(The English version is below the Chinese version.)
最近，在《外交学者》杂志上，姜Xueqin（不知中文名）写篇关于中国学生融入美国大学生活困境的文章。他认为这个社会问题基于中国与美国文化之间的基本差别，即“文明冲突”。他这个观点不仅是错的，而且他没提出对这个问题的任何解决办法。
姜先生争论由于中国的崛起正在挑战美国享有世界霸权的地位，因此美国大学生受到威胁并排斥中国学生。可是，姜先生的逻辑犯了一个经常又关键的逻辑谬论，即正比关系等于因果关系。而且，他把宏观层面上的事情与微观层面上的现象搞混。实际上，中国正挑战着美国的地位，中国学生的确是难以参与没大学生的生活，但是这两个现象同时出现不一定意味着两个之间有因果关系。
这个“霸主忧虑情结”恰恰不存在在大多数美国学生的心里。当你问美国学生他们怎么看中国的崛起挑战美国的地位的时候，除了主修国际关系的学生之外，多数学生会觉得很糊涂，因为多数学生不考虑这个话题。他们即使想过这个问题，他们也不一定将这个问题与中国学生连接起来。当人们要跟一个人成为朋友，其母国的世界地位很少是一个影响因素。
中国学生困难真正的缘由更为微妙。2010年与2011年，我在俄亥俄州立大学设计与领导一个谋求促进中国与美国学生互动的项目。俄州大有两千多中国学生，比多数其他美国大学还要多，所以中国学生融入大学生活的困境确实是俄州大相对严重的问题。通过与中国学生的讨论小组（以汉语为主）以及促进中美学生互动的活动，我为俄州大撰了一个解释导致中美学生分割主要因素的报告。
这些因素可以分为三个吸收过程。
一、最重要的是语言吸收。正是像美国“高等教育编年史”的报告与姜先生都提到的，中国学生平均英语水平是初步的问题，因为他们的英语环境不地道也缺少动机，所有中国人进入美国大学之前他们的英文水平不够高，尤其是其说话能力。但进入美国大学一年之后，通过经常与美国人在课堂内外的交流，中国学生的英语水平会进步很大。而达到更高的听力与说话程度之后，最大的障碍变化为了解美国年轻人的口语。
二、学术吸收。在美国大学课堂里的教育方式与中国高中甚至中国大学课堂里的教育方式很不一样。在美国，教育准则以讨论为主，写作功课要求学生从无到有地创造一个研究问题，而在中国的很多教室里，老师讲课，然后给学生们很具体的作文题目。当中国学生来到美国的时候，他们仍然习惯中国式教育，学生们需要用较多时间来适应美国式教育，因此他们往往在图书馆学习，并不在其他学生接触的地方。完成一年大学之后，这些学生已经习惯了美国教育方式，但他们失去在宿舍里交美国朋友的时机。而且，他们习惯于跟中国学生一起学习与交往。
三、文化吸收。这个不是姜先生所讲的“文明冲突”概念，而文化方面上的问题更为细微。中国高中学生的时间都在备考，尤其是高考。他们在学校外与朋友们交往的时间很少，不大参与运动小队，没有派对，而美国高中学生的生活很不一样，是半学习半交往。中国学生发现美国同学在闲暇时间中喜欢跳舞与派对，中国学生觉得不好习惯。再一个文化方面上的问题是，美国学生期望在社会交往当中，人要主动去加入圈子。在美国存在一种个人主义的文化，人不想与其他人交流，其他人恰恰会让他排斥自己。虽然中国人可能会觉得主动地进入两个人的讨论是有点不好意思，但美国人认为这样的行为平淡无奇。
文化吸收是像其他的吸收过程问题一样，即经验可以克服这些问题。我们这么解决这些问题呢？辨认社会问题只是缓和该问题的第一步。下面是几个办法。
鼓励中国人进入美国高中。要加快大学生语言、学术与文化吸收，便让他们在上大学之前先去美国。上过与没上过美国高中的中国大学生在社会吸收方面上存在很大的差异。在高中里课程没有大学强烈，但教学法差不多。在学校外中国学生会习惯于美国学生的社会交往方式，而且中国学生的英语水平当然会火箭式提高。
促进中国学生参加学生社团。中国学生大部分的时候在学习，不考虑参加社团，有的学生不知道这些社团存在。大学要将有关学生社团的信息更加积极地推广于中国学生人口，最容易的办法也许是与中国学生社团合作来宣传这个消息。
更加细心挑选中国学生。姜先生本身也说明怎么选比较适合美国文学教育环境的中国学生，即让学生经过一个考验学生思想创新力与独立性的面试。不过，这个方式还有一个仍未解决的问题：中国学生可以是唯一应该经过申请表面试的学生吗？
改善英语项目。“高等教育编年史”的报告描述，特拉华州大学建立了一个学院，是帮助英语水平不够高的学生准备上大学课程。可以在任何大学安排这样的项目。项目的重点不仅应该是英文水平的提高，还是教书方式应该以讨论为主，像多数文科课程。
毕竟，中国学生的吸收水平并不像姜先生所讲的“滴答时间炸弹”。问题不在于许多批中国社会精英纷纷回中国，对美国有负面印象，然后当中国最有影响力的职位。姜先生每提高一个具有对美国悲观看法的中国学生，我可以提高一个在美国得到很多知识与交很多朋友的中国学生。我们都有例子。
只要我们认为中国与美国文化的冲突是不可避免的，它会形成。意识是自我实现的，特别在培养下一代的情况下。我们应当告诉学生，无论他们住在哪个洲上，不是“咱们的文化不相容于他们的文化”。而我们应当叫他们的是，如何了解与参加其他文化，这个才是同理心的体现，且同理心才是教育的奠基石。
（这个文章的一个版本先被发表于《外交学者》）
Recently, Jiang Xueqin wrote in the Diplomat of the struggles of Chinese students to assimilate into American universities’ student life. He attributes this social problem to the fundamental differences between Chinese and American culture – the “clash of civilizations”. Not only this this view flawed, but he offers little in the way of ideas to resolve the problem.
Jiang argues that rising China’s challenge to America’s status as the global hegemon is perceived as threatening to American students, who consequently reject Chinese students on college campuses. But Jiang’s line of reasoning commits a common (and critical) logical fallacy: correlation presumes causation. What’s more, he’s attributing macro-level characteristics to micro-level phenomena. China is, in fact, challenging America’s status, and many Chinese students are, in fact, struggling to fully participate in American college life. But just because the two are occurring simultaneously doesn’t necessitate their causal relationship.
This “hegemonic anxiety complex” simply doesn’t exist in the mind of the majority of American students. Unless they study international relations, most students would wear a confused expression when you ask them what they thought of China’s rising challenge to America’s hegemonic status. Most students don’t think about this. And even if they were aware of it, they wouldn’t necessarily connect it to individual Chinese students. When deciding whether or not to befriend someone, the international status of that person’s homeland is rarely a major factor.
The real reasons for Chinese students’ struggles are more nuanced. In 2010 and 2011, I developed and ran a program at The Ohio State University which sought to promote the interaction of Chinese and American undergraduate students. OSU has more than 2000 Chinese students, which is more than most US universities, so this lack of assimilation among Chinese students is not a small problem on campus. Via focus panels (conducted in Chinese) with students as well as running events that brought Chinese and American students together, I wrote a report for the university that discussed the main causal factors of the Chinese-American student divide.
We can divide these factors into three assimilation processes.
First and foremost is language assimilation. As the Chronicle of Higher Education report and Jiang both mentioned, Chinese students’ average level of English is an initial problem. Their English environment in China is rarely authentic or compelling enough to provide many Chinese with advanced English competency – especially conversational skills – before entering an American college. But within a year of regular interaction in and outside of classrooms with Americans, this begins to improve markedly. After attaining better listening and speaking, the more advanced problem becomes understanding young Americans’ colloquialisms.
A second problem is academic assimilation. Classrooms in American universities are operated much differently from those of Chinese high schools – and even Chinese universities. In America, discussion-based classes are the norm, and paper assignments often require a student to motivate themselves to start a research question from scratch. In many Chinese classrooms, the teacher lectures and then gives students a very specific subject on which to write. When Chinese students arrive in America, they are still accustomed to Chinese-style education. Critically, adapting to the American style forces them to spend a lot more time studying, often in the library or away from places where students socialize. After a year, these students have adapted to American education, but they’ve lost their best chance to make close American friends in the dorm. Additionally, they habituated to studying and sticking with Chinese students.
The last issue is cultural assimilation. I’m not talking about the “clash of civilizations” that Jiang discusses. The details are minuter than that. Chinese high schoolers spend almost all of their time studying for tests, particularly the gaokao, a college entrance exam. They don’t get a lot of time outside of school to socialize – few sports, no parties. But Americans’ high school experience is half academic and half social. When Chinese students find that some American college students spend their free time partying and dancing, it becomes difficult to get accustomed to.
A separate cultural issue is that American students expect people in social situations to actively work to enter the group. America has a culture of individualism, and if people don’t want to participate in a social gathering, others will simply let them exclude themselves from the group. Where Chinese might perceive it as “impolite” to throw themselves into a conversation, Americans see it as par for the course.
However, like the other issues above, these cultural gaps can be overcome with experience.
This brings us to how to fix these problems. Identifying a social problem is only a precursor to attempting to ameliorate it. Below are some ideas.
Encourage Chinese to attend high school in America. Language, academic, and cultural assimilation could all be hastened early on by sending more Chinese students to America before they attend college. There are noticeable differences in the social assimilation between Chinese college students who attended a year of high school in America and those that did not. In high schools, classes are not as intense as college, but the teaching style is still similar. Outside of class, Chinese students become accustomed to the way in which American students socialize. And of course, their English level will skyrocket throughout the process.
Promote Chinese student participation in student groups. Chinese students, who are spending much of their time studying, are hesitant to join students groups. Some don’t know about the groups. Universities need to more actively advertise student groups toward the Chinese student population. This could be done easily by working through Chinese student associations on campus.
More careful student selection. Jiang Xueqin himself details a more qualitative way to pick Chinese students that would blossom in the American liberal arts atmosphere: an application interview that tests students’ ability to think creatively and independently. Of course, a lingering problem with this method is discrimination. Could Chinese students be the only students subjected to application interviews?
English enhancement programs. As detailed in the Chronicle, the University of Delaware set up a language institute to give students with sub-par English skills a chance to prepare for typical college classes. These sorts of programs could be carried out at any university. The focus shouldn’t only be on English language competency; in addition, the style of teaching should be discussion-based, like most liberal arts classes.
In the end, the assimilation of Chinese students in American universities is not, as Jiang claims, a “ticking time bomb”. It is not primarily a story of waves of elites returning to China to serve in powerful positions with negative impressions of America. For every Chinese student Jiang knows with a pessimistic view of America, I know a Chinese student who has grown intellectually and emotionally in their American education and has made many American friends. Anecdotes abound.
The Chinese and American cultures only clash when we believe that it is inevitable. Consciousness is self-fulfilling; this goes double when educating the next generation. What we should be telling our students – no matter the continent on which they reside – is not “our culture is incompatible with theirs”. Rather, we should be teaching them how to understand and participate in other cultures. This is the embodiment of empathy, and empathy is the cornerstone of all education.
A version of this originally appeared in The Diplomat.
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