The influence of intercultural communication on the decision of Middle Eastern students to study in Malaysia / Yassin Madani Abdul Alkadir

Consideration of the influence of intercultural communication factors on the decision of students to study overseas is a new tool that integrates the field of communication and decision making sciences, and is widely used in educational institutions in highly diversified educational environments. This study aimed to identify the most important and critical intercultural and non-intercultural communication factors that influence Middle Eastern students to study in Malaysia. The study was conducted in three stages to address the objectives of the study. The first stage involved group discussions and interviews with a selected group of Middle Eastern students from the undergraduate to postgraduate levels. The research literature was reviewed to ascertain some factors affecting students’ decisions to study overseas, and this stage led to the identification of some preliminary factors that have encouraged Middle Eastern students to study in Malaysia. This stage provided a clear picture and understanding of intercultural and non-intercultural communication factors that have had an impact on the decision of Middle Eastern students to study in Malaysia. It also provided some insights on the intercultural communication barriers Middle Eastern students encountered in Malaysia and which may have serious impacts on the flow of Middle Eastern students in the future. A qualitative study was conducted to determine the factors that have influenced Middle Eastern students to choose Malaysia as the country to pursue their studies. The results of the qualitative study, group discussions and the outcome of the pilot study and related literature analysis was used to draw up the theoretical framework of the study, which represented an adapted model for decision making. The model incorporated religious and cultural factors that were introduced in the adapted model for decision making and which have not previously been investigated and explored thoroughly in relation to educational decision making. In the second stage, validity and reliability tests of the adapted model were conducted to determine the most important factors influencing the decisions of Middle Eastern students to study in Malaysia. The third stage involved a survey among Middle Eastern students in selected Malaysian universities. The findings of the study have shown that cost benefit analysis does not have a serious impact on the decision of Middle Eastern students to study in Malaysia. For the purpose of policy recommendation and remedial action, the study has listed some major intercultural communication barriers that may have serious impacts on the flow and continuity of study for Middle Eastern students in Malaysia.