Language Barriers in Higher Education

Maria Contreras, Ramon Izquierdo

In higher education, there is often a lack of representation of other cultures’ native languages in the admissions process, financial aid, and residential experience with campus housing. The admissions process can be complicated for students and parents when applying for a university. First-generation students have a strenuous time, especially when their parents have a language barrier and are unable to help them. The challenge is significant with the financial aid process. This process is usually done by the parents with their tax information or with the help provided by a guardian. Students can also experience a disjunction between their home culture and the culture of campus housing. Campus housing is one of the first forms of cultural interaction on a campus and help students learn more about others’ backgrounds. Over time dormitories have changed and adapted into living-learning spaces that allow students to dive in and educate themselves on others’ cultural history and background when they are sharing the same living space. The college experience creates a more rounded student by allowing them to have open conversations, learn more from other people’s language, and grow and share more in someone's background and culture. This project explores ways to break the language barrier between higher education and families and make better use of the diversity that exists on Lander’s campus. A literature review was conducted using the EBSCO databases to identify articles on bilingual education, living-learning communities, and Hispanic and first-generation college students. These sources show the importance of a university's staff having clear communication with families from different backgrounds and show that there needs to be an effort by Lander to help break the language barrier.