The context for the present study
Researchers at the National Centre for Language and Literacy (NCLL) at the University of
Reading where the current project is based first became aware of issues facing Chinese
students in 1995 when An Ran, co-author of this report, arrived as a visiting scholar sponsored
by the China Ministry of Education. She extended her stay to undertake a PhD on the
experiences of Mainland Chinese families of British education (An Ran, 1999). Building on the
issues explored in this thesis, a course on ‘Meeting the needs of Chinese students’ was first
offered as part of a programme of post-professional development at NCCL in 2000, and
repeated until An Ran returned to take up a position in China in 2004. Two recurrent features
of these courses pointed to the need for further investigation: the first concerned unease
among participants that they were failing to deliver the British brand messages; the second
concerned the growing body of experience in British higher education of working Chinese
students. Our aim was therefore to explore more systematically the issues in providing
effective higher education for students from the People’s Republic of China, and to
disseminate information on good practice in institutions across the UK.
A one-day workshop funded by the Sino-British Trust was held at the University of Reading in
April 2005. It drew on representatives from a wide range of British universities who had
attended previous courses on ‘Meeting the Needs of Chinese students’ at NCLL; their
experience encompassed both teaching and pastoral support. During the workshop, participants
were divided into two focus groups, facilitated by the authors of this report and following
standard procedures (Stewart and Shamdasani, 1990). In the first focus group, academic issues
were considered by participants involved pre-sessional English courses, foundation courses,
professional development for teachers of English, and undergraduate and postgraduate courses
in subjects which tend to attract large numbers of Chinese students, such as Business and
Management, Economics and Finance. In the second focus group, participants with experience
of counselling, personal development planning with students, liaison with colleges in China,
and the organization of induction and orientation, considered pastoral issues. Recognizing that,
in some cases, the same individuals are involved in both academic support and pastoral care,
members of both groups took part in a final plenary session where the main findings of the
earlier discussion were reported and taken further. The workshop included both British and
Chinese participants.
The analysis which follows was undertaken using HyperResearch, a cross-platform software
package for the analysis of qualitative data, with issues allowed to emerge from, rather than
being imposed on, transcripts of the focus group discussions. The main findings are presented
in two parts: pastoral issues and academic issues. The findings are contextualized with
reference to discussion of related issues in the growing literature on international students, in
general, and Chinese students, in particular.
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