Author: WLRHET102E
Title: Segregation between Chinese International Students and Chinese
Americans at UIUC
About the
Author:
Keywords: Chinese international students, Chinese Americans
Abstract: This project is to examine: the segregation between Chinese
international students and Chinese Americans in UIUC, how each of
them would label themselves and what it means to be one of the other.
All the data was collected through observation, interviews of 4 Chinese
international students and Chinese Americans. Results show that the
causes of segregation between these two groups are language, culture
and comfort zones.
Initial
Exercises:
Question: 1.Do you prefer to speak English or Chinese during this interview?
2.How long have you been in the U.S.? Or were you born here?
3.What language do you speak most of the time? Why?
4.Do you consider yourself more Chinese or more American? Why? And
how about your family? Do they follow the Chinese culture or what?
5.How did you end up at UIUC?
6.Who are friends in college? And what are they?
7.Any Chinese international friends or Chinese American friends? Which
of these two groups do you hang out with mostly? Why?
8.What do you do with your friends?
9.What’s the first impression that a Chinese international student or
Chinese American give you?
10.What do you think about Chinese international students or Chinese
Americans?
11.What are differences that you noticed between you and the other
group?
Plan: Throughout this research, I explored the following questions: Why are
Chinese international students more likely to hang out with Chinese
international students? Is this really true? What are the obstacles that
make Chinese international students and Chinese Americans lack in
interactions? What do these two groups of students think about each
other? What are the differences between them? And is there anything
that these two groups both share?
In order to do this research project and find the answers to the questions
above, there are a lot of steps that I planned to do. First, I observed these
two groups of students. I captured the interaction between these two
groups. My observation took place at University dining halls, classes,
and resident hall lobbies. Second, I interviewed a few Chinese
international students and Chinese Americans. I asked them for their
background, family history, their experiences in the U.S., and their
impression of each other, etc.
Data: Observation:
My first observation took place at ISR dining hall. As I walk into the
dining hall, I see this table filled with Chinese students. One of my
friend, who is an international student was sitting with them on the
table. She greeted me in Chinese and I did the same. It was just a 20
second long conversation before she pays attention back to her table.
She didn’t introduce me to her friends or invited me to sit together at
their table. From the style of these students dress, I am pretty sure that
they are international students. It is just like a sense of mind that tells
you which group they belongs to. I took a sit a table away from next
them, so I can observe more closely but not too obvious. They were
speaking Cantonese to each other. One of them brings up how school is
so frustrating and so much work to do, then the others starting to
complain about the same thing and how bad their professors are. But
then, the interesting part is they compare how this is much better than
how schooling in China is. They said it is more relax and less stress than
how it used to be when they were in China. Then they change their topic
to some Chinese dramas and other topic. Most of their conversation
topics were school and life related, and some gossip. It seems like they
have endless things to talk about. Then I see a group of Chinese
Americans enter the dining hall. They were speaking English to each
other, yet with a few Chinese words in between sentences. As they walk
pass by the “international” table, I can see some of the students at the
“international” table take a glance at them. I don’t see any other
interactions between these two groups and yet not many interactions
between the “international” table and I, even though I know one of
them.
After taking observation at ISR dining hall, my next observation takes
place at the main entrance of PAR Residence Hall. I see a group of
Chinese international students hanging out, talking to each other. They
were enjoying their own little conversation and they were a little bit
loud. As this group was talking, I see some Chinese Americans hanging
out with their own group just entering and existing the building. There
were no interactions between these two groups, none of them pays
attention to the other. When other groups of Chinese international
students see their own kind of people, they were so gladly to join each
other. I see them introduce their friends to the other groups and talk.
Surprisingly, I see the person that were just new introduce to the group
was interacting with the groups really well. There was no strangeness or
anything. It seems like someone who’s talking to people that he/she has
known for awhile. Then I see one Chinese American girl walk pass by
them. One of them seems to know the girl said hi and asked something
in Chinese, and the girl reply “yea” instead of saying it in Chinese.
My last observation takes place in my Math 210, Theory of Interest and
Investment class. The reason that I chose to observe in this class was
because most Chinese students in this class are international students.
In order to observe, I take a sit all the way back in the room. I see some
Chinese students walk in and take sits where their friends have
“reserve”. They all sit in their own little groups; each group is about 2 to
5 people. But each group is sitting pretty close to each other, so it looks
like there’s an area where all the Chinese international students are
sitting. There are only a few Chinese Americans in this class. They are
more likely to sit wherever there’s a sit provided or with one or two of
their friends. They don’t choose to sit with a certain group of people or
people of their own race. They didn’t have any eye contacts with the
international students. But there’s an interesting thing that I saw was
whenever the person who walk in the room is Chinese, no matter if the
international students know the person or not, they would stare at the
person and follows until the person sits down.
Interviews:
All names of my interviewees that I mentioned follow are anonymous.
The first person I interviewed is a friend that I met from my Calculus
class, Yvonne. She is a Chinese international student from Kaifeng,
China. She prefers to answer in English throughout the interview, but
she said she would like speak Chinese generally. Yvonne has been in the
U.S. for a year and a half, and having homesick because of living,
studying in a different country. She said “My roots are buried and grew
in China; it is hard for me to remove them and buried them again in a
different country. I consider myself a pure Chinese.” Something about
her that interested me was the reason why she chose to come to UIUC.
She told me that she was considering ISU and UIUC, but then she did a
research about these two schools. She found out that ISU has a really
good teaching program that impressed her so much because she wants
to become a teacher, but she didn’t like how most of the student
population in ISU is white, and lacking of international students. Thus,
she chose to come to UIUC, a school that is a popular choice for most
international students and has a lot of Asian society groups. Also, she
told me because she is studying abroad; she gave herself an English
name so it is easier for people to pronounce instead of her Chinese name
in Pinyin. Yvonne is a Chinese international student who has more
Chinese international student friends and more likely to hang out with
Chinese international students. She only has about 5 Chinese American
friends, but only 1 of them is close enough for her to hang out with
outside of classes. I asked her why she is closer to Chinese international
students; she told me is because she is in a different country, and
hanging out with someone who grew up in the same country as her
makes her feel more comfortable and can fade away her homesick a little
bit. She has more topics to talk about and more things to share with
Chinese international students because they are similar and speak the
same language. I asked her “What is the first thing that would come up
in your mind when you see/meet a Chinese American?” She answered,
“Do you speak Chinese?” However, Yvonne prefers to speak English to
her Chinese American friends. The reason for this is she thinks it is more
polite because Chinese Americans are not pure Chinese like her. She
thinks Chinese Americans are more open, but she’s not. She said she can
be friends with Chinese Americans, but it will not be as close as how she
is with her Chinese international friends, because she thinks that these
two groups believes in different things. She believes in all the Chinese
traditional culture and practices them all. She said she knocks the table
meaning thank you when someone pours you tea; yet she doesn’t see
Chinese Americans do that.
The second person I interview is a Chinese international student that I
met from my economic class, Lily. Lily is from Beijing, China. She
prefers to speak Chinese during the interview, thus the whole interview
was done in Chinese. From my last interview with Yvonne, I found how
she gave herself an English name so people can pronounce easier; I
asked Lily if she has an English name. She told me that she has an
English name and the reason why she gave herself an English name is
because she wants to be more American and also people can pronounce
her name easier. Unlike Yvonne, Lily is amazed by this country and likes
to travel around it when breaks come. She chose to come to UIUC
because UIUC has a really good math major, good reputation and good
environment, and also close to a big city, Chicago. When I asked her
about her friends in college, she told me that most of her friends are
Chinese international students and only a few Chinese American friends.
She said met her friends through Asian American society and she likes to
hang out with Chinese international students more. The reason for this
behavior of her is because she doesn’t speak English well and she is shy.
She is scare to speak English to Chinese Americans because they are
superior to her in English; she is worry that she will get embarrass by
her accent. So, hanging out with Chinese international students who
speak fluent Chinese makes her feel more comfortable and it is easier for
her to communicate and express herself. But she also told me that she
admires some Chinese Americans’ English ability; she wishes she can
speak English as good as them and without a heavy accent. The first
thing that would come up in Lily’s mind when she sees/meets a Chinese
American is, “Do you speak Chinese?” To her, Chinese Americans are
half American half Chinese. She thinks that they have Asian looking
faces but with American characteristics (Asian outside, American
inside); they are more open and passionate. One big difference that she
noticed about Chinese international students and Chinese American is
the way they judge Asian food. She said, “Us, the Chinese international
students only prefer to eat real Chinese food rather than what Chinese
Americans prefer; such as orange chicken, Mongolian beef, egg fuyoung, etc. We called these “fake Chinese food” because there are no
such things like this in China and we never heard of these until we came
here. Chinese Americans seem to like those foods, yet we think it doesn’t
taste food as all.”
My third interviewee is a Chinese American friend of mine from
Chicago, Kyle. Kyle was born in the U.S. He prefers to speak English
during the interview. Kyle considers himself more American because he
speaks English fluently but sucks at speaking Chinese. He also said he
knows the American culture, holidays more than the Chinese culture,
holidays. For example, when he sees his family celebrating a Chinese
holiday, he doesn’t have any idea what his family is doing and why. He
mentioned how he wanted to wash his hair on the first day of Chinese
New Year, but his mom wouldn’t let him; and then he found out that’s a
cultural thing that washing his hair on the first day of New Year would
brings bad luck. Kyle usually speaks English to his friends and Chinese
to his family only. He said it is hard enough for him to speak Chinese to
his family already, because he doesn’t know much vocabulary and
sometimes he has to think for a long time to figure out how to express
something in Chinese. Kyle chose to attend UIUC because he got
rejected to all the other schools he applied and some of his friends that
he’s known for years are coming here too. Most of Kyle’s friends in
college are Chinese Americans, some whites, but there are only 2
Chinese international friends. He mostly hangs out with his Chinese
American friends and they speak English to each other. He only hangs
out with his Chinese international friends sometimes, because he sees
them closer to their own international group. He told me his Chinese
international friends are nice but it is a little bit hard for them to
communicate. Sometimes he is scared that his English is hard for them
to understand. Kyle also told me it is hard to get Chinese international
students to talk. For example, when they are doing activities, the
Chinese international students just sit there really quietly and say
nothing. He thinks it’s because that they are shy, don’t know English
that well and they don’t know how to express things that they want to
say in English just like how he doesn’t know how to express himself in
Chinese. The first thing that would come up in Kyle’s mind when he
sees/ meets Chinese international students is really quiet, shy, not
outgoing and they are hard workers. He said he always see them
studying in the lounge 24/7. One interesting thing that Kyle told me is
he likes to use a fork or a spoon when he eats, because he doesn’t really
know how to use/hold chopsticks. He said he’s always amazed by his
Chinese international friends because of how they can use chopsticks to
eat. He would always ask them “How do you do that?”
My last interviewee is a sophomore at UIUC from Chicago, Sydney. She
prefers to speak English during the interview. I’ve known Sydney since
high school and she was born in China. She came to the U.S with her
family 8 years ago. She told me that her family strictly follow the
Chinese tradition culture, coming to the U.S. didn’t stop her family’s
believes and culture. Sydney consider herself more Chinese, because she
follows the Chinese culture; prefers Chinese food more and she likes to
watch Chinese drama. She came to UIUC because there are more choices
here, it’s a good school and she wants to experience life away from
home. Even though Sydney considers herself more Chinese, however she
mostly hangs out with Chinese Americans and only have one Chinese
international friend. I asked her why she likes to hang out with Chinese
Americans more instead of someone straight off from China while she
considers herself more Chinese. She answered, “Because I’ve been here
for awhile; and I’ve already adapted to the American culture, so hanging
out with Chinese American makes me feel more comfortable. We hang
out to eat and do homework together. There are more things that we
have in common. And I prefer to speak English to both Chinese
American and Chinese international students, because I’ve already
forgotten some Chinese and sometimes I can’t express my meaning in
Chinese; I have to think about it and figure it out.” “So it seems like you
are a little bit half Chinese half American, is that right?” I asked. She
said “yes.” The first thing that would come up in her mind when she
sees/meets a Chinese international student is he/she must be really
smart, “I really admire how they are so smart” and she thinks they are
more likely to hang out with Chinese international students. I asked her
what makes she think that Chinese international student like to hang out
with the same group as them, she told me it is because they came all the
way here, living in a completely new country. They don’t know anyone,
so they are more likely to fall into the same group of people as they are,
speak the same language.
Discuss:
EUI Links: Annotated bibliography
Hu, Victoria. "What Does It Mean To Be Chinese or Asian American?"
Chinese American Forum Apr. 2007: 32+. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCO. Web. 11 Apr. 2010
In this article, Hu talked about being Chinese or Chinese American. She
found out that she doesn’t fit-in in either of these two groups after living
in an American culture for a period of time. As she said, “We’re too
Chinese to be a typical American, but too Americanized to be typically
Chinese.” She experienced the culture and life of both groups, and
examined the language that these two groups use, food difference that
they have and how their parents handle situations. Even though she
found herself not fitting into neither of these two groups, she found
herself as a unique Chinese American, because it gives her the
opportunities to experience both culture and life. It is a blessing to her. I
found this article very useful because it examines the cultural differences
and life differences between Chinese and Chinese American. It gives me
an idea of being label of how it feels to be a Chinese or Chinese
American. I can relate this article to one of my interviewee, Sydney,
because she is kind of experiencing the same thing as Hu.
Ho, Chuen Tsang. “What causes the segregation in Chinese
Interracial Friendship” ideal.uiuc.edu.11 Apr 2010.
In this research, Ho found four reasons that cause segregation in
Chinese interracial friendship: language barrier, cultural different,
comfort zone-self segregation and indifference. Ho found out that some
Chinese people can’t speak English that well hence they would like to be
with their own race. Also Asians are most likely to stick with things from
their culture, such as music. Comfort-zone also makes Chinese people
self-segregated from others. The author found the same-race
relationship will last longer than interracial. I found this research project
useful because it gives me a lot of different reasons and views of why
Chinese self-segregate from the others. It examines 4 different issues. I
can relate this to my project because I also found Chinese international
students more likely to hang out with Chinese, and also some Chinese
Americans are more likely to hang out with Chinese too.
Ke, Ruan. “The Lables of ABC and FOB in the Chinese American
community at UIUC.”
Ideals.uiuc.edu. 11 Apr 2010.
In this article, the author aim to answer the meaning of the labels of ABC
and FOB in the Chinese American community at UIUC. She researched
why people label themselves one thing or another. Through her
observations and interviews with both groups, she found that each of
one of her interviewees choose to label themselves with the language and
culture that they are more comfortable with. Her research shows
language barrier is a big difference between these two groups. People
that emigrated from China for the first time to the U.S. (FOBS) are more
likely to prefer to speak Chinese rather than English, because speaking
their native language represents their culture and they are not very good
at English. And ABCs (American Born Chinese) are more likely to prefer
to speak English, yet they wish they can speak Chinese and are willing to
learn it. I found this research project useful, because it gives me a better
view of how people label themselves as how each of my interviewee
labels themselves. And it also shows me how language barriers can cause
ABC and FOB lacking is interaction with each other; language is a big
aspect as to how Chinese American and Chinese international students
are lacking in interaction.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood
Among Ghosts. 1976. Vintage International, 163-209. Print.
In this chapter of Kingston’s Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, she
talks about how being a Chinese girl growing up and adapting to the
American culture. She’s quiet when she’s when in American school, but
found herself when she is in a Chinese school where she goes after
classes. Kids who are quiet in school are laughing, joking and playing
with each other without anything concern. She also talks about how
drinks out off a saucer is weird to other, but normal to her. And also how
her family requests her to get candy from the drugstore because of the
“bad luck” the drugstore bought, people in the drugstore would just
think that they are homeless or beggars. I found this reading useful in
my research because the shows me how people gets along better when
they are with their own kind. There’s no embarrassing or worries. And it
also shows me how culture differences play a big part of one’s life. I can
relate this to my research because of how international students are
more likely to practice their culture and like to keep it along with them,
because that’s what values and represents them.
No author. “Segregation in International Students” Ideal.uiuc.edu. 11
Apr 2010
In this research project, the author tries to find out segregation among
international students based on their nationalities. Similarly, how
Chinese with Chinese, Korean with Korean, and Indian with Indian.
Through-out the author’s research, he/she found out that languages and
cultural background, and comfort zones are the major reasons why
international students choose to hang out with their own kind.
International students limit their options of who to hang out with
because of their comfort zone. Hanging out with people from the same
country makes them feel like being at home and less homesick and less
lonely. I found this research useful because some of the research that
this author found is similar to what I found from my interviewees. I can
compare this or use this in my analysis of the interview part to support
what I found.