Chinese students’ study experience at UM
Define the cultural characteristics of the Chinese international student community
Mårtensson and Roxå (2016) assert that in micro culture situations, the existing groups differ custom wise, in behaviors and their cultures. In most instances, the groups are regarded as minorities, and they are mainly classified in terms of geographic area, region, ethnicity, occupation, the race, among others. In America, most communities belong to micro culture groups and are perceived to have less power than the majority. Also, Heinrich (2017) posits that most micro cultural groups in any given culture tend to come up with their means of communication outside the majority culture’s value system or context. According to Mårtensson and Roxå (2016), most scientists have identified the distinctive characters that most micro-culture groups consist of far from the dominant groups. In recent research by the Institute of International Education (2014), the number of Chinese enrollment in the United has increased at a notable rate. As well, according to a report by Open Doors, China is identified as the country that has been sending many students in the United States, where a total of 31% have been recorded. With that regard, there are significant cultural characteristics that define the Chinese International Students community, especially on related educational issues.
Most Chinese students rely mostly on rote learning systems, where they involve a lot of repetitiveness and memorization of terms, especially those that hail from places such as Hong Kong (Wang et al., 2016). The primary aspect of such learning characteristics is that most students focus more on the meaning of the study materials. Therefore, to the Chinese students, the repetition being part of rote learning helps them to have a surface approach towards learning. Hence, when you compare their learning approach with Western education, Chinese learning styles prefer pursuing the learning essentials, which is different from the western literature that uses more in-depth methods in learning and activeness in class.
According to Banks (2016), the author argues that culturally the Chinese system of learning makes the teachers authoritative while the students observe silent learning. Therefore, in most instances, the teachers do not get the actual reactions of such students. Their learning systems differ from Western Literature, where the students have to be active as a way of identifying students’ development, critical thinking, and cooperation. Also, Banks (2016) views the Chinese learning system to have been informed by Confucianism, where individuals tend to be diligent in all their affairs, which are conducted in an orderly manner. As well, through Confucianism, the traditional shows respect for the elders and acquisition of knowledge through value pragmatic methods resulting in hierarchal relationship respects.
The other characteristics, according to Wang et al. (2016), involves passive learning where the students do not just cover the syllabus but also desire to get accurate answers making it a paradoxical approach in an authoritarian learning environment. In such an instance, most students find themselves waiting for classes to be over to inquire about a precise question since the teacher-student relationship after classes represent casual formality. For example, after classes, the teachers are free to call the student’s parents to discuss the way forward of the student’s performance. Therefore we can assert that Chinese students usually inquire about a disturbing question after deep reflection, making them be most dependent rather than independent learners.
Why does the China International Students Association conflict with UM’s mainstream student culture? Why can’t I adapt?
As the number of internationalization increases, the students usually carry with them a lot of expectations in their host countries, which usually has a great impact on their academic and social lives. As well, such instance also has a greater impact regarding the student’s ambitions and career aspirations in the future (Jacobi, 2020). Therefore, through such considerations, we can create a path in understanding the reason why the China International Student Association holds conflicts with UM’s mainstream student culture.
Young and Gutierrez (2019) view the main conflict that faces international students in a host country to be a language barrier that hinders them from actively socializing with their peers. For instance, in UM, considering that the dominant number of students belong to English speaking countries, it becomes hard for my fellow Chinese and I to communicate effectively since we tend to feel overpowered by the dominant cultures. Therefore, it becomes hard for both the China International Student Association, together with UM’s fraternity, to achieve a concrete cross-cultural adjustment. Therefore, such instances are causing most Chinese International Students to develop some social problems such as acculturative stress since, to some, they find it hard to adapt to the environment socially.
Medved et al. (2016) stipulate that lecture attendance also part of conflicts, especially when the involved parties do not point out the existing differences among them, thus working on assumptions that all students have the same educational approach. For instance, the kind of learning that the UM offers is different from the Chinese learning systems where the Chinese students are used to engaging in a reflective type of education system. In such instances, one will find that the Chinese students find it hard to adapt to the system where they are needed to participate in class actively. Hence, most end up getting discouraged along the way, thus affecting their performances.
Another issue, according to Chan et al. (2018), involves cultural shock that results in anxiety, especially since the students are not aware of how they will find accommodations and other services such as banks and transports. Therefore, the problem has made many students lack a support system, which by the time they are adapting to the new changes, they might get into depression, homesickness, and later on, that can be translated into their performances. Therefore, the China International Student Association conflict with UM comes along as the student body is trying to find ways that the University will formulate mechanisms to ensure that they give to support the international students to help them adapt to the new environment.
By having different cultures within a host community, most international students possess different characters that might hinder their adaptability within such an environment. Therefore, there is a need for specific institutions to come up with ways to ensure that the students have been offered to support to enable them to cope with the new environment. For the Chinese international student case, the UM, together with China International Students Associations board, should come together and formulate mechanisms that will help to oversee the issues that face the Chinese students in the institution. With that, they will help the students cope psychologically, emotionally, and education-wise.
References
Banks, J. A. (2016). 1.1 The Nature of Multicultural Education. Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives.
Chan, E. A., Liu, J. Y. W., Fung, K. H. K., Tsang, P. L., & Yuen, J. (2018). Pre-departure preparation and co-curricular activities for Students’ intercultural exchange: A mixed-methods study. Nurse education today, 63, 43-49.
Institute of International Education (2014). Open Doors 2014 Report. Available at: https://www.iie.org/Why-IIE/Announcements/2014/11/2014-11-17-Open-Doors-Data (Accessed April 11, 2020)
Jacobi, L. (2020). Will Opportunities to Collaborate Reduce the Intercultural Communication Apprehension of American and International Students?. Journal of International Students, 10(3).
Mårtensson, K., & Roxå, T. (2016). Working with networks, microcultures, and communities. Advancing practice in academic development, 174-187.
Medved, D., Franco, A., Gao, X., & Yang, F. (2016). Challenges in teaching international students: Group separation, language barriers and culture differences. Genombrottet, Lunds tekniska högskola.
Wang, L., Zou, Q., Wang, Y., & Wu, T. (2016, December). Exploration of College Students’ Learning Behavior and Career Choice Behavior under Micro-culture Background. In 2016 3rd International Conference on Education, Language, Art, and Inter-cultural Communication (ICELAIC 2016). Atlantis Press.
Young, B. N., & Gutierrez, M. A. (2019). Challenges and Barriers to Success as Experienced by One International Graduate Student within the Biological, Psychosocial, and Academic Contexts during the Initial Acculturation Process. Tennessee Educational Leadership, 32.