Understanding Saudi Student Integration in the U.S.: A Study on Saudi Students at a Southeastern Institution

Authors

Carrie Melius, Auburn University

Abstract

Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of Saudi students studying in the United States. Most recently, Saudi Arabia moved from fourth to third in country ranking for student enrollment in the United States. This study focuses on the experiences of Saudi students at a Southeastern institution in the United States by examining the perspectives of Saudi students studying in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and undergraduate programs. In order to gain a deeper understanding of issues faced by Saudi students, domestic students as well as instructors were also included as participants in this study. Mezirow’s (1996) transformative learning theory and Barker’s (1981) neo-racism theory were incorporated into the theoretical framework of this research. Through in-depth interviews, there were five emerging themes present, including: religion, appearance/clothing, language, media, and culture.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Melius, Carrie (2017) "Understanding Saudi Student Integration in the U.S.: A Study on Saudi Students at a Southeastern Institution," ECTESOL Review: Vol. 1: No. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/ectesol_review/vol1/iss1/5