Identity Construction In Transnational Education:Identity Negotiation Of Chinese Students In Australia

Australia is the third most popular destination for Chinese international students,the number of whom exceeds that of other countries.Literature on this particular international student group mainly focuses on the process of their adaptation.Studies dedicated to the process of their identity construction are rather limited.This study explores how Chinese international students construct their identities during the sojourning period in Australia.Seventeen students from the University of Melbourne(Unimelb),the University of New South Wales(UNSW),the University of Sydney(USYD),and Western Sydney University(WSU)3 were interviewed and shared their experiences and reflections on this subject,which were discussed within the framework of intercultural identity negotiation theory developed by Stella Ting-Toomey.Five patterns of identity negotiation emerged.First,participants increase identity security by building close connections with culturally familiar others,based on which they venture into interactions with culturally unfamiliar others to open up more possibilities of new identities.Second,a balance between group inclusion and differentiation is struck to reduce the feeling of isolation but also maintain proper individual identity autonomy in the meanwhile.Third,measures such as interpreting unpleasant experiences as accidents and exerting self-discipline are taken to gain a sense of control in an unfamiliar culture.Fourth,a sense of belonging with culturally unfamiliar others is secured by establishing meaningful intercultural interpersonal connections.Last,participants either abandon old self-perceptions or let new self-perceptions coexist with the old ones,to better make sense of what is going on around them.By focusing on Chinese international students in Australia,this study adds to the diversity of intercultural identity studies as well as increasing people’s knowledge of this particular group,which hopefully may help take down some bias held towards it.It also points out some directions towards which future studies in this field may further pursue.