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

proficiency by taking the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International
English Language Testing System (IELTS) test or other equivalent tests and by achieving a
certain score. The main objectives of these English test preparation courses are to train
students how to achieve the scores in the tests required by the universities admissions. For
instance students are taught how to guess answers in a typical IELTS listening or reading test,
or are given a writing template on structure. One can argue that the skills learnt from these
preparation courses such as skimming and scanning, or an increased vocabulary would be
beneficial in their future studies. But achieving high scores in these tests does not necessarily
mean that students can successfully overcome the linguistic challenges facing them. Some
studies show that students who have achieved high test scores (e.g. IELTS scores 6.5 or 7.0)
still face difficulties in listening, speaking and writing (e.g. Cortazzi & Jin, 1995; Durkin,
2004; Edwards & Ran, 2006; Su & Norton, 2008). Furthermore some students with high test
scores lack awareness of host countries‘ cultures, academic cultures and conventions of these
countries, which have contributed to the causes of difficulties in their academic studies in
Western universities (e.g. Cortazzi & Jin, 1995; Edwards & Ran, 2006; Su & Norton, 2008).
Conclusion
This chapter has provided an overview of Chinese contexts of origin. China is the most
populated nation in the world, with diverse natural geography and imbalanced regional
economic development. As a result, diversions and disparities in economic development
prevail between urban and rural, south and north, and coastal areas and the interior. Rapid
urbanization saw a large amount of labourers migrating from rural, poorer and less developed
areas to urban areas, and to southern, and economic developed cities. China‘s one-child
policy had a great impact on family structures and parents‘ attitudes towards their child‘s
education. The size of families has become smaller, and the singleton is the centre of a family
and of their parents‘ universe. No matter how rich or poor they are, parents endeavour to
provide their only child with the best living standards and education. Nevertheless parental
attention does not consist solely of love, support, and pampering, for as Fong (2004) states,
also it also consists of discipline, demands and expectations. Hence today‘s child in China
endures more pressure than previous generations.
Education is highly valued in China. It is perceived by many as an important means not only
of personal development but of upward social mobility. This understanding has its deep roots
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