This dissertation research investigates the experiences of international student-athletes competing in NCAA Division I schools in the Southeastern United States. The study explores the challenges and successes these athletes encounter as they navigate academic and athletic pursuits in a new environment. The purpose of this dissertation research…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to uncover and understand international graduate students' experiences with "microaggressions" that stem from "native speaker fallacy;" microaggressions are the subtle discriminatory behaviors executed toward marginalized groups and native speaker fallacy is the false belief that…

This research examined the effect of English language proficiency on the academic success, and cultural and social adjustments of Chinese international students pursuing higher education degrees at an HBCU in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The researcher used a qualitative research design for this study to acquire information…

The rapid growth of international students, particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa, in U.S. higher education institutions calls for more critical research to understand their nuanced experiences in these institutions. So often, international students are homogenized and put under one umbrella, which shadows their unique experiences, especially those…

In light of the lack of research on intercultural learning and acculturation in the music education field, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore international graduate music education students' (IGMES') perspectives on their intercultural learning experiences while studying at two Midwestern universities in the United States. The…

This study examines the impact of High-Immersion Virtual Reality (HiVR) as a tool for teaching English L2 pragmatics to international students enrolled in an Intensive English Program at a US university. This research focuses on integrating HiVR into explicit L2 pragmatics instructional treatments. A quasi-experimental design was employed to…

International students have comprised a steadily growing demographic in America's colleges and universities for the past seventy-five years. Over the many years and decades, the proportion of international students whose first language is not English has also increased. Subsequently, American higher education has come to rely on an important…

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China's education for international students has seen rapid growth, making it the third largest destination for international students globally and the largest in Asia. This growth occurs against a backdrop of intensifying global economic competition and increasingly fierce competition for international…

This qualitative narrative research investigated successful cases of international students who actively verbally participate and speak up during academic or coursework discussions in the classrooms. More specifically, the aim of this narrative inquiry was to capture the lived and living experiences of English language learners (ELLs) navigating…

Research suggests that proficient second language (L2) learners are able to leverage their metacognitive knowledge and apply strategies that improve their listening comprehension. However, it remains unclear whether strategy use is directly related to listening success, or whether it is moderated by vocabulary knowledge and/or other individual…

Foreign-born Arab international students face many stressors that may increase their acculturative stress levels and may be associated with their overall well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between acculturative stress and well-being, and relevant socio-economic factors among foreign-born Arab international…

In many U. S. universities, international students whose second language is English follow one of two admission paths: 1) the traditional admission path, where students apply directly to the university for full admission; or 2) the conditional admission path, where they can apply to the university's intensive English program (IEP) and be granted…

This longitudinal case study investigated the developmental trajectories of two participants enrolled in an ITA oral communication course at Purdue University. The course provides language support to the ITA population who play a crucial role in higher education programs in the U.S. (Gorsuch, 2016). Over four months (i.e., one semester), I…

This dissertation study examines the acculturation experiences of Saudi Arabian students pursuing higher education in the United States. It investigates the relationships among students' acculturation strategies, self-assertion, and academic self-efficacy, while exploring the moderating effects of English proficiency and length of stay. The study…

Nonverbal behavior is essential in human interaction (Gullberg, de Bot, & Volterra, 2008; McNeill, 1992, 2005). For second language speakers, nonverbal features can be helpful for successful and efficient communication (e.g., Dahl & Ludvigsen, 2014). However, due to the complexity of nonverbal features, language testing institutions have…