Homesickness and Coping Strategies among International Students Studying in University Technology Malaysia

Aims: Nowadays, one of the most frequent problems that international students face is homesickness. The purpose of this study was investigation of homesickness and coping strategies among the University Technology Malaysia) UTM (international students and finding new research topics for future educational planning research. Methods: This descriptive study was done in August 2010 among the students studying in University Technology Malaysia (UTM). The respondents were international students from different courses in UTM. Fifty questionnaires were randomly distributed among the students at various faculties and residential colleges of the university. The questionnaire included 11 questions, which was developed by the researcher through literature review. Findings: Totally, 50 international students including 24 (48%) female and 26 (52%) male students took part in the study. There were different reported causes of homesickness by the respondents that were classified into four aspects: "social", "psychological", "physical" and "academic”. The findings showed the most important reason for homesickness has been cultural differences between the countries. Accordingly, 75% of the respondents (n=38) reported social customs as the first reason for international studentsʹ homesickness. Conclusion: The research results indicated that missing family was the most important factor that influenced international students to feel homesick. According to this study, the best and effective way to manage homesickness was to call family and friend(s).