THE PROBLEM OF ADAPTATION OF FOREIGN STUDENTS TO STUDY AT A MEDICAL UNIVERSITY IN RUSSIA

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Relevance. Currently, the Russian Federation is actively entering the global educational market, and a large number of foreign citizens come to Russia to receive higher education. In a new country, students face a number of difficulties, primarily related to adaptation to the conditions of study in Russian universities. In the Russian literature, the adaptation process is considered as a process of active adaptation of a person to a changed environment with the help of various social means [1, 2]. This process is accompanied by a number of problems that are associated with the need to establish social contacts, overcome the language barrier, as well as the development of a tolerant attitude towards representatives of other nationalities, cultures and religions. The process of adaptation is complex, but necessary and also has advantages: language learning, expansion of consciousness, new social connections. These advantages allow to develop tolerance for other peoples and their cultural values, as well as contribute to the development of social mobility. At first, it is difficult for a foreign student to navigate in a Russian university because of the mixing of different cultures in Russia, namely European and Asian [3, 4, 5].

Both his future career and personal development depend on the success of the student's adaptation to the new changed conditions and to the educational environment. The training of foreign students at a medical university in Russia is designed to solve a range of problems that are not relevant for Russian students. These are completely new learning conditions, methods, assessment system, etc. In addition to the standard problems that local students face on a daily basis (new social contacts, difficulties in learning new subjects, etc.), foreign students also face their own specific difficulties. This is, first of all, the language barrier. The linguistic problem is characterized not only by difficulties in understanding the Russian language, but also by the characteristic speech of the teacher, the terminology of the subjects studied, the problem with access to information in the native language. Equally important are the problems associated with interactions with a new culture and social values: the student faces not only difficulties in communicating with people around him, but also the living environment as a whole. This problem lies in the need to eat Russian cuisine and the lack of ingredients for cooking native cuisine. Another problem that arises for a foreign student is the problem of leisure activities. Lack of knowledge of the language, parents, friends at first do not allow a foreigner to distract from the learning process. The difference in climatic conditions and bureaucratic difficulties further complicate the life of visitors [6, 7].

Altai State Medical University (ASMU) currently has more than 500 students from 27 foreign countries, so it is no exception to the described problems related to the adaptation of foreign students, which is further aggravated by harsh climatic conditions. In this regard, it is interesting to analyze this problem in a Siberian medical university.

The research objective. Analysis of the problems of foreign students studying at Altai State Medical University and related to their stay in Russia.

Methods. In the course of the work, an online survey was conducted of 78 foreign students aged 19 to 30 years, including 52 men and 26 women. The questionnaire for the anonymous survey was presented in the form of a Google Form and contained 30 questions concerning various aspects related to staying in Russia. Statistical processing of the results of the study was carried out using Excel 2000 Microsoft Office 2000 package and using statistical packages Statistica – 6.0.

The results and discussion. As a result of the survey, it was revealed that 68% of the interviewed foreign students came to Russia from Egypt, 21% – from Iraq, the rest of the respondents represented other states or did not name the country. The age distribution of students was as follows: almost half of the respondents (53%) were young people aged 21-24, a third of the respondents were 17-20 years old, and the remaining 18% belonged to students aged 25 and older. About half of them study at ASMU under the program "Dentists", the other half – in the specialty "General medicine" and several students in the direction of "Pharmacy".

The distribution of answers to the question about the reasons for choosing a specialty was interesting. The leader was the answer "high prestige of the profession" – it was chosen most often, about half percent of the time. In second place in terms of the frequency of choice was the "parents' advice", which accounted for 20% of the total. Less often, foreign students chose medical specialties because "it is easy to find a job" or it is "well paid", as well as due to "family tradition". And, oddly enough, the answer "I like it, it is my dream" was the rarest in frequency: it was chosen only in 5% of cases.

The analysis of the motivation for higher education in Russia showed that most often foreign students answered that they wanted to study abroad (44 answers) and a little less often there was an answer "the desire to study in Russia" (32 answers). In addition, 22 responses noted the high quality of Russian education and in some cases the lack of training in the desired specialty. At the same time, the majority of respondents believe that admission to a Russian medical university and the quality of education in it does not depend on nationality. At the same time, a small part (12%) of the respondents expressed the opposite point of view. At the same time, only half of foreign students plan to return to their native country after graduation, a third want to stay in Russia and 23% said they would link their career with another country. When asked about the length of stay in Russia, the answers were distributed as follows: 21% of the surveyed foreign students came to Russia for less than a year, almost half live here from 2 to 4 years, and 34% - 5 years or more.

The next set of questions was related to the respondents' proficiency in Russian. More than half of the foreign students surveyed (65%) studied at preparatory courses in Russian before entering a Russian university, most of them noted that it was useful for further education. At the same time, the remaining 35% of respondents encountered the Russian language for the first time in the process of mastering their chosen specialty. Among all respondents, only 16% were familiar with the Russian language at the time of arrival in Russia, these respondents noted the basic level of language proficiency, answering that they could read and speak on simple topics. The remaining 84% of foreign students did not encounter the Russian language before coming to Russia. Interestingly, at the time of the survey, 60% of respondents answered that they knew 2 foreign languages, naming Russian and English, while 21% knew only one of the mentioned foreign languages. At the same time, 16% of students answered that they speak 3 foreign languages, in addition to those listed, they noted French or Spanish, and one person admitted to knowing 4 foreign languages.

The following data were obtained on the question of which situations where the Russian language is required cause the greatest difficulties. Almost half of the surveyed foreign students have to face difficulties when everyday communicating: when visiting a store, in transport, a sports club, etc. The same number of times the answers "when communicating with a teacher" and "when preparing for classes" were answered: these options were chosen by 30 and 28 respondents, respectively, which is about 40%. Russian language is difficult for 18% of respondents to use in the process of communicating with the university administration, and the same number of respondents notes difficulties due to the language barrier when communicating with Russian students.

As for the respondents' own proposals to improve their Russian language proficiency the answer to this question was "to settle with Russian students in a dormitory" – 68% of respondents answered this way. No less popular was the proposal to organize more language courses: more than half of the surveyed foreign students chose this answer option. Students are also considered appropriate by 42% of respondents to attach Russian curators to groups of foreign students, in their opinion, such communication will contribute to improving the skills of the Russian language. The same number of respondents is not against extracurricular activities: visiting excursions, theaters, exhibitions, sports events and holidays increases motivation to master the Russian language. In a few cases (8% of respondents), the answer "extend the training period" was chosen.  Russian language improvement ideas offered by foreign students themselves included options related mainly to active communication with native speakers of the Russian language. Russian folklore", "communication with Russian girls", "friends from Russia", "international conversation clubs", "communication with university teachers on topics unrelated to the discipline" are, for example, "the study of Russian folklore", "communication with Russian girls", "friends from Russia", "interethnic conversation clubs", "communication with university teachers on topics unrelated to the discipline".

In the final part of the questionnaire, in order to find out the presence and nature of difficulties, respondents were asked questions concerning everyday topics. As a result, it was revealed that the vast majority of the surveyed foreign students among the main difficulties associated with staying in Russia indicate ignorance of the Russian language (80%) and climatic conditions (63%). Little less often (37%) respondents cited the absence of parents and friends as a problem, and almost a quarter of the respondents cannot get used to Russian food. For 16%, the big problem in Russia was the difficulty of navigating around the city and problems with public transport, and the same number of respondents named high prices. In isolated cases, everyday difficulties and an inconvenient schedule of classes were noted. It should be noted that only 8% of the surveyed foreign students faced a negative attitude of the local population. The rest noted the friendly attitude of Russians towards them. At the same time, 5% of respondents said that they adapted to life in Russia without much difficulty.

When answering the question about accommodation, the majority of respondents (67%) answered that they rent housing in the city of Barnaul, the rest live in a university dormitory. At the same time, a third of respondents, regardless of their place of residence, admitted that they were not satisfied with housing conditions. Analysis of the response about the attitude of the local population to the respondents as foreigners showed that the vast majority met with a friendly or neutral attitude. Among these responses, a good friendly attitude was noted 2 times more often. At the same time, 6% of the surveyed foreign students faced a negative attitude of local residents towards them.

In general, the students interviewed adapted well to life in Russia, almost all of them answered that they were registered in Russian social networks and had Russian friends. VKontakte was the leader among social networks for communication, little fewer votes were given to the Telegram channel, and the answer "Odnoklassniki" was less common. To the question "How do you spend your free time?" communication with friends and sports received the most votes, more than half of the respondents answered this way. No less often, foreign students spend their leisure time on the Internet, as well as relax. The same number of respondents (about 30%) devotes their leisure time to music and reading, and walk a little less often. Hobbies, part-time work, theater and cinema turned out to be less popular: this was the answer of 15% of respondents. The same number of foreign students answered this question that they do not have free time.

The results of the answers of foreign students to questions about the things they liked and surprised them in Russia were interesting. The respondents were most often surprised by the weather: cold and snow were found in more than half of the percent. Much less often, "lifestyle" and "ordinary people" caused surprise, and in 18% of respondents were not surprised by anything. When asked what they liked most in Russia, foreign students were asked to give their own version, without the possibility of choice. Most often, foreign students liked Russian people in general, such answers were given by a third of the respondents. The rest of the answers proposed by the respondents themselves had an equal frequency: they called such options as "beautiful city", "girls", "culture and traditions", "food", "nature", "weather", "freedom".

Discussion. The problem of adaptation of foreign students is quite discussed in the scientific world and is studied by a number of scientists [1, 5, 6]. The process of adaptation is accompanied by a number of problems related to the need to establish social contacts and overcome the language barrier. Altai State Medical University is no exception in relation to the described problems. As a result of the survey of foreign students, it was revealed that the problems of adaptation to learning in Russia also occur at ASMU. These are mainly problems related to the need to establish social contacts and overcome the language barrier, which is consistent with the literature data.

Conclusion. Thus, it was revealed that at the Altai State Medical University, foreign students face problems of adaptation, which are mainly related to the language barrier and the complexity of cultural and everyday communication in the new conditions. The further professional career and personal development of the future specialist largely depend on the success of the student's adaptation to the educational environment of the university. When choosing another country for education, a student needs to start learning the language in advance, as well as have a number of personal qualities that will facilitate the process of adaptation in a new environment. Such qualities include sociability, ability and willingness to cooperate, social activity, tolerance.

About the authors

Youssef Mohamed Ibrahim

Altai State Medical University

Email: bonda010676@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0172-9771

5th year student of the Faculty of Foreign Students

Russian Federation, 656049, Russia, Барнаул, Barnaul, Lenin Ave., 40

Daniel S. Bondarenko

Altai State Medical University

Author for correspondence.
Email: danil.bondarenko.02@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8601-9930
SPIN-code: 5218-1335

3rd year student of the Institute of Clinical Medicine

Russian Federation, 656049, Russia, Барнаул, Barnaul, Lenin Ave., 40

References