Transnational routes such as direct-entry have become a more attractive option for Chinese students, due to the pandemic-imposed travel restrictions in China. The rise of Chinese direct-entry students can potentially lead to a significant increase in demand for academic and non-academic support not only after their arrival, but also before their…

Adopting the notions of "identity," "investment" and "translocal scale," this study explores how international students negotiate language choices with multilingual others and construct new sociolinguistic spaces. Interview data with 12 international students at a Chinese university revealed tensions between language…

In order to explore the contextual factors that may influence Chinese early study abroad students' acculturation experiences in Canada, we conducted in-depth interviews with 20 Chinese early study abroad students and 6 Chinese parents. Using Oppedal and Toppelberg's acculturation development model as the analytical framework, we identify six…

This article leverages interview data from students of Chinese who enrolled at a UK university but pursued a period of study abroad in China, aiming to delve into their negotiation of language identities during their overseas experience. By employing Block's structural model in our discourse analysis, this research reveals the dynamic interplay…

China is a major source country of students in the UK's taught Master's programs. The reliance on China as a major source country has caused some concerns over its sustainability. Will the Chinese students continue to come? To answer this question, a push-pull factor analysis is conducted on the perceptions of Chinese students who graduated from…

This paper draws attention to the current and possible effects of COVID-19 on the mobility trajectories of mainland Chinese students studying in Asia. By drawing on 35 biographical interviews, this paper focuses on their decision to study in Asian countries and regions. Particularly, it calls for more attention to Asia in global student mobilities…

The largest group of international students pursuing their overseas higher education in the UK come from China; and yet, little qualitative research has explored the experiences of Chinese students who have recently made this transition, with even less focusing on the experiences of both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The present article…

International student mobility has traditionally witnessed a global South-North pattern. In recent years, a shift has occurred as the appeal of alternative geographies waxes, with Malaysia being an exemplar of inbound student mobility destination. To facilitate a deep probe of the under-researched global South-South student mobility, this study…

Neither world leaders nor leading medical professionals would have anticipated the adverse impacts of the global health crisis resulting from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on multifaceted aspects of contemporary society. Set against the broader political economy context, this Special Issue focuses on examining the impacts of the present…

As the world is becoming a more connected and interdependent place, a fast growing literature has examined the effects of foreign experiences on cognitive and psychological outcomes. The current research seeks to explore the relationship between living abroad and intellectual humility. To this end, we conducted four methodologically diverse…

This study explored the language learning motivation of a small group of five university students in the UK through the constructs of Dornyei's L2 Motivational Self System and Henry's notion of 'the ideal multilingual self'. The five participants, all successful language learners at school, chose to specialise in modern languages at university and…

This study explored Chinese students' motivations for selecting a cross-border university in China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) and how they perceive their undergraduate experiences. The GBA was developed as an international economic cluster in China. Despite the vitality of the GBA's international education sector, few…

Despite the rapid development of TNHE over the past decade, research studies on students' perceptions and experiences of teaching and learning at TNHE programmes in China are very limited. Using both surveys (328) and follow-up interviews (40) from students at two Anglo-Sino programmes, this study explores students' perceptions and experiences of…

Despite a vast body of scholarship delving into international students' educational experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about the doctoral group's perception from a sociomaterial perspective. Utilizing a group of Chinese international doctoral students while drawing on semi-structured interviews, the article unpacks what and…

Chinese student mobility has diversified with the rise of educational hubs in Asia. However, the literature primarily focuses on student mobility to Anglophone universities. This study conceptualises Chinese students studying in South Korea as participating in a positional competition, wherein the concepts of middling mobility and emerging…