Chinese Students’ Cultural and Behavioural Differences among Domestic and Internationally Oriented Educational Institutions (original) (raw)
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The Complexities and Moral Conflicts of Chinese Students' Adaption for Overseas Classes
Rangsit Journal of Educational Studies (RJES), 2021
China is now considered the world's largest exporter of international students; however, with more Chinese students receiving an education in Western higher education institutions (HEIs), more complications have occurred. The main conflicts manifested through the differences in educational design and thinking patterns regarding engagement within the classroom, testing, and homework evaluation. This paper explores how Chinese learning styles shape the mindset of students in education and how it differs from that of the Western education settings. Contrasting teachers' and students' roles in traditionally structured Chinese and Western education styles aims to understand Chinese students' behaviors or learning strategies within the classroom and the moral dilemmas experienced in-class participation, homework, and test-taking. Recommendations on participation, homework and test-taking are provided to achieve a win-win situation for three parties: students, teachers, and institutions. To ensure students' involvement in class and improve their academic success on homework and test-taking, students need to adapt to fit into the Western educational system; Educators need to understand and respect the right of Chinese students being quiet; HEIs need to be aware of the conflicts and provide training for students to build up their academic critical thinking and instructors to better understand Chinese students' learning styles and characteristics. In implementing one or more suggestions, HEIs can enhance their educational competitiveness and improve the enrollment of students. It also helps Chinese students better adjust themselves to engage in classes effectively to reduce psychological stress in a different educational design and attain academic success.
2017
The current research investigates the notion that Chinese students are orally less involved in the classroom as compared to international students. Most of the previous research on this topic focuses on the Chinese students in English language classes or those studying in other countries where the language barrier and foreign culture might influence such behaviour. Using observations, this research compares two Chinese and two international classes in a Chinese university to investigate this issue. The classes were taught by the same teachers, but separately in Chinese and English language therefore eliminating the issue of language barrier and unfamiliar environment. The observations continued for around two months. The findings showed that the Chinese students spoke considerably less as compared to the international students even when taught in their native language and culture. The pattern of interaction in the classroom was also starkly different. Unlike the international students, the Chinese students generally spoke only when asked a question. It was the teacher who controlled the interaction in the classroom. Unlike the international students who were willing to challenge the teachers in the classes, the Chinese students never challenged them during the observations. The teachers also seemed to be more interactive in the international classes.
Gatherings data via 202 questionnaires and 13 in-depth interviews with the students and teachers from a Chinese university in Beijing, this paper investigates Chinese students' lack of oral involvement in the university classes. The findings suggest that their reticence is mostly due to the traditional Chinese beliefs and culture, students' previous school experiences, their social and psychological reasons based fears and class size. Although the teachers were not mentioned as one of the key reasons, they can be the most important agents of change. China is trying to move toward student-centred learning, but the schools and the students are not yet fully prepared for it. The paper suggests a 'teacher-driven, student-centred learning' approach for such transitional period, with teachers assuming more proactive. This paper focuses on the classroom-interaction side. It suggests that the teachers should use questions throughout the lecture, and prepare their slides in an interesting and thought-provoking way. Students should be encouraged to overcome various social and psychological fears that prevent them from speaking in the classroom. For the issue of large class size, the teachers should move around in the class or stand in the middle to decrease the sense of distance.
Understanding the Chinese learner and teacher today
Psychology, 2002
This article looks at the Chinese learner and the Chinese teacher against the present day background of a changing cultural context in order to try to explain a seeming paradox. How do Chinese students succeed when they learn within an educational system that adheres to traditional concepts of learning? Professor Rao and Dr Chan are both members of the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong. With China's phenomenal economic growth, there has been great interest in how the Chinese student learns. The students achieve notable success, and among the large numbers of Chinese studying overseas many excel. Nevertheless, there has always been the stereotype of the Chinese "rote" learner, simply regurgitating at exam time, with apparent passivity. One must then consider why Chinese students consistently outperform their counterparts in other countries, attaining high scores when measured for in-depth learning and understanding of subject matter. These questions are of particular interest in the light of socioeconomic and technological changes as well as the rapid educational reforms worldwide. Right up to the present day, one can see the influence of Confucian values in the Chinese attitude to knowledge, education and achievement. The concept that all children can do well if they try hard enough is a deeply held belief.
2015
The Chinese demand for American-style education is on the rise as many Chinese students seek opportunities to gain a true global education in China. However, importing US education style in China has been shown to be challenging. American education emphasizes the importance of students' in-class participation; however, Chinese students' reluctance to communicate in class is notoriously strong. To explain such reluctance, scholars have traditionally focused their attention on constructs such as "willingness to communicate" and "communication anxiety" (Ellis, 2012). In our study we have followed a different approach. We propose a theoretical model to explain Chinese students' in-class participation inspired by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). TPB applies to any human behavior under volitional control and has been successfully applied in several fields, such as health psychology, sports, and marketing. Our theoretical model was tested by administering a questionnaire to 133 Chinese university students enrolled in a Sino-American university located in SouthEast China. Data were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling method (Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2014). Overall, our findings provided some initial support to our proposed model. The model accounted 36% of explained variance in intention to participate in class. The stronger predictors for students' participation were attitudes toward participation and self-efficacy. In our future research we plan to further test our model and expand it by considering the contribution of additional constructs, such as face-saving and communication anxiety.
Quiet, but only in class: Reviewing the in-class participation of Asian students
Retrieved on December, 2005
This paper presents a teaching innovation that has proved successful in stimulating the in-class participation of Asian students. The innovation consists of using written communication as an additional tool to clarify material and to promote discussions. Although this innovation has been introduced in too few classes to draw a general conclusion, its results suggest that Asian students are willing to actively participate to discussions. Teachers can therefore unlock their Asian students' potential to speak up. These observations are in line with the literature, suggesting that the quiet behaviour of Asian students is related to cultural elements (including language skills) rather than a specific approach to learning. They are also consistent with the insights arising from a large student survey carried out at the National University of Singapore.
The Theory of Planned Behavior and Chinese ESL Students’ In - class Participation
Chinese demand for American-style education is on the rise as many Chinese students seek opportunities to gain a true global education in China. However, importing US education style in China is challenging. American education emphasizes the importance of students’ in-class participation; however, Chinese students’ reluctance to communicate in class is notoriously strong. To explain such reluctance, scholars have focused their attention on constructs such as “willingness to communicate” and “communication anxiety” (Ellis, 2012). In our study we proposed a different approach to understand Chinese ESL students’ in-class participation, by using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). TPB applies to any human behavior under volitional control and has been successfully applied in several fields, such as health psychology, sports, and marketing. Our theoretical TPB-based model was tested by administering a questionnaire to 133 Chinese university students enrolled in a Sino-American university located in South-East China. Data were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling method (Hair, Hult, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2014). Overall, our findings provided some initial support to our proposed model. The model accounted 39% of explained variance in intention to participate in class. The stronger predictors for students’ participation were attitudes toward participation and self-efficacy. Gender also appeared to play a role: Female students reported statistically stronger intentions to participate in class. In our future research we plan to further test our model and expand it by considering the contribution of additional constructs, such as face-saving and communication anxiety.
Educational Research and Evaluation: An International Journal on Theory and Practice, 2017
An extended model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to study Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ in-class participation. The model included the core TPB constructs (behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) and 2 additional constructs (foreign language classroom anxiety and face-saving) frequently discussed in the literature about Chinese EFL classroom dynamics. A total of 199 Chinese students enrolled in a Sino- American international branch campus were surveyed. The results of a partial least squares (PLS) path modelling analysis revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy, and face-saving explained 46% of the variance in intentions to participate in English in class. Perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy fully mediated the negative indirect effect of foreign language classroom anxiety on intentions. Pedagogical implications and future directions are discussed for implementation purposes.
Journal of Studies in International Education, 2018
For decades, the Confucian heritage culture (CHC) learner phenomenon has aroused the interest of researchers in different areas. However, few studies have focused on the attitudes of international students who study in the Chinese context. This article, therefore, explores how international students perceive traditional Chinese views on education, which are mostly embedded in Confucianism. Using questionnaires and semistructured interviews, the study investigated student attitudes and their recognition of specific educational viewpoints and factors, which act to produce such perceptions. Results show that international students studying in China had positive responses to most traditional Chinese views on education and that the traditional concepts of learning were respected and understood. However, it was the role of teachers within CHC that was the least favorably received. In addition, student attitudes and understandings were in response to individual, contextual, and cultural fa...