The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

education from medieval or ‗ancient‘ universities, through civic or ‗redbrick‘ and the
later post-Robins or ‗plate glass‘ universities, to the post-1992 universities or ‗new‘
universities) and those institutions more recently recognised as having university
status. I have also undertaken a preliminary analysis of some of the market forces
operating upon overseas recruitment and the overall effects of the massification,
marketisation and internationalisation of higher education. Finally, I have found it
necessary to look into the literatures relating to the changes and developments in
teaching and learning practices within the UK and how these are experienced by
overseas students. This aspect of the overall experience of transition is summarised in
Figure 4.3 – the second circle of understanding.
Historical overview of HE;
Massification of HE;
Marketisation / funding;
Internationalisation;
Changes and development
in teaching and learning
practice;
Overview of international
students‘ experience.
Figure 4.3: British contexts of destination
The third circle of understanding relates to the institutional contexts of UK higher
education within which the overseas students participating in my doctoral research are
carrying out their undergraduate studies. My research is located within a single
institution of higher education, but that institution experiences all the pressures and
contradictions of the higher education sector as a whole. I am particularly interested in
how the codes and conventions of British higher education challenge students of
Chinese origin. The challenge is both linguistic and cultural. In the UK, for example,
institutions of higher education encourage students to become active learners, to be
critical and analytical, and to think for themselves. These are not necessarily the
pedagogical priorities that have informed their schooling in China.
Similarly, modes of academic writing and the formalities of academic assessment may
differ significantly across continents. Translating concepts from one language system
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