Abstract
This research explored the impact of Chinese international students’ cultural values on their study in the UK. It was designed to reveal patterns in the challenges and experiences encountered by Chinese international students as they adapted to the English-speaking academic environment in the UK over time; and look into the relationships between these experiences and their Chinese cultural values. This longitudinal study was an academic-year-long investigation of academic experiences of Chinese international students studying postgraduate taught programs across three different Schools in a UK university, from January 2022 to August 2022. Both qualitative and quantitative researches were conducted during two data collection periods, including two rounds of semi-structured questionnaires with Likert scales and open-ended questions; and in-depth semi-structured interviews of selected survey participants. The findings highlighted distinctive features of the academic experiences of Chinese international students in the UK. Discussions and analyses revealed the influence of Chinese cultural values on their thinking processes and group dynamics. These influences, often unnoticed by both UK educators and Chinese students, were described as an "invisible cocoon," leading to mutual misunderstandings. The research aimed to raise awareness among both international students and their educators to enhance the overall quality of teaching and learning experiences in the UK.
Author Information
Mengxing Zhou, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
Paper Information
Conference: ACCS2024
Stream: Linguistics
This paper is part of the ACCS2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Zhou M. (2024) Unveiling the Invisible Cocoon: Learning Experiences of Chinese International Students in a UK University ISSN: 2187-4751 – The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2024: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 277-289) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2024.23
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2024.23
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