‘I wish I knew how to socialize with native speakers’: supporting authentic linguistic and cultural experiences for Chinese TESOL students in the UK

ABSTRACT

TESOL postgraduate students come to the UK from China seeking an authentic environment in which to develop their English language skills and learn about their host culture. This paper provides a substantive review of the historical context of higher education in China, including its Confucian cultural heritage, and shows its evolution from a system of rote learning to one increasingly embracing critical thinking and active classrooms. Significant previous studies on the Chinese international student experience in Western academic contexts are then presented. Applying this, we present a needs analysis conducted at a British university to elucidate perceived missing adaptation support and the resulting programme, demonstrating what was successful and providing best practice recommendations for other universities looking to enhance sociocultural support for this changing student population. Our goal is to assert the need for Western higher education to acknowledge the changing profile Chinese international students, specifically postgraduates, will have upon matriculation.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptation
• TESOL
• Chinese
• United Kingdom
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jayme Scally

Jayme Scally is aFaculty Specialist in the Honors Program at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa where she holds responsibility for advising this diverse population as well as teaching in study abroad, research, and experiential courses. She is also Editor of Mānoa Horizons, an academic journal showcasing the scholarly outputs of undergraduate students. Her research examines issues of social justice within higher education, with an emphasis on the development of intercultural competencies in domestic and international contexts. She has an MEd in Higher Education Administration from Vanderbilt University and a PhD in Education from the University of York in the U.K.

Man Jiang

Man Jiang is a lecturer at the China-ASEAN International College in Dhurakij Pundit University in Bangkok, Thailand and has experience teaching English as a foreign language in China. Her research focuses on the self-efficacy and psychological well-being of Chinese international students and she pays particularly attention to the relationship between them over time.