Chinese International Students Research Articles

Expanding flexible citizenship: Chinese international school students and global mobilities for higher education

PurposeThis study aims to interrogate and expand on the flexible citizenship framework by illuminating students' emergent identities and imagined future mobilities in China's expanding international school sector.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with international school students and their parents in Shenzhen, covering their motivations for overseas higher education, experience with international schooling, self-perceived identities and imagined futures.FindingsThe participants aspired to overseas higher education for both symbolic capital attainment and embodied cultural cultivation to thrive in a globalised world. They expressed confidence that international schooling experiences prepared students for mobility to Western higher education and cultivated globally-oriented identities while not undermining their Chinese roots. They imagined their futures in terms of considerable flexibility, with a rising China viewed as an attractive and feasible option for career development.Research limitations/implicationsThis research provides an enriched understanding of a new generation of globally mobile Chinese students. The participants held distinctively different outlooks, aspirations and attitudes than depicted in the flexible citizenship framework, which emphasised a one-dimensional and instrumentalist portrayal of Chinese international students. This study discusses cross-generational changes in the desire for overseas education and a global-national outlook among young people in the context of significant social transformations in urban China.Originality/valueThe originality of this study is in expanding the flexible citizenship framework with reference to the emergent identities and pathways of students in the international schooling sector in China.

Tracing Chinese international students' psychological and academic adjustments in uncertain times: An exploratory case study in the United Kingdom.

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has exerted tremendous influences on the wellbeing of international students and the sustainable development of higher education. The current study adopts an 8-month exploratory case study to trace eight Chinese international students’ psychological and academic adjustments in the United Kingdom amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging from the qualitative data constitutive of semi-structured interviews, self-reflection writings, memoing, together with stimulated-recall interviews, findings have demonstrated the three main types of obstruction for such students’ adjustments in the foreign land including COVID-specific challenges (i.e., the threat of infect, reduced access to university facilities and resources); COVID-enhanced challenges (i.e., anxiety exacerbated by parents and social media use, anti-Asian racism and hate incidents); and language barriers and cultural differences as long-standing issues. Students’ previous lockdown experience, individual resilience, development of monocultural friendship patterns, and institutional provision and support are all factors that have contributed to their ability to overcome or at least mitigate the psychological and academic difficulties. The study offers insight into the impacts of COVID-19 on international students, providing implications that could contribute to the sustainable adjustments of international students in times of disruptive events and inform future responses to global health crises from individual and higher education perspectives.

A Sociomaterial Investigation into Chinese International Students’ Navigation of a Doctoral Trajectory During COVID-19

Despite a vast body of scholarship delving into international students’ educational experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about the doctoral group's perception from a sociomaterial perspective. Utilizing a group of Chinese international doctoral students while drawing on semi-structured interviews, the article unpacks what and how matter and human forces are entangled with one another as bricolages to shape a disrupted doctoral trajectory. It reveals that, within working and social spaces, human agency and non-human matter mediate, forge and produce a doctoral trajectory embedded within a complex lived experience of responding to shifting dynamics during the pandemic. It also shows how doctoral students aligned material and social assemblages to construct sociomaterial bricolages that facilitate a restoration of relative stability. The study contributes to the literature of international doctoral education with a nuanced disclosure of its navigation as a continual process of mobilization, negotiation and construction emerging from the performative flow of sociomaterial practices. It concludes that a doctoral trajectory represents network operations of experiencing and accounting for, not just what humans do with matter, but what matter does to human thinking and action.

Education for sustainable development in the business programme to develop international Chinese college students’ sustainability in Thailand

It is considered to be crucial for firms to incorporate the notion of sustainability in their business to achieve success in today's ever-changing commercial world. Hence, it is essential that students' awareness of sustainability and related actions is enhanced by embedding this notion in the curriculum in 21st century business education. Guidelines for developing a sustainability-based curriculum are provided in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). Since previous researchers have mentioned the need to move the development of a sustainability curriculum in higher education institutions (HEIs) to the experimental stage, the aim of this study was to enhance the sustainability learning outcomes of undergraduate students in business programmes based on designing a PRME-based ESD course. 96 students participated in a quasi-experimental intervention. The project performance of both the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) was used as a pre-test and post-test, and the results indicated that the students' sustainability learning outcomes were effectively enhanced by the PRME-based ESD course. Therefore, the PRME can be used as a framework for the reform of the business curriculum for sustainability, and the ESD's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8, 9, 11, 12, and 17 can be undergraduate business students' basic learning objectives.

A Narrative Inquiry of Three Chinese International Students’ Academic Adjustment Experiences at Canadian Universities

There is an increasing number of Chinese graduate students who study in Canada and have quite different educational backgrounds. Despite a large number of studies attending to the challenges and difficulties they encountered in life and study, not much research narratively explores Chinese international students’ academic adjustment experiences in graduate programs in Canada. To fill the gap, this research makes a narrative inquiry into three Chinese international students’ academic adjustment in the graduate and doctoral programs of two universities in Ontario, Canada. The three-dimensional framework (Clandinin, 2006) is employed to tell and retell their stories. Their narratives have revealed the importance of their native languages and how their past experiences before they came to Canada influenced their academic adjustment. The Eastern and Western cultures have had a lasting effect on their personal and professional development. In addition, they have played multiple roles as Chinese international students, novice researchers, and future educational practitioners.

Application of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Course to Enhance the Knowledge of Sustainable Finance of International Chinese College Students in Thailand

The aim of this study was to build an ESG course for integration into a Financial Statement Analysis course to develop the knowledge of sustainable finance of international Chinese college students in Thailand. The study was based on a quasi-experimental design and a total of 108 international Chinese students majoring in finance in Thailand participated in the research. 58 of them were assigned to the experimental group, and the remaining 50 to the control group. The intervention of the ESG course was applied to the experimental group for a 45-hour’ period over 6 weeks, while the control group received traditional teaching in the same period of the class schedule. At the same time, an ESG learning assessment was applied to a pre-test and post-test and the data was subjected to a statistical analysis. The results of a one￾way ANCOVA showed that the performance of the experimental group on the ESG learning assessment was better than that of the control group.

Fear of COVID-19 and the career maturity of Chinese international high school students: The mediating effect of the intolerance of uncertainty.

This study examined the influencing mechanism underlying the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and Chinese international high school students' career maturity by investigating the mediating role of the intolerance of uncertainty. The results indicated that the fear of COVID-19 and the intolerance of uncertainty are negatively associated with international high school students' career maturity. Moreover, intolerance of uncertainty plays a mediating role in the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and career maturity. The findings contribute to the literature on mental health and have important practical implications for international high school students' mental health and career development.

Cross-Linguistic Influences in Writing: A Case Study of a Chinese International Student

There has been a longstanding debate on the use of native language (L1) in second language acquisition (SLA). One important topic in language education to investigate is the use of language in the second language (L2) writing process. The majority of studies have focused on L2 writers in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings. Quantitative research approaches have been dominant. Nevertheless, the complexity of this issue cannot be comprehensively explored without qualitative analysis. This case study investigates the language use of a Chinese international college student in the United States throughout the L2 writing process. It adopts a qualitative research approach. The findings show that language learners draw upon their entire linguistic repertoire while writing; even those with a high proficiency level still rely upon their L1 in the L2 writing process. The findings also reveal the multiple functions of the L1 in facilitating L2 writing. Although this study primarily focuses on the linguistic influences of the L1, its implications can be generalized to a broader context. Teachers working with English learners (ELs) or bilingual students are highly recommended to acknowledge and gain a comprehensive understanding of the value of students’ linguistic knowledge, as well as embrace and strategically utilize students’ linguistic repertoires.

코로나 시대 재한 중국 유학생의 대학생활 적응에 관한 질적 사례연구

Objectives This study define the characteristics of the adaptation of Chinese students in South Korea during COVID-19, so suggest the direction about deep understanding on overseas students in a serious incident situation. Methods The researchers selected 5 Chinese students and 1 sub informant and conducted a qualitative case study. Collecting data with participation observation and in-depth interview and analyzing the characteristics of adapting experience in COVID-19 era by coding and categorizing the data. Results The adaptation phenomenon of Chinese students studying in South Korea during COVID-19 is shown as “chaos and confusion,” “difficult to adapt,” “increasing stress,” “overcome and move on”. Chinese international students have encountered a series of difficulties due to the changes in teaching methods and learning environment after the COVID-19 outbreak, and interpersonal communication is more online. Conclusions Chinese overseas students have new psychological pressure and the previous methods to relieve the pressure are no longer applicable and new solutions must be found. In order to create a better education environment in a unexpected situation like COVID-19, in addition to the efforts of Chinese students themselves, schools and society should also improve the relevant policies and systems.

Improving International Students' Safety Perceptions in the Crisis of COVID-19: Focused on Chinese Student

The purpose of this study is to find out the safety crisis of Chinese international students studying in Korea and how to improve safety perception. After COVID-19 as a sudden public event, safety perception and education on public health should be strengthened. Although China is taking many protective measures for the safety of international students, not only the popularity of 'health bags' is high, but also the publicity needs to be improved. The survey results showed that first, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for assessing student safety perception, adjust the focus of education, identify the main factors affecting student safety, and timely and effectively remove the pressure of the epidemic on students. Second, it is necessary to continuously update the safety protection contents for international students. Third, safety education for international students should be thoroughly conducted and attention should be paid to emergency management resources. Fourth, it is required to promote the timeliness and efficiency of information update and to establish a broad and effective information communication channel.

Understanding international users' library experience in the Digital Age – joining the behavioral and experiential aspects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and understand international users' library experience in the Digital Age in order to inform library service design and ensure it provides an inclusive environment. In this study, the behavioral and experiential aspects of user library experience are merged to develop essential interconnections between information behavior (IB) and user experience (UX) in the context of the academic library with the goal of constructing a more holistic understanding of ‘library experience.Design/methodology/approachThe study was built on the concept “library experience” through analyzing its essential components of IB and UX. It was developed through findings from mixed methods research, consisting of the quantitative investigation from a library log analysis, and qualitative investigations via cognitive mapping exercises and semi-structured interviews, both targeted on the largest single group of international students in United Kingdom – international Chinese students.FindingsThe findings demonstrated the complexity and multilayered characteristics of international Chinese students' library context, and three unique contexts emerged from the data shaping their library experience. Building on the previous findings on the connections between IB and UX, the work attempted to redefine “library experience” by joining both behavioral and experiential aspects. It is found that the key components of cultural library experience are the multilayered context, cultural group's perception needs, sense-making process and subjective evaluations.Originality/valueThis study joins the behavioral and experiential perspectives together to explore library experience in a more holistic way and proposes a systematic structure to understand and analyze library experience, especially that of international users in a cross-cultural context, which, in turn, will better serve their information needs and inform the design of a more equal and inclusive library system.

Chinese international students' conceptualizations of wellbeing: A prototype analysis.

Wellbeing can mean different things to different people, even in the same culture with the same language. People living at the intersection of two languages and cultures, such as Chinese students studying in an English-speaking nation, not only speak a different language than their host country, but also may have different conceptualizations of wellbeing itself. This study investigated Chinese international students’ (aged 18–39, N = 123) conceptualizations of wellbeing using a modified prototype analysis, which provided insights on people’s underlying structure of the construct as revealed through language. Chinese international students’ conceptualizations of wellbeing were prototypically structured; key components of wellbeing included positive relationships, security, positivity/optimism, physical health, and self-strength. The findings broaden the understanding of layperson wellbeing conceptualizations, provide insights into the wellbeing related concepts and language that are most used by international Chinese students, and inform strategies that tertiary education institutions might adopt to effectively support Chinese international students’ wellbeing.

Once a Chinese International Student and Now an English Professor: An Autoethnographic Self-Inquiry of Journeys Against Linguicism and Monolingual Ideologies

In this autoethnographic critical self-inquiry study, I draw upon my unique identity as once a Chinese international student and now an English professor at a private research university in the United States to investigate how I sought for my multilingual identity and empowered my international students while coping with linguicism and monolingual ideologies. Despite the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in student population, the faculty body in degree-granting postsecondary institutions remains dominated by White, native speakers of English (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Such a lack of diversity in the faculty body is present especially in the field of English, where monolingualism and nativeness is often the unspoken norm (Nigar & Kostogriz, 2019). This has exerted far-reaching impacts on all facets of English language teaching, posing substantial challenges to the professional development, instructional practices, and identity negotiation among nonnative English-speaking faculty of color. In this autoethnographic critical self-inquiry study, I reflected on my identity as once a Chinese international student and now an English professor to explore: How did my non-whiteness and non-native-English-speakerness affect my identity and self-positioning as a Chinese international student and an English professor? How did I cope with linguicism and monolingual language ideologies in American higher education and beyond? Autoethnography is a helpful approach to systematically explore one’s personal experiences from unique cultural perspectives (Ellis & Bochner, 2006). Critical self-inquiry is an essential research methodology to investigate tensions between belief systems and about identities (Larrivee, 2000; Marshall, 2001). Integrating the two methods together, autoethnographic critical self-inquiry allows exploration of lived experiences from an emic stance while acknowledging the dynamics of identity shifts and interaction. This autoethnographic critical self-inventory study focused on my journeys as once a Chinese international student (2012-2019) and later an English professor (2019-current) in American higher education. Following the critical self-inventory model (Allard & Gallant, 2012; Attard, 2014), data were collected to reflect both my on-going self-reflections (my teaching journals and diaries) and my conversing with others, including recordings and documentations of my interactions with colleagues and students. Data were analyzed following the coding procedures of applied thematic analysis (Guest et al., 2011) to explore important storylines in order to bring "readers into the scene" through showing and telling (Ellis, 1993, p. 711). Preliminary findings show that while my non-whiteness and nonnativeness have posed challenges to my initial self-positioning as a legitimate member in American higher education, I gradually transitioned my self-perceived “otherness” into my unique advantage as a multilingual expert with lived experiences as a means to fight against linguicism. Consequently, I was able to draw upon my lived identities to serve as a role model to empower my students which in turn empowered myself.

Contraceptive decision making among Chinese international students in Melbourne: findings from a qualitative investigation

Compared to their non-Chinese peers in Australia, Chinese international students have very low rates of effective contraceptive use and this combined with other factors impacts unintended pregnancy rates. There is limited research exploring Chinese international students in Australia’s decision-making with respect to contraceptive choices. In early 2020, 26 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18-25-year-old Chinese international students to explore factors influencing their contraceptive choices. Using both deductive and inductive analysis, seven primary themes were identified. Of note was the identification of the strongly expressed cultural value of 爱惜 (ài xī, cherishing). Cherishing was used to describe the promotion of self-protection and the protection of loved ones from any negative outcomes related to contraceptive methods. Findings suggest that cherishing has an important role to play in Chinese students’ decision-making around contraception. In particular, notions of cherishing may make it difficult for Chinese international students to accept and trust the advantages of hormonal contraceptives. Moreover, the confusing and inconsistent terminology students use to describe contraceptive options may hamper their ability to access effective forms of contraception in Australia.

Being “top‐ranked” without “causing troubles”: Comparing federal and provincial immigration pathways for Chinese international students in Canada

AbstractCanada's immigration selection regime uses a combination of human capital measures and direct employer involvement to select economic immigrants, emphasizing pre‐arranged employment as critical to secure permanent resident status. This trend affects international students in unique ways. We interviewed 17 Chinese women international students residing in Canada about their decision to study and desire to stay in Canada. Participants faced difficulties in accumulating adequate employment records for immigration applications and employer‐driven immigration pathways put them at considerable risk of deskilling and exploitation. When comparing available immigration pathways, we found that participants had more success with provincial programmes than federal ones because of the availability of flexible pathways, greater options and lower requirements for eligibility. We conclude with three policy recommendations to highlight the importance of periodic revisions to selection criteria to balance human capital measures and employer reliance to retain talented foreign workers in Canada.

“Why Should I Not Speak My Own Language (Chinese) in Public in America?”: Linguistic Racism, Symbolic Violence, and Resistance

AbstractThis article seeks to understand a Chinese international student's (Hong's) encounters with linguistic racism as symbolic violence as well as why and how he resisted different forms of linguistic racism in different situations. Data findings suggest that linguistic racism as symbolic violence takes different forms through both verbal and nonverbal language under the scrutiny of the white gaze, which produces arbitrary power, control, and domination. This triad of linguistic racism, symbolic violence, and the white gaze formed an intersection, which was practiced through visible and hearable linguistic modalities immediately to subordinate and oppress Hong as a victim. The researchers argue that the triad of linguistic racism, symbolic violence, and the white gaze works hand in glove with each other to construct an intersection, which reproduces and reinforces structures of domination and hierarchy. The researchers, therefore, suggest that more research is needed to deconstruct the complexity and subtlety of the intersection of linguistic racism, symbolic violence, and the white gaze. Educational implications for recognizing and combating linguistic racism are also addressed.

Coping and adjustment during COVID-19

While the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China impacted Chinese international students’ families’ lives, the spread of the virus in the U.S. heavily influenced their own. Drawing upon the stress and coping model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), this qualitative study unpacks Chinese doctoral students’ experiences and coping at one large research university in the U.S. during the pandemic. The open-ended interviews with eight Chinese international doctoral students revealed the stressors associated with the sudden changes in participants’ personal, social and academic lives. Findings showed that participants experienced learning obstacles, health concerns, funding uncertainties, and limited social interactions. Participants mainly utilized emotion-focused strategies to cope with the daily life stressors, the tense political climate and hate speech targeting Chinese people in the U.S. This study contributes to the dialogue about stress coping in the pandemic and suggests education practitioners possible improvements in student services.

Improving the first-year experience of Chinese international students through responsive pedagogy: Insights from F&M in Shanghai

This article discusses lessons learned from the development and execution of F&M in Shanghai, a hybrid residential-remote program created for Franklin and Marshall College’s first-year Chinese students in Fall 2020. The F&M Office of International Programs worked with the Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA) to develop the residential portion of the program, and coordinated the curriculum and remote engagement framework. F&M in Shanghai represented an opportunity to craft a constructive environment for first-year Chinese students by intentionally considering and meeting their specific needs. Utilizing creative, well-designed pedagogy, thoughtful programming, and a multipronged approach to student support, we were able to operate the program with great success. Assessments of F&M in Shanghai resulted in a great deal of data, and some results we observed run counter to received wisdom. This article discusses how these results suggest avenues for future research.

Constructing interculturality through intercultural dialogues and autoethnography: building relations, nurturing preparedness and rejecting boundaries

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of a series of intercultural dialogues deployed as an intercultural intervention in scaffolding the development of interculturality of Chinese international students and Belgian undergraduates. The data highlight the fundamentally dynamic dialogic nature and process of intercultural engagement whereby the individuals actively seek to relate and construct meanings collaboratively. Drawing on a constructivist approach to interculturality and employing ethnographic methods, we contend that the efforts to connect play a pivotal role in mediating the process of developing the knowledge of cultural practices and that of becoming willing and prepared to challenge the self and familiar tropes.

The racial learning of Chinese international students in the US: a transnational perspective

ABSTRACT This article examines how Chinese international students develop a complex understanding of race and racism from a transnational perspective. Through semi-structured interviews and follow-up exchanges with 21 Chinese international undergraduates at a US public research university, the article argues that students’ racial learning was jointly shaped by their upbringing in mainland China and by racial encounters in the US. The findings reveal that Chinese students held contrastive views on race and racism before and after their arrival, due to the disjuncture between ideological impact in the home country and experiential exploration in the host country. Specifically, Chinese students’ lived experiences in the US dramatically shifted their conceptualization of race from a nationality-based identity to the phenotype-based imposed category of ‘Asian’. They also revised their understanding of racist practices from mostly violent and explicit to mostly subtle and implicit. This study contributes to the broader literature on transnational racialization.