Mandarin-speaking international undergraduates’ learning experiences at Canadian universities

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An image with a white background featuring a minimalist graphic of a light brown L-shaped line in the upper left corner. Below the graphic, the title is displayed in black sans-serif font across two lines: 'Mandarin-Speaking International Undergraduates' Learning Experiences at Canadian Universities'.

Mandarin-speaking international undergraduates’ learning experiences at Canadian universities

Rae Chang

A bright studio headshot of a young East Asian woman with long, straight black hair and bangs, smiling warmly with teeth visible. She wears a navy blue V-neck sweater over a light blue collared shirt, and a delicate silver necklace with a small pendant. Her dark eyes are looking directly at the viewer, against a pure white background.

Biography

I am Rae, a fourth-year Professional Communication student at Toronto Metropolitan University with a minor in Economics. I also identify myself as an international undergraduate. Therefore, it is the main reason I intend to research this topic.

Research Summary

It is an interview-based investigation to provide qualitative data about Mandarin-speaking international undergraduate students’ learning experiences at Canadian universities. The total number of interviewees is four. One is from China, and the rest of them are from Taiwan. After all the interviews, I analyzed my interviewees’ transcripts by creating a codebook. I found that studying abroad makes Mandarin-speaking international undergraduate students experience a significant amount of loneliness, embarrassment and insecurities caused by learning logic, language, cultural backgrounds and nationalities differences. Also, Confucianism influences Asian populations profoundly. It is an ideology that emphasizes the practice of being humble, and my interviewees indicated that they are all impacted by this ideology. Therefore, except for the insecurity of speaking English due to grammar and accent issues, they avoid asking questions during lectures because they do not want to be outstanding and recognized by others. However, after completing or almost completing their bachelor’s degree as international students, the interviewees mentioned that they become more mature, braver and independent.

Tags

Education, Academic Life, Language

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