Learners’ privilege and responsibility: A critical examination of the experiences and perspectives of learners from Chinese backgrounds in the United States

Abstract

According to the Institute of International Education (2013), Chinese students from K-12 to higher education account for approximately 25% of all international students in the United States. As a result, it is imperative that educators show concern and support for them, as they are shaped by the culture of their home country and challenged by the culture of their adopted country. While researchers have explored how to help socialize English language learners into the American education system either for learning or teaching purposes (e.g., Harklau, 2003; Reinhardt & Zander, 2011), few have focused on Chinese students in the United States. Ma and Wang’s (2014) Learners’ Privilege and Responsibility, which includes contributions from several international scholars, fills this gap by presenting a wide scope of research topics on Chinese students from K-12 to higher education. This book aims to reveal “the complexity of this group of students and the challenges they face as a whole” (p. xiii), while at the same time suggesting how their academic and social challenges in the United States can be addressed by taking into account their prior educational and social experiences in China.