Students with high expectations were also looking forward to being absorbed into Western culture. They wished to have more social contact with the locals. One UKCOSA survey (2004) reported similar findings. Interviewees shared their ideas based on their personal experience but the most common expectation was in relation to the culture and exploration in their new life. One student, whose undergraduate degree was in English literature, said that to study overseas in the UK was her dream. Having imagined what an English-speaking country would be like, she was excited to experience a new life in the UK and see the culture up close rather than from textbooks. The following example of a student who was on an exchange programme clearly shows his hopes and excitement about experiencing a different life:
I have high expectations of life here, a different life. I didn’t know what kind of life would be here, I was just expecting something different. I like experiencing difference…I hope to improve my oral English. I also hope to study hard (Qing, Chinese student).
What he observed demonstrated his curiosity about and enthusiasm for the new environment, which later motivated him to become actively involved in local life. Although some students mentioned having some concerns about life before they came to the UK, such as the language barrier (Yu and Downing, 2012; Lowinger et al., 2014), they were still looking forward to the new experience. The culture and new life in the host country were great attractions.
Furthermore, problems with the language barrier and academic anxiety could perhaps be alleviated through intercultural engagements within the university, which would provide students with opportunities to communicate and learn in the intercultural context (Dunne, 2013; Guo, Li and Ito, 2014). Moreover, as the student population of universities in the UK is believed to be highly diverse (Schweisfurth and Gu, 2009), there should be a great deal of contact between the different cultures there. According to Schweisfurth and Gu (Ibid.),
Chapter 5 115 as youth culture is not broadly representative of the wider culture, students may have been isolated from an intercultural environment in the broader society outside the university. It is on the university campus where most students live and study.
However, expectations are just expectations. Understandings about the university environment also need to be updated. The multicultural environment has changed for the increasing number of Chinese students abroad. According to the newest HESA statistics (2017), China is the only country showing significant increases in international student numbers in the 2015-2016 academic year in the UK. The number of Chinese students far exceeds any other nationality at 91,215. What is worth noting is that, if we combine the data from HESA (2014) and FEFCE (2014), in the 2012-2013 academic year, we find that 52% of Master’s students studying on business and administration courses were from China (FEFCE，2014). When we consider the overwhelming number of Chinese students at the university, we should ask to what extent contact between different cultural groups is actually taking place there. According to the respondents in the sample, there were a very large number of Chinese students in the School of Business, particularly. Such a situation creates disappointment for Chinese international students who had looked forward to an international learning environment in the UK. Two respondents complained that, although they knew there would be many Chinese students, especially in the Business School, they never expected there would be so many around them. One respondent even showed her regret in choosing the particular university and noted that:
I never expected there to be so many Chinese students here, if I had known, I think I would not have chosen this university. I heard that at the University of Manchester, they control the rate of students from different countries (Mao, Chinese student).
An international education theoretically should have a diversified or multicultural environment with a lot of students from different cultures (Yusupova et al., 2015). The main point here is how far they really construct an intercultural environment to facilitate the intercultural interaction, whether intellectually or functionally. For political and economic reasons, the UK, at both national and regional levels, shows a high level of
Chapter 5 116 interest in maintaining educational links with China (Fakunle et al., 2016). There is no doubt that universities want to recruit international students. This is a highly profitable market in the international educational market. Universities are at least superficially internationalising or multicultural (Schweisfurth and Gu, 2009). However, the reality in the study was that the campus had become a UK environment in which there were large numbers of Chinese students. Half of the respondents felt that it was difficult to meet non-Chinese students in the schools where Chinese students constitute the majority. According to one student respondent, there were 30 students in his class but only two students were not from China. She compared the situation to the English lectures in a Chinese university with Chinese students seated around her. In one lecture in the Business School, Zhou (a Chinese student) found that the only non-Chinese students were seated at the back of a classroom, while the others, hundreds of Chinese students, sat together. Those non-Chinese students, to some extent, seemed to be isolated as the minority in the classroom.
The overwhelming number of Chinese students in some popular subject areas led to the reduced opportunities for cross-cultural communication. One student explained how there were so many Chinese students around him (in the School of Business) that they were ‘practising’ Mandarin instead of English most of the time, since it was not necessary to speak English with other Chinese students. Chinese students could have practised English with other Chinese students; however, one respondent implied that it was not necessary to speak English in the absence of any non-Chinese people. This was odd but reasonable to some extent. Furthermore, another respondent pointed out that he did not have many chances to talk in English in class due to the form of the lecture. In contrast with classes in Chinese universities, in the UK lecture, students had almost no oral interaction with lecturers. Thus, there were few opportunities to communicate with lecturers unless students made an appointment with them in office hours. Free discussion was supposed to take place in the tutorials and workshops, where students were encouraged to talk with classmates in English. However, because of the large number of Chinese students, Chinese groups continued to dominate in the tutorials or workshops in some subject areas.
Chapter 5 117 This phenomenon of “Chinese Schools” in the UK universities is becoming increasingly evident, as Chinese international student numbers have increased rapidly in recent years. According to HESA data from 2015, Chinese student numbers of the first degree in the UK universities exceeded the total student number from all EU countries combined (excluding the UK) in the academic year 2013-2014. The lack of meaningful contact that international students have with domestic students continues to be an area of concern among international educators (Brandenburg and de Wit, 20011). A social context needs to be established that enables domestic students and international students to explore intercultural relationships (Neuliep, 2014, p. 247). The supposed opportunities that campus life offers Chinese students for making contact with the host country are to some extent constrained due to the Chinese students’ overwhelming numbers, which, in turn, further affects their interaction with their new environment.
It not only deprives them of the opportunity to communicate in English, but also limits the potential for students to make friends with non-Chinese students. Most respondents in the study implied that they did not have any close non-Chinese friends. One student in the sample used the expression ‘hi-bye friend’ when he described those non-Chinese students in his class. Asian international students from a typically collective culture have found it more difficult to make friends with locals compared with their European counterparts (Mori, 2000; Yeh and Inose, 2003; Rienties et al., 2014), and the overwhelming number of Chinese students around makes it even harder for them to establish friendships with local people or other international counterparts.
Isolation from the host environment also results in limited access to the information and knowledge required to ‘increase the intercultural communicator’s understanding of other and self in order to facilitate making accurate predictions and attributions’ (Wiseman, 2002). Cultural knowledge assists the efficacy and appreciation of communication relevant to the intercultural situation, cultural norms, and participation in the intercultural conversation. Although the majority of respondents confirmed that they had, more or less, been prepared for cultural differences, these gaps still shocked them and remained an issue
Chapter 5 118 in their daily life. For those Chinese students who saw the cultural differences but did not have enough knowledge to understand or predict them, it decreased their appreciation of the host culture.
With limited cross-cultural communication and interaction, some Chinese students attempted to establish contact beyond the university, such as in bars and cafés. However, some attempts ended in disappointment. One student talked about such an experience.
Even in cafés or in bars, I seldom communicate with local people. There are not many people who are willing to talk with me like a friend, I think. Most of them are just strangers (Huo, Chinese student).
Huo’s experience was not an isolated example. Several other students shared similar feelings. Most respondents admitted that their social life was less diverse than it had been in China because of the shortage of social activities. The pubs, bars, or clubs are the usual places for local people to spend their free time. This is a different way of living that requires a change in lifestyle for most of the Chinese students. One respondent observed that the lifestyle differed a lot and that it was boring to live in the UK, as he did not like to go to pubs or parties. Three respondents reported that they did not have any social activities, and just stayed at home after class. Other students described their daily life as boring because university and home were the only places they ever went.
Students felt that opportunities to experience the host country life were limited
.
Within this environment, either by conscious and positive choice or because of discomfort with other forms of interaction, some international students ended up socialising and living with people from their own country or with similar cultural backgrounds, limiting the extent of their contact with other groups (Schweisfurth and Gu, 2009). Although there were a good number of services to indirectly involve Chinese students in international life, it seemed they did not make good use of them.Chapter 5 119