ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the Chinese students and globalised education. It looks at Chinese students studying in the United Kingdom and argues that little research has been conducted on young 16-year-old students in pre-university further education (FE); there is little data on numbers of young students and their experiences. The book focuses on student choice-making: what they decide, what influenced their decisions and how they made changes to their original plans. It also focuses on the effects of language, from parental language shaping the students' outlooks, to the effects of using a second language in social interactions and in learning, to mute transmissions or silent communications. Student numbers appear to be growing at the lower end of the educational market; particularly, it appears, in UK pre-university courses in the FE sector.
