Maturity and Interculturality: Chinese students' experiences in UK higher education

Abstract

Increasing global competition for students has witnessed an ever more rapid internationalisation of higher education. In the case of the UK, there has been a major influx of Chinese students to British universities since the launch of the British Government's long‐term worldwide educational campaign in 1999. Drawing upon evidence from an extensive review of the literature on the internationalisation of higher education, this article will explore variations in Chinese students' intercultural adaptation to the British higher education environment. Discussion of their experiences will be based upon a synthesis of findings of three studies, led by the author, investigating the pedagogical, sociocultural and psychological challenges that they have encountered when studying in British universities. Evidence from these studies suggests that despite various challenges and struggles, most students have managed to survive the demands of the learning and the living environment and to adapt and develop. Analysis of their learning experiences suggests that this learning process spans a developmental continuum involving the students in overcoming emotional tensions arising from changes in their cognition, their sense of identity and sociocultural values. A holistic and developmental perspective is thus required to understand changes in students' perceptions and values as part of their wider adaptation to the academic conventions of their host countries. The findings will make an original contribution to understandings of the impact of the internationalisation of higher education on individuals' learning, change and development.

Intercultural teaching and learning strategies for global citizens: a Chinese EFL perspective

“…Internationalization in higher education (HE) has become a competitive global market with the need to foster intercultural understanding through both policy and practice (Bodycott and Walker 2000;Gu 2009;Dolby 2010). Many universities seek ways to promote their international competitiveness by preparing their students to be part of a future global workforce with new types of competence combined to disciplinary content knowledge.…”

Humor in British academic lectures and Chinese students’ perceptions of it

“…In these investigations, academic matters such as understanding lectures, adapting study skills and studentteacher relationships have been identified as the biggest source of difficulty for Chinese students. Another repeatedly reported issue regarding Chinese students in Britain is that they experience much less intercultural interaction with native speakers than they expect (Edwards and Ran, 2006;Gu, 2009;Robson and Turner, 2007;Spencer-Oatey and Xiong, 2006;Tian and Lowe, 2009). …”

An emotional journey of identity change and transformation: The impact of study-abroad experience on the lives and careers of Chinese students and returnees

“…As I have reported from the findings of previous studies (Gu and Schweisfurth 2006;Gu 2009;Gu et al 2010), it is the agency of individual students in navigating the challenges of study abroad that is of the greatest importance in the personal development they experienced.…”

“…The complex and heterogeneous composition of this group and the diverse and dynamic nature of their experiences have attracted scholars from different disciplines, driven by their distinct theoretical, methodological and ideological concerns, to unravel this relatively nascent field (e.g. Cushner and Karim 2004;Glass and Westmont 2013;Gu 2009;Gu and Schweisfurth 2015;Smith and Khawaja 2011;Suspitsyna 2012;Ward and Kennedy 1993;Waters and Leung 2013;Zhang and Goodson 2011).…”