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Intercultural Experience and Identity 1St Ed Edition Lily Lei Ye Full Chapter
Intercultural Experience and Identity 1St Ed Edition Lily Lei Ye Full Chapter
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Palgrave Studies on Chinese Education
in a Global Perspective
Series Editors
Fred Dervin
Department of Teacher Education
University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland
Xiangyun Du
Confucius Institute
Aalborg University
Aalborg, Denmark
Intercultural
Experience and
Identity
Narratives of Chinese Doctoral
Students in the UK
Lily Lei Ye
Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
Beijing, China
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer International
Publishing AG part of Springer Nature
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Acknowledgements
v
Contents
vii
viii Contents
Authenticity 177
Concluding Remarks 180
References 181
Bibliography 239
Index 279
1
Setting the Scene for the Narratives
to Follow
This book explores a topic which has received very little attention to
date, namely the identity formation and negotiation of Chinese doc-
toral students in relation to studying abroad. The study offers a novel
way of addressing this research agenda by applying Giddens’ (1991)
theoretical framework on self-identity and Bourdieu’s (1977) concepts
of habitus, capital and field, privileging students’ agency and reflexivity.
The study draws on the narratives told by 11 Chinese doctoral students
at two British universities, which is balanced with extensive theoretical
reflections and critically reflexive analysis of situational and sociocul-
tural contexts. Significantly, this book moves away from the focus on
student adaption to an exploration of agency and identity, challenging
the culturalist and essentialised view of Chinese students as a homoge-
neous and sometimes problematic group, and pointing to implications
for theory and practice.
The book project is driven by my own intercultural experience of
studying, living and working in the UK, and originated from my per-
sonal interests in the field of culture, communication, language and
identity. In building a picture of the ways in which students’ self-
identity is shaped by and shapes their experience of study abroad, the
Background
In this section, I situate the book project in the broad context of
globalisation and internationalisation of higher education. I then give
further background information, including current literature on study-
ing abroad and international doctoral students as well as the significance
of researching Chinese international doctoral students.
2005; Maringe and Foskett 2010; Taylor 2010). There are several
dynamically linked themes of internationalisation of higher education
in the current literature, which include student and staff mobility, rec-
ognition across borders of study achievements, transfer of knowledge
across borders, intercultural competence, internationalisation at home,
similarity or heterogeneity of national systems of higher education,
national and institutional policies on the international dimension of
higher education or internationalisation strategies, funding interna-
tionalisation and quality review of internationality (Kehm and Teichler
2007; Teichler 2009, 2010, 2017).
The terms globalisation and internationalisation are sometimes inter-
changeable, but they are different concepts. Globalisation is “the cata-
lyst” while internationalisation is the response in a proactive way (e.g.
Knight 1999). In other words, internationalisation can be understood
as the strategic response of higher education institutions to the driv-
ing forces of globalisation, which includes a variety of policies and
programmes covering three primary functions of Higher Education
Institution, namely, teaching, research and service to society (Altbach
et al. 2009; Marginson and Sawir 2005).
Globalisation is “the economic, political, and societal forces push-
ing 21st century higher education toward greater international involve-
ment” (Altbach and Knight 2007: 290), which is “the intensification
of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a
way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles
away and vice versa” (Giddens 1990: 64). On the other hand, inter-
nationalisation is the process of integrating an international, intercul-
tural or global dimension into teaching, research and service functions
of higher education (Knight 2015; Maringe and Foskett 2010), which
“is a commitment, confirmed through action, to infuse international
and comparative perspectives through the teaching, research and ser-
vice missions of higher education” (Hudzik 2011: 6). de Wit (2002)
identifies four different institutional approaches of internationalisa-
tion: activity, rationale, competency and process. The activity approach
defines internationalisation in terms of categories or types of activity,
such as student and scholar exchanges. The rationale approach explains
internationalisation in terms of its purposes or intended outcomes.
4 L. L. Ye
Studying Abroad
Every year a large number of students choose to study abroad and this
number is growing steadily. Studying abroad has become a global trend
(e.g. Andrade 2006; Alghamdi and Otte 2016) and an essential part
of internationalisation, which is believed to offer opportunities for stu-
dents to build global competence and become “global citizens” (e.g.
Hser 2005; Spencer-Oatey and Dauber 2017). In the past two decades,
English-speaking countries, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
the USA and the UK, have been receiving increasing number of inter-
national students mainly from Asian countries, particularly mainland
China (Marginson and McBurnie 2004). The UK is currently the sec-
ond most popular destination for international students after the USA
and attracts a substantial number of overseas students each year. For
instance, in 2014–2015, there were 437,000 international students
studying in the UK (EU and non-EU), accounting for 19% of all stu-
dents registered at UK universities (Universities UK, 2017). Due to the
important roles played by international students, the phenomenon of
studying abroad has received attention in fields such as intercultural
communication (e.g. Byram and Feng 2006; Jackson 2010; Murphy-
Lejeune 2002; Messelink et al. 2015; Zhou 2014), international edu-
cation (e.g. Andrade 2006; Durkin 2011; Gu et al. 2010; Jackson
et al. 2013; Kim 2011, 2012; Marginson et al. 2010; McClure 2005;
McDonald 2014; Menzies and Baron 2014; Robinson-Pant 2009;
Yoon and Portman 2004), psychology (e.g. Ward et al. 2004) and soci-
ology (e.g. Goode 2007). Previous research has explored various aspects
of the lived experience of international students, including counsel-
ling international students (Kambouropoulos 2015; Yi et al. 2003);
developing social support systems for international students (Paltridge
et al. 2012); international students’ language proficiency develop-
ment (MacIntyre et al. 1998; MacIntyre 2007); international students’
1 Setting the Scene for the Narratives to Follow
7
Menzies and Baron 2014), can help international students meet their
academic, practical and social needs and further facilitate their academic
adaptation and psychological well-being. In addition, Ding’s (2016)
review highlights how campus student support services, such as pre-
paratory and orientation programmes, the Campus Coach programme,
and student learning support services facilitate the successful intercul-
tural transition of a Malaysian doctoral student in New Zealand (Zahidi
2014).
Moreover, Burton and Kirshbaum (2013) explore academic, personal
and professional challenges associated with the increasing recruitment
of international students to university programmes, particularly pro-
fessional doctorate programmes. They believe that appropriate pre-pro-
gramme information, pedagogies, academic supervision and pastoral
support will help improve the experience of all doctoral students regard-
less of their country of origin. Jindal-Snape and Ingram (2013) pro-
pose two original conceptual models to help us understand and support
transitions of international doctoral students: the Educational and Life
Transitions (ELT) and Supervision Remit Compatibility (SuReCom)
models, which are significant in ensuring successful transition and
well-being of international doctoral students. Other researchers such as
Campbell (2015), Yu and Wright (2016) and Zhang (2016) call for all
stakeholders including faculty members and supervising professors to be
culturally responsive and understand students’ cultural differences. They
suggest that appropriate mentoring programmes should be established
to facilitate international students’ transition experience.
Furthermore, a small number of recent research has started offer-
ing insight into international doctoral students’ identity formation
and negotiation in the context of studying abroad, highlighting the
heterogeneity of international doctoral student experience and agency
(Bilecen 2013; Fotovatian 2012; Fotovatian and Miller 2014). For
instance, Bilecen (2016) explores how international doctoral students in
Germany make sense of their sojourning experience and develop cos-
mopolitan identifications during their study abroad. In the same vein,
Phelps (2016) investigates international doctoral students’ navigations
of identity in the transnational space of a globalised Canadian uni-
versity, which illustrates how the processes of globalisation influence
1 Setting the Scene for the Narratives to Follow
15
Lowe 2009; Wu 2014), most of the studies in this area focus on the
need for international students to adjust to local conditions or norms
(Marginson 2014). In contrast, this study aims to produce more
nuanced understandings of the situation by foregrounding Chinese
doctoral students’ narratives of their experience, highlighting student’
agency and reflexivity.
Furthermore, much of the previous literature has looked at the
impact of study abroad on students’ linguistic and intercultural skills
development (e.g. Alred et al. 2003; Murphy-Lejeune 2002; Beaven
and Borghetti 2016; Dewey et al. 2013; Jackson 2008; Kinginger 2009,
2011, 2013), and focused on short-term language learning abroad (e.g.
Jackson 2008, 2010; Kinginger 2009; Tang and Choi 2004). Many
other aspects of students’ experience, however, have received little or no
attention, including issues of identity formation in an intercultural set-
ting (e.g. Ding 2009; Gargano 2009; Phelps 2016). Scholars, such as
Tsouroufli (2015) and Dervin (2009, 2011), argue that more research
should be conducted to problematise the essentialisation and homoge-
nisation of international students.
In moving away from the essentialism and ‘othering’ of much earlier
work, this study aims to address the complexities and nuances of the
identity formation and negotiation of Mainland Chinese doctoral stu-
dents in the UK, and to examine the extent to which individual expe-
riences within an intercultural setting can influence the understanding
of the self, with specific reference to the role of reflexivity and agency
in the process of identity formation/negotiation and capital formation.
This study addresses the following questions:
meanings of the new field they have entered through the lens of
Giddens’ reflexive project of the self, addressing the research question
of how Chinese students adapt and adjust to a different academic and
sociocultural environment. This chapter will concentrate on students’
“small stories” that challenge the essentialist view of Chinese students as
passive learners and, once again, demonstrate that Chinese doctoral stu-
dents are not a homogenous group who are “intrinsically ‘problematic’”
(Goode 2007).
Chapter 7 examines the impact of study abroad on the self-identity
of Chinese doctoral students in the UK, with an emphasis on students’
agency and identity using Giddens’ theory of self-identity as a theoret-
ical framework, complemented by Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and
capital. It analyses student perceptions and experiences of personal
changes and development during their study abroad. This chapter is
guided by the following research question: What kind of impact does
studying abroad have on their self-identity?
Chapter 8 presents students’ aspirations, dreams, expectations and
hopes that have shaped students’ imagined futures, assumed a variety of
forms in student narratives. This chapter answers the research question
of how students’ future plans shape their self-identity. The focus of this
chapter is students’ future outlook and career orientation, which forms
the substantial content of the reflexively organised trajectory of the self.
Chapter 9, the final chapter, concludes the book by providing a sum-
mary of the research agenda and the findings in relation to the research
questions set out in the introductory chapter. It also highlights contri-
butions to the body of knowledge, and addresses both practical and the-
oretical implications of the study as well as the potential areas for future
inquiry.
In the next chapter, I will introduce the research participants and
provide a justification of the philosophical assumptions and research
methodology for this study. I discuss narrative as a means to inves-
tigate students’ self-identity, which offers the participants a chance to
“speak” to us and show the depths, nuances and complexities of their
experiences. I then describe how both narrative analysis (Clandinin and
Connelly 2000) and thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) were
carried out for data processing, followed by a discussion on reflexivity.
1 Setting the Scene for the Narratives to Follow
21
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