Chinese Overseas Students and Intercultural Learning Environments: Academic Adjustment, Adaptation and Experience

275 Pages·2016·4.2 MB·English

by  Jiani Zhu (auth.)

Chinese Overseas
Students and
Intercultural
Learning
Environments
Academic Adjustment, Adaptation
and Experience
JIANI ZHU
Palgrave Studies on
Chinese Education in a
Global Perspective
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education
in a Global Perspective
Aim of the series
The transformation of China into a global super-power is often attributed
to the country’s robust education system, and this series seeks to provide
a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of the development of Chinese
education on a global scale. The books in this series will analyze and
problematize the revolutions, reforms, innovations and transformations
of Chinese education which are often misunderstood or misrepresented
beyond its own borders, and they will examine the changes in Chinese
education over the past 30 years and the issues as well as challenges that
the future of Chinese education faces.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14568
Jiani   Zhu
Chinese Overseas
Students and
Intercultural Learning
Environments
Academic Adjustment, Adaptation and Experience
Jiani   Zhu
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai , China
Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education in a Global Perspective
ISBN 978-1-137-53392-0 ISBN 978-1-137-53393-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53393-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938709
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F
OREWORD
Over the last two decades the world has become increasingly interested in
China’s social and economic development, mainly as a result of China’s
integration in the worldwide processes of globalization and internation-
lization. As far as education is concerned, China has moved from being
a peripheral point of reference for the world’s educational attention to a
more central position, dramatically attracting the world’s research interest.
This is mainly due to economic and (geo)political considerations and a
dramatic expansion and reorganization of the education system, especially
in higher education. As a result, there have been far-reaching consequences
for the international fl ow of Chinese students and scholars. Several f actors
have led to an increase in the international interest in China’s education:
the global craze for institutional rankings in higher education, the new
status of Chinese universities in the world higher e ducation community,
and the Shanghai results in large-scale international student assessment
(PISA). Not surprisingly, a number of research clusters on the s ubject of
international Chinese student/s have emerged, in China as well as outside,
some of which are listed below:
( i) Challenges for international Chinese students and scholars caused
by processes of adaptation and integration in host countries (as well
as reverse processes on their return).
( ii) Recognition and interpretation of culture-based learning style(s) and their
effect on host countries’ higher education.
(iii) Challenges for returned academics who are seeking jobs.
v
vi FOREWORD
(iv) The impact of returning scholars on Chinese institutional s ettings/
culture and society.
(v) Regional developments in Chinese higher education and the grow-
ing educational inequality.
(vi) The tension between globalization, glocalization and regional
autonomy, and the question of (cultural) belonging.
The fi rst three out of these six research clusters have been treated in
Jiani Zhu’s contribution in an amazingly analytical, well-documented, and
highly original interdisciplinary approach. Given the fact that international
Chinese student/s currently (and for some time to come) represent the
world’s largest fl oating intellectual capital, Zhu’s publication will be wel-
comed as a timely contribution to increase our awareness and understand-
ing of the importance of this group and its complex positioning in the
academic world system.
Perhaps the greatest value of Zhu’s work comes from her ability to
deconstruct and reconstruct the Western imagination of a fairly homog-
enous body of international Chinese student/s and their assumed mode
of identity formation and adaption and adjustment in host countries’
environments. But this also applies to her critical analysis of what is inter-
nationally labeled as Chinese learner or Chinese/Asian learning style.
What makes this publication different from a wide range of similar
research work is the meticulous and rigorous attempt to reread interna-
tional research publications on international Chinese student/s and to
map these students’ highly diverse experiences and strategies of adaptation
and adjustment from various perspectives in order to come up with a more
differentiated picture than previous research had to offer. As a former
doctoral student in Germany, the author uses Chinese students’ experi-
ences in Germany as a case study for further explorations of their complex
modes adaptation, adjustment, and confi guration of Self. A strong point
of the research is the longitudinal approach to follow Chinese s tudents’
development, using an affective, cognitive, and behavioral model of
adaption and adjustment.
Zhu’s interpretation of international Chinese student/s as ‘constructed
entities’ serves as some kind of eye-opener, placing her research in a
multifaceted perspective where Chinese students are foremost received
(i) as customers, (ii) as a source of revenue in higher education, (iii) as
a source of irritation, initiating or inducing change in the respective host
country institution, (iv) as a challenge and option for collective learning
FOREWORD vii
and enrichment in theory building, (v) as fl oating academic potential
in a highly competitive world education market, and (vi) as a new and
permanent object of research on culture shock, adaptation/adjustment,
and learning (styles).
The result of this complex approach of research is a book that will
be appropriate for a broad range of audiences. C hinese Overseas Students
and Intercultural Learning Environments will enrich the international
discourse on Chinese (international) students as a group with assumed
special, culturally transmitted characteristics. This can be applied to
current lines of discussion about the creation of the Self and identity,
culture shock, adaptation, and adjustment as well as about the existence
of culture-specifi c learning styles, something that has become a hot topic
recently. It is a particular strength of Zhu’s analysis to avoid any tendency
to stereotype and essentialist thinking about culture, something that the
reader will greatly acknowledge.
Jürgen   Henze
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I am beyond grateful to all of my participants who
joined in this research study. This book could never have been developed
without their support and trust. Only through their cooperation was I
able to make my research idea a reality. I sincerely appreciate all the time
and effort they contributed to this project.
I am also profoundly grateful to my supervisor, Professor Jürgen
Henze, at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, who is a brilliant, hon-
est, insightful, and true embodiment of a mentor. Without his guidance
and expertise in the fi eld of intercultural communication, this book would
not have been possible. My time at the Humboldt-Universität was deeply
enriched by his research team and colleagues.
I am grateful to Professor Andrä Wolter too for being my reviewer. I was
greatly inspired by his colloquia and lectures, and how they introduced me
to research on higher education in Germany.
I would like to thank Professor Detlef Müller-Böling for his time and
insightful questions. Thank you for providing this former Chinese intern
with a year of research experience at the Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung
in 2006. This meaningful internship is ultimately what encouraged me to
pursue doctoral research later in Berlin.
I also appreciate Professor Nian Cai Liu and Professor Shaoxue Liu
and my colleagues in the Graduate School of Education, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University, for the encouragement and support for the publication
of this book.
Next, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Elizabeth Anne
Wesner at the University of Virginia for proofreading the manuscript, and
ix