GENERAR CONCIENCIA

As they represent such a large proportion of the international student population, large volumes of studies have been conducted on Chinese students. It is critical for universities to understand the challenges facing this group of students and to assist them in coping with the demands of their host country. Research on the intercultural experiences of Chinese students focuses primarily on the social-cultural, psychological, and educational aspects. Besides having to deal with a new educational system, it has been observed that Chinese students share other experiences with international students from other countries, as mentioned in the sections above. For example, they are faced with a new social-cultural environment, culture shock, a language barrier, discrimination, homesickness, limited social support, all of which could potentially trigger psychological disorders (Mori, 2000; Ward et al., 2004; Hyu et al., 2007). It may be that all of these psychological symptoms, which are more intensely experienced by international students than by domestic students, are more prevalent among students from Asian regions. In addition to these issues, there are also some specifically “Chinese” factors that might be major contributors to the psychological pressure Chinese students are subjected to. Chinese traditional culture places

Chapter 3 68 great emphasis on academic success (Han et al., 2013). Due to the implementation of family planning policy in the 1970s, most students are from one-child families. Such a situation creates extra pressure for the one child growing up in a family with high expectations from their parents to achieve academic success. Such high expectation regarding their academic performance combined with strong family ties means that Chinese students studying overseas have difficulties establishing independence from their parents and family (Settles et al., 2012). Therefore, when faced with their host environment, Chinese students might face a greater struggle to live and study independently.

In addition to their learning and socio-cultural-psychological experiences, another related line of research into Chinese international students is their sense of identity. What is particularly relevant to this study is the sociological research on proselytisation – the conversion of Chinese students to Christianity by American Evangelical churches (Abel, 2006; Hall, 2006; Wang and Yang, 2006; Yang 1998; Yang and Tamney, 2006; Zhang, 2006). These researchers examined the religious experience and the high rate of conversion (about one in three) of Chinese students in the US. Various factors were found to account for this phenomenon of mass conversion including macro-, meso- and micro-level social factors (Abel 2006; Yang and Tamney 2006). Macro-social and cultural factors range from the religious void in China (lack of strong religious beliefs), to social problems in China (for instance, the dissatisfaction with materialism), to the value of certain Chinese cultural features that are believed to be consonant with Christian principles. Meso-contextual or organisational factors refer to ‘the religious organisational ecology’, i.e. local religious groups and institutions (Wang and Yang 2006, p.180). Micro-level social processes consist of ‘sociological interaction rituals’ (Li, 20120), including the favours and help offered by religious organisations. “Favour-fishing rituals” are examples of these (Abel 2006, p.176). This sociological framework explains the social processes implicated in the conversion of Chinese students to Evangelical Protestantism in the United States. With reference to the UK context, do Chinese international students share the similar religious experience as those in the US? Is their church participation in the UK an intercultural or religious encounter for Chinese students?

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3.5 Summary

The theoretical framework in this chapter provides the conceptual guidelines for the data analysis in the study. Interrelations among the concepts serve to theoretically interpret the process of church participation of Chinese students in their cross-cultural engagement. The study is situated in the broader field of cross-cultural encounters and interactions. The terms relating to the area of cross-cultural encounters have been expanded and analysed. From critical reviews of the various approaches to cross-cultural adaptation in the intercultural contact, this chapter presents the understanding of intercultural experience and the contact that international students’ process in the same way that other groups of sojourners do. The focus then shifts to the intercultural engagement of international students. The chapter also systematically reviews factors of both a personal nature (motivation and expectation, language, interpersonal and intergroup relations, intercultural knowledge, academic adjustment) and of an environmental nature (host acceptance and social support, host conformity pressure and ethnic group strength, student diversity) in relation to international students. These interrelated factors affect the students’ intercultural contact and adaptation. Intercultural engagement around the university is set up as the example for observing how these relevant factors work together as it is the most common kind of such encounters for international students. After intercultural interaction, the chapter presents different degrees of intercultural transformations in the aspects of personal identity and intercultural competency. Associated with conversion phenomena of Chinese students in the US, this study shifts the context from US to the UK and enquiries the church participation of Chinese student in the UK. The next chapter demonstrates the research methodology.

Overall, although superficially, the theories reviewed in both Chapter 2 and 3 are not in the same field, and separately belong to different framework. However, the whole process of encounter between Christian community and international students could be regarded as kind of mutual adaptation towards each other. Chapter 2 from the perspective of Christian churches examines the theories concentrated on the organizational development when

Chapter 3 70 meeting migrant people, and proposes the application of business model to explore the Christian interaction with Chinese international students to understand their adaptive transformation when faced with those students. Chapter 3 from the perspective of Chinese international students reviews the theories on the intercultural engagement in host context and constructs the conceptual framework to understand the adaptation process in students’ overseas experience. Therefore, theories in chapter 2 and 3 construct a coherent conceptual framework in terms of the overall design of research.