Chinese Students In The United States

Great Essays
Chinese students in United States

Golden sunlight shines through the clear sky, casts a sharp bright reflection on the top of the mountains in distanced. The airs is tingled up with the sweet smell of summer orange blossom, and with mountains are lining up in one direction, the ocean in the other. The horizon of the blue ocean stretches far and gently vanished little by little, and then finally kisses the skyline. Peer out from the hills over the ocean coast, those palm trees grown tall into the sky, swaying their branches in the breezes, which look like they are long-necked, shaggy-haired giraffes dancing with delight. California --- a Golden State that portrayed as a larger-than-life coast paradise where anything can be possible. In addition
…show more content…
Language related problems are common among Chinese international students, since majority of them did not have an English-speaking environment when they were in China. In addition, it’s often times the first time for most of them to sit in a classroom where the lecture was delivered in English only, with a targeted audience of English speakers. There is a number of research studies have identified and discussed about Chinese students ' difficulties with English. For example, experiential studies agreed that language proficiency resulted in much frustration for students from China at American universities and colleges. Being non-native speakers, many Chinese students found the English language as the major obstacle to their academic success, especially in academic writing. Unlike informal speaking where the usage of words does not have to be precise, academic writing requires words and sentences to be used in the exact way they should be. However, it’s hard for non-English speakers to make sure that the structure, grammar and spelling are correct in every sentence of their papers. And most of the times, professors are very critical; therefore, these weakness can hardly let them get away with mistakes. In addition, many Chinese students indicated that they habitually first organize in Chinese and then translate it to English with little consideration of how the Americans would express the same idea. …show more content…
Since all of the Chinese students are used to Chinese educational system, they inevitably have to adjust to the new systems as they begin their graduate education in the U.S. In the American educational system, blind discipline is devalued and self-directedness is encouraged. According to Jian Haixing, the author of In America, One Can Learn Many Things, she points out that “emphasis on individual autonomy accordingly trivializes the relationship between mentors and students”. Just as Liberman (1994) observed, "American students are reluctant to be directed by their professors" (p. 180). Or like Weber (1946) who commented, "No young American would think of having the teacher sell him a Weltanschauung or a code of conduct". However, this academic culture and mentor-student relationship is certainly very different from the Chinese education system. In China, as the dispenser of knowledge, the teacher usually has the control of the classroom and many of them do not expect much student participation or interaction. (Yan, Kun, Berliner, David C, 5). Educated under the Chinese educational system for many years, students are used to keeping silent and are reluctant to express their opinions publicly. After spending many years in the Chinese education system, Chinese students have been well

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Zhao summarizes the chapters with a somewhat simple solution, “In order for America to compete in a global society American needs to be more American”. He again references the fact that this a mindset changes away from centralized policies that include sameness among all educational institutions. Because of this Zhao states we are seeing more teachers teach to the test because of the high stakes involved with standardized testing. To expand our diversity, we have to step away from emphasizing the importance of success in the areas of math and reading. The shift to a more personalized learning educational plan is what Dr. Zhao supports.…

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although the author’s childhood was in China, this story can very heavily relate to lives of America students. Based off the teacher a child has, they learn to interpret, write, and speak differently.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During this summer session of ENGL101A, I have learned multiple ways to express myself through my writing. In fact, before signing up for this class, I did not know the proper way to compose an academic essay for a particular audience, and how to properly cite my sources. Nevertheless, after the short summer session, I am able to define my purpose and audience, analyze critically any piece of information, and write with proper citations and fewer grammatical errors with confidence. Through the short time of 5 weeks, I learned how to focus on my audience as well as how to define the purpose of my papers as academically as possible.…

    • 577 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    AoW #3: How Does Culture Affect Education? In his article, “Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning,” Alix Spiegel makes many interesting points. He links the difference in education style and success to a much larger cultural difference that separates the two groups.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I grew up and attended school in Hong Kong, which is an international city, a part of China after 1997. My literacy training for learning Chinese, English and Mandarin began in elementary school. I had completed my freshman year before I transferred to Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School (“CJ”). When I stepped off the plane in Dayton Airport, I realized that there were many new challenges waiting for me. Thinking about the new community, school, friends and new life in America made me feel nervous, worried and depressed.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Moreover, I was guilty of stereotyping Americans. I should not have believed the stereotype about Americans that most of them are overweight. Before I came to America, someone told me that Americans are obese, and if I wanted to keep a good figure, I’d better cook Chinese food and eat as little American food as I could. After I came here, I noticed that a large amount of girls I saw on the downtown streets and campus own a thin and healthy figure. I realized that this stereotype mislead me, since just a few people are overweight.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In today’s society, students are required to follow with the American educational system. Instead of learning…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Transformation in American Born Chinese In the American Born Chinese, Gene Yang presents the theme of transformation and identity through the two foils, Jin Wang and Wei Chen Sun’s, shared symbolic transformer toys. During the introduction to Jin’s story arc, Yang punctuates an old Chinese parable on adaptation with depictions of a young Jin fiddling with a red transformer, immediately establishing the transformer as a symbol of change. Following that instance, Yang illustrates the early life of Jin and three other Chinese American boys where both the cartoons and action figures revolved around a central transformer motif, further emphasizing the unifying quality of the theme of transformation.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    California Gold Essay

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The California landscape was defined by only one thing in the mid 1800s, gold. Gold was the lifeblood of the California landscape and the currency of the land. Gold drew miners from across the nation and the world. One such miner, known simply as George to his friends and as George L. Lewis to anyone else that had a concern with him, was determined to make a quick fortune through hard work and perseverance. George had worked hard in a factory for almost as long as he could remember and didn’t have a dime to show for it.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chinese school taught language to the children but also life lesson like manner on how to behave. The manners on speaking polite informed and gave ideas about what it meant to be Chinese. Now, the reader can realize the mother lives in America but still wants to maintain what she brought to America within her children. Most people do not realize the importance and the advantages of having the ability to speak two language when applying for a job. In order to get a job a person may be required to speak in two languages.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It’s really hard for people to accept themselves and sometimes it had to do with weight, looks, grades, and even cultural identity. Getting bullied about it makes it a lot worse. Gene Luen Yang talks about this topic in his Graphic Novel, American Born Chinese. American Born Chinese is about three characters, Jin Wang, Danny and The Monkey King. They all have a problem with accepting themselves and the way there lives are.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is no doubt that English is a popular foreign language in China. Recent statistics indicate that there are 390.16 million people speaking English as a foreign language in China (Wei & Su, 2012). As Graddol (2006) indicated, the number of English learners in China is increasing and their average age is decreasing. However, in China, the teaching of oral English has been “a weak point” (Guo & Wang, 2013, p. 57). In addition, some students in China do not find it interesting to learn English (Zhang & Yang, 2008).…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    As a bilingual student, I knew that I would have a hard time writing an academic paper. Every time when I write a paper, I need to spend at least four hours completing a rough draft, then spend another hour rereading and editing my paper. I need to ask someone to proofread my paper in order to make papers flow. Usually, it would take me six to seven hours to finish it. Also, I spend more time when I am doing a research paper.…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    You should also know that this is my first few months in America; I started to study English for only less than a year. Actually students in China do study English since the first grade, but the level is very low, it means that students should know 3500 words when they graduate…

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is a misconception that Academic English is difficult and takes a very long period of time to learn, however this is not true at all and depends solely on the persons exposure to Academic English. To many Academic English may be of no value however to those who have English as their second language give Academic English more importance as it allows them to compete with others on the same level without any distinction. The importance of Academic English cannot be neglected in any way what so ever as it is the language that a lecturer, a writer, and a reader can understand easily. Thus, the University should not be permissive in the variety of English it…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays