DOI 10.14526/2070-4798-2018-13-4-109-115
Peculiarities of social-psychological adaptation among foreign students at a higher educational establishment (by the example of physical culture and sport department students at Ulyanov State Pedagogical University,
Ulyanovsk)
Nadezhda N. Safukova*, Marina M. Silakova, Irina N. Nikolaeva
Ulyanov State Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk, Russia nikonadja@mail.ru. silakova.marina@gmail.com, i.voronina@inbox.ru
Abstract: The described empiric study is the part of diversified study of higher educational establishment students' social-psychological adaptation, dedicated to not enough studied aspect. This aspect is connected with foreign students' adaptation during professional formation. Effective means of foreign students' adaptation creation at a higher educational establishment provides psychological conditions and mechanisms of a personality's adaptation study during socialization and professionalization. Materials. The article is about the results of the social-psychological adaptation peculiarities comparative analysis among foreign and Russian students of Physical culture and sport faculty. Methods. Comparative analysis of literature; psychognostic methodologies: multilevel "Adaptability" personality questionnaire by A.G. Maklakov and S.V. Chermyanin, Rogers-Diamond methodology of social-psychological adaptation diagnostics; method of mathematical handling: mathematical-statistical method of Mann Whitney U-test. Results. During comparative analysis it was revealed that there were differences in peculiarities of social-psychological adaptation among foreign students at a higher educational establishment. Conclusion. Held by us analysis, empiric verification of formulated in the research offers raises the question of psychological-technological decisions creations and empiric check, realized at the following stages of the research.
Keywords: social-psychological adaptation, students, higher educational establishment.
For citation: Nadezhda N. Safukova*, Marina M. Silakova, Irina N. Nikolaeva. Peculiarities of social-psychological adaptation among foreign students at a higher educational establishment (by the example of physical culture and sport department students at Ulyanov State Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk). The Russian Journal of Physical Education and Sport. 2018; 13 (4): 89-94. DOI 10.14526/2070-4798-2018-134-109-115
Introduction
Social-psychological adaptation peculiarities study of foreign students to education in Russia is interesting in theoretical and the applied aspects.
Adaptation to educational environment at a higher educational establishment is one of the forms of a person's socialization. It includes the same parts as any other adaptive process. Adaptation to new conditions of life and studying in a foreign country is a diversified procedure of a foreign student's personality inclusion, formation and development in an educational environment [1]. Social-psychological adaptation of foreign students is not a simple task of personality introduction into a new teaching conception. It is connected with norms and rules of social, social-psychological and professional-activity-based roles acceptance. They reflect different spheres of teaching and study [3,4,5].
Each year the inflow of foreign students into Russian higher educational establishments, mainly from the states of the near abroad- Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, increases. A great number of foreign students at Russian higher educational establishments proves a high level of educational system in Russia. In terms of this there appears the question of effective education necessity. It depends on the fact how students adapt to a new environment. A foreign student has to go through many difficulties: acclimatization, identification, being in a new educational system, educational process of a higher educational establishment and introduction into a new language, into multinational character of educational groups (Russians, Tatars, Chuvash and others).
A wide range of research works concerning the problem of students' adaptation is presented by the
following authors: Antonova V.B., Boronina L.N. and etc. [1,2].
At the same, there is no enough information for the peculiarities of foreign students' social-psychological adaptation revelation at a higher educational establishment.
Taking into account mentioned above things, we define the aim of the described below empiric research. This aim is fulfill peculiarities comparative analysis of foreign students' social-psychological adaptation on the basis of Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University. We checked the idea about the differences between foreign and Russian students concerning their social-psychological adaptation at a higher educational establishment, especially according to the following indices: adaptability, nervous-psychological steadiness, communicative abilities, moral normativity, self-acceptance, inner control [6,7,8,9,10].
Materials and Methods
The sampling of the research (50 students) included junior students from physical culture and sport faculty. We chose the students from physical culture and sport faculty because great demands are placed on psycho-functional state of their organism. It helped to take into account the influence of educational environment peculiarities of the definite higher educational establishment.
For the peculiarities of social-psychological adaptation diagnostics among foreign and Russian students we used a questionnaire survey, multilevel "Adaptability" personality questionnaire by A.G. Maklakov and S.V. Chermyanin, Rogers-Diamond methodology of social-psychological adaptation diagnostics [4,8]. Statistical data handling was realized with the help of mathematical-statistical method of Mann Whitney U-test.
Results and Discussion
At the stage of data initial analysis we revealed theoretically unexpected statistically valid differences. Comparative analysis showed that "adaptive skills" index among foreign students is considerably higher than the same results of Russian junior students. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that foreign students, in particular Turkmen, owing to their mentality have more developed adaptive skills concerning changes of the environment.
Further analysis revealed a vivid lack of balance in the following indices of students' social-psychological adaptation: according to "Nervous-psychological steadiness", "Moral normativity" indices with the predominance of foreign students, except "Communicative skills" index. The received results are presented in the diagram (picture 1). The last result can be explained by the fact that it is difficult to overcome a language barrier (table 1). Taking into account the observations over senior foreign students we revealed an interesting phenomenon of "bilingualism" among them. It was revealed that senior foreign students from Turkmenistan equally free used both languages (the Russian language and the Turkmen language).
Table 1 - Statistical validity of the defined indices (mean value)
Indices Foreign students (points) Russian students (points) U emp. Position on validity axis
Adaptive skills 72,24 67 105 validity zone
Nervous-psychological steadiness 49,85 39,80 88 validity zone
Communicative skills 16,76 15,67 198 insignificance zone
Moral normativity 13,80 7,95 16 validity zone
30 7Û 60 50 40 30 20 10 и
ffl среднеарифметический n ока эатель иностра нныи студ^нюа
й Среднеарифметический п окл эате л ь русск и х студентов
Picture 1 - Comparative analysis of social-psychological adaptation according to "Adaptability" personality questionnaire by A.G. Maklakov and S.V. Chermyanin in the sampling of the Russian and
foreign students
Среднеарифметический показатель иностранных студентов- arithmetic average index of foreign students
Среднеарифметический показатель русских студентов- arithmetic average index of Russian students
It is possible to reveal the results by means of the answers, taking into account the survey among junior foreign students of physical culture and sport faculty at Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University (table 2).
Table 2 - Physical culture and sport faculty foreign junior students division according to the motives of education at Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University (USPU)
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Table 2 shows that first of all foreign students choose USPU being directed by the following motives: financial capacities of their families, necessary direction of education, friends, positive attitude of administration, teaching staff, group-mates and effective activity of the dean's office.
Thus, presented above results explain the fact that foreign students easily adapt to new conditions of studying and life, quickly adapt to a new collective, adequately orient themselves in different situations. They are not conflict people, have high level of emotional stability. It is connected with the fact that adaptation level depends on inner (adaptive skills, nervous-psychological steadiness, communicative skills, moral normativity) and outer (state policy, oriented toward foreign students attraction, application software, dean's offices, the head of the dormitory support) indices.
Comparative analysis according to "K. Rogers and R. Diamond social-psychological adaptation" methodology showed considerable differences according to adaptability indices, self-acceptance, inner control in the sampling of foreign and Russian students from Physical culture and sport faculty on the basis of Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov (table 3).
Table 3 - Statistical validity of the defined indices (mean values)
Indices Foreign students (points) Russian students (points) U emp. Position on validity axis
Adaptability 139,5 114 99,5 validity zone
Disadaptability 93,28 84,47 204,5 insignificance zone
Self-acceptance 35,5 45,1 103 validity zone
Self-rejection 19,7 15,8 153,5 uncertainty zone
Accepting other people 19,85 24,57 139,5 uncertainty zone
Other people rejection 20 17,4 172 insignificance zone
Emotional comfort 21,6 23,7 187,5 insignificance zone
Emotional discomfort 21,5 17,6 168,5 insignificance zone
Inner control 47,8 59,7 93,5 validity zone
Outer control 24 22 190 insignificance zone
Dominance 8,95 10,4 203,5 insignificance zone
The ability to be guided 16,6 18,3 185,5 insignificance zone
Escapism(escaping problems 16,1 14,6 196 insignificance zone
"Self-acceptance" index among foreign students is lower (35,5) than the indices of Russian students (45,1). It can be connected with the fact that most Russian students, being in a native country feel comfortable and accept themselves as they are. They know that they won't be criticized, behavior manner and etc.
"Inner control" index among foreign students is lower (47,8) than among Russian students (59,7). We can come to the conclusion, that such results are connected with the fact that Russian students are sure that their life goals achievement depends on them. In curriculum plan they don't have "attenuated" demands in contrast to foreign students, who wait for the support, help from teachers and dean's office.
Conclusion
Summarizing all mentioned above we can come to the following conclusion:
First, we proved the theory that foreign and Russian students have different peculiarities of social-psychological adaptation at a higher educational establishment (according to the following indices: adaptability, nervous-psychological steadiness, communicative skills, moral normativity, self-acceptance, inner control). We suppose that the received result can be explained by mentality of Turkmen students and the activity sphere of a higher educational establishment in terms of foreign students.
Turkmen students are socialized young people, who are brought up in eastern national traditions under the influence of Muslim religion. At the beginning of the research we had the theory that Turkmen students, included into a new macro-(ethnosocial) and micro-(international) environment, will experience some discomfort. They undergo personality's psycho-physiological processes change. However, the research results showed that adaptation difficulties on different levels: language, notional, moral-informational, climatic, communicative are not vividly expresses. The received results led to the idea concerning the specificity of Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University- Ulyanovsk devlet normal Universitesi (international relations department, foreign students association, preparatory department for foreign residents) and also professional activity of physical culture and sport faculty (effective activity of a dean's office, application software) in terms of which the most optimal conditions are created for a successful foreign students' adaptation.
Secondly, we share the opinion of the authors [10,11,12], who studying the role of physical culture in adaptation of foreign students at Ural State Economic University revealed the following:
- regular physical culture lessons with the available regimen activate positive dynamics of general organism state, increase working capacity of foreign students, provide maximum negative aspects of environment resistance;
- physical culture lessons with foreign students should be held at a high psycho-emotional level, with a considerable degree of visualization in teaching and taking into account language barrier.
Empiric verification of formulated in the research offers is the aim of psychological-technological decisions creation and empiric check. It is realized at further stages of our research.
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Submitted: 19.11.2018
Author's information:
Nadezhda N. Safukova - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Ulyanov State Pedagogical University,
Ulaynovsk, Russia, Lenin square, House 4/5,432071, e-mail: nikonadja@mail.ru
Marina M. Silakova - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor, Ulyanov State
Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk, Russia, Lenin square, House 4/5,432071, e-mail: silakova.marina@
gmail.com
Irina A. Nikolaeva - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Ulyanov State Pedagogical University, Ulyanovsk, Russia, Lenin square, House 4/5,432071, e-mail: i.voronina@inbox.ru