Cross-Cultural Partnerships between Home and International Students

Many international students fail to establish satisfactory relationships with home students or local people when they come to study in the United Kingdom. This study aimed to help them overcome isolation and concurrently diagnose what their principal areas of difficulty were. To this purpose, cross-cultural partnerships were formed and the international students were given six existential tasks to carry out with home students or local people. Their written and oral feedback about these activities were subject to analysis using NUD*IST software and produced 15 categories, of which the most important were food, cultural identity, gender role, and friendship. Their attitudes upon entry to and exit from the scheme were also assessed, and despite some negativity, the project resulted in the formation of some durable friendships and increased enjoyment of cross-cultural interaction on the part of the internationals, as well a greater confidence in their ability to engage in it successfully.