The Learning Experience Of Chinese Students In American Universities: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

College Student Journal, March, 2001 by Guofang Wan

Although there are studies about international students in general, and Chinese students in particular, the author found there is a need to analyze the situation from a cross-cultural perspective. It is hoped that a cross-cultural look can help educators to learn more about these students and will assist the students in reflecting on their own cross-cultural learning experiences.

Methodology

Rationale for a Qualitative Study

The major research question for this study is: How do Chinese students describe their learning experience in American universities?

In this study, qualitative research methods -- participant observation and informal interviews are used. Data are gathered primarily through participant observations and informal interviews. There are several considerations for choosing this research approach:

(1) It is believed that the research question will be better answered, understood and explained through interpreting and describing rather than measuring.

(2) The research questions are general, broad, open-ended and flexible. There are no previously set hypothesis to be tested.

(3) The purpose of this study is not to seek explanations and predications that will generalize to other people and places, but to "subjectively derive understanding from the perspective of observed persons in their own milieu" (Sprinthall, Schmutte and Sirois, 1991).

A cross-cultural perspective refers to the process of looking at cultural phenomena from the perspective of both the culture in which they occur and another culture (Pusch, 1979). Such a perspective is chosen to analyze and interpret the data collected in this study because it is hoped that looking at the phenomena from both sides will generate deeper understanding and explanation for the experiences of these students.

Research Site and Participants:

The study was conducted at a major university in the eastern part of the United States. It has an enrollment of about 40,000 students on its main campus, of whom 320 students are from China. The number increased to 485 when their spouses are included. All of the students are doing graduate work with some of their spouses taking English language classes. They are working on either Master's or doctorate degrees in science, mathematics, humanities, liberal arts and social science.

One graduate student (Y) and his wife (F) were selected as key informants for this study. Both of them graduated from prestigious Chinese universities and held good jobs in China before coming to the United States. While Y worked as an engineer in the environment protection department at an academy of architecture for seven years, F worked as an engineer in the environment protection department under a Chinese government agency for the same number of years.

At the time of the study, they had been in the United States for less than two years. Y, the husband, was studying in a Master's program in mineral science. F, the wife, came to the United States six months later than her husband. She took her GRE and was applying for a Master's program in environmental studies. At that time, their three-year-old daughter was staying with their grandparents in China. Y and F were selected as key informants for this study because they were still fairly new to the United States, they were willing to share their experiences, and they were typical Chinese students on that campus.