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

Its total student population is relatively small compared with other new universities in
the UK, with about 6,500 undergraduate and 750 postgraduate students in 2008. It has
international students from around 65 countries, with most students being from India
and China. Figure 4.6 illustrates the number of international students from the nine
leading countries (Hope Admission, 2008).
Figure 4.6: Liverpool Hope University international student numbers by domicile in 2008-09
Research design and phasing
Figure 4.7 below illustrates the research design and data collection phasing for the
research.
Data collection phase one
Defining participants
All research participants were undergraduate students studying on a Humanities or
Social Science subject; students who are from mainland China; and students who had
studied at Liverpool Hope University for at least one academic year for their degree.
Such definition of participants is considered important for a focused and detailed
study of students‘ academic challenges and coping strategies in this research.
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