Abstract:

Students’ academic mobility is the most important trend of modern university education, despite the problems and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and growing international tension in the world. When choosing to study abroad, young people strive to use opportunities for self-realization and building a future career, but at the same time they face numerous problems. One of these problems is the choice of the language of education – mostly between English and the language of the country where study.

Present research included students who study in English at an international university (RUDN University) and they study Russian as one of the general education subjects (a foreign language). The survey involved students from different countries (India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Syria, etc.) studying in specialties General Medicine and Dentistry. The questionnaire includes three main questions about associations that come to mind at the mention of:
(1) the English language,
(2) the Russian language,
(3) a native language, as well as a block of questions regarding the socio-demographic characteristics of the students.

The methodological basis of the study is a Theory of Social Representation by Serge Moscovici and the structural approach by Jean-Claude Abric.
The results of the study show that there are significant differences in the social representation on these languages among international students who took part in the survey:
1) The core of the social representation on the English language is dominated by the associations "easy" and "worldwide" / "international”;
2) The core of the social perception on the Russian language is dominated by the associations "difficult” and "hard”;
3) There are no clearly dominant associations on the native language: depending on the country of origin of students, the associations “easy”, “beautiful”, or “hard” are frequent.

Thus, the results of present research allow us to understand more deeply the motives for choosing a language for studying abroad, as well as to develop recommendations for optimizing acculturation in Russia for international students studying in English.

Keywords:

International Students, Study Abroad, English Language, Russian Language, Native Language, Language of Education, Social Representation, Medical Students.