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

I believed that it would be more challenging living in a new environment and
studying under a completely different education system. I always aspire to be
more independent and adaptable. Studying abroad would provide me with this
opportunity to be independent. (Vincent, autobiographical account)
Others regarded it as a steppingstone towards undertaking further studies. One
participant expressed:
It‘s easier after my undergraduate studies here for me to go on master‘s or
research studies and studying here provides me a better platform. I would be
better prepared and more familiar with the learning environment here in the UK
(Vincent, interview)
Some participants voiced their keenness to broaden their life experience, which
studying in the UK would help achieve. Celine articulated in the interview that she
was interested in finding out the perceptions of the West towards China‘s current
affairs and history.
I was interested to have a look at how people from the outside world see China,
and how they viewed the history of China. (Celine, autobiographical account)
In conjunction with the ‗push‘ factors mentioned above, the ‗pull‘ factors discussed below
have influenced the participants‘ decision to choose the UK as their study destination. As
discussed in Chapter 2 - Contexts of destination-- the UK HEIs have been experiencing rapid
changes because of marketisation and internationalisation of higher education driven by
economic benefits; the UK, as one of the most popular study destinations for international
students, has been promoting the ‗pull‘ factors to attract more international students.
Mazzarol (2002) has identified six ‗pull‘ factors that influenced student selection of a host
country to study overseas – knowledge and awareness of the host country and its institutions,
personal recommendations, cost issues, attractive campuses, geographic proximity and social
links. For Chinese students in this research, some of these ‗pull‘ factors have contributed to
their decision to study in the UK while others have been proven irrelevant.
The participants were attracted to choose the UK as their study destination by its reputation
of the excellence in learning, teaching and research, and high quality of academic staff.
Students and parents in China are generally familiar with many top UK universities like
Cambridge, Oxford, LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science), Imperial
College of London, and University of Liverpool and so on, and familiar with stories of
famous people studying in the UK. One participant recalled:
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