Narratives of Chinese International Students’ Experiences in the UK: A Narrative Rhythmanalysis of Intercultural Waithood

Abstract

Abstract The study reported in this thesis explored the narrated experiences of four Masters-level Chinese international students regarding their academic sojourn in the UK. The study had a reflexive starting point - four aspects of the topic (namely: intercultural thinking; the potential importance of waiting; the rhythmic aspects of students' experiences; and narration for making sense of these experiences) arose in my reflections on my own similar UK academic sojourn experiences. The study can also be understood as a response to a call by Gu, Schweisfurth, and Day (2010: 19) for more research into international students’ interactions with their studying and living environments. The study was focused by the following two research questions: In their narratives, what rhythms are evident in the UK experiences of Chinese international students? What do their narratives suggest about intercultural waithood? The data was generated through narrative interviews conducted primarily in Chinese. A method of narrative rhythmanalysis was used to generate insights addressing the two research questions. The method involved a six-step analytical process to generate insights for the first research question, and a four-step process for addressing the second research question. Three types of student rhythms were identified: arrhythmias (e.g. interrupted plans), eurhythmias (e.g. fulfilled plans; good experience), and polyrhythmia (e.g. busy study rhythm – intensive experience; slow leisure rhythm - flexible experience). Students' interactions with their university time, places, and people, and how they experienced such interactions (e.g. listening, seeing, walking, imagining) were found. Time interactions (e.g. present & past; present & future), and near future, far future, and long-term future goals were identified in students’ narratives. From my study, an intercultural lens consisting of the concept of rhythm and intercultural waithood was developed for understanding students’ experiences in the UK. Future research could build on this work by focusing on the academic sojourn experiences of other groups of students.

Date of Award	18 Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Richard Fay (Main Supervisor), Zhuomin Huang (Co Supervisor) & Nahielly Palacios (Co Supervisor)