Communication Barrier

Communication Barrier between Local and International Student in Malaysia. The increasing number of international student in Malaysia brings many benefits to the country as well to the local students. However, there are many problems that faced by these international students in this country. One of them is communication barrier between the local students. Communication barrier always bring difficulty to them when interacting with the local students in the campus. This includes both verbal and non-verbal communication. These are the barriers:- * Limited interaction

There are limited interactions between the local and international students. The international students or the local students only communicate with each other when there are group discussions in the class or a meeting on a group assignment. They like to be with their own group of friends that are similar nationality, race and culture with them. These bring them to have less communication with the other group of students. If this thing keeps continuing then the international students cannot learn the host country culture, tradition and beliefs. They also will have less knowledge about the host country.

Later on, this will bring difficulty to the international students when they enter in the work field at the host country. * Poor language The local and the international students also have problems with the language. In Malaysia, there are only two languages that are used widely not only in the university but in the whole country, which is Bahasa Malaysia and English Language. The international students or the local students only use English Language when communicating with each other because the international students don’t know the local language which is Bahasa Malaysia.

The international students that not from English spoken country like students from China, Turkey, Arab and Japan, always have problem to speak in English with the local students. Some of the local students or the Malaysian students also have the same problems when speaking English with the international students. These problems occur due to poor language skills. This make them to communicate non-verbally more than verbal. * Few close friends The international students in Malaysia have few close friends. They like to be friend with people that make them comfortable.

They also make less new friends. This make them always think in the box and not out of the box. Most of the international students don’t like to be friend with the local students. Same goes with the local students. These things occur due to some thought of similarity between them. They make these things more important than the other rest like to make friends to learn new thing and to gain knowledge. * Slang Slang is colloquial language, where words mean something other than their formal meanings, or where words are used that is not actual English words.

Sometimes slang or vernacular words will become dictionary words through use and custom. Slang also one of the biggest communication barriers between the local and international students. The international student’s slang or accent also brings difficulty to the local students when talking with them. They hard to understand what the international students try to tell them and sometimes, these will also bring misunderstanding between them. Due to these problems, they communicate less with each other. Reference 1.

Hasri Hassan, Zulaikha Nurain Mudzar, Lucien Low, (2013), Corporate Communication, Pearson, Kuala Lumpur. 2. http://blogs. nottingham. ac. uk/chinapolicyinstitute/2013/01/28/integration-of-chinese-internationals-students-with-the-local-community-issues-arising-from-the-sccs-community-building-forum/ 3. http://english. peopledaily. com. cn/90001/90782/90872/7233749. html 4. http://www. awej. org/? article=20 5. http://www. purdueexponent. org/campus/article_f0ea98bd-10f3-5507-b699-b85e32fb1955. html 6. http://www. ijbssnet. com/journals/Vol. _2_No. _7;_Special_Issue_April_2011/5. pdf