Importance of International Student Exchange Programs

International exchange programs provide students a chance in which students go out to study or live in different country. In these program students usually stay in a place such as hostels or apartments or with the host family. The cost of program is associated with an institution or done through self-funding. There are two kinds of student exchange programs. One of them is Long term program and the other one is the short term program. Short term programs are one of those programs which are held during summer, which basically focuses on home stays, new language learning, cultural activities and communication skills. On the other hand long term exchange programs are for at least ten months or for a whole year. Student exchange programs are helpful in a lot of ways. It allows students to understand new languages and makes them work in a very new environment. So this is a study which shows how an international student exchange program can impact the world and Australia.

International student exchange programs can leaves a huge effect on the students and the host country. International Student exchange programs helps students in various different ways. It helps the Students to learn a new language and make lifelong good and strong connections, it also helps in and helps in gaining a lot of experience and helps them to discover the cultures of the host country. A lot of schools, college and institutions are hosting such exchange programs nowadays for a better growth of school, students & as well as for the host country (United States department of state, 2019)

The focal purpose of this type of international cultural exchange program is to learn and understand culture diversity (Shijuan, 2010). international Student exchange programs helps one to understand the diversity in culture and also helps in understanding a better way of education. It teaches a student ways to support other students and their families who are from different culturally diverse backgrounds. Multicultural programs like these help in supporting things like anti- racism which is really important to learn by everyone. Such programs help in creating harmony in the world. It helps in better understanding of positive and good relationship between students from different cultures and backgrounds. This inspires one to remove the language and cultural differences also when a student lives in a host family they are part of the host family for a limited time, which helps in living through the different cultures. These are those kind of things which even a tourist is not able to experience and these are those things that actually helps to discover a way of living in the host countries, gain knowledge, respect differences and understand others cultural believes (Haijun, 2011).

Benefits for the Students of International Student Exchange Programs

Cultural differences are not just dissimilarities but more than that, Difference such as food, appearance and language. Exchange programs totally changes a person’s perception for the world. Experiencing the various different kinds of cultures really helps a student to have a better understanding of the cultures from around the world. Nowadays people in the world are connecting better each day and with that it is really important to have a good knowledge of the situations at a global scale. Also one of the most important things that a student learns is how to interact with new people from different cultures and places (Roxana, 2011).

International Exchange programs also helps in maintaining and building very strong and good connections with people, it helps in extending one’s connection internationally. Exchange programs help one to develop skills. Exchange programs involve things like social awareness. These things can Sometimes help a student to explore own city in order to host students. It firstly helps in hanging around with new people culturally different people which can sometimes help a person to experience and see the same places in a very different way and it also helps a person to explore new places in a better way. International exchange programs are increasing day by day as a very large number of students nowadays choose live out of India. From the study it is seen that there are several economic benefits to the host country as well (Bohman and Borglin, 2014).

 International Student exchange programs have various benefits for the students such as learning of a new language and experiencing new cultural and social experiences. It gives a good and a very better understanding of living in a multi-culture environment. It gives enhanced information of the host country and the important thing is it helps in building new and better relations and connections (Pereira, 2016). The exchange programs help the students to be a little more opened minded, which helps in strengthening their understanding culture. It helps students to accept foreign cultures more easily (Meredith, 2010).

International Student exchange programs countenance students to mix up with people from different places in the world and expose them to various varieties of cultures and changes their perceptions or way of seeing things.  Difference in Cultural backgrounds has a very large impact on how a person responds to various different conditions. Making friends with people from around the world with different cultures helps in learning various different cultures and also helps them to see how thing are done in a different way from their country. It also helps in conferring the current news of the country, which a person has been hearing in the news. It is habitual for the news channels to show things very differently, while discussing it with the person who is from the same place and is facing problems from those things is actually an eye opening experience (oxford, 2014).

Cultural Diversity and Multicultural Programs

International connections is a very helpful and important thing, as staying in a  very different and new international environment gives the students  a chance to be in contact with new and  different people from different places in the world. Connections or friendships like these are not just normal things, it can actually be of a very great help in the coming future (Harris and Miles, 2017). Some of the countries from around the world funds and helps the exchange programs. There are a lot of benefits are in sending the students abroad for such programs. It not only has a huge positive impact on the schools or institutions but is highly important for the better growth of the students. When a student returns back to the home country they come back with a new and nice experiences and also with  a better knowledge of things, while at a national level it  helps the students to share their knowledge  and experience with the local students.

There are various benefits to the country who hosts the exchange event as well. As the students are considered to be international students, they bring a lot of different and new perspective to the local students, which help local students to advance their knowledge of culture and helps in maintaining good communication skills. Most important thing is that it gives high economic benefits to the country which hosts this event and also helps the exchange students to bring talent and income to the countries who host the event (Kemal, 2009).

Exchange programs benefits in a very important thing which is, it helps in maintaining a peaceful world. It is one of the ways to break down the barriers like culture, race, nationality and religion. The economic effect of international students is not only restricted to dollars, food and clothing. Australia is one of those main destinations for the international exchange students. Students does not only pay to the economy but also pays to the technical and scientific research of the country that hosts. According to a study international students pays somewhere around 165.6 million to Australia’s economy. Australia’s count of International students is growing year after year (Manuel, 2013). International student’s gives various economic benefits to a country that hosts the program first thing is the cost required to live. The study indicates that Australia is one of those places which have a very high cost of living, this thing depends on the amount of money international student spends to cover up the expenses during their stay.

Economic Impact of Hosting Exchange Programs

Another thing which gives high benefit to the economy is tax revenues, there various more benefits of the exchange program like, exploring a place with a whole new and different aspects. Also it helps in learning to manage the different situation such the language and the cultural differences. Exchange programs are of very a huge help if any person wants to grow at a global level. With these are the educational benefits as well like, learning the different way of Australian study and applying new things learned to the home country (Jelenional, 2009).

Australia has a vast and a diverse culture. Australia offers multi-diverse culture which cannot be seen anywhere else. These things gives the international students a chance to stage out of their normal comfort zone and also give the students an opportunity to practice new and different things and also new cultures the advantage of a multicultural society is to have a chance to build up new public relations and learn various new languages. Exchange programs benefits in overcoming the cultural and language. Sometimes students face difficulties in overcoming such barriers because people have different culture background. Language barrier is another thing. When a student meets different people from the world, language barrier is one of those things which stop them from communication but in cases where the students live with a host family they learn to overcome this barrier very easily (Reynolds, 2013).

International student Exchange program teaches the importance of how one country resemblances to other, the news and other Medias have a habit of portraying differently about certain places and countries while on the other hand when a student actually visits the place they get a better understanding of the and its culture better. This shows a lot of similarities between the two countries. Students exchange programs shows how beautiful culture diversity is, which not only remove the differences but also helps in making a student a leader on a global level and makes them a better person. Exchange programs have a power to make the world a better and beautiful place to live. (Henderson, 2011).

There are a lot of drawbacks too. There are also various difficulties which a student can face staying there. One of them is struggles with the host family, a lot of times these issues cannot be resolved by communicating and the student are mostly asked to find a different place to live or a different host family. Apart from this if a student though a student has a worthy knowledge about the new and different environment students can still experience cultural and most importantly language differences (Miles and Howard, 2016). Another very important thing which a student finds difficult is the absence of transportation which becomes one of the major problems faced by students the most important thing which becomes difficult for a student is to find a job (Worthington and Mingyan, 2017).

Importance of Connections and Friendships

Half of the Australia’s economy is produced through such international students. Exchange programs encourage students to practice life in different countries. Students learn new things from different cultures and from the different countries and places. It also shows that cultural diversity adds up value to home country education and gives a good knowledge and global awareness. Cultural diversity gives a student chance to see the similarities between two nations. It increases a person’s communicating and language, and helps them to learn different cultures, which also help in developing skills. It helps students to have a better understanding on how to use their own ideas in a better way. it allows a student to respect difference in cultures. International exchange students actually invest almost 165.6 million into the economy of Australia each year. Australia has a multicultural environment, which not only benefits the country but to the students as well. A student exchange program offers the students from around the world to be out of their country and aims to improve students’ knowledge and helps them to learn new things from the host country.

References

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Haijun, K. (2011) Examining Culture’s Impact on the Learning Behaviors of International Students from Confucius Culture Studying in Western Online Learning Context. Journal of International Students, 6(3)

Harris, N. and  Miles, D. (2017) International Student Exchange in Australian Social Work Education. Australian Social Work,70(4)

Henderson, T. (2011) New Economy Initiative wants international students to stay.Crain’s Detroit Business, 27(23)

Jelenional, P. (2009) International student exchange.International Dairy Journal. 6(3)

Kemal, G (2009) Higher education and international mobility in global economics, USA: University of New York

Manuel, O. (2013) Barriers to International Student Mobility: Evidence from the Erasmus Program. Educational Researcher, 42(2)

Meredith, R. (2010). “Acquiring Cultural Perceptions during Study Abroad.The Influence of Youthful Associates, 93 (4)

Miles, D. and  Howard, E. (2016) Student exchange is going place. Herdasa News, 38(2)

Oxford royal academy (2014) Benefits of studying in an international environment. [online] Available from: https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/study-abroad-international-environment.html   [Accessed 30/01/19]

Pereira, A. (2016) The Economic Impact of International Students in a Regional Economy from a Tourism Perspective, Tourism Economics 22(1)

Reynolds, A. (2013). The Value of Short-Term Study Abroad: An Increase in Students’ Cultural and Pragmatic Competency. Foreign Language Annals. 46(2)

Roxana, M. (2011) Intercultural adaptation: the case of international student exchange programmes. Review of the Air Force Academy, 9(2)

Shijuan, L. (2010) Cultural Differences in Online Learning: International Student Perceptions. Educational Technology & Society, 13(3)

United state department of state (2019) why participate. [online] Available from: https://exchanges.state.gov/non-us/why-participate [Accessed 30/01/19]

Worthington, A. andMingyan, C. (2017)Cost Economies in the Provision of Higher Education for International Students: Australian Evidence. Journal of Higher Education Research, 74(4)