Academic Adaptation of Chinese Postgraduate Students in Malaysia
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a notable rise in the number of Chinese applicants seeking admission to Malaysian tertiary education institutions, particularly for postgraduate programmes. This trend can be attributed to the favorable policies implemented by the Malaysian government. For Chinese students themselves, the prior task of studying abroad is to achieve their educational goals, which is challenging for them studying in an unfamiliar educational context. This study aims to explore Chinese postgraduate students’ academic adaptation in Malaysian research-oriented universities where they provide qualified postgraduate programmes. Using a qualitative method, the study conducted semi-structured interviews to collect data from 15 Chinese postgraduate students studying in 5 Malaysian public universities. Thematic analysis approach was adopted to analyze data. The findings of the study unveiled the various factors affecting Chinese postgraduate students’ academic adaption throughout their postgraduate tenure, encompassing such as language ability, supervisor-supervisee relationship, and pedagogic differences, academic support and emotional support. Besides, the study also exposed the strategies that Chinese postgraduate students employed to embrace the challenges. Implication of the findings can help Chinese postgraduate students in the development of effective strategies and programs to facilitate their academic adaptation in Malaysia. Additionally, these findings can offer recommendations to higher education institutions on how to collaborate effectively with Chinese students.
Key words: Academic adaptation, Chinese postgraduate students, Malaysian universities, challenges, strategies.
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