Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum

Introduction: An opportunity for a student to pursue his favorite course from a foreign/ distant university is a dream come true. In the medical and dental profession where their patient interaction (preferably in the local language) is the basis of the learning process, students who might not under...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sahil Thakar, Shivalingesh KK, Swati Sharma, Alankrita Chaudhary, Kuldeep Dhanker, Manish Sharma, Yash Deep Singh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Al Ameen Medical College 2020-01-01
Series:Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ajms.alameenmedical.org/ArticlePDFs/12%20AJMS%20V13.N1.2020%20p%2053-57.pdf
_version_ 1818806842397032448
author Sahil Thakar
Shivalingesh KK
Swati Sharma
Alankrita Chaudhary
Kuldeep Dhanker
Manish Sharma
Yash Deep Singh
author_facet Sahil Thakar
Shivalingesh KK
Swati Sharma
Alankrita Chaudhary
Kuldeep Dhanker
Manish Sharma
Yash Deep Singh
author_sort Sahil Thakar
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: An opportunity for a student to pursue his favorite course from a foreign/ distant university is a dream come true. In the medical and dental profession where their patient interaction (preferably in the local language) is the basis of the learning process, students who might not understand the local language may face barriers in interaction and hamper their learning process. Aim: To assess the perspectives and attitudes of foreign/non-local students on the language barriers among medical and dental students and its effect on their learning process. Material and Methods: The study included 200 students (convenience sampling) in and around various colleges of Greater Noida who were foreigners and/or came from Non-Hindi speaking places. Their perspectives, attitudes and barriers faced were assessed through an online questionnaire which was pre-validated and pre-tested. The questionnaire consisted of 10 close-ended questions on a dichotomous scale. An additional question was also added wherein they were asked if they would prefer if they were taught Hindi as a part of their curriculum. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 and primarily, the chi-square test was applied for data analysis. Results: This study included a total of 106 (53%) foreign dental students and 94 (47%) students from Non-Hindi speaking places of India (Particularly North-Eastern India). It was revealed that a majority of the students (177, 88.5%) faced difficulties while interacting with the patients and needed help of their peers. The responses were found to be statistically significant (p<0.5). Most of them (178, 89%) could understand the local language but nearly half of them 101 (50.5%) revealed having difficulties in speaking the local language. Almost all (187, 93.5%) of the students also reported that it would be beneficial if they were taught the local language as a part of their curriculum. Conclusion: Students preferred that classes to learn the local language would be a part of their curriculum and such classes are suggested to familiarize the students to the local language. It would also be a benefit for them if they were also taught as to how to deal with certain cultural beliefs and practices of the local people so that it can be incorporated in their patient treatment methods.
first_indexed 2024-12-18T19:16:12Z
format Article
id doaj.art-ccbba78a00f548a1b334039fa73fee6e
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0974-1143
0974-1143
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-18T19:16:12Z
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Al Ameen Medical College
record_format Article
series Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences
spelling doaj.art-ccbba78a00f548a1b334039fa73fee6e2022-12-21T20:56:08ZengAl Ameen Medical CollegeAl Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences0974-11430974-11432020-01-0113015357Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculumSahil Thakar0Shivalingesh KK1Swati Sharma2Alankrita Chaudhary3Kuldeep Dhanker4Manish Sharma5Yash Deep Singh6Department of Public Health Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, 32-34, Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida-201306, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of Public Health Dentistry, Institute of Dental Sciences, Pilibhit Bypass Road, Near Suresh Sharma Nagar, Bareilly-243006, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of Public Health Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, 32-34, Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida-201306, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of Public Health Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, 32-34, Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida-201306, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of Public Health Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, 32-34, Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida-201306, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of Physics, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, 32-34, Knowledge Park 3, Greater Noida-201306, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaDepartment of English, Graphic Era Hill University, Society Area, Clement Town, Dehradun-248002, Uttarakhand, IndiaIntroduction: An opportunity for a student to pursue his favorite course from a foreign/ distant university is a dream come true. In the medical and dental profession where their patient interaction (preferably in the local language) is the basis of the learning process, students who might not understand the local language may face barriers in interaction and hamper their learning process. Aim: To assess the perspectives and attitudes of foreign/non-local students on the language barriers among medical and dental students and its effect on their learning process. Material and Methods: The study included 200 students (convenience sampling) in and around various colleges of Greater Noida who were foreigners and/or came from Non-Hindi speaking places. Their perspectives, attitudes and barriers faced were assessed through an online questionnaire which was pre-validated and pre-tested. The questionnaire consisted of 10 close-ended questions on a dichotomous scale. An additional question was also added wherein they were asked if they would prefer if they were taught Hindi as a part of their curriculum. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 and primarily, the chi-square test was applied for data analysis. Results: This study included a total of 106 (53%) foreign dental students and 94 (47%) students from Non-Hindi speaking places of India (Particularly North-Eastern India). It was revealed that a majority of the students (177, 88.5%) faced difficulties while interacting with the patients and needed help of their peers. The responses were found to be statistically significant (p<0.5). Most of them (178, 89%) could understand the local language but nearly half of them 101 (50.5%) revealed having difficulties in speaking the local language. Almost all (187, 93.5%) of the students also reported that it would be beneficial if they were taught the local language as a part of their curriculum. Conclusion: Students preferred that classes to learn the local language would be a part of their curriculum and such classes are suggested to familiarize the students to the local language. It would also be a benefit for them if they were also taught as to how to deal with certain cultural beliefs and practices of the local people so that it can be incorporated in their patient treatment methods.http://ajms.alameenmedical.org/ArticlePDFs/12%20AJMS%20V13.N1.2020%20p%2053-57.pdflanguagebarrierattitudehindi
spellingShingle Sahil Thakar
Shivalingesh KK
Swati Sharma
Alankrita Chaudhary
Kuldeep Dhanker
Manish Sharma
Yash Deep Singh
Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences
language
barrier
attitude
hindi
title Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
title_full Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
title_fullStr Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
title_full_unstemmed Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
title_short Language barriers for foreign / non-local medical and dental students in and around greater Noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
title_sort language barriers for foreign non local medical and dental students in and around greater noida the need for inclusion of local language classes in the curriculum
topic language
barrier
attitude
hindi
url http://ajms.alameenmedical.org/ArticlePDFs/12%20AJMS%20V13.N1.2020%20p%2053-57.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT sahilthakar languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum
AT shivalingeshkk languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum
AT swatisharma languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum
AT alankritachaudhary languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum
AT kuldeepdhanker languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum
AT manishsharma languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum
AT yashdeepsingh languagebarriersforforeignnonlocalmedicalanddentalstudentsinandaroundgreaternoidatheneedforinclusionoflocallanguageclassesinthecurriculum