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29 October 2014

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Diaries

Wan-yu

Chinese whispers

As one of a growing number of international students, Wanyu looks at the motives of herself and her Chinese peers, from both her own and her English neighbours' perspective.

'Where can I go to study English in the UK? A place where I can avoid the Chinese-speaking population, I mean.'

It's not the first time, but the other day I was asked the above question by a friend who planned to take a break from work to study English here. His first concern was that he would like to be in a learning environment where absolutely everyone was English speaking. He seemed to believe that this would help him to quickly sharpen up his language skills.

'Definitely not York', I thought. I gave him my apology and said that I could not really help.

"Asian students, usually self-funded, pay fees three times more than their European classmates"

Attempts to master a different language do not need to start with the segregation of the student from people speaking his own language. Doing so would be so unfriendly! In this case, it is even the native language of the student himself. Is there any positive way to interpret such a behaviour?

I suppose, even if one is not in an environment where everyone is a native speaker of English, it is still possible to say to others 'I am trying to speak English as much as possible, so could you all please help me by speaking English to me?'

It's not just York that's home to lots of Chinese students. I have visited more than ten universities in England and found an obvious growth in the Chinese-speaking student population in this country. The question in my head, however, is more one of 'are the instructors and English students ready for this?' than 'why so many Chinese?'

Read other diary entries and reviews by Wanyu >

The UK has a good reputation for education, which is naturally why there is a tradition of foreign students coming here to study. I am sure this is still the main reason why universities here have since maybe 2000 attracted a huge number of students from the Far East, especially China.

I remember that, a couple of years ago, a housemate of mine, an English boy who did a master's degree in economics, told me that at an orientation lecture, where about 80% of the students looked Chinese, the tutor actually joked that 'Maybe we should soon learn how to lecture in Mandarin'.

I am not trying to judge the situation, and I am pretty ignorant about marketing strategies of institutions, but I do know these Asian students, usually self-funded, pay fees three times more than their European classmates. How have they contributed to academic works here and have they changed or reconfirmed local people's impressions of students from the Far East and their cultural backgrounds?

I sometimes can't help but wonder how others think about the vast amount of students who come to a country so far away from their homeland, to study mostly at postgraduate level, using a language very different from their own, paying a high price.
If I were to look at it from a local person's viewpoint, I'd want to know the following: Have they learned what they planned to learn? How have their British life experiences been? Do they feel welcomed? How do they feel about the tuition fees they're charged?

However, I am one of the 'they' in the above questions, and my answers to the above questions are long enough to be divided into chapters for a book.

Wanyu

last updated: 24/01/07

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Have Your Say

Are you an international student? What are your experiences of life as a student in the UK. We'd love to hear from you.

Liza
Im a postgrad student and I was really excited before coming and I had really high expectations of the quality of education that I would be getting but when i was actually doing my course I soon realized that I dont think I am getting the quality of education that Ive paid for. Its probabyly just my school. But still anyway Ill just finish my course then get my qualification but id have to tell you Im pretty disappointed. I dont need to learn English cause I believe Im already good at it.

kathy
I must say I'm often embarrassed when speaking English in front of friends from my own country. Therefore, it's a better choice for me to build up that segragation environment if I want to speak out English more bravely... Still, people are different, as Bellu above is quite another kind.

R.J.
I in fact enjoyed that when I was an international student in Lancaster last year. I had a few really nice coursemates from China. We shared a smiliar habit working as a study group throughout the period of two modules. Using our native language to make discussions helped myself tremendously, especially because the M.B.A. course I took was brand new to me when I began it. I think studying together with them was the best part of my course!

Yuko
I think you're right too. I still remembers the first time when I saw many Asians at uni! It was a bit surprise but didn't feel bad at all. I could share wonderful experiences with those international students. Learning foreign languages doesn't need segregation of speaking our own language. I think it depends on our awareness.

Saeko
There are many interesting and problematic issues in your article. I think UK university (I know about only the case of York, though)and Chinese students are interdependent; universities want money from Chinese students and Chinese students want degree from unversities while learning English. About laguage learning, I can say, as a student who is specialised in second/foreign language acquisition and learning, that motivation to learn English is quite different from students from Japan. For Chinese students (especially from the mainland), English langauge will led them dilectly to prestige and wealthy; that is, they can earn money if they master English. On the other hand, many Japanes students, especially undergrads, come to English speaking countries to study English, because they hope to be "integrated" themselves into the culture of the countries rather than to pursue wealthy. Such motivations will affect students' attitude toward learning and living in the UK. If they fulfill their motivation, it'd be worth paying the tuition fee. A study conducted by a undergrad student in my college in Tokyo shows that Japanese students who have studied in the States and flexibly engaged in both local and Japanese students there could develop their proficiency of English than those who sticked only with Japanese students or those who tried not to engage in Japanese students. I'm wondering what both the students think of my argument...

Bellu
That's absolutely right. I'm a shy Taiwanese. If you put me into a place where no one speaks Chinese, I will not speak at all. I think it's determination that matters more than the environment.

Wanchen
I agree with you at the point, 'Attempts to master a different language do not need to start with the segregation of the student from people speaking his own language'. Language-learning mostly depends upon learners' personality and ability to cope with stress in a foreign country. Language learning starts with good intention in communication. It is much more than language skills per se.