Navigating Language Challenges and Support Provision for Chinese MA Music Education Students on their English- based UK Programme: A case study

Chinese international students comprise a significant proportion of student bodies in UK universities, receiving wide research interest concerning these students’ overseas academic sojourns. In tertiary music education programmes, scholarship has explored Chinese student- teachers’ intercultural experiences, with a particular focus on their pedagogical adaptation and development. However, as students with English as an Additional Language (EAL), the unique challenges faced by Chinese music education students have not been critically addressed in research, particularly concerning the linguistic components which are crucial in supporting a student-teacher’s learning and teaching practices within and beyond their course. Moreover, such specialist language skills are unlikely to be supported by university-provided language centres which aim to accommodate all students regardless of their disciplines, necessitating the involvement of subject specialists in supporting EAL music education students – a topic which has not been critically explored in the field.
This thesis presents a case study of Chinese international students on MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching (MA IVT) at the University of York (UoY), focusing on their subject-specific language challenges and the provision of targeted support within the course. Data was collected through observations, interviews, and questionnaires, exploring the course students’ and teachers’ perspectives. The three embedded subunits concerned a cohort of prospective Chinese MA Music students on the 10-week pre-sessional language course (academic year 2021/22) (Subunit 1), four groups of Chinese students attending the programme-specific support sessions ‘Talking about Music’ and the session tutors (2021/22 and 2022/23) (Subunit 2), and MA IVT students and teaching team members (2022/23) (Subunit 3). This thesis contributes empirical information about UK-sojourned Chinese MA music education students’ language challenges and sheds light on the pressing needs for discipline-based language support provision in the field. It also provides insights into the broader understanding and practices of inclusivity in multicultural music classrooms.