Western promise

Chinese students are flooding in to British universities

Seen from close to, Britain's universities are in a sorry state: overcrowded, cash- strapped and demoralised. But from far away they can look very attractive. The marketing to foreign students is excellent, especially in China, where educating children abroad is increasingly fashionabale. The latest firm figures, from 2001, show around 18,000 Chinese students in British higher education. That makes them the largest group out of a total of 143,000 foreigners. And it is a 71% increase on 2000. Preliminary figures for 2002 show a further increase of 67%, taking the likely total over 25,000. By far the most popular subjects are business studies and accountancy (35%) followed by com­puting (14%) and engineering.

On the face of it, that benefits everyone. Chinese students pay handsomely - at least £15,000 ($24,000) for a one-year MBA, or £8,000 annually for a three-year undergraduate course. That helps fill the universities' rattling coffers, especially at the hard-up ex-polytechnics, which are finding it hard to attract British students. With cash comes enthusiasm. Chinese stu­dents tend to be brighter and harder-work­ing than their local counterparts. An engi­neering lecturer at a midlands university newly popular with Chinese customers waxes lyrical on the subject: "Compared to my British students they are a joy to teach. They actually like to work, and they actually know the necessary maths, like calculus, already."

But there are big problems elsewhere mostly reflecting a fundamental difficulty: it is easier for universities to sell their courses than to deliver what the customers want. The most mundane example is day-to-day life. British universities assume that students are, to most intents and purposes, independent adults, able to make choices about both academic and private life. Accommodation is mostly self-catering. Social life revolves heavily around alcohol.

By contrast, arrangements in China are more paternalistic. Students either live at home or sleep six to a room. Take-away food is extremely cheap. Few know ho cook or do housework - especially if they are the pampered offspring of the child families encouraged by China’s population controllers. British habits such as pub-crawls and binge drinking are mystifying, even repellent, to them. As a result, coping with life in Britain often involves hanging out with other Chinese students - meaning that one big hoped-for benefit, exposure to an English-language environ­ment, is muted. Yvonne Turner, an aca­demic specialising in the Sino-British cul­tural gulf, sayssome Chinese students tell her that their English-language skills de­cline while in Britain.

This fits in with a second problem. Chi­nese university teaching is different to that in British higher education. Class discus­sion and questioning the teacher are rare and often discouraged. Exams are very im­portant; group-based activities and course-work hardly feature. Memorising and regurgitating texts matter a lot; use of other source material and critical thinking skills, especially at undergraduate level, are minimal.

Coupled with the often-hesitant spo­ken English of many Chinese students, that can create irritation in the classroom. British students often feel frustrated by their Chinese colleagues' silence. Academ­ics find it hard to know if they have got their points across. For their part, Chinese students are often scornful of discussions that they regard as little more than "play­ing". Coming from a highly competitive system themselves, they often find the British system of assessment overly fluffy and sympathetic. Another big difference is that Chinese university teachers abandon formality outside lessons and develop close ties with their students. In Britain it tends to be the other way round.

There is a scramble to solve these pro­blems before customers look elsewhere. Other countries are competing for the Chi­nese market too. One private outfit in Ger­many offers an English-language MBA spe­cially tailored to Chinese students. Australia and New Zealand are stepping up their efforts too.

British universities need to manage expectations better. The British Council, the government's cultural diplomacy out­fit, offers training to the agents who help Chinese families choose universities for their children. A website provides feed­back and advice from Chinese students al­ready in Britain. The better universities of­fer specially tailored induction courses for new Chinese arrivals - ranging from tips on shopping and public transport to thor­ough training in how to write essays and give presentations. That differs sharply from the boozy welcome given to local freshers. Chinese students' main priority for extra-curricular activity is not social life, points out a British Council specialist, but finding some workplace experience to go with their studies. Odd, or what?

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Дата добавления: 2014-12-24