Description
Book SynopsisHigher education institutions in Anglophone countries often rely on standardized English language proficiency exams to assess the linguistic capabilities of their multilingual international students. However, there is often a mismatch between these scores and the initial experiences of international students in both academic and social contexts. Drawing on a digital ethnography of Chinese international students’ first semester languaging practices, this book examines their challenges, needs and successes on their initial languaging journeys in higher education. It analyzes how they use their rich multilingual and multi-modal communicative repertories to facilitate languaging across contexts, in order to suggest how university support systems might better serve the needs of multilingual international students.
Trade ReviewEmploying various ethnographic methods as well as conducting high-quality discourse analysis, Zhang-Wu offers important and indispensable ways to really engage and teach Chinese students from their own perspectives. For those of us interested in diverse languaging practices, educational equity for international students and progressive pedagogies for English language users from various linguistic backgrounds, this book is very necessary. * Vershawn Ashanti Young, University of Waterloo, Canada *
Through a vigorous study of Chinese undergraduate students' translingual lives in the United States, author Zhang-Wu debunks five assumptions held by administrators about these students’ academic preparedness. Her study helps raise critical issues of social justice for international students, contributing to discussions on monolingualism and racism in American higher education. * Xiaoye You, Pennsylvania State University, USA *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgement
Preface
Part 1
Chapter 1: Who, Why, and What about Chinese International Students
Chapter 2: Languaging across Borders: Linguistic Demands, Challenges and an Integrated Framework
Chapter 3: A Four-Month In-Depth Investigation: An Overview of Study Design
Part 2
Chapter 4: Chinese International Students are Not Chinese International Students
Chapter 5: First Semester Languaging Journeys of Three Regular High Students
Chapter 6: First Semester Languaging Journeys of Two American High Students
Chapter 7: Revisiting Within-Group Variabilities among Chinese International Students
Part 3
Chapter 8: An Overview of Myths and Realities
Chapter 9: Myth 1: TOEFL Results Accurately Predict International Students’ Ability to Function Linguistically on College Entry
Chapter 10: Myth 2: An English-Only Policy is Necessary in College Classrooms to Help International Students Improve Their Linguistic Functioning in English
Chapter 11: Myth 3: First-Year Writing Guarantees International Students’ Successful Writing Performances in Content-Area Courses
Chapter 12: Myth 4: English is Responsible for All the Challenges Facing Chinese International Students
Chapter 13: Myth 5: Chinese International Students are Well Supported in American Higher Education Linguistically and Academically
Chapter 14: Revisiting Myths and Realities
Appendix A
Appendix B
References
