Educational migration and acculturation of foreign students in Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

Abstract

This study entitled "Educational Migration and Intercultural Adaptation Process of Foreign Students Studying in Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University" was conducted with its main objectives: to investigate factors affecting educational migration and intercultural adaptation process of foreign students and to apply the results in the construction of learning management model for foreign students. This research was conducted at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, including its Northern and Northeastern campuses where there are many foreign students. The qualitative methods were applied by using questionnaires to collect data from 274 subjects. Using descriptive statistics consisting of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, the data were then presented in tables with descriptions. The qualitative methods were also applied in order to collect data from 20 key informants by interviewing. The qualitative data were then analyzed by using narrative data analysis. The results revealed as follows. Factor affecting educational migration of foreign students who are studying in MCU were push and pull factors. Influenced directly migration, push factors are regarded as factors of country of origin of the migrants, which provide them educational opportunities and self-improvement. Pull factors are factors that attract migrants to the destination country for specific different purposes. The reasons in tems of migration of foreign students whose original countries are in Southeast Asia and Middle Asia were as follows. The majority of them chose to study at MCU because many universities in their original countries do not support their educational purposes. Additionally, there are many barriers for Buddhist monks to study in university. For example, it is difficult to find universities that provide opportunities and educational services for Buddhist monks. Furthermore, many universities have a few specialized programs which do not meet their needs. Therefore, they have to spend lots of money for education. Advised by MCU graduates and high school teachers, they were interested in studying at MCU. Since many of MCU foreign graduates are professionally accepted and they have good careers, they are regarded as the subjects' role models and become their inspiration to further study in Thailand. In terms of the subjects' intercultural adaptation, as most of lecturers used Thai language in classroom teaching, they thought that language was their biggest problem. However, due to the similarities between Thai culture and the culture of their countries of origin, adapting to Thai culture was not considered their serious problem.