Westminster Institute of Education 1 The East Asian Learner BALEAP PIM University of Winchester 25 th Feb 2006 Paul Wickens

2 Westminster Institute of Education Contexts Contexts for the PIM and a look at models of Context In the news Feb 2006 International Students in UK HE Report on Chinese Learners in UK HE The East Asian Learner – avoiding essentialism Further thoughts on Context

3 Westminster Institute of Education Complacent staff could lose foreign enrolments Tysome T THES 10 th Feb p8 Survey of 18,000 International students (educational consultants) Most were happy ……. Fifth of formal complaints from Int. Sts – tenth of St population Students may not express dissatisfaction through expected channels Misunderstandings between academics and students at heart of problem Calls for systematic staff training to improve awareness and understanding I am staggered by the lack of empathy of some academic staff. The fear for many of them is that it will take up more of their time Carroll J. OBU When it comes to staff training, it has to be recognised this is another call on academics time. AUT president

4 Westminster Institute of Education Meeting the needs of Chinese students in British Higher Education Edwards and Ran (2006) If Chinese students are to achieve their full potential, they need to be viewed as an asset – and not a liability. Pastoral issues Adjustment problems Buddy schemes, Associations of Chinese students Perceived isolation of Chinese students Living arrangements … Kitchens Health Communication, differences of approach, access

5 Westminster Institute of Education Academic issues: Student-teacher relationships Students.. perception of lecturers as too busy and uncaring is widespread VS Tutors: Contact outside classroom and office hours seen as demanding. Study skills Mismatch of learning strategies, difference not deficit Plagiarism Understanding, transitional phase, explicit instruction and modelling Group work Expectations, Aims, Dynamics, L1 Competence in English Recognition of additional hurdle vs. need to maintain standards Adaptation of assessment procedures Role of Editors

6 Westminster Institute of Education The East Asian Learner … Avoiding essentialism? GAO, X. (2005) A Tale of Two Mainland Chinese English Learners. Asian EFL Journal Note the way the following 2 articles are cited in the above article: HOLLIDAY, A. (1999) Small Cultures. Applied Linguistics, LAYDER, D (1993) New strategies in social research Holiday (1999): Large CultureEthnic, national (essentialist, othering, culturist, reified) Small Cultures family, office, hospital (non-essentialist) Is this a workable/useful model of context?

7 Westminster Institute of Education Social Domains (Carter and Sealey 2000 p 6)

8 Westminster Institute of Education (Carter and Sealey 2000 p6)

9 Westminster Institute of Education People act within this stratified social world, whose complex mediation of what they do results in social action having all kinds of unintended consequences – and generating further emergent features and properties – which in turn help to shape the social environment for subsequent actors. (Carter and Sealey 2000 p16)

10 Westminster Institute of Education Research considerations 1.Which domains are salient to the particular research question 2.How the other domains exert conditioning influences on them 3.How in pursuit of their interests, social actors encounter and negotiate these conditioning influences, enablements and constraints and.. 4.How these encounters and negotiations generate emergent phenomena which influence the social environment encountered by subsequent actors and agents.(Carter and Sealey 2000 p16)

11 Westminster Institute of Education References CARTER, B. & SEALEY, A. (2000) Language Structure and Agency: What can Realist Theory Offer to Sociolinguistics. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4, DOOLEY, K. (2003) Reconceptualising Equity: Pedagogy for Chinese Students in Australian Schools. The Australian Educational Researcher, 30, EDWARDS, V. and A. RAN (2006). Meeting the needs of Chinese students in British Higher Education, University of Reading. last accessed 21/02/06 GAO, X. (2005) A Tale of Two Mainland Chinese English Learners. Asian EFL Journal, 7, 2. last accessed 21/02/06 HOLLIDAY, A. (1999) Small Cultures. Applied Linguistics, 20 (2) TYSOME, T. (2006) Complacent Staff could lose foreign enrolments. THES. 10 th Feb p8