Chinese students have become the largest share of international students in many countries. Meanwhile, the number of transnational higher education (TNHE) programmes has reached a new high in China. This makes it exceptionally important for teachers whose own cultural and educational background are very different from Chinese to understand their learners. The study set out to better understand Chinese students in TNHE by studying a case of a Sino-Anglo cooperation university in China. The foreign teachers' and foreign students' views on Chinese students were collected and juxtaposed with Chinese students' own accounts. The qualitative study finds many commonly cited features of East Asian students evident in this research context. However, this study gains insights of these phenomena and strategies from the very experienced expatriate teachers, who demonstrated a good understanding of their Chinese students. The authors propose a new approach to teach Chinese students. This study is believed to be of reference to teaching in TNHE in vast contexts with students from Confucian heritage cultures (CHC).

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Keywords Assessment Use Argument, Chinese as a second language, HSK, large-scale proficiency test, test review

The late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China was a period of frequent cross-cultural communication among Japanese Chinese language learners who came to China. Through relevant literature research, it was found that the cross-cultural adaptation ability of Chinese and Chinese language learners who came to China in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China was generally higher. This paper aims to study the adaptation strategies of Chinese language learners in Late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China from the perspective of cross-cultural communication, and find out the influencing factors, so as to provide experience and help for current cross-cultural communication.

Grades are the dominant currency that enables student migration patterns; in particular, the recent upsurge of Chinese students studying and settling in Canada. Given the use of grades for student promotion, mobilization, and admission into educational programs internationally, there is an urgent need to understand the validity of grades across learning contexts. This study explored 35 Canadian and Chinese secondary school teachers' grading decisions and practices through nine focus groups. Following inductive analyses, findings indicated that teachers primarily valued fairness as an overarching driver of decision-making when generating and considering grades. Teachers' considerations of fairness centred around four emergent themes: (a) context and classroom management, (b) learning values: grades as academic enablers, (c) policy and external pressures, and (d) consequences of grade use. The overarching thread common among both Canadian and Chinese teachers was their reported challenge in maintaining fair grading practices.

With the increasing number of international students pursuing academic degrees at Chinese universities, it is essential to understand their experiences with academic Chinese language. Employing two focus group interviews with a total of eight students, this study was conducted at a university in Southwest China. The study found that the Chinese language preparatory programs aiming to prepare students for the Chinese language proficiency test (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, HSK) build a foundation for the continuous learning and use of academic Chinese language and equip students with necessary interpersonal communication skills to support their academic study. However, the language preparatory program mainly taught students language for social purposes, which was one of the key factors contributing to their significant linguistic challenges when they start academic studies. Despite all the efforts and strategies employed by students, some prominent gaps still existed between the students' current academic language proficiency and the desired proficiency in an academic context. Therefore, both the university and the instructors had to take measures to accommodate international students' linguistic challenges, particularly around assessment. Although encountering substantial linguistic difficulties when transitioning into academic study, students reported that their proficiency of academic language gradually developed through their experiences at the university. A Chinese for academic purposes approach with a focus on students' needs in the academic context is desired. Implications for the re-orientation of the focus and content of the Chinese language preparatory program and the language assessment with a practical focus on academic Chinese language were discussed.

The current trend towards globalization, immigration, and internationalization of schools and universities around the world has led to the increased use of grades across educational systems. Given the use of grades for student promotion, mobilization, and admission into educational programs internationally, there is an urgent need to understand how grades are constructed differently in diverse systems of education. This study specifically examines grading policies across two educational contexts – Canada and China – to gain a nuanced understanding of how grades are constructed in these two systems where we see a large fast increase of Chinese students studying at Canadian tertiary institutions. This comparative analysis of Ministry of Education documents within and across these two learning contexts indicates significant differences in policies that guide teacher constructed grades in Canada and China. In Canada, achievement is the primary consideration in the construction of classroom grades, whereas grades in China include considerations of both the learning (i.e., achievement) and the learner (i.e., learning skills and personal dispositions). The findings of the study have significant implications for understanding the validity of grade interpretations across educational systems.

The current trend towards globalization, immigration, and internationalization of schools and universities around the world has led to the increased use of grades across educational systems. Given the use of grades for student promotion, mobilization, and admission into educational programs internationally, there is an urgent need to understand the validity of grades––the alignment of grading policies, practices, values, and consequences––within and across learning contexts. This study specifically investigates the learning value embedded within grading policies across two educational contexts – Canada and China. This analysis of Ministry of Education documents within and acros s the two learning contexts provides unique insights into grading policies from four provinces in Canada and central grading policies in China. This comparative analysis indicates significant differences in policies guiding teacher constructed grades in the two learning contexts. In Canada, achievement is the primary consideration in the construction of classroom grades, whereas grades in China include considerations of both learning and the learner. The findings of the study have implications for understanding the validity of grade interpretations of student achievement across educational systems.

The present study investigated the key determinants of Chinese students’ academic success in terms of GPA and the number of credit hours earned in Korean Universities. The determinants investigated included gender, age, prior academic performance, academic self-efficacy, the TOPIK score, self-perceived Korean and English proficiency, and the previous length of Korean and English study. This study specifically focused on three research questions concerning the prediction of Chinese students’ academic success in Korean universities, the additional contribution of Korean and English language proficiency, and the examination of prediction patterns for undergraduate and graduate students. A questionnaire was issued and collected from 138 undergraduate and 63 graduate Chinese students studying in 27 different Korean universities. The questionnaire consisted of four sections: demographic information, academic background, language proficiency and psychological factors. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to address the proposed research questions. The findings demonstrated that traditional factors, including gender and prior academic performance, were effective predictors of academic success. However, academic self-efficacy did not play an influential role in participants’ academic success. Language proficiency had a moderate effect on Chinese students’ academic success, which is consistent with previous studies that reported a positive statistically significant relationship between language proficiency and academic success. The different natures of undergraduate and graduate studies determined that the predictors of undergraduate and graduate students’ academic success were different. The present study addressed the research gap by integrating theoretical constructs from both psychology and language education, and also by exploring the relationships between language proficiency and academic success in a less researched test, TOPIK, and in two second languages, Korean and English, at the same time. The findings of this study contribute to the overall understanding of international students’ academic success, in particular the success of Chinese students studying in Korean universities.

This study investigated the key determinants of Chinese students’ academic success indicated by their first semester GPA and credit hours earned in Korean universities. The determinants include demographics, prior achievement, academic self-efficacy, and Korean and English language proficiency. Questionnaires were issued and collected from 138 undergraduate and 63 graduate Chinese students studying in 27 different Korean universities. The findings of this study suggest that the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) has a significant small to medium predictive effect on academic success and serves well as an admission requirement, especially for graduate students. The findings also highlight that both Korean and English proficiency influence on academic success in this particular context. The relationship of language proficiency and academic success is complicated, and this study contributes to the field by exploring this relationship in a less researched test, TOPIK and by investigating two languages at the same time. This study also contributes to the overall understanding of international university students’ academic success, in particular the success of Chinese students.