Self-segregation, sense of belonging, and social support: An inquiry into the practices and perceptions of Chinese graduate students at an American Mid-Atlantic University

Chinese students studying in the United States face great challenges when adapting to cultural, linguistic, and pedagogical differences. Although discouraged in the literature, self-segregation is a practice common among some international students and is especially prevalent in the Chinese community. This qualitative study explored the motivation and frequency of this practice vis-à-vis social support, and its effect on the participants’ sense of belonging. Insider status was employed to conduct focus groups of mainland Chinese students currently enrolled in graduate programs at a Mid-Atlantic University in the United States. Findings from the study explore how administrators, educators, and the students themselves view the practice of self-segregation and its consequences.

How Course Support and Academic Support Impact on Chinese Graduate Students during the COVID-19: The Multiple Mediating Roles of Thesis Writing and Anxiety

Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning style of graduate students has changed considerably, making them more susceptible to psychological problems. This study aimed to explore the mediating roles of thesis writing and anxiety between course support (including course-arrangement, course-assessment, and course-learning), academic support (including academic exchange with colleges, tutors and schoolmates) and depression. There were 3137 graduate students investigated by self-developed Graduate Students’ Academic Affected Questionnaire, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale. The results showed that (1) 82% of graduate students reported their course support, academic support and thesis writing were affected to varying degrees; (2) course support and academic support correlated with thesis writing, anxiety and depression (p < 0.001); (3) the mediation model fitted well, the mediating effect of anxiety between academic support and depression was significant (β = 0.086, SE = 0.02, p < 0.001), the serial multiple mediating effects of thesis writing and anxiety between academic support and depression were significant (β = 0.02, SE = 0.008, p = 0.013) and the serial multiple mediating effects of thesis writing and anxiety between course support and depression were also found to be significant (β = 0.014, SE = 0.006, p = 0.014).

Teaching Research Writing to Chinese Graduate Students: A Guided Discovery Genre Approach

One of the biggest challenges graduate-level research writing instructors face is how to motivate students in large and multidisciplinary classes effectively. This article explores the influence of a guided inductive and discovery-based genre approach on improving students&rsquo; knowledge of research writing. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and some of the students&rsquo; written assignments were analyzed. The survey results show that the students were generally satisfied with this approach and affirmed its effectiveness in increasing their knowledge of the textual organization, format and documentation, and language style in research writing. Examining the students&rsquo; written analysis of the move structure of abstracts indicates that this approach has enhanced the students&rsquo; ability to identify moves and facilitated their acquisition of more appropriate genre knowledge. Further examination of the students&rsquo; written reflections reveals a more in-depth understanding of their learning experience. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Chinese graduate students’ translanguaging practice in the context of academic writing in English

This study explores the complexity of the languaging processes of Chinese graduate students in the context of their English academic writing. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, we found that translanguaging was ubiquitously present in the writing processes of the Chinese graduate student participants. The participants leveraged translanguaging tools and strategies to support their English writing by accessing and utilizing resources in Chinese, using Chinese to support thinking and drafting, and integrating literacy knowledge across their linguistic repertoires. However, negative perceptions of these practices contributed to ambivalent bilingual identities and hindered them as writers. Findings also revealed perceived barriers and process hindrances that challenged the participants when composing academic text in English. The study highlights the importance of creating translanguaging spaces to support international students in higher education, but also the need to provide instruction in academic writing to support their academic performance.