Abstract
This article investigates the transitioning process of international Chinese undergraduate students studying in Russia. The paper offers new insights into changes in the expectations and experiences of Chinese students at various stages of their joint educational studies in China and Russia. Drawing on a qualitative study of 20 Chinese undergraduates studying in Russia, the findings of the study indicate that before studying in Russia, most of Chinese students had low expectations about their study programme. However, once they were in Russia, students’ perception of the value of their international education experiences changes through varied opportunities for self-reflexivity in an unfamiliar cultural environment. The study also offers an example of methodological approach useful for researching international students’ experiences, particularly within but not limited to context of Sino-Foreign university partnerships.
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Notes
All the names (including the names of the universities in China and Russia) have been changed to protect anonymity.
The study programme runs as follows. During the first year of their studies, Chinese students remain in China and attend introductory courses in their subject area, which are taught in Chinese, and at the same time, they also have to study Russian intensively. During the spring semester of the students’ second academic year, some Vekua University lecturers become involved in the teaching process at SRI; they teach students in specific subject areas (biology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics, or law) in Russian. At the next stage of the programme (third year), the top Chinese students can choose to study at Vekua University within their chosen subject areas. All SRI graduates can then choose either to study on the master’s programme at Vekua University or continue at Feimei University with the master’s programme. In other words, an initial year at Feimei University can be followed by two more years of study at Vekua University.
China is one of the countries that is influenced by Confucian philosophical principles, which emphasise ‘proper human relationships as the basis of society’ (Yum 1988, p. 377). These principles form the basis of the Chinese value system which is broadly focused on humanism, faithfulness, propriety and wisdom (Yum 1988, p. 377). These principles reveal themselves in communication practices within East Asian cultures with greater emphasis on reciprocity, long-term relationships, respect for authorities and elders, and values of collectivism (Park and Lunt 2015). Park and Lunt (2015) also note that ‘western’ cultural roots of the research methods can increase tensions within cross-cultural study contexts involving Asian students.
Importantly, the participants in this study represented a specific group of state-funded Chinese overseas students.
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Sablina, S., Soong, H. & Pechurina, A. Exploring expectations, experiences and long-term plans of Chinese international students studying in the joint Sino-Russian degree. High Educ 76, 973–988 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0256-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0256-z