the identified academic challenges is language understanding as most of these students are Spanish speakers while the United Kingdom had a different accent when speaking English, which was challenging, especially since they were faced with overlapping activities of administration and settling down in a new environment. The author sought the information by grouping each student’s responses under each identified challenge. Based on the responses provided, the study recommended the availability of information on English culture and university life in the United Kingdom. Further, it recommended a prolonged settling period for international students and thorough pre-arrival preparations. The study concluded that there was a relationship between cultural distance and the level of difficulty in settling into a new environment. This part of the study was effectively presented, especially incorporating the participants’ responses and information from various sources.
The author effectively accomplishes the original objectives of identifying the challenges facing Mexican students in their initial stages of postgraduate study in the United Kingdom. The study’s strengths include detailing the responses provided. However, the study falls short in the sample size by incorporating only twenty-seven individuals compared to the number of Mexican students pursuing their studies in the United Kingdom after the country’s increment in enrolling international students. Therefore, the study would have effective results if it incorporated more participants from different universities within the United Kingdom as they present different environments. This would collect new information on more students’ experiences in different universities as such places differ in resources and student populations, among other differentiating factors.
This article would be a useful source when studying the same topic due to the detailed analysis of the responses provided. Therefore, “Challenges Facing Mexican Students in the United Kingdom: Implications for Adaptation During the Early Stage” is a useful article be Challenges Facing Mexican Students in the United Kingdom: Implications for Adaptation During the Early Stage” because of its detailed responses and different approach to focusing on a particular group of international students.
Reference
López, E. M. H. (2020). Challenges facing Mexican students in the United Kingdom: Implications for adaptation during the early stage. Journal of International Students, 10(4), 1005-1022.
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