Comparison of Native Chinese-speaking and Native English-speaking Engineering Students' Information Literacy Challenges

This study identifies challenges that native Chinese-speaking undergraduate engineering students face in researching and writing an academic paper in comparison with their native English-speaking peers. With growing enrolment of Chinese students in North America, the question of how best to enhance these students' learning experiences through library instruction and services is increasingly important. In this study, researchers recruited 17 participants (eight native Chinese-speaking and nine native English-speaking students) from a communication in engineering course at McGill University, and conducted a preliminary interview, an online survey, and an in-depth interview to gather data about each student's research experience. The online survey findings, which were used to inform the in-depth interview questions, were reported in a previous publication. The current article presents the qualitative findings from the in-depth interviews only. Findings show that native Chinese-speaking students have unique information-related challenges in the areas of searching, evaluating information, reading, writing, and citing. Challenges with specific elements of searching (such as locating full text) and writing (such as creating an outline) were shared among members of both groups. Recommendations for librarians, engineering instructors, and staff in other units serving international students are also provided. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.