Beyond the Cultural Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-258
Author(s):  
Jingzhou Liu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Color Line ◽  
Cultural Approach ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Intercultural Adaptation

AbstractChinese international students are vital to internationalization development in Canadian higher education, providing immediate and significant social and economic benefits to Canadian society. The existing scholarly studies have primarily adopted a cultural approach, with a focus on intercultural adaptation or related cross-cultural perspectives. This study goes beyond the cultural approach and examines how race, gender, and class intersect in producing social inequality among Chinese international students in Canada. Through the narratives of five students attending higher education institutions in British Columbia, the study reveals that Chinese international students have experienced discrimination in relation to developing friendship, integrating to the learning environment, and accessing supports and resources on campus based on the color of skin, their gender, and misperception of their class. The color line divides them into the “dominant white” and “people of color.” Color blindness negates their racial identities and ignores the ways in which these affect their learning experiences. The findings of this research call for an intersectional approach to examine international students and their lived experiences by addressing students’ multiple identities and differences to enrich their lived experience in Canada.

scholarly journals The Effects of Linguistic and Demographic Features of Chinese International Students on Placement Test Levels in Higher Education: Logistic Regression

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
Eunjeong Park
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
International Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Placement Tests ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
College Type ◽  
Demographic Features

Higher education institutions in the United States provide placement essay tests to ensure international students’ readiness for college courses. The high-stakes nature of placement tests makes educators and researchers seek significant components of differentiating levels of placement tests. This study investigated the prediction of two levels (i.e., low vs. intermediate) of 411 placement test essays written by Chinese international students and examined the influence of linguistic and demographic features on placement test levels through logistic regression. The results show that the type-token ratio (TTR), tokens, college type, and graduate status were significant indicators to differentiate students’ placement test essays. However, several demographic features were not statistically significant. The results may shed light on improving writing skills of Chinese international students who scored intermediate or low in the placement tests.

scholarly journals Challenging Deficit Constructions of the International Student Category in Canadian Higher Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Surtees
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
Campus Environment ◽  
Campus Diversity ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Premier Cycle

The trend toward internationalization on Canadian campuses has been simultaneously lauded as an opportunity for promoting campus diversity and criticized for creating a campus environment that is segregated along linguistic and ethnic lines. As a result of these tensions, students labelled as “international” have become the focus of increasing amounts of media attention. In this article, drawing on interviews with undergraduate students (n = 13) from one postsecondary Canadian institution, I examine how the seemingly neutral labels applied to diverse students, such as the category “international,” operate in talk to reproduce deficit understandings of these students, particularly in regard to their English language abilities. I then provide evidence that students also construct more positive representations of international students through references to their experiences of migration and their expertise interacting with speakers of different Englishes. I offer the notion of “language brokers” as a helpful conceptual lens for interpreting this categorization and for reflecting on the contributions that international students make to Canadian higher education. La tendance de l’internationalisation dans les universités canadiennes a simultanément été louée comme une occasion de promouvoir la diversité sur le campus et critiquée pour la ségrégation qu’elle opère dans l’environnement universitaire en fonction de l’appartenance linguistique et ethnique. Ces tensions ont pour effet d’attirer progressivement l’attention des médias sur les étudiants dits « internationaux ».  Dans le présent article, je m’appuie sur des entrevues avec des étudiantes et étudiants de premier cycle (n = 13) inscrits dans un établissement postsecondaire canadien pour examiner la façon dont des étiquettes apparemment neutres accolées à des étudiants diversifiés, comme par exemple la catégorie des étudiants « internationaux », crée un langage qui reflète certains déficits de compréhension de tels étudiants, particulièrement en ce qui concerne leurs compétences linguistiques en anglais. J’apporte ensuite la preuve que les étudiants construisent également des représentations plus positives des étudiants internationaux à la lumière de leur expérience migratoire et de la compétence avec laquelle ils interagissent avec des interlocuteurs qui s’expriment dans les multiples variations de l’anglais. J’offre la notion de « courtier en langues » comme lentille conceptuelle utile pour l’interprétation de cette catégorisation et pour une réflexion sur les apports des étudiants internationaux à l’enseignement supérieur au Canada.

scholarly journals Reframing Internationalization

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyra Garson
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
International Education ◽  
Academic Outcomes ◽  
International Student ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
The Social ◽  
Student Enrolment ◽  
Internationalization At Home

Canadian higher education has long been involved in international education, partnerships, and research and development projects; however, recent framing of international education as an industry generating revenues to prop up underfunded institutions is troubling. This approach is endorsed by provincial government strategies and bolstered by the federal government’s recent International Education Strategy, which promotes doubling the recruitment of international students by 2022 (Canada, 2014). While it is true that international students bring economic benefits to the institutions and communities that host them, we should also consider the challenges that this numbers game potentially presents for education. Many institutions now strive to internationalize; although this can encompass a broad range of activities, for many, the focus has been on increasing international student enrolment. This paper argues that there is a need to reframe internationalization in Canada in a way that would acknowledge the economic rationales, yet balance them with the social and academic outcomes necessary for all students to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for effective participation as professionals and citizens in increasingly multicultural and global contexts. For internationalization to fully reach its potential, a reframing of internationalization at home, informed by critical global citizenship education, may offer a way to realize the social and academic outcomes that would support an ethical, inclusive, and equitable approach moving forward.  

scholarly journals Enhancing the Employability of Chinese International Students: Identifying Achievements and Gaps in the Research Field

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-89
Author(s):  
Xuemeng Cao ◽  
Xuemeng Cao
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
International Dimension ◽  
Graduate Employability ◽  
Retrospective Account

This article shows what achievements have been made by existing studies on graduate employability, and what gaps need to be filled in this field. It starts with a retrospective account of the changing concept of employability, followed by a presentation of the practices that have been used to support graduate employability enhancement in different countries. Moreover, this article gives a critical review of Chinese contexts of graduate labour market. Last but not least, limitations of existing studies are identified, which reflect an expectation for future research on graduate employability to meet the demand of an increasingly international dimension of higher education.

scholarly journals U.S. Higher Education Classroom Experiences of Undergraduate Chinese International Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Valdez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
International Students ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Double Consciousness ◽  
Identity Conflict ◽  
Classroom Experiences ◽  
The Way

The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate Chinese international students’ perceptions about their classroom experiences in the United States institutions of higher education. Double consciousness, introduced by W.E.B. Du Bois, was used as the theoretical framework for this study. After analyzing the 15 interviews to Chinese international students, the following areas were discussed: comparison of classroom experiences in the United States and China; positive and negative classroom practices in the U.S.; perceptions of the way American faculty and students perceived Chinese international students; and double consciousness of Chinese international students. While most of the participants preferred the American classroom practices over practices in China, their perceptions about the way American students and faculty perceived them were conflicting. The concept of double consciousness also helped to illustrate the internal identity conflict of being Chinese and being “Americanized.”

Understanding the Heterogeneity of International Students’ Experiences: A Case Study of Chinese International Students in U.S. Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 607-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tang T. Heng
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
International Student ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Small Extent ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Content Preparation ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature

Scholars have critiqued the current understanding of international students for glossing over its diversity, resulting in the reification of the “international student experience” as either homogeneous or clustered along nationality. Through a qualitative case study of 18 Chinese international students, this article examines the heterogeneity of their experiences despite a common nationality. Findings reveal that Chinese international students’ communication in English, engagement with subject content, preparation for the future, and participation in extracurricular activities vary by year of study, field of study, and, to a small extent, gender. Even within a single nationality, experiences of students are uneven and intersect across various categorical lines, suggesting the possibility that other international students may encounter diverse and intersectional experiences as well. Findings point to how we need to re-conceive and research international students by examining the heterogeneous nature of their experiences, and how higher education institutions can differentiate support given to internationals.

Learning at Half Capacity

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-61
Author(s):  
Deyu (Cindy) Xing ◽  
Benjamin Bolden
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
International Students ◽  
International Student ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Arts Based Research ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Musical Representations

First, this chapter provides an overview of current research on international students' academic acculturation under the lens of self-determination theory in relation to international students' psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Next, the authors report on a recent study that explored academic acculturation experiences using musically enhanced narrative inquiry, a unique form of arts-based research that produces musical representations of the stories of six international student participants studying at a Canadian university. Lastly, the authors propose future directions for Canadian higher education stakeholders to become more supportive and inclusive of international students on Canadian university campuses.

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