Fears and Studying Abroad: A Survey and Interview among Chinese Students at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine how to help students prepare to study abroad by finding out if students who traveled abroad, watched foreign TV shows, and/or used social media networking sites had the same fears about going abroad as students who did not do these things. The researcher conducted a survey of nearly 100 Chinese university students who were getting ready to go abroad to study, asking them first about their fears about going abroad and then about their traveling experiences, TV watching habits, and social media habits. The researcher also conducted six interviews to gather deeper information about these students’ thoughts and fears related to studying abroad. While the results from the interviews showed relatively minor differences in fears of students who did and did not do each of these things, several results were clear. First, students who traveled abroad to areas that were similar to areas that they were preparing to go to expressed feelings of deeper preparation in regard to going abroad. Second, many students expressed the view that watching Western TV shows could help them to learn English, and language barriers was the most common fear that students faced (tied for first with cultural barriers). Third, the interviews revealed that using SNSs could help students to learn how to talk to people from other cultures and help to prepare them to go abroad. Using Western SNSs also seemed to be the strongest help in lessening students’ fears about language barriers. In conclusion, this study can be used as a springboard to further discover how to use each of these methods, travel abroad, Western TV shows, and social networking sites, to help students feel more ready and less fearful about going abroad to study. Applications for teachers include learning from the fears explored here to know how to help students to choose good places to go for traveling that will help prepare them for their study abroad experience. Teachers can also see the importance of addressing fears about discrimination for students who watch Western TV shows, and teachers can encourage students to use Western SNSs to practice English as this develops confidence in students.