The challenges and coping strategies of Sino-foreign EAP students

EAP students face a plethora of diverse challenges which are intensified and expanded upon if they are at transnational institutions. This is especially true in China where Sino-Foreign tertiary programs (along with the difficulties faced by students) have continued to grow. In order to identify and explore the main challenges faced by Sino- Foreign EAP students as well as how they manage them, a survey was created which 528 students from 16 universities in China completed. The greatest challenges seemed to be related to the productive skills and vocabulary. There were also comments about difficulty adapting to a new learning culture along with EAP being dull. In order to overcome their difficulties, students seemed resourceful and resilient with most reporting doing so independently, sometimes with technology (such as AI) which also raised concerns about students using such tools poorly. Many discussed the affordances of reaching out to classmates and instructors with some also mentioning their limitations.