This study investigated international students’ adaptation experience in a higher education
institution. A sociological survey was conducted among one hundred and seventy Indian students in
their first and second year of medical studies at West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov Medical University,
Aktobe, the Republic of Kazakhstan. Against the background of many studies in this field, this topic
is contextualized within the higher medical education system in the western region of Kazakhstan.
The study helps to improve understanding of such phenomena as international students’ dimensions
of psychological, sociocultural, and academic adaptation. The differences in the various dimensions
of adaptation from the gender perspective and the year of study were investigated. The impact of the
adaptation level on the students’ study achievements was assessed.
The study results demonstrated challenges in psychological adaptation in the first-year international
students, which decreased over time. The differences in the psychological, sociocultural, and academic
adaptability between girls and boys were not statistically significant. Second-year international
students felt more emotionally comfortable and psychologically safe in the group, and this reflected
their high grades GPA. Based on the findings, the authors propose recommendations on how to
improve the international students’ comfortableness in the Kazakhstani university setting.
Keyword(s) : international students
Improving Foreign Language teaching for International Students
The processes of internationalization and globalization are ubiquitous. The growing number of international students in universities prompts the necessity of research into the best ways of teaching and learning the language of a host country. Language is a connecting link of prime importance in building up an efficient and suitable educational environment for an international student in a foreign country. This qualitative study sought to identify the most effective practices of teaching the host language as second language in leading universities of two countries: Germany and Russia. We interviewed ten teachers in each university regarding the specifics of organizing courses to teach the host country language as a second language. Our analysis revealed the difficulties teachers usually face in their work with international students, as well as effective methods and models of teaching international students. We interpret these findings using a framework for English Medium Instruction proposed by Dafouz and Smit (2012).