1. Works Cited
Darcy Holdorf, “NOT HERE OR THERE, Chinese students at Ohio University just try to be themselves”. (2011). Web.
2. Main Ideas of the Article:
In this article, Holdorf strives to emphasize the fact that the mass influx of Chinese students inevitably leads to them being separated from the rest of the student groups due to lack of school support, which in this case, Ohio University. According to the article, “From 2004 to 2010, the number of Chinese undergraduates in Ohio University surged from 17 to 603. Today, 81 percent of international students enrolled at the university hail from China. Such high enrollment rate for Chinese students in a sense obliterates the significance for them to study abroad and creates more obstacles during the cultural transtition process. On the one hand, since dorms are filled with Chinese students, the possibility of making friends with their American peers are substantially restricted.Also, Chinese students speak mandarin all the time when they hand out with each other which prevents them from developing language proficiency. “In Scott Quad, a student residence hall nicknamed “Chinatown”, 180 of the 218 residents are Chinese students. Swarms of Chinese students have even made themselves start to complain about too many people of their own race and too little chance to speak English or hang out with Americans”. It is like that Chinese students are forced to be differentiated from their American peers since they seem to have insufficient resources in order to successfully adapt into American culture. The photos above portraits Chinese students’ daily lives in Ohio University that it is as if that they are still in China. Since English is a second language to international students from China, they are required to finish the ESL Program before pursuing their major. After school, Chinese students hang out together at their dorms by cooking noodles and playing mahjong, and we would assume that these activities further prevent them from successfully transiting into a different cultural environment.
3. Quotes:
1. “Most Chinese students come from big cities and have a hard time adapting themselves to life in American small towns. “The previous picture of America in my mind is (composed of) big cities like New York and Los Angeles. But after I arrived in Ohio, I find it is totally different.” After the class is over, Popo, in cheetah print leggings and patent leather pumps, leaves the classroom. She says that she loves to dress differently than others”.
2. “By its very nature, Chinese communities on American campuses are in the gray area between China and the United States. In class is a bunch of English speaking and listening training and U.S. Culture 101. After class, it is the close-knit circle of Chinese friends where no English can be heard. Many Chinese students lose touch with the U.S. campus culture immediately after their arrival”.
3. “Vicki Seefeldt West was hired as the Senior Assistant Director for International Recruitment at Ohio University. West helped form relationships with partner agencies in China that advertise, recruit and help students with the application process. Since OU began working with agencies, enrollment of international students from China has increased by 70%. West believes that the agency model is mutually beneficial, easing the application process for students while upping the universities international enrollment. "Some regard these agencies as these evil, unethical entities whereas in a lot of cases they really are providing services for the families," says West. "Yes, you'll find some agencies that are unethical but you'll find that in any business model and that's why we have to be careful and diligent in working with them””.
4. “Juggling language courses and life on their own in a strange nation, most Chinese students naturally huddle together for help even before they start to explore the exotic culture”.
4. Conlcusion:
The aggressive recruitment of Chinese students in Ohio University is not a single case but many public universities in the United States use the same tactic. International students who are not proficient in English writing and speaking are normally required to graduate from ESL Programs first before pursuing their major, which may be a substantial obstacle for them. The situation somewhat predicts alleged cheating because there are many of whom, such as Andy Liu find it extremely difficult to resolve language difficulties and therefore sometimes utilize “shortcuts” in order to get through it. The cheating may even start from the college application process because there are many Chinese students who use agencies that help them embellish their personal statements and sometimes ghostwriting for them. Consequently, both the integrity of the entire admission process and the reputation of Chinese student are at risk.
Nevertheless, American public universities seem to devote more effort in the recruiting process as compare to the help that they provide after international students arrive on campus. The fact that Chinese students are restricted to their own ethnic group in Ohio University is not merely due to the fact that the Chinese culture values collectivism, but also because American colleges do not provide sufficient resources for them to reach out to their American peers. Besides the mass amount of tuition that international students paid to American public universities each year, many of them perceive that they are still at their homecountry where students study and hang out with each other who share the same race and ethnicity.
Thus, international students’ college experience can rarely ensure them having a successful cultural adapation process and it is reasonable to assume that that is the primary reason for the increasing amount of alleged cheating cases in various fields. It is therefore worth exploring whether international students’ receive sufficient school support both academically and socially aftering entering American colleges, and whether their subject experience predicts cheating beahavior and to what extent.
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