scholarly journals “Life Is Splendid Here in the U.S.”: Intercultural Learning in Contemporary Chinese Students’ Academic Adjustment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Achirri
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Students ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
New Type ◽  
The U.S

The increasing numbers of Chinese learners studying at American universities and the high mobility across borders have recently challenged prevailing stereotypes of Asians in education. While studies of Chinese students are abundant, there has been scant research on how intercultural learning unfolds in these students’ adjustment to both academic and social settings. To address this research gap, I center my case study around six of my former students from China and examine their progress at different U.S. institutions. Data from their journals were coded and analyzed qualitatively. In tracing my participants’ first semester trajectory and their strategies to adapt to the new environments, I draw on critical approaches to the established models of ICC (Byram, 1997; Deardorff, 2006; Dervin, 2016). Through investigating my students’ previous exposure to Western education and its role in their adjustment, their intercultural encounters in the U.S., and the learning that emerges from such encounters, this project offers insights into how previous linguistic and educational experiences can be mobilized and optimized to enhance intercultural learning and what frictions can occur in the process of adaptation. I also delineate characteristics of a new type of students from China, namely individuals who move fluidly between cultures in hybridized ways. I conclude by providing pedagogical implications for language educators who work with multicultural learners.

scholarly journals From General English to EST: A Proposal to Reform China's Service English Teaching

1988 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Zhou Zhijian
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Students ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Expatriate Teachers

This paper gives a brief survey of service English teaching in China and proposes reform based on the theory and practice of the ESP/EST approach. The survey describes the course materials, classroom teaching activities, and students' reactions to them under the General English approach now prevalent in China, while at the same time noting an apparent upsurge of interest in EST among Chinese learners and teachers of English. The proposal argues for a shift from General English to EST and offers solutions to such problems as the preparation of EST course materials, the training of EST teachers, and the testing of EST learners. The paper also reveals how expatriate teachers of English working in China could assist in the reform and why textbooks produced in the U.S. and Britain do not suit Chinese students of science and engineering very well.

Translating truth

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maeve Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Adequate Account ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
Mutual Learning ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Intercultural Encounters

The article considers the role of translation in encounters between religious citizens and secular citizens. It follows Habermas in holding that translations rearticulate religious contents in a way that facilitates learning. Since he underplays the complexities of translation, it takes some steps beyond Habermas towards developing a more adequate account. Its main thesis is that the required account of translation must keep sight of the question of truth. Focusing on inspirational stories of exemplary figures and acts, it contends that a successful translation makes truth appear anew; further, that it is the central role of truth in translation that enables the prospect of learning from the inspirational messages of religion. By highlighting truth as the point of continuity between intercultural learning and learning from religion, it provides support for the thesis that encounters between religious and secular citizens are a subset of intercultural encounters and, as such, contexts of possible mutual learning.

Envisioning Change in China

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-115
Author(s):  
Dorottya Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Network Organization ◽  
Chinese People ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Lending Library ◽  
Complex Question

The present article examines the case of the Freundenkreis für Mission unter Chinesen in Deutschland (Friends of Mission to Chinese in Germany, FMCD) and its Chinesische Leihbücherei (Chinese Lending Library, CLL) to describe and analyze aspects of the complex question of the mission for China and Chinese people, with particular focus on mission work among Chinese students. By presenting the ministry of a German missionary couple, the article argues that the FMCD was one of the first, if not the first network organization after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that envisioned Christian PRC students as important agents in shaping Christianity and generating societal transformations within and beyond China. The case of the FMCD also provides an opportunity to reflect on intercultural encounters enabled by missionary work. The article uses data collected through interviews and participant observation in 2009, 2010 and 2013.

scholarly journals A Semantic Prosody Analysis on Two Synonymous Pairs in English Native Speakers’ and Chinese Learners’ Writings

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Zhou Bi
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Research Interest ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Semantic Prosody

The concept of semantic prosody has attracted great research interest in language teaching. Identifying learners’ perception of semantic prosody and collocation may be beneficial to vocabulary teaching. This study analyzes two pairs of synonyms in English writings of Chinese students and English native speakers based on the ICNALE corpus. The analysis finds that Chinese writers’ perception of semantic prosody is mostly consistent with that of native speakers. However, the use of collocation is quite different between them.

Perceptions of Anti-Terrorism among Students at China's Guangzhou University: Misinformation or Misinterpretation?

Asian Survey ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-573
Author(s):  
Simon Shen ◽  
Peng Liu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
The U.S

Abstract By conducting a set of quantitative surveys, this study evaluates the perception of Chinese students on terrorism. Three questions are tackled: (1) how they know about terrorism; (2) how they evaluate terrorist organizations and the U.S., and (3) how they view the corresponding Chinese foreign policy.

scholarly journals The Transformative Learning Potential in the Hybrid Space Between Technology and Intercultural Encounters

2020 ◽  
pp. 102831532097603
Author(s):  
Mette Jørgensen ◽  
Amanda Mason ◽  
Rikke Pedersen ◽  
Roger Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Learning Potential ◽  
Intercultural Learning ◽  
Global Citizens ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Intercultural Skills ◽  
Intercultural Encounters

As many higher education institutions strive to internationalize and develop graduates as global citizens, new technologies are supposed to be creating opportunities for geographically dispersed students to meet and develop intercultural skills. We argue, however, that there is scant evidence that these opportunities are being fully exploited. In this article, we explore some of the reasons for this by using the lens of “third space” theories to interpret data from a preliminary study of an international virtual exchange project. We found that although the project afforded some scope for critical intercultural learning, this was limited by two key factors related to the second space of the traditional classroom: the skills and attitudes of the lecturers and asymmetries in project goals. We conclude by arguing that unless higher education institutions provide more fertile conditions for projects like these, further opportunities for intercultural learning will be missed.

Contacting Surface-Transfer Control for Reconfigurable Wall-Climbing Robot Gunryu III

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woosub Lee ◽  
◽  
Shigeo Hirose ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High Stability ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Climbing Robots ◽  
Simulation Experiments ◽  
Contact Mode ◽  
Magnetic Device ◽  
New Type ◽  
Motion Strategy

For the wall-climbing robots, high mobility as well as stability on the surface of the walls are the most important features. To achieve these features, this paper proposes a new type of reconfigurable arm equipped multi module wall-climbing robot named Gunryu III. Gunryu III has the potential ability to generate high stability and high mobility by using its arm to connect multiple mobile modules together and a magneticforce-changeable adsorption device. One of the important motions of the reconfigurable wall-climbing robot Gunryu III is surface-transfer motion, which is to change from one moving surface to another, such as from floor to wall and wall to ceiling. In this paper, we propose a new surface-transfer motion strategy named Contact Mode. It is to make surface-transfer motion by contacting some part of the moving module to one of the surfaces. As for the Contact Mode surfacetransfer motion, we first conduct several fundamental discussions, such as the five basic types of motion, conditions for making contact between the mobile module and the wall, effective way of using the magnetic device and two criteria of the evaluation. We then quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed Contact Mode surface-transfer motion using simulation experiments, and clarify basic optimized control strategies.

scholarly journals Why so Many Chinese Students Come to the U.S. for their Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiang-nan Chao
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Student Population ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Knowledge Area ◽  
The U.S

This study focuses on why Chinese students come to the U.S. for their higher education. This student population plays a vital role in American colleges and universities, and provides a much needed source of financial revenue. The results indicate that Chinese students are seeking education with a worldview and opt to break from the Chinese system of learning. This article seeks to offer both academicians and university administrators a better understanding of the reasons of these Chinese students, and contributes to the knowledge area extant on this population.

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