Voices from the periphery

Abstract Despite the growing body of literature on international student experiences, little attention has been paid to Kurdish students, a group whose study abroad experience is relatively new and largely driven by scholarship programs funded by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Through semi-structured interviews, this qualitative case study explores the intercultural experiences of Kurdish international students in multicultural classrooms in the United Kingdom, using Communities of Practice theory as a framework. The findings show that language proficiency considerably affected their intercultural experiences. The study also highlights the complex role of cultural differences and the limited interaction between Kurdish and native English-speaking students, reinforcing their sense of peripheral participation in the classroom. This study, therefore, contributes to the growing discourse on international student mobility and offers recommendations for enhancing international students’ integration into higher education.