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

Some students wanted their parents to be proud of them through their learning. In order to
achieve this, they tended to study hard.
From my earlier school years, I have always tried to make my parents proud of
me. You know, as a kid, there was nothing you could do to make your parents
more proud of you than being a top student in class. Sometimes my parents liked
to compare me with other kids on school performance. It has made me to work
even harder to excel in my study. Their influences on my education were there
through all my school years. You can say that they have made me study so hard.
Eventually, I did pretty well in the National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) and
this paved my way into a top university in China. (Mia, interview)
Encouragements and support sometimes came from the participant‘s grandparents. It is either
because the student‘s parents were too busy with their work or not being educated to be able
to help.
When I was little, I had most encouragement from my grandparents. Their
encouragements have increased my interest in the study because I don‘t want to
disappoint them. My parents cared very much about my study but they haven‘t
helped me a lot in the study because they aren‘t highly educated. (Holly,
interview)
Parents‘ influence sometimes came in a different way. Ridi, a female student, expressed in
the interview that she did not like her mother‘s life experience and wanted to lead a different
and independent life.
I have been driven to work and study hard for a better future since I started to
understand things. I don‘t want to repeat my mother‘s experience – raising five
children and doing housework at home, which I found very boring. Also I was
taught by my primary school English teacher that a woman should be
independent financially and have a career of her own. (Ridi, interview)
In cases where the students were the only child in the family, they tended to have a greater
sense of responsibility for their parents. They felt strongly that they needed to repay their
family by being successful in their study and future career.
I will start my MA study this year and I plan to work in the UK after that.
Sometimes I have the feeling that because I am the only child, I bear more
responsibility for my family. My Chinese values have a great influence on me in
this part. It is not like my parents want me to stand out among my fellows. They
have never said anything like that. But deep inside myself I strongly feel that I
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