AcademicChallengesThatChineseOverseasStudentsintheUKConfront

王佳妮

【Abstract】Under the education globalization tendency， studying abroad， which is a core topic in education， has more and more frequently appeared in the international environment in recent years.Study will never be an easy social activity， needless to say study abroad， which involves people from different cultures.This essay focuses on the academic challenges that the Chinese overseas students in UK confront in their studies.

【Key words】Academic study， Cross-culture， Communication， Co-operate working.

1.Introduction

According to Higher Education Statistics Agency of the UK （HESA）， in the academic year 2012/13， the number of the Chinese studying in UK has taken the first place of all the overseas students.As a member of the body of overseas students， I was asking myself： can they finish their study successfully？ In this case， I interviewed some of my friends who are studying in the UK concentrated this confusing questions and got to know the real academic challenges they are confront.In this essay I will displayed the findings， and make my own recommendations.

2.Findings

1）Language

Language is the basic tools that students listen lectures and communication.I find it is a more serious problem than I presumed before： most of the students could not understand the classes or the lectures totally because of the speed and of speech and large vocabulary.But when they communicated with teachers and classmates， they find they have a better understanding of the speech because of the expression， phiz and gesture.Many students indicated that， restricted to the vocabulary， sometime they couldnt express themselves well.

The language， especially slangs and idioms comes from the nation history and culture.English and Chinese belong to two different linguistic families， and have many significant differences， which makes a serious challenge for Chinese native speakers.“Dumb-English” is very common among Chinese student， which means they dont speak English usually and couldnt express themselves completely.Therefore， it is not surprising that Chinese overseas students in UK might have trouble with English， hence failing to communicate understand lectures.

2）The way of teaching

Today， many educationalists began to look beyond the individual components and strategies of teaching system.The UK teachers become concerned with selecting appropriate teaching strategies， helping students develop new ways of learning， and evaluating effectiveness of the teaching.And as the Willis indicated， the new technology of teaching of a systematic analysis of learning goals and the best way of achieving them has often been supported by teachers in UK.These advantaged methods of teaching helped Chinese student adjusted to their teacher easily， and have an evidence improvement in their studies.

3）The way of learning

Mentioned the independent study， it is really the biggest challenge that overseas students in the UK confront in their independent studies.However， the Chinese student has better capabilities in making plans， self-controlling， and analysis.Moreover， they have the confidence to finish their studies in planning time.

The different students learn in different ways and use different learning strategies.Therefore， there is no doubts on the Chinese learners can use their own methods and experience to learning well， and have the confidence to finish studies successfully.But， In Chinese higher education， the students used to intensive reading the fixed book and dont need to find other materiel.It could be easier to understand why the Chinese students find that finding material by themselves is such a difficult thing.

4）The way of thinking

Whats more， the Oriental way of thinking is characterized by entirety， intuition， and generalization while the Western way of thinking stresses analysis， logic， and deduction.The world development likes rivers flow into the sea.Every kinds of thought will merge together gradually.I agree with the argumentation to some extent， the modern China are more open to accept western thoughts.As we all know， the science and technology are communicated all over the world and the knowledge and disciplines are analogous in the schools all over the world.It is not difficult to understand the way of thinking is not a big challenge in overseas study.

3.Recommendations

1）The way of improve language

Some of the interviewees suggested that communicating with your classmates is a good way to improve English.And watching TV programs and films is another way of improve oral English.

2）Co-operate working

In the Prof.Jenkins research， the learning effect of group study is better than self-study.And the Prof.Collier noted that： students can learn a great deal from each other.No wonder so many interviewees suggested this way to improve study.

3）Library and internet using

Beard and Hartley suggested that： learning about the computer， involving drills and practice， diagnostic testing and feedback.This is an evident suggestion： the Chinese students should spend more time to find the material and resources in library and internet.

4.Conclusion

Study will never be an easy social activity， needless to study in a foreign country.This research emphasis on the challenges that the Chinese overseas students confront in their academic studies.And aims to find the solutions of these problems they confront.Thus， if they fully understand the challenges， they certainly would be able to get themselves better prepare to meet those challenges and go more smoothly with their academic career.I hope that my research and recommendations will be a little use for both the candidates who are preparing to study in the UK and those who are studying in the UK at present.

Reference：

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