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

Professional practice
Under the broad category of ‗professional practice‘, students raised issues relating to the
awareness of the needs of Chinese students and of different learning and teaching styles.
Awareness of needs of Chinese students
Academics play an important role in international Chinese students‘ academic experiences in
the UK. It is increasingly recognised that to ensure they have a positive learning experience
academic teaching staff are expected to understand specific needs of Chinese students and act
accordingly to cater for their needs. If it is beyond the responsibilities of academic staff,
sometimes simply being sensitive to their needs can be of great help and assurance. Chinese
students‘ needs considered in this section are culturally conditioned, which demands a
general awareness of cultural background in which Chinese students come from. Staff
training on Chinese cultural traditions and values, and their impact on students‘ preferred
learning and teaching styles would scaffold academic staff in understanding and addressing
the needs of Chinese students.
Chinese students have a compelling need to achieve academic success, and they are under
huge pressure to excel in their academic studies. In the light of Chinese tradition, academic
success is perceived as an important means towards upward social mobility. Very often
Chinese students regard high academic achievement as the passport towards a decent job,
especially a qualification from the UK HEIs, which would help them stand out and give them
the edge in the competitive job market. In addition, as (often) the only child of their family,
Chinese students aspire to meet the expectations of family and to show appreciation towards
their parents. Chinese tradition values the unity of family, and a child‘s filial duty to their
parents. Chinese students have a moral responsibility to requite their parents‘ devotion
towards them and to support them when they are old, considering the financial support they
received from their parents and possible sacrifices their parents made to provide them with
opportunities to study overseas. Professional academics need to be aware of the pressure that
Chinese students are under to succeed academically and the cultural attributes behind it, and
be sympathetic towards the difficulties they encounter by providing them with extra
208