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The Impact of Language Barrier & Cultural Differences

Fort Hays State University Xue (Bruce) Zanglong, Serhiy Zhykin LDRS600 Sem/Org Ldsh Dr. Brent Goertzen December 10, 2013

Abstract Issue of language barriers is a problem that many international students who come to United States in pursuit of higher education often run in to. This paper focuses on Chinese undergraduate and graduate students who study at Fort Hays State University. The primary focus of our research study was about language barriers that limits Chinese students from fully engaging in conversations with university professors. After conducting the interviews and documenting the transcript we have found three common themes that effect the Chinese students; they were language, culture difference, and social experience. Language was the primary issue that caused limitations for Chinese students to engage with professors and students at FHSU. However, we also found out that cultural difference contributed to the limitations why Chinese students are not very engaging in the classroom. Introduction This research paper provides information about language and cultural barriers, and the limitations that Chinese students devour because of those language barriers. Such limitations prevent students from actively engaging in classroom discussions, asking and answering

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questions in class, approaching professors for additional help and getting involved in group projects. Apart from academic restrictions that students acquire, cultural barriers tend to impacts the social life on campus. Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is in partnership with several Universities from China; today FHSU is home to more than 300 graduate and undergraduate Chinese students. This is a very important topic that needs to be addressed in order to help our Chinese student overcome both language and cultural barriers that limits their full experience here at FHSU. Literature Review Chinese international students There are many different factors that create difficulties for Chinese students to be able to speak English. This issue is particularly important at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is a problem that restricts a student to fully apply him or herself to the course and get involved in classroom discussions; the limitations of English language that many Chinese students are experiencing also create a language barrier between the student and a professor. Numerous research studies have been done to help us understand what factors are creating the verbal language problems for Chinese students. According to Wenli Yuan, and his study on cultural and academic challenges of Chinese students, Chinese participants identified oral English and class discussion as their major challenges at school (Yuan, 2011, p. 141). Also Yan and Berliner, authors of Chinese International Students' Academic Stressors in the United States, focused on examining why academic life in the United States was so stressful for the Chinese students. What they found in their research is that Chinese students are very motivated to study in order to receive excellent grades from their professors, but because most of them lack English proficiency

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they are often unable to communicate with professors (Yan, & Berliner, 2009). We will look at different studies that have showed that Chinese international students are often overwhelmed and frustrated with unfamiliar culture, new teaching styles and different educational system that they are not accustomed to. The goal of this literature review is to find the key factors that have heavy impact on the language barrier that Chinese students are having when studying in American universities. Learning shock Much time has been spent by scholars to understand the difference in culture of Chinese students. By having a better understanding of the culture change, we can help students to better cope with transition. However, it is also very important to recognize the unfamiliar learning styles that they are not used to. Dorothy S. Griffiths and her collogues refer to this experience as learning shock, experiences of acute frustration, confusion and anxiety experienced by some students. These students nd themselves exposed to unfamiliar learning and teaching methods, bombarded by unexpected and disorienting cues and subjected to ambiguous and conicting expectations (Griffiths, Winstanley, & Gabriel, 2005, p. 276). Victor Wang and Lesley Farmer the authors of Adult Teaching Methods in China and Blooms Taxonomy, argued that adult teaching methods in China feature a teacher-centered, information-based and test-driven instructional format (Wang & Farmer, 2008, p. 1). Chinese students find American classrooms to be very challenging because most professors try to implement multiple learning styles within the course. While the test scores amaze American professors, Chinese adult students lack of communication skills, especially in speaking and writing worries their professors (Wang & Farmer, 2008, p. 2). Most Chinese students have hard time engaging in group projects, class

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discussions and presentations. These unfamiliar teaching techniques, transform to the learning shock that Dorothy S. Griffiths and her collogues are referring to. This involves a variety of emotions, both positive and negative, and requires emotional literacy, management and learning. Some cope better than others. For some, it amounts to a tortuous experience where they struggle to adjust and to learn (Griffiths, Winstanley, & Gabriel, 2005, p.292). Issues that handicap effective interactions For undergraduate and graduate Chinese students, the new learning methods that they are adapting involve much more than sitting in the classroom; as Stephanie Zimmermann describes it, students also need to adjust to a socio-cultural system which is different from their own (Zimmermann, 1995, p. 322). Zimmermann also argued that those Chinese students that are academically successful are highly dependent on interaction with their native instructors. Because communication is such an important factor for Chinese students, language barrier prevents the students from reaching their full academic potential here in the United States. According to Yan and Berliner (2009), four problems were identified by our respondents as factors handicapping their effective interactions with American faculty. The first one is language insufficiency, which is one of the main barriers that stands between the professors and Chinese students. However, many students are able to overcome this problem with enough time. Second one is lack of initiative and autonomy; this aspect keeps students from opening up to the professor and the class. Chinese students will not engage with the professor unless they are directly spoken to. The third barrier is verbal passiveness. Students have difficulty formulating the sentences in the dialect, which makes it difficult to understand the main idea of what the students is trying to explain. The last issue that students are experiencing is indirect mode of

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communication, which is conveyed not by the words, but by the actions such as silence, or long pauses and uncertainty in their voice (Yan, Berliner, 2009). Such factors limit Chinese students to consistently participate in classroom discussions. This ultimately carries frustration on many American instructors. Because of language insufficiency and poor verbal skills, teaching strategies that normally work well with native speakers, seem ineffective with Chinese students (Shu-Fang, 1996; Wan, 2001). Because language barrier has created such a major issue between Chinese international students and instructors, Huang (2006), created a study that focused on evaluating listening challenges of undergraduate and graduate Chinese students who are studying in the United States. He found interesting correlation why Chinese students score so high on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), yet still they are experiencing difficulty in the classroom. Large number of Chinese international students had a high reading and writing ability, which allows them to score high on the reading and writing sections of the exam. The problem that most Chinese students face is the verbal and listening aptitude. Most students are not confident enough in their pronunciation, which limits their performance in the classroom. Psychological stress Wenli Yuan, in his journal article talks about cultural experiences of Chinese students at American Universities and mentioned a study that was done by Wang Chia-Chih and Mallinckrodt Brent. This study hypothesized Chinese students who avoid cultural connection, will more likely to experience psychological stress, anxiety and homesickness. The results of the study suggested that attachment anxiety was negatively associated with students' acculturation to U.S. culture, and that attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, and acculturation to U.S.

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culture were significant predictors for students' psychosocial adjustment (Wang, Mallinckrodt 2006, p. 422). These dimensions such as attachment avoidance, deals with defensive denial to engage in social contact with those who are from a different culture. Attachment anxiety refers to separation from culture and the feeling of being home, and acculturation deals with cultural and psychological change. (Wang, Mallinckrodt 2006). As the consequence of this study, we can say that for Chinese students who have a desire to be successful undergraduate or graduate student, it is essential to be willing to adapt to the American culture. Identification of important issues As we can see from the previous research, students are avoiding cultural connection, having issues with language insufficiency, unfamiliar teaching styles and not familiar with different educational system. We believe that it is the combination of all these factors that is creating difficulties for international Chinese students. It could be difficult, but it is very important to understand how culture shock as well as learning shock are complementary to one another. As we began to have a better understanding of all the different factors that are causing issues for Chinese international students, we would be able to find a better method to help them overcome those issues. Methods Section Participants In our research study about the language barriers of Chinese students at Fort Hays State University, Xue (Bruce) Zanglong and I had ten participants. We conducted four face-to-face semi structured interview interviews, and one focus group interview. During our face-to-face

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interviews, each participant was interviewed separately. All through for our focus group interview we interviewed six participants simultaneously. All of the participants were Chinese students that are currently enrolled in the fall 2013 academic year at Fort Hays State University. The pool of our participants consisted of six male and four female students. We had a mixture of six graduate students and four undergraduate students. Four of the ten participants were living on campus while the other four were commuters. Students that live on campus were randomly selected through the office of international student services. Students that live off campus are close companions of Bruce that live near his apartment. It was a good idea to take the advantage of close relationship that Bruce had with the students. Students did not feel any since of intimidation from the very start, which helped them to share many interesting personal stories with us. The age of all participants ranged from eighteen to twenty five. Materials The primary focus of our research study is about language barriers that limits Chinese students from fully engaging in conversations with university professors. The negative effects this has on their academic and social experience at Fort Hays State University. It was important for the purpose of this research to create a comfortable environment for the participant during our interview. We want our participants to feel comfortable expressing their opinions and sharing their stories (Esterberg, 2002). We used qualitative research method that gave us the ability to conduct a semi-structured interview that consisted of open-ended questions. For the purpose of our study, it was best to have in-depth interview, this allowed us to explore certain topics in detail. Depending on the answer that participant provided, we had the flexibility to adjust the next question or ask additional questions such as why or how.

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Other data collection types besides face-to-face interviews and focus group interview were considered to use to collect the data from our research. Such data collection types were observations, surveys and questionnaires. However, we came to conclusion that they pose too many limitations and do not give us the freedom to have an open interaction with the participant and engage in deep, meaningful discussions (Esterberg, 2002). Observations data collection can be intrusive on the participants and could discourage them from providing historical information. Surveys and questionnaires will limit us to probe responses; they also allow very little flexibility to change the question or ask additional questions in order to grasp the entire story of the participant (Creswell, 2012). All type of data collection has its limitations and its advantages. The reason why we chose face-to face and focus group interview is because it has the least amount of limitations. We feel it is important to engage in a deep discussion with our participant and be able to deviate from the question, and this method will allow us to do so. The data was documented with a recording device and additional notes were taken during the individual interviews, and also during the focus group interview; I was the one conducting face-to-face interviews and playing the role of a traffic policeman during the focus group interview. Bruce was in charge of recording the participants and also taking additional notes in order to capture every aspect of what participants were communicating. It was important that we stayed flexible with our questions because one major advantage that we had during our interviews is controlling the line of questions. We were not limited to close-ended questions, so we were able to exploit the full advantage our interviews (Creswell, 2012). Procedure

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After we select ten international Chinese students, we made the first contact with the participant through the email. We provided them with descriptive information about our study, and why it is important to Fort Hays State University. In addition to that we asked students if they were willing to help us with our research, by taking part in the interview process. We listed available dates for conducting the interviews and asked them to email us back with the time slot and the day that best works for them (for a copy of the first email please refer to Appendix A). The six participants that took part in the focused group interview were the first students that responded. We had to send additional eight emails on top of the original ten that we sent, in order to fulfill our four face-to-face interviews. The process from our initial contact with the students, and until our last interview was four weeks long. After we conducted all of the interviews, we sent our second and our final email. The purpose of this contact was to express our gratitude and say thank you for their participation (see Appendix B). The interviews were held in two different locations. The face-to-face interviews were held in one of the reserved rooms in the library, and focus group interview was held in Bruces apartment. During face-to-face interview, the only people who were be present in the room are the student who was the participant, Bruce who took notes during the interview and I had the role of a mediator. At the beginning of each interview, I read interview protocol and Bruce interpreted when translation was needed. After that we started our interview with a few simple questions that made participant feel more comfortable, after which we jumped into more relevant questions about our research (see Appendix C). It is important to remember that our questions changed in order to further explore participants story. Results Section

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Language After conducting the interviews and documenting the transcript we have found three common themes that effect the Chinese students; language, culture difference, and social experience. All of the participants indicated that language barrier was the most challenging factor to overcome. Language barrier effected all Chinese students both their academics and social experience. Many of them do not feel comfortable speaking English in the classroom because they are not confident in their pronunciation. Some of them even mentioned if they have Chinese friends in class that they will not attempt to speak English, even if they dont understand what professors is lecturing about. They much rather get help from their friends later sometime after class. If I have some Chinese students, I will speak Chinese more. If not, I will try speak English, but I will not do much communication with my American classmates and professor. When I have some problems and need to ask them for help. I will ask my friends later. I dont know why, maybe because I am introverted character and poor English skills. I do not have much confidence in my communication. Poor communication skills creates the feeling of intimidation when they are involved in direct conversation with professors or classmates, classroom discussion, and especially having to give class presentations in front of class. Cultural Difference Cultural difference was the second most challenging factor to overcome, and the most sudden factor to overcome. Chinese students stated that in China they have different learning system. In China we have a communist government and since little children we are told to obey our parents and our teachers because they are our leaders. We do not question our professor and do not speak unless we are told by the professor that we can speak. Many of them are not used

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to engaging in the class discussions and ask their professors questions about different topics they learn from the lectures. Having majority of professors at FHSU implementing different learning styles into their teaching that engages students to have conversations with professor, intimidated many Chinese students. Social Experience Social experience was the third common theme that was mentioned by majority of Chinese students. Majority of Chinese student at FHSU experience the feeling of loneliness. Most Chinese students do not have many friends outside the Chinese circle of friends. They do not get involved in any student activities that are on campus. When we asked why this was the reason, a student replied: I am have poor English skills. I did not have much confidence to do a communication. And I have been involved in some university activities with Chinese students only. Once again this ties back to the major barrier for Chinese students which is communication; that is the biggest barrier that stands in the way of not only getting engaged in a conversation with the professor, but also from talking to students with other cultural background. Visions for the future As we found out from our ten participants there are three major barriers that effects them academically and socially. Language barrier was the toughest barrier that every participant has mentioned. A few students recommended that FHSU should implement a language standard exam to the partner schools in China. Students who wish to come to FHSU and study here, must meet a certain requirement that is higher significantly higher than the standard they have now. Many Chinese students feel unprepared when they sit in the classrooms here at Fort Hays. One component that was mentioned during the interview, was English as a Second Language (ESL)

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program. Students feel that ESL was a tremendous help in the area of grammar and writing. However, as we discussed earlier and learned from our literature review, oral communication is the main barrier that Chinese students tend to struggle. Second problem that students encounter was cultural differences. Two meaningful suggestions were directed towards academic improvement and one suggestion was targeted towards the social side. Students realize that improving their communication with classmates and professors is essential part of the education system here at FHSU. Because of the cultural difference, new Chinese students do not feel comfortable answering and asking questions in class. However, students suggested that if professor directly calls on the student to take part in the discussion they will feel the obligation to do so. A big reason why most Chinese students do not ask or answer questions in class is because most professors at FHSU provide them with a choice, by asking the entire class. Because of their lack of communication skills, they rather let other students be involved in the conversation. Another characteristic deals with culture. In China students often do not speak without the permission from their instructor. As one of the participants explained during the interview we do not question our professor and do not speak unless we are told by the professor that we can speak. Only when student is called upon by the professor may they answer or ask the question. Final main issue that we identified was social experience. Students suggested that Chinese teaching assistants that can act as a mentor to guide and help students understand and adapt the studying style here at FHSU would be a great first stem to begin the adaptation to the new social environment. This support should be provided in the early stages, possibly during the

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orientation, before students begin their classes. This could be a good way to introduce the students to the new, different social environment that they are used to. Discussion Parallel Findings The results that we found after conducting our research study seem to parallel with some of the finding that originated from the previous studies that were mentioned in our literature review. For example Wenli Yuan has found in his study on cultural and academic challenges of Chinese students that Chinese participants consider class discussion as their major challenges at school (Yuan, 2011, p. 141). Our main theme was language barrier, more specifically oral communication. Students struggle with classroom presentation and group discussions. Unfamiliar learning style was covered in our cultural difference theme. That explained why students are not used to the teaching styles that are implemented at FHSU. Dorothy S. Griffiths and her collogues refer to this experience as learning shock. What are we going to do with the results? All our finding are not anything new in particular, language barrier, culture difference, and new social experience that Chinese students have to deal with have been learned by many scholars. Conversely, we have confirmed that our Chinese students at Fort Hays State University effected by these limitations. What we chose to do now in order to help our international students to overcome some of these barriers is the next step. Language barrier is by far the main source of what is limiting the students from becoming more engaging students. This issue has to be addressed more by the students themselves if they are serious about overcoming that barrier.

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They must practice speaking English as much as possible, surround themselves with as many English speaking friends as possible. Only when they are willing to overcome the problem themselves, will they be see real results. However, some of these issues like cultural shock and adaptation to the new environment we can help with the transition. Of course this will take time and it is also heavily dependent on the students themselves, but establishing programs like iPal, where international students get partnered up with domestic students where they will attend various university event together, and have the opportunity to meet more domestic students and experience different culture is something we can do. This program is something International Student Services is working on and is hopping to implement it spring semester of 2014. Limitation and Future Studies One of our key limitations that we had in the study was low number of participants. With only ten participants our results may not be the same if we had a larger amount of participants. Also personal stories was a great advantage for our study, however for a future study we recommend to implement mix method research design; having personal stories and statistical analysis will be the most accurate and complete method of getting good results.

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Reference List Creswell, W. (2012). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approach. (4th ed., pp. 183-192). Los Angeles: Sage. Esterberg, G. (2002). Qualitative methods in social research. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 87-110. Retrieved from https://blackboard.fhsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2147002-dt-contentrid-10961222_1/courses/LDRS600_F2013/Esterberg 2002 Interviews.pdf Griffiths, D. S., Winstanley, D., & Gabriel, Y. (2005). Learning shock: The trauma of return to formal learning. Management Learning, 36, 275-297. Huang, J. (2006). English abilities for academic listening: How confident are Chinese students? College Student Journal, 40(1), 218-226. Huang, Y. (2012). Transitioning challenges faced by Chinese graduate students. Challenges in Transitioning to American Classrooms, 143. Shu-Fang. (1996, April). Learning multiculturalism from the experience of international students: The experience of international students in a teacher training program. Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers Annual meeting of the Ameri. Wang, Chia-Chih DC & Mallinckrodt, Brent. (2006). Acculturation, attachment, and psychological adjustment of Chinese/Taiwanese international students. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(4), 422-433. Wang, V., & Farmer, L. (2008). Adult teaching methods in China and blooms taxonomy. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 1. Yuan, W. (2011). Academic and cultural experiences of Chinese students at an American university: A qualitative study. Intercultural Communication Studies, 1, 141-148. Yan, K., & Berliner, D. C. (2009). Chinese international students' academic stressors in the United States. College Student Journal, 43(4), 939-960. Zimmermann, Stephanie. (1995). Perceptions of intercultural communication competence and international student adaptation to an American campus. Communication Education, 44(4), 321-333.

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Appendix A: First Contact December 10, 2013 Dear [Participant], You have been identified as a key person to be a participant for a voluntary interview that is being conducted as part of the graduate degree requirement in the leadership department. The primary focus of our research study is about language barriers that limits Chinese students from fully engaging in conversations with university professors and how these limitations effect their academic and social experience at Fort Hays State University. The interview will be conducted between you the participant and two mediators Serhiy Zhykin and Xue (Bruce) Zanglong, both are graduate students who are majoring in Organizational Leadership. This interview is completely voluntary. You are free to leave the interview at any time if the questions and conversations make you feel uncomfortable. Your answers will be used to enhance the quality of academic and social involvement for the future Chinese students at Fort Hays State University. The interview is confidential and your replies will not be individually documented and will not be revealed. The interview data will be destroyed at the end of the research project. The interview should not take longer than 45 minutes. Available time for the interview: Monday 4:30pm-8:00pm Tuesday 10:00am-1:00pm Wednesday 4:30pm-8:00pm Thursday 9:00am-1:00am; 5:00pm-8:00pm Friday 4:30pm-8:00pm Saturday ANY TIME Sunday ANY TIME

Please confirm that you agree to be interviewed by both Serhiy Zhykin and Xue (Bruce) Zanglong who are conducting this research project, and respond back with the convenient time slot for you to be interviewed.

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If you have any further questions regarding this research project, please do not hesitate to contact Serhiy Zhykin or Xue (Bruce) Zanglong, graduate students in MLS Organizational Leadership. You may also contact Dr. Brent J. Goertzen, professor for the LDRS 600: Seminar: Research Methods class. Contact information: Serhiy Zhykin Email: svzhykin@mail.fhsu.edu Phone: 512-629-7722 Xue (Bruce) Zanglong Dr. Brent Goertzen:

Email: lyfdmxzl@gmail.com Email:bgoertze@fhsu.edu Phone: 785-787-2039

Thank you, we are looking forward hearing from you soon.

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Appendix B: Second Contact December 10, 2013 Dear [Participant], We would like to thank you for your participation in the interview process that tremendously helped our research. You have provided us with analysis that will help Fort Hays State University (FHSU) have a better understanding of how we can accommodate Chinese students that are having language barrier problems in the classroom. We also want to provide the post possible social experience to our Chinese international students. With this knowledge we hope that the social and academic involvement will improve the future for Chinese students at FHSU. Thank you for your participation!

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Appendix C: Interview Questions General Questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. Your gender: F__ M__ Graduate__

Classification: Undergraduate__

How long have you been at FHSU? Where do you live? On- campus__ Off-campus__

Language Aspects: 6. What is your favorite way of practicing English (watching TV, reading, speaking to people, writing stories)? What is the most difficult characteristics in English (speaking, reading or comprehension)? Why do you think it is? Not counting the time when you are in the classroom, which language do you speak more Chinese or English? Why? In your dorm room which language you speak the most? What influences that? What did you find most difficult to adapt to at Fort Hays State University (American culture, education)? Why? Have you ever been involved in any university activities (intramural sports, student life)? If not, why not? How is the teaching style in China different from what you have experienced at FHSU? Do you find it hard at times to understand your professor when he/she is lecturing? What ideas would you suggest, that could increase the level of understanding in the classroom? Have you ever taken any online classes? If yes, do you find it that virtual classes have less of language barrier? What do you think Fort Hays State University can do different to help you understand English better?

7.

8.

9. 10.

11.

12. 13.

14.

14.

Closing Activity (to be read by moderator):

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I would like to express my appreciation for your willingness and collaboration to participate in this important research. The purpose of this research study is about language barriers that limits Chinese students from fully engaging in conversations with university professors and how these limitations effect their academic and social experience at Fort Hays State University. If you feel that this research was unfair towards you, please feel free to contact Dr. Brent J. Goertzen, professor for the LDRS 600: Seminar: Research Methods class. If you have any questions regarding this research project, please do not hesitate to contact Serhiy Zhykin or Xue (Bruce) Zanglong, graduate students in MLS Organizational Leadership. You may also contact Dr. Brent J. Goertzen, professor for the LDRS 600: Seminar: Research Methods class. Serhiy Zhykin: svzhykin@mail.fhsu.edu Xue Zanglong (Bruce): lyfdmxzl@gmail.com Dr. Brent Goertzen: bgoertze@fhsu.edu

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Appendix D: Interview Transcript

MODERATOR: Before we begin asking you questions, I want to thank you all very much for taking time out of your day and help us conduct this focus group interview. The interview should take about 45 minutes to an hour. I will ask you questions, and I am hoping that we all can have an open conversation with each other. If at any time, the questions or the situation makes you uncomfortable you can withdraw from the group any time. Because there are six of you, lets respect one another and make sure that we speak one at a time and I will make sure that everyone is heard and gets to express themselves. I encourage you all to not only provide an answer, but also to tell stories about different experiences that you all may had. Do you guys have any questions? FEMALE STUDENT: No. MODERATOR: Okay, one more thing that I have to read to all of you guys before I begin with my questions. This interview is being conducted as part of the research for graduate degree requirement. I would like to express my appreciation for your willingness and collaboration to participate in this important activity. The purpose of this interview is to find out what are the language barriers that of Chinese students have and how they limit their academic potential and social interactions with domestic students. This interview is completely voluntary. You are free to leave the interview at any time if the questions and conversations make you feel uncomfortable. Your answers will be used to enhance the quality of academic and social involvement for the future Chinese students at Fort Hays State University. The interview is confidential and your replies will not be individually documented and will not be revealed. The interview data will be destroyed at the end of the research project. If you have any questions regarding this research project, please do not hesitate to contact Serhiy Zhykin or Xue (Bruce) Zanglong, graduate students in MLS Organizational Leadership. You may also contact Dr. Brent J. Goertzen, professor for the LDRS 600: Seminar: Research Methods class. Okay. Lets begin guys. What is your favorite way to practice English? It can be something like watching TV, reading books, speaking to people, writing stories.

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MALE STUDENT #1: Watching TV, I can do it at any time, and this way can make me relax. MODERATOR: When I came in I saw all of you guys playing video games and speaking English; does that help you guys understand English better? MALE STUDENT #1: We don't speak too much we, listen more. MALE STUDENT #2: Well it helps me to learn the slang that a lot of Americans use. MODERATOR: So not the kind of language that you would here professor use in the classroom? MALE STUDENT #2: Yes, very different. It is just for game and we can talk like that with our American friends. MODERATOR: What is the most difficult thing about English language for you guys? Is it speaking, reading or comprehension? MALE STUDENT #1: Speaking and comprehension. MODERATOR: Why? MALE STUDENT #1: Because when I could not understand, I would not speak. And the most difficult about English to me, I think is vocabulary. I only know simple words so its hard for us to understand everything when we listen to professor or our American friends. MODERATOR: Do you practice expanding your vocabulary, maybe by reading more books or trying to speak more with American students? MALE STUDENT #1: No, not too much. I just read the books that our professors tell us to read. MALE STUDENT #3: There are so many Chinese students here on campus that we can speak Chinese to each other and dont really have to speak very much English. MALE STUDENT #1: But I try to speak English more now than before. I used to have American roommate with me so I speak English with him a lot. MODERATOR: So when do you speak English now? MALE STUDENT #3: In the classroom, but if I have some Chinese students, I will speak Chinese more. If not, I will try speak English, but I will not do much communication with my American classmates and professor. When I have some problems and need to ask them for help. I will ask my friends later. I dont know why, maybe because I am

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introverted character and poor English skills. I do not have much confidence in my communication. MODERATOR: What if the courses here were thought in Chinese would you answer and ask questions, or would you still hesitate to speak up? MALE STUDENT #3: In China we have some classes with performance point. We have to answer questions, because we have to improve our performance point in the class. So we here was like in China we would answer questions to get maximum points. MODERATOR: So what if professor provided you guys with an incentive to ask questions and get involved in class discussions would you be willing to speak up? MALE STUDENT #4: What kind of incentive? MODERATOR: Like if they would give you extra points that could help your grade, would you get involved more? MALE STUDENT #4: Yes of course! MALE STUDENTS #3: Yea, Yea. MODERATOR: So if professors would give you guys extra point on the exam if you ask get involved in class, you guys would not care anymore about being shy, you would ask questions? FEMALE STUDENT #1: No, I would not care. I will ask questions and try to answer questions. MALE STUDENT #5: Chinese students will not care about being wrong, we would talk and ask questions to get extra point. MALE STUDENT #3: In University in China we do not ask questions to professor. We just listen and make sure we study hard for the exam. MODERATOR: So in China, does the professors ever ask you questions? Or maybe ask you to share something with the whole class? MALE STUDENT #3: Not much. In university we do not talk with the professor much in class, but in high school we sometimes have classes where teacher asks us questions and we have to answer and if you dont answer you will get low grade. So we must study and have to be ready to answer questions. MODERATOR: So the style of teaching in High School in China is similar to FHSU?

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MALE STUDENT #3: A little. Only some classes, but very different from our university. MODERATOR: Which system do you prefer, listen professor lecturing or get involved in the class discussions and ask questions? MALE STUDENT #3: Listen and leave. Because my English is not so good. MALE STUDENT#5: I like to listen to professor speak and than we leave. It is how we learn in China so its easy for us, we are used to listen to professor talk, than we study and take exam. FEMALE STUDENT #1: I like to list to the professor and take notes, but sometimes they talk fast and I cannot take notes so fast. MODERATOR: Do you ask your professors to slow down? FEMALE STUDENT#1: I dont want to stop him. Maybe I can ask my friend after class and write down what professor said. MODERATOR #1: In China we cannot ask our professor to stop and repeat. We have to listen and maybe ask our friend if we didn't not understand something. So we try to do the same thing here at Fort Hays. MODERATOR: Okay, well thats really interesting. What about online classes, have any of you ever taken any online classes? MALE STUDENT #5: No. MALE STUDENT #1: Yes. MODERATOR: Do you find it that virtual classes have less of language barrier? MALE STUDENT #1: When I take that, I will feel better, because all of teaching use written language, and I can use dictionary and network to help me understanding the knowledge. So it help me. I like it better. MODERATOR: So you guys do not have problems with reading and writing, its the speaking that is hard for you? MALE STUDENT #1: Yes, we dont like speaking much because we afraid to make mistakes. MALE STUDENT #3: Online classes are more work, but its not difficult because we have time to use dictionary and understand everything.

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FEMALE STUDENT #1: We need more time to be able to understand everything. In class professors talk too fast it is hard to follow every word. MODERATOR: Do you find it hard at times to understand your professor when he or she is lecturing? MALE STUDENT #3: Yes, sometime the professor like just speaking with us, and did not have PowerPoint or some other Multimedia Computer Assisted Instruction. We cannot understand when the professor speak very fast. And if we have more literal interpretation like Power Point that can help us to understand. Many professors in my class do it and I like that. MODERATOR: So why dont you guys ask the professors to slow down? FEMALE STUDENT #1: Because we dont want to stop him. MODERATOR: So you do not feel comfortable stopping him just because you dont understand something? FEMALE STUDENT #1: Yes, because there are many other students and I dont want them to stop just for me. MODERATOR: Do you ever come up to your professors and ask questions after class? MALE STUDENT #5: No, we ask each other after class. MALE STUDENT #3: Sometimes I do, but usually we I just ask my friend and they can help me or sometimes I help them. MODERATOR: Does your professors let you know that you are more than welcome to ask them questions during and after class? MALE STUDENT #1: Yes, everyone is nice and we know that, but we dont want because poor English skills. MODERATOR: Okay, well lets talk a little more about your experience at Fort Hays State University outside academics. Have you ever been involved in any university activities like intramural sports or student life activities? MALE STUDENT #1: No, I did not. The same reason, because I am have poor English skills. I did not have much confidence to do a communication. And I have been involved in some university activities with Chinese students only. MALE STUDENT #2: I play basketball a lot with Chinese students in the Cunningham Hall.

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MALE STUDENT #4: I play basketball too. MALE STUDENT #5: I go swimming with my friends. MODERATOR: American friends or Chinese friends? MALE STUDENT #5: Chinese friends. MODERATOR: I play soccer every Tuesday and Thursday in the Cunningham Hall, we have a few Chinese students who play with us. If you guys ever want to join us you are more than welcome to. At the same time you will get to make some new friends. We have a lot of American students and also students from Saudi Arabia. Their English has improved just by spending time with American students and talking to us in English. MALE STUDENT #3: I go to the GYM and workout. Last semester I go there every day, but this semester I havent been. MODERATOR: But you guys need to find friends that do not speak Chinese so that you can practice your English. MALE STUDENT #3: I have some, but I usually prefer to be with Chinese students. MODERATOR: You dont speak English when you with your Chinese friends do you? MALE STUDENT #3: No, we speak Chinese 99%. MODERATOR: See when I came to America I didnt speak English at all, I found it to be very helpful to be around people that spoke only English and that helped me learn English faster. But I guess in your case it is a little different because you have so many Chinese students, you are not forced to speak only English. MALE STUDENT #4: Where are you from? MODERATOR: Ukraine. MALE STUDENT #4: Yes, I know Ukraine and there is not many people from Ukraine here. Maybe if we didnt have so many Chinese students we would learn English faster. MODERATOR: Well how do you find Hays, do you guys like it here? MALE STUDENT #1: It is very boring. MALE STUDENT #3: I like big city. MALE STUDENT#5: We love shopping. I wish we had big mall!

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MODERATOR: But being a small city also can be a good thing right? You have less destructions and can focus more on your studies. MALE STUDENTS #4: Yes we can study more, but this is also why we dont go out anywhere. It is too boring and not much to do. MODERATOR: Do you guys get a lot of homework from your professors? MALE STUDENTS #3: No, not too much. FEMALE STUDENTS #1: We have more homework in China, and homework is not very hard. MODERATOR? So I just have one more question for you guys. What can Fort Hays State University do to help you overcome the language barrier in the classroom? MALE STUDENT #1: I think, professors at Fort Hays State University can directly call on the student to answer questions. Many of us are still do not feel comfortable speaking without permission from the professor. In China we have a communist government you know, and since little children we are told to obey our parents and our teachers because they are our leaders. We do not question our professor and do not speak unless we are told by the professor that we can speak. So if professor tell me in class answer my question, of course I will try my best to answer it. MALE STUDENT #3: We also dont like to ask questions in class because other students will laugh and make fun of you if you say something that is wrong. So here, it is different for us to ask questions because we are not used to asking question without being told to do it. MODERATOR: But you know that here the students will not make fun of you if you answer question wrong, right? MALE STUDENT #3: Yes, yes I know, but this is just the culture that we are used to. You know many times in China people make fun of you if you answer question wrong. But here everyone is nice, students and professors both want to help us. Sometimes I have students who are not too nice, but most times everyone help us. FEMALE STUDENT #1: Also the longer we are here, the easier it is for us. Sometimes I can answer questions in class. Because my English is better, I think it is easier for me to speak and for everyone to understand. MODERATOR: When you first got to Fort Hays you did speak as much in the classroom?

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FEMALE STUDENT #1: Yes, I dont speak too much. Not many people can understand me because my English is not so good. MODERATOR: Well I think your English is great! FEMALE STUDENTS #1: Thank you. MODERATOR: Does anyone want to add anything? MALE STUDENT #1: Thank you for coming. MALE STUDENT #3: Thank you. MODERATOR: No, thank you guys! Thank you! Thank you so much for helping Bruce and I with our research. Thank you. MALE STUDENT #4: Youre welcome. MODERATOR: If you guys want to see the final paper please contact me or Bruce and we will be happy to share our paper with you. FEMALE STUDENT #1: Thank you, thank you. MALE STUDENT #3: Thank you so much. MODERATOR: Well I think I am finished with all the questions, you guys have been a great help. MALE STUDENT #5: No. Thank you. MALE STUDENT #2: No. Thank you very much. MODERATOR: Thank you guys. Okay well on that note we will conclude our interview. Once again just as a reminder if you have any questions regarding this research project, please do not hesitate to contact me or Bruce. FEMALE STUDENT #1: Thank you. MODERATOR: Thank you guys, have a good day.