Exploration of the best way of studying

Nowadays every teacher, every student, every professor , just everybody use his own way of studying process. Some of them prefer when students work in groups, some prefer individual work of students. 

First of all it should be taken into consideration that people have really different speed and ways of perception, processing, storing, reproduction and if for one person work in a team is a good way of study, it can be the worst way for another one. 
Let's consider some advantages and disadvantages of these types of studying.


Pros of working in a team: 
- there is an exchange of knowledge, ideas and ways of thinking with each other in group 
- the process of working in a group is based on exchange of opinions and on estimation
- A team working contributes to interaction among students 
- every student can judge himself and his problems from different points of view
- development of analytical thinking 
- students can overcome the language barrier 

Pros of individual work: 
- aspiration and ability to think independently 
- ability to orientate in any new situation and to adopt to a particular situations
- students who work on their own can find their own approach to solving any tasks
- having many ways of extraction of knowledge 

Cons of a team working: 
- due to the big amount of people in the group , student May be 
- students may have different abilities for learning , working and communicating , that is why not all of them can work together 
- students can have different level of knowledge and it will be worse for everybody 
- strict schedule of classes may be also as a problem for students
- when students do one project , some of them can do less than others and it will be unfair for students worked well

Cons of individual work : 
-when student works on his own, he does not have possibility to have a conversation about studying with somebody 
- - individuals wont develop communicative skills such as: compromise, discussions, proving your own point of view
-sometimes it is very useful to compare in order to motivate people to work better and harder
-group spirit and finding common language are also crucial for individuals, while working alone can not provide this opportunity


In conclusion, we can say that the base of the best way of studying is inside of this quote: "Tell me, and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand."Confucius.
In other words, every student should decide what will be better the best way of studying for him only and choose that works for him

‘’Stop smiling and start talking’’

How can you tell a teacher is good or bad in teaching? Does he or she has to be extremely smart, friendly or is it important to be strict? When looking at previous research it can be concluded that communication is the key ingredient for effective teaching. 
There are 4 main types of communication that are associated with effective learning: 

• nonverbal expressiveness, 

• relaxed movement,  

• in-class conversation 

• out-of-class communication. 

Examples of nonverbal expressiveness are gesturing and behaviors like smiling.Relaxed movements include things as having a relaxed posture and moving around in the class. In-class conversation ofcourse means that students are able to talk to their teacher and out-of-class communication shows how accessible teachers are outside the classroom. The research showed that students from different countries all think a professor is better in teaching when he or she uses the 4 types of communication, even though the countries vary by different values and expectations.

Ofcourse, there all some small differences in the amount they think like this. Asian students judge their teachers the least at the nonverbal expressiveness component, followed by the Swedish students. A reason for this can be that Northern European people are in general less expressive and contact oriented. Swedish students do not really value if teachers use forms of nonverbal communication in class, like gesturing and smiling. More important however are the verbal forms of communication a teacher uses in class. According to Swedish students, this tells more about the ability of the teacher. So what kind of advice should we give Swedish teachers? Stop smiling and start talking!


Georgakopoulos, A., & Guerrero, L. K. (2010). Student perceptions of teachers’ nonverbal and verbal communication: A comparison of best and worst professors across six cultures. International Education Studies, 3(2), P3.

The benefits of intercultural communication through literature: The contact of exchange students with foreign authors.

One of the main aspects of higher education is the production and studying of academic literature. That's not different for exchange students and their case could use special attention.. Since exchange students find themselves abroad, their contact with various aspects of foreign culture is constant. Between these aspects we can consider local literature as a highly significant one. Through local literature the exchange students can be in contact with the culture they're inserted in and learn about its history. In the context of an exchange course the use of local literature can be a means of learning specific aspects of a foreign culture and in this aspect it promotes intercultural communication. The immmersion caused by such a contact may lead the student to learn about issues which are particularly special inside the country, in Sweden's case for example, issues like: gender roles now and in the past; national cinema development; wellfare-state; late political progresses; art history. Besides helping the exchange student understand all these questions as academic matters it also allows them to adapt to the culture he's in. Another very probable benefit of the contact with foreign literature is the learning of a new language. Some courses may use simple introductory texts in the host country's language for exchange students to develop their understanding of the new language; obviously this side of the contact with literature will also help the student to adapt and understand the country's culture.

Educational system's differences between Kazakhstan and Sweden

In today's modern world , every university and every teacher has his own approach to the best way of studying.

 
In the first place, I want to compare two countries, Sweden and Kazakhstan, my home country, in educational system. It is popularly believed that in Sweden people focus on team working, rather than on individual work and due to such way of the studying, they try to find a common topic and to cooperate with each other. While in Kazakhstan people usually work on their own. 
Apart from that, in comparison with Kazakhstan there are not so big amount of lectures with teacher. 
In Sweden students get the list of references and they know that they should read it usually during 1-2 months because almost every course lasts month or two. In the end of the course students pass writing examination;there are no oral examinations. In the case, if course is extensive, the teachers add other forms of examinations like laboratory work, case and etc. 

If we look at Kazakhstan, we usually mix oral and writing examinations. There are 3 examinations in one semester, two of them are midterms and the last one is the final examination. All of examinations take place in one period of time. 
In Sweden courses go one by one while in Kazakhstan all courses go at the same time and have similar duration. 

To sum up all the information, I want to concentrate on the topic " team working and working individually". 

BE VERY AWARE

What lecturers can do to encourage international students to participate more in seminars?

After discussing some of the challenges international students who are not as proficient in the English language face in the classroom environment, is there anything lecturers and universities can do to help them? Undeniably, it is a challenging feat for university professors to juggle different languages, cultures, learning styles and academic interests from teaching a culturally diverse seminar group. However, there are small steps that can be taken to help integrate international students and encourage them to contribute more in class discussions and the first step is through AWARENESS.

It is important that lecturers are constantly aware of the difficulties that some international students may face with expressing themselves in the English language[1] as well as the different cultural perspectives of students. Through this awareness, lecturers will be able to make a more conscious effort to integrate international students and better manage the complexity of a culturally diverse classroom. Additionally, lecturers should look up what students know, speak and experience to better understand the seminar group so that the lessons would be inclusive for both native and foreign students[2].

Moreover, research has shown that students who are not as proficient in English were afraid of appearing foolish by making mistakes such as simple grammatical errors or incorrect pronunciation. Thus this lack of confidence and fear of judgement from peers acts as a barrier to communicating and participating in class. Perhaps this can be overcomed by building up a more comfortable and accepting learning environment in the classroom. Easier said than done but in our opinion, to bridge the communication gap in the multicultural classroom, lecturers, international students and native students all have a part to play.

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[1] Medved, D., Franco, A., Gao, X., & Yang, F. (2013). Challenges in teaching international students:?group separation, language barriers and culture differences. Retrieved from http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=4215983&fileOId=4216001

[2] Bista, K. (2011). Implications of Silence for Educators in the Multicultural Classroom. Retrieved from:http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/learning-styles/implications-of-silence-for-educators-in-the-multicultural-classroom/

Culture Clash: Compromise and Consensus in Group Interactions

As stated in the article “Pratar du engelska?” also featured on lundintcomm.blogspot.se, English language proficiency plays a strong role in group communications in higher education—particularly in Sweden because of its large number of international students and programs taught in English. Another barrier to effective and efficient group interactions is the variety of interacting cultures. The University group setting creates a particular cultural context in which interactions will take place. Depending on which culture is most represented in the group, other less represented cultures might find themselves less influential in the decisions made by the group.

Another similar issue involves which cultural group will be most outspoken and likely to participate in group situations. Regardless of the dominant represented culture, most group settings take on a democratic approach to ensure all participants are heard and represented in the group’s decisions and work, but beyond this there are inherent cultural differences that limit the effectiveness of the group’s democratic decision making. One such cultural difference is collectivism vs. individualism. Using “Hofstede’s scale of individualism collectivism” we can see stark differences between Hong Kong’s culture, which is rated 25 and is “categorized as a collectivist culture where group orientation cultural norm is dominated, and people act in the interests of the group and not necessarily in the interests of themselves” and Swedish culture which, rated at 71 on the scale, has “a high preference for a loosely-knit social framework” where it is expected that individuals will care for themselves (Du-Babcock, 2013, p.105).

                       

A study conducted by Du-Babcock recorded the turns taken, seconds of speaking time and average words used in a series of group meetings. The study contrasted the circumstances often found in Swedish and Hong Kong group meetings and found that the Swedish group took 5 times as many turns to speak, spent twice as much time and spoke twice as many words in the group meetings than their Hong Kong counterparts (Table 2, p.113). These findings are significant and illustrate a real issue present in intercultural communications in the group setting. Furthermore, Du-Babcock found that the leadership of the meeting’s proceedings varied between the two cultures, with the Swedish group allowing for free-flowing turns with little turn management whereas the Hong Kong group had a structured system of turn taking (p.126). Knowledge of these varying approaches to meetings in intercultural circumstances should facilitate better group communication and allow for an alternative, compromising and pragmatic approach to be taken regarding group management and interactions.

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Du-Babcock, Bertha. (2013). English as Business Lingua Franca: A comparative analysis of communication behavior and strategies in Asian and European contexts. Iberica Vol. 26, 99-130. 

Why chose Sweden to have an international exchange? 

    Every year more than 15.300 international student chose Swedish universities to experience one semester or more in this nordic country. It’s quite a lot if we compare to other nordic country. As international student we chose Sweden for the quality of life, the safety, the rank of Lund University, the schoolteaching or also for his great student life. Indeed, decide to study in Swedish universities are great approach to discover a new culture from our own and to be blend in typical scandinavian society. 

     We can ask to everyone who did it: exchange could be one of the most enriching experiences in life. It’s also a meaning to learn in a different way. In fact, Swedish teaching is different from the rest of the world. This proximity form the teacher to the students impressed every students at the first sight. Have an exchange in Sweden is good to enhance our resume. Compagnies appreciate their clarity, precision and they way to resolve problems. 

      Also, try the learn Swedish can be valuable to explore. Interact with inhabitants is important in a country where you live even if it is not a common language all around the world but why not use it later in our professional futures occasions and impress swedish CO?! In addition, this experience abroad will be the way to differentiate yourself from others and make you more easily place on the labor market. At the time of globalization, an international career of more value to the recruiter. This experience shows that you are independent, open minded with a certain intellectual curiosity. Live outside of our country it is definitively to be duty of ingenuity and adaptation. 

       And you, are you happy with your choice to study in Sweden?!