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

Last but not least, it is the relationship with the native students. So far, most of them I meet
are friendly and helpful. Yet, I have not made good friends with any of them. It seems that
there is still a huge gap between us. It‘s my problem. I always feel secure being with my
Chinese friends. So I did not try hard to break the ice.
Overall, it is the right choice to go abroad and well worth the money for a different life
experience. I enjoy my study here although sometimes I do miss my family and friends in
China. I plan to apply for an MA degree after graduation as I would like to further my study.
Talking about the future, I see myself probably going back to China and finding a job later
on. But I am not sure to say anything definite, and I do not like making long-term plans. Five
years is a long time at my age. Anyhow, I will work hard to find and earn what I really want
for my life.
Mia
Mia is a 23 years old female Chinese student. She is in her 3 rd year of a BA English Language
course. She came to the UK in September 2007, and she has been studying here for almost
two years. Prior to that, she studied in a university in China for two years. Her Chinese
university has a ‗2+2‘ exchange undergraduate programme (2 years study in China plus 2
years in the UK) with her current university. She is from a coastal countryside area in
southern China. I got to know Mia via a Chinese student gathering in 2007. Later, she kindly
agreed to participate in the research when I invited her to be a research subject.
Mia‘s graphs of her learning experiences between the age of 6 and 22, and of her learning
experience in the UK between September 2008 and April 2009 are shown in Figure 8.5 and
8.6 respectively.
Figure 8.5: Mia‘s perception of her own learning experience between the ages of 6 to 22 years old
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