US President Barack Obama said the US would send 100,000 students to China in four years during his first visit to China last year. But over the past half year, there has been no news how and when Obama will realize this wish. Is this just an expression? Is China capable to receive so many US students? What's Chinese students' situation in the US? Global Times (GT) reporter Li Yanjie talked with Ray Wang (Wang), a dean and professor of California State Polytechnic University, on these issues.
GT: According to US statistics, around 13,000 to 20,000 students go to China to study each year. Do you think US President Barack Obama can realize his ambitious plan of sending 100,000 US students to China in four years?
Wang: The US government only sets certain policies and gives advisories, rather than requires universities and colleges to do things. In 2001, when the US government realized that the military and intelligence agencies had a critical lack of the language skills such as Arabic, Farsi, and Chinese, the State Department provided grant opportunities for US educational institutions to pursue language initiatives in those areas. But the program wasn't effective enough or large enough to encourage people to learn Chinese.
Several factors, such as China's economic rise, the successful staging of the Beijing Olympic Games, and the increased visibility of Chinese cultural products in the US, have made Americans moderately interested in learning Chinese. But I don't think there is a critical mass there because Chinese is quite difficult to learn.
Another problem is that local teachers of Chinese in China are often not well prepared in language teaching. There are a lot of problems with the Chinese style of teaching when it comes to teaching foreigners Chinese. My daughter studied Chinese for one year in Tsinghua University. Most of her classmates are of Chinese origin, born in Europe or the US. They were often frustrated by too much teaching and not so much practicing in Chinese classrooms.
There is a very effective program teaching Chinese in Cornell University called FALCON. Chinese programs in China should take a look at it.
I think Obama was simply expressing a wish and his words imply that China is growing stronger, but whether more US students come to study in China depends on many factors, and China's continued economic growth is a big one.
Although Obama said the US would send more students to China, the government didn't promise any financial support, so it's more like he has hopes for it than that there's any actual program to support it.
GT: Do you think China is capable of coping with so many overseas students?
Wang: Yes, most definitely! I think China has the capacity to cope with many more overseas students, but I'm not sure whether China can offer the kind of education American students expect in learning Chinese. But I think China is very successful in making American students like China. Most American returning students that I have talked to believe that Chinese people are nice and kind.
GT: What majors do US students usually choose when they study in China?
Wang: Chinese, of course. Most of them choose to study Chinese for business purposes. Besides, some US companies believe if someone has had studied Chinese, he or she shows potentials to deal with challenges because Chinese is regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn. Those Americans that want to work for Foreign Service or intelligence might choose Chinese, too.
It's very unlikely for US students to study science and technologies in China, as they have better choices at home. I've heard that some students choose archaeology because China has many archaeological sites.
GT: Is China a major student destination for Americans?
Wang: More and more students are beginning to come to China to study but for now US students usually go to Europe to study art and languages. In the US if you study a language you almost have to go to that country for a while. The American student population learning Chinese is relatively small. Spanish, French, German and Italian are the top foreign languages that Americans choose to learn.
GT: What financial support can US students find to study abroad?
Wang: There's little government support, but US universities and colleges usually have some grants to support students studying in China. These grants were usually easy to get. But now it's more difficult to get grants as more people are applying for them.
I always believe it is strategic to provide scholarships for foreign students to study in a country and the US has been doing that for the last hundred years. I met a Taiwanese returning student years ago, and he told me that the students studied in the US would be future leaders of Taiwan.
If China does want to "make considerable contributions to the world," as Mao Zedong said, China should think strategically and set up scholarships to attract excellent overseas students to study Chinese history, culture and so on. Imagine when these students become future leaders of their home countries how they are going to influence their China policy in their countries!
I also believe this is a better way to publicize Chinese culture than the Confucius Institutes. The Chinese courses offered by the Confucius Institutes are free and not many Americans take them as they believe that free things are of poor quality. China usually invests $100,000 in each Confucius Institute, providing teachers and teaching materials. I think the money would be better spent to provide scholarships and grants.
GT: Each year, around 100,000 Chinese students go to the US. Can they still find funding after the financial crisis?
Wang: This is a very big number, but what scholarships they can find differ. Undergraduate studies, business schools, law schools and some protected fields don't have scholarships available for international students. Those majors provided with scholarships are usually in basic sciences and humanities.
I think American universities still welcome overseas students from various countries and regions as their leaders and faculty believe that universities should be internationalized.
GT: What are the new generation of overseas Chinese students' strong points and shortcomings? What are the major problems that Chinese overseas students often encounter?
Wang: The old generation of students usually performed well academically and went to the US because they'd been granted scholarships. They usually didn't have problems with study.
As to the new generation, science students graduated from universities like Tsinghua who do well academically usually receive full scholarships, but most of the 100,000 students are supported by their families and study in second- or even third-tier US universities and colleges.
These students are less prepared academically and psychologically and have to face many problems. Some choose too many courses in their first year but fail to pass them in the end. Some can't adjust to the US education style. Some imitate local students in using drugs and breaking laws. The current situation of Chinese overseas students is quite complicated.
To become a member of American society takes some time due to different cultural backgrounds. Zhai Tiantian, a graduate student who got arrested for allegedly threatening his teacher, is an unfortunate example of this.
Joint programs between Chinese and US universities provide better preparations for students. A good example is Humboldt College which is a joint program between US Humboldt State University and China's Xi'an International Studies University.
Sometimes I doubt whether it's worthwhile studying abroad for some Chinese students. But if you want me to name two good things about studying abroad, I'd say, first, Chinese students will have a more realistic understanding of what the US is and, second, Americans will know and appreciate China and its culture more through their interactions with Chinese students.
(Globaltimes.cn July 2, 2010)
