Students from central asia in russian universities: Social media as a tool for adjustment

Abstract

Globalization is internationalizing the educational environment. The number of international students is increasing in Russia and many other countries. Students from Central Asia now constitute a majority of the foreign students studying in Russian state universities. International students need to adjust not only to the educational process but also the culture of the country in which they are studying. We hypothesis that since the social media are often the main communication channel for contemporary youth, they constitute a tool of adjustment that helps foreign students learn to live in a new country. Our research is based on a case-study of students from Central Asia who are studying in Yekaterinburg. The aim of our research is to analyse how the universities of Yekaterinburg utilise the social media to help students from Central Asia to adjust. The study is based on (1) a set of interviews with the universities staff members who deal with students from Central Asia, and (2) content-analyses of students’ accounts on Vkontakte – the most popular social network among Russian youth, where students can exchange textual and visual messages. In our study we found that the universities do not distinguish between students from Central Asia and other countries in social media communication. The content which the staff members develop for the social media is focused on announcements about extra-curricular activities while experts stress the need of students from Central Asia to be adjusted to the process of education, but not to life in Russia in general. Our findings point out that communication with students from Central Asia through the social media can be boosted in two ways: (1) by regular feedback, and (2) by posting more links on resources which could help students improve their level of competence in subjects necessary for successful studying at the universities. © The Authors, 2019. All Rights Reserved.