The Academic Stress for Interaction between Chinese Studentsand American Teachers

【Abstract】Factors are analyzed concerning academic stress of Chinese international students from the aspect of Chinese student-American teacher interaction. There are four factors indicated by respondents which handicap their interaction with teacher efficiently， including language shortage， lack of academic initiative and self-managing target， unwilling to express and implicitness in the mode of communication. The academic stress results from different Sino-US cultural patterns and modes of education. Based on the findings， recommendations are made on English teaching and how to cultivate students in studying abroad. Also， students should gradually accept deep-structure social cultural transition， and adapt themselves to academic culture in American colleges. Only in such a way can students establish a good rapport with teachers and thus relieve their stress.

【Key words】Academic stress；Student-teacher interaction；Chinese international students

It’s reported that Chinese students studying in America amount to 19.4029， almost 1/4 of the international students according to \"2011-2012 Academic Year for International Students Report\" released by U.S. Council of Graduate Schools.

Chinese students are facing great challenges in the American education system. It is particularly difficult for them to adapt to American college life owing to the huge differences in terms of language， culture， social structure and political consciousness between China and America， among which cross-cultural issues are defined as the most distinctive. Do Chinese students feel anxiety and have academic stress? And in which aspects and reasons? The paper aims to help them with American culture and adapt to colleges life， and help American teachers fully understand them as well so as to enable them to study with ease in America.

1.Research method

The study conducts an open questionnaire to know the complicated stress factors confronted by Chinese students concerning their academic life in American college. 12 Chinese international students participate in the study， all of whom come from an American college in South-America. They are postgraduates with majors ranging from Business School， Finance， Accounting， Psychology， Economics and Public management Department. Their ages range from 24 to 32， and have been in America for more than 2 years. The questionnaire covers their perception of academic stress including student-teacher interaction stress， stress of accomplishment and language barriers， among which student-teacher interaction stress is the main focus. The questionnaire has a total of 12 questions.

2.Research findings

The study focuses on the aspect of student-teacher interaction. KFour factors affect student-teacher-interaction and consequently result in their academic stress， including language shortage， lack of academic initiative and self-managing target， reluctance in verbal expression and implicitness in the mode of communication.

2.1 Language shortage

The study indicates Chinese students’ language shortage affects their communication with American teachers. They can hardly establish a harmonious relationship owing to insufficient interaction. A student majored in Accounting said: “I’m very nervous whenever I talk with my teacher. On the one hand， I don’t know what to talk about and can not make a joke humorously， and it is difficult for me to understand teacher’s slang and confused sometimes on the other hand.”

Some respondents say that their research capacity has been limited because of poor writing ability. They can hardly write research paper of high-quality. A student majored in Psychology recalled: “Poor English affects my academic performance， and the teacher even suggests me quit my study. He could hardly understand my opinion in the paper， let alone appreciate it.”

All in all， English shortage makes it difficult for American teachers to understand Chinese students’ opinions， and Chinese students don’t know how to communicate with their teachers thoroughly.

2.2 Teacher’s guidance and self-directed learning

Chinese students are short of academic initiative and self-managing target during their study. The respondents say that the most challenging thing is the cultivation of academic initiative and self-managing target. Having been used to strict and complete Chinese-style guidance and regulation from seniors， students have great trouble in adapting to American-style self-management development in academic life. A student majored in Economics said: “ I feel I know everything since it is regulated clearly from primary school to university and strictly managed by schools and teachers in China. But I don’t know exactly what to do and how to achieve the goal gradually. The teacher hopes things like academic prospect depends on us. ” So sometimes I have neither academic goal nor orientation， let alone how to manage my time efficiently.

American education is extremely different from Chinese education. Chinese education emphasizes accumulation and inoculation， and pay attention to cultivate students' respect for knowledge and authority. In contrast， American education focuses on students’ practical ability of application of knowledge， and development and creation of knowledge via the way of questioning authority and critical spirit. In the American education system， teachers do not advocate offering students external guidance， but encouraging them to study independently and self-guided. Emphasizing self-learning and self-management inevitably leads to estrangement in teacher-student relationship. Chinese students usually hope their teachers to make a learning plan and time arrangement which they can follow suit. They feel teachers should concern their academic performance and figure out problems swiftly and settle them promptly. The problem occurs when Chinese students accustomed to Chinese traditional teacher-student relationship confront American-style college culture and teacher-student interaction. Chinese students get used to relying on teachers to decide their own research subject and academic prospect， which is apparently different from teachers’ ideas.

American education pays more attention to raise student's self-confidence， independence， spirit of supporting oneself. Students say they are used to relying on teachers rather than themselves. Most respondents depend on teacher’s “authority-style interpretation”， which makes it difficult for them to adapt to American teacher’s teaching style and independent learning. A student majored in Finance said that American university educational philosophy advocates students should learn independently and thus enhance their learning ability.

2.3 Keep silence and passive interaction

Most respondents said it was their customary silence or language passivity that affected their relationship with teachers. For instance， seldom participated in class activities， hardly proposed questions and rarely interacted with teachers.

Adapting to American-style class discussion is very challenging. On the one hand， they are unfamiliar with interactive class discussion style; on the other hand， they have been accustomed to Chinese-style class teaching which prefers no frequent and casual questioning during the class. A typical Chinese student majored in Accounting said: “I usually keep silence during the class， but I wonder why humility appreciated by Chinese teachers is regarded as an indication of incompetence by American teachers.

Chinese students’ behavior mode of silence in the classroom and reluctance to participate in the class activity is contrary to expectations of American teachers. In the American’s open and interactive teaching mode， Chinese students’ customary silence seems rather alternative， especially when they realize they are isolated or margined in the class discussion. It will possibly affects their class participation score.

American teachers regard keeping silence in the class discussion as lack of initiative and passion. In America， questioning is an essential part for a good lesson since students can understand the contents well through questions. Chinese students seldom propose questions and interact with teachers， which indicates their lack of learning motivation and inability in thinking. Chinese students feel great pressure when their behavior is contrary to American teacher’s expectation. The negative impression on the teacher absolutely affects their final score.

2.4 The mode of Chinese-style implicitness and American-style explicitness

The majority of respondents tend to interact with their teachers implicitly and indirectly. Following the traditional Chinese-style communication， students tend to communicate with teachers using ambiguous language and a lot of implication. They seldom require， refuse or criticize their teacher directly. However， this hinders their relationship with teacher. Our customary implicitness is regarded as inferiority in language or dishonesty. A student majored in Public Management shared her experience. A research project was assigned to her which requires advance statistic techniques she hasn’t learned before. Finally she told the teacher the truth， which annoyed the teacher. “Whenever you have any problem， tell me directly. Otherwise， both of us waste our time”， the teacher said.

Due to Chinese students’ implicitness， cross-cultural interaction occasionally comes to a failure. A student majored in Economics said: “On the one hand， American teacher allocates research project without elaborate interpretation or supervision. On the other hand， most students seldom resort to the teacher when confronted with problems. The conflict between the two different interactive styles consequently results in Chinese students’ academic stress.

3.Conclusion

The study shows that unsuccessful student-teacher interaction is the most important factor leading to Chinese students’ academic stress. Specifically， the study indicates four stress factors affecting Chinese-student and American-student interaction， including language shortage， lack of academic initiative and self-managing target， passiveness in verbal expression and implicitness in the mode of communication.

Chinese students’ academic stress is the result of collision between two kinds of cultural and education mode. Language shortage reflects disadvantage of Chinese traditional English teaching. Therefore， our English teaching should transfer examination-oriented education to the practical， professional education.

In addition， Chinese students being short of self-management and self-guidance in their academic study， and passiveness in verbal expression indicate the demerit of Chinese education in terms of talents development.

It is extremely necessary for the Chinese education to solve the problem how to develop more initiative， more innovative and independent talents， and how to make them more competitive in the discourse of international education background.

Finally， Chinese students should consciously make the deep-structure social cultural transition， and take a more active， more decisive， and more independent stance to deal with challenges. Only in such a way can Chinese students fully adapt to academic life in American universities， better interact with American teacher， and eventually relieve their academic stress in America college life owing to different cultures.

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