A narrative inquiry of cross-cultural lives: Lives in Canada

Intercultural teaching and learning strategies for global citizens: a Chinese EFL perspective

“…When learning engages students in the growth of their identity and raises such self-awareness, it is understood to represent meaningful learning (Bruner, 1996). Coming from a Chinese background, Shen (1989), He (2002) and Zhao (2009) have reported on their own experiences of transformation as they engaged in the rules and cultural assumptions of English composition. They documented their intercultural learning resulted in reconciling their collectivized Chinese identity characterised as "we" with an individualized English identity characterized with "I".…”

“…This means that Chinese students wishing to engage and empathize within an English (and generally Western) cultural context need to think and learn in a different way. This requires both an individual and cultural paradigm shift to achieve intercultural competence in the cross-cultural learning context, a move away from thinking of themselves as part of a collective identity and "voice", and transformation towards uniquely thinking of themselves dissimilarly as individual persons in their new found writing "voice" (Shen 1989;Gale 1994;He 2002;Wu 2006;Zhao 2009). Developing and authoring in a unique personal voice enables the Chinese EFL student to cross cultural boundaries and produce a more authentic piece of written work in English.…”

Searching for ‘a third space’: a creative pathway towards international PhD students’ academic acculturation

“…This existing dichotomy helps explain the reasoning behind the challenges related to linguistic and cultural adjustment and also for the reported sense of isolation, strangeness, loneliness, 'foreignness' and alienation customarily experienced by international students (Fischbacher-Smith et al, 2015;Fotovatian, 2012;He, 2002;Sakurai, Pyhältö, & Lindblom-Ylänne, 2012;Smith & Khawaja, 2011;Walsh, 2010). As a case in point, Sawir and her colleagues (2008, p. 148) undertook a major study of international student security and reported different facets of loneliness: personal, social and cultural.…”

Capturing visual metaphors and tales: innovative or elusive?

“…Owing to the study's retrospective focus, the third facet of the research entails employing a reflective approach that captures participants' educational experiences, specifically those that made a significant and lasting impression; this means endeavouring to understand the underlying meaning of such experiences. Fourthly, exploring the nature of academic acculturation (acquisition of appropriate learning behaviour in a new culture) is inherently complex, as it requires simultaneous appreciation of participants' academic enculturation (learning behaviour obtained from the first culture) (He 2002). Fifthly, recognising that our research participants are professionally trained to become reflective academic researchers (Cotterall 2013), the study presents an ideal opportunity to seek young academics' views on the use of visual metaphors.…”