Under the worldwide trend of internationalization of higher education, the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. has increased dramatically in the past ten years. In some American universities, such as a large research university in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. where this research was conducted, Chinese students are the largest segment among all the international students. Through the lens of poststructuralist conceptualization of identity (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2008; Hall, 1996), communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger,1998), investment (Norton Peirce, 1995) and imagined communities (Kanno & Norton, 2003), this research focused on Chinese undergraduate students' academic socialization experiences in the U.S., especially concerning their proficiency in English and academic knowledge, their interactions with professors, TAs and classmates, and their understandings of their identities over time. This study offered opportunities for Chinese undergraduate students' to have their voices heard and their stories shared. Through mixed qualitative methods with ethnographic characteristics, such as interviews and observations, the research interpreted experiences of six student participants, found differences and commonalities among them, and factors that influenced their experiences. By triangulating data from multiple sources and carefully analyzing data, this study has found that there are many differences among the six Chinese undergraduate students, and no major generalized behavior of Chinese undergraduate students could be identified. In some ways, Chinese undergraduate student participants in this study are not that different from their American peers, in the sense that there are discrepancies in students' frequency of visiting instructor's office hours and speaking up in class no matter where students are from. Factors such as students' personality and students' previous experience helped explain their behaviors. On the other hand, these Chinese international student participants showed some common tendencies and challenges caused by language and cultural differences, which distinguish them from American students. One should be cautious in viewing Chinese students as a homogeneous group or stereotyping their academic behaviors. Additionally, the researcher's reflections on the findings are presented along with suggestions to smooth the process of academic socialization for future Chinese undergraduate students. Suggestions were given by current Chinese international students, and their professors and TAs. Implications of the study for current and future Chinese international students, their instructors, as well as future researchers studying international students' learning are proposed. I propose that a joint effort should be made by international students themselves, their American peers, professors, TAs and university administrators to together ease international students' process of academic socialization.

Learning to Be Chinese American aims at exploring the complicated identity production process among Chinese immigrants in the United States in relation to the rapidly changing global and local contexts. Based on original ethnographic material collected in an upper-middle class Chinese American community, the author argues for the need to move beyond the framework of traditional nation-state boundaries in order to examine the identity production process of contemporary Chinese Americans. In doing so, we can better understand how this particular group, in response to changing economic and social conditions, actively takes part in the production of their unique ethnic identities through local institutions such as community-based organizations and ethnic education. This book expands the scope of existing literature on identity production among immigrants of color in both empirical and methodological terms.

"Understanding international students' academic socialization is important for both the students and Western higher educational institutions. Speaking activities, as part of academic socialization practices, are as important as writing tasks for international students. However, in the research field of international students' academic socialization, speaking activities have been neglected. In addition, studies that specifically focus on Chinese international students are limited. I conducted a qualitative case study to address the above research problems. This study was conducted in an undergraduate anthropology class, which included many types of speaking activities. Language socialization and identity negotiation theories were used as the theoretical framework in my study. I used participant observations, in-depth interviews, and document analysis as data collection methods, and I used grounded theory as the analytic framework to analyze data. The findings of this study deepen knowledge about Chinese international students' academic socialization experience in U.S. higher education in two perspectives: 1) by discussing the conflicts that the Chinese international students encountered in their academic socialization experience, this study has revealed the multifaceted identities that these Chinese international students negotiated, constructed and performed in their academic socialization experience; 2) through analyzing these students' participation and their thoughts during the speaking activities, this study found that the students' understanding of learning, and their understanding of the role of discussion were the major reason that impeded their participation in the speaking activities. Therefore, this study contributes to the research field of international students' academic socialization experience"--Page v.

While previous research has explored the academic adaptation or acculturation processes of Chinese students studying abroad, limited attention has been paid to students’ own perspectives and narrations of their experience. To contribute to a more nuanced understanding of this highly mobile group, this study takes a closer look at the students’ self-identity narratives. How do they make sense of their foreign adventure? How do they position themselves among their peers and their family members, as well as within the greater transnational context? Based on 29 in-depth, biographical interviews with Chinese students in the United States, the findings show the participants’ continuously interpreting and revising their individual, academic, and cultural identities. In the familial context, a recurring narrative of the high-potential only-child could be observed. Many students (and their family members) felt that their unique talents and personalities were not appreciated within the Chinese educational system and thus sought more holistic environments abroad.

Through in-depth interviews with 60 U.S. graduate students from mainland China, Cynthia Baiqing Zhang explores how identity and social networks influence each other and how identity shapes behavior. Zhang’s study concludes the sociocultural contexts in the host culture of the U.S. impacts religious identity acquisition and networks of social relation. Zhang further analyzes the ways in which the transfer from the racially/ethnically homogeneous China to the diverse United States and their time in the United States inform the students’ Chinese ethnic identity and networks, and how these factorsmaintain and transcend the divide between Chinese and non-Chinese communities. Finally, Zhang argues the juggling of multiple identities requires changes in identity meanings and corresponding behavior on the part of the students.

The Journal of International Students (JIS) is a quarterly publication on international education. JIS is an academic, interdisciplinary, and peer-reviewed publication (Print ISSN 2162-3104 & Online ISSN 2166-3750) indexed in major academic databases. The journal publishes scholarly peer-reviewed articles on international students in tertiary education, secondary education, and other educational settings that make significant contributions to research, policy, and practice in the internationalization of education worldwide. We encourage the submission of manuscripts from researchers and practitioners around the world from a myriad of academic fields and theoretical perspectives, including international education, comparative education, human geography, global studies, linguistics, psychology, sociology, communication, international business, economics, social work, cultural studies, and other related disciplines.

This book is about the learner side of the teaching and learning equilibrium, centering on the educational experiences and perspectives of Chinese students in the United States. These students ranged from kindergarteners, adolescents, undergraduate, graduate, to adult learners, across the educational spectrum. Because Chinese students are the largest cohort among all international students in the U.S., and their prior educational experiences and perspectives in China are so different from those in the U.S., exploring who they are, what their learning experiences have been, and how their learning needs can be better met, may not only allow U.S. educators to teach them more effectively, but also help the educational community in both countries better learn about and from each other. The chapters in the book examine the constructs of learner privilege and responsibility in the teaching and learning equation, cultural and linguistic challenges and transitional adjustments, self-concept, learning strategies, comparison and contrast of differences and similarities between Chinese and American students, and/or critical reflections on significant issues confronting Chinese learners. While each chapter is situated in its own research literature and connects with its own teaching and learning practices, all of them are united around the overarching themes of the book: the experiences and perspectives of diverse learners from Chinese backgrounds in the United States. The chapters also flesh out some of the larger theoretical/pedagogical issues between education in China and in the United States, provide useful lenses for rethinking about and better understanding their differences and similarities, as well as offer pertinent suggestions about how the educational community in both countries may benefit from learning about and from each other.