A Narrative Inquiry on Chinese International Students in the Tertiary Education Learning Space: A Case Study in South Korea

Chinese International Students (CIS) are increasingly a driving force in the massification of global higher education. In the South Korean higher education context, CISs are increasingly making up a larger proportion of students at prominent universities. However, CISs are over-generalised in how institutions view their learning needs. This study considers how CISs view their learning experiences in a South Korean higher education context by addressing the following questions: From the narratives of Chinese international students, what enables or prohibits learning taking place within learning spaces? What are the views of Chinese students about the impact of these spaces upon their learning experiences? Are views of in/accessibility to learning spaces differentiated by major domain (HASS/STEM)? This study used a qualitative approach, using a cloud journaling method. Eleven CISs completed online journals across a six-month period, describing their experiences with learning itself and with learning spaces. These journals were live documents, allowing questions to evolve based on participant responses and interactions with the researcher. The findings were then categorised into themes, which then allowed for a Bourdieusian lens to be applied to understand the power relations and barriers to learning spaces from the perspective of CISs. The findings revealed a variation in learning styles between CISs that prevents over-generalised institutional responses to their learning needs. Institutional approaches to accommodating CISs therefore cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all all approach, and integrating CISs into the learning community is essential for allowing them to succeed in learning in international education contexts.