ABSTRACT

The literature on international students predominantly emanates from the Western perspective and offers rich insights into international students’ adaptation experiences. While university services improve these experiences, limited studies have investigated the role of pre-support assistance prior to students’ arrival. This paper fills that gap from a non-Anglophone perspective, using 31 semi-structured, thematically analysed interviews with postgraduate international students in a Malaysian university. As country-specific research, this paper highlights practices of pre-support services for incoming international students in order to improve their experiences at a Malaysian research university. Pre-assistance provided includes the Student Ambassador Program (SAP), pre-information provided by friends and colleagues, and academics building rapport with students prior to arrival. This has a positive impact on levels of such students’ engagement, satisfaction, motivation and sense of belonging to the institution.

摘要

有关国际学生的文献主要来自西方视角，对国际学生的适应经历提供了丰富的见解。虽然大学服务改善了这些体验，但有限的研究调查了学生抵达之前的预支持援助的作用。本文从非英语国家的角度填补了这一空白，对马来西亚大学的国际研究生进行了 31 次半结构化、主题分析访谈。作为针对具体国家的研究，本文重点介绍了为国际学生提供预支持服务的实践，以改善他们在马来西亚研究型大学的经历。提供的预协助包括学生大使计划 (SAP)、朋友和同事提供的预信息、和学者在到达之前与学生建立融洽的关系。这对学生的参与度、满意度、动机和对机构的归属感产生积极影响。