An ethnography of Taiwanese international students’ identity movements: habitus modification and improvisation

Many studies focus on Chinese-speaking international students’ (CHISs) adaptation issues inside and outside educational settings in the West. A strong emphasis has been placed on identifying CHISs’ problems and solving them through educational programs, pedagogies and curricula. This emphasis potentially categorizes CHISs as a cohort of students that, in particular, have issues learning and living in Western societies, ignoring that identity is complex and context-dependent. Drawing on a Bourdieuian post-structuralist perspective, this 18-month-long study documented the experiences of nine Taiwanese international students at different Australian universities before, during and after their one-year postgraduate education in Australia. This study compared their experiences and highlighted the complexity of identity movements. The findings present habitus modification and habitus improvisation, two notions developed from a Bourdieuian perspective. In conclusion, this study encourages reassessment of the standard notions of adaptation and prompts further exploration of how international students use their overseas experiences in the home context