Bilingual use of translanguaging: Chinese student satisfaction in a transnational Business degree in English

Abstract

Studies of student satisfaction in higher education settings highlight the contribution of teaching, learning and assessment, institutional status, and the personal factors of self-efficacy, preparedness, and sense of community. Transnational partnership research has identified that similar student satisfaction factors are experienced by mainland Chinese students enrolled in English-language degrees. However, there are certain challenges related to foreign language skill development, intercultural exchange, and lack of local contextualization. This paper provides insights into the interplay among satisfaction factors in the transnational context of an Australian-China higher education partnership for Chinese students studying a Business degree in their home country. In addition, the paper highlights the value added to the student experience by the expeditious use of local Chinese exemplars and translanguaging across the two languages to explain the more complex concepts presented in the course content. In so doing, the paper sheds some light on the role of local, native-speaking staff in the teaching and learning process and their contribution to student satisfaction, a known retention benefit to higher education institutions.