In recent years, the proportion of university students from a non-English speaking background (NESB) has been increasing in the UK and beyond. This is widely acknowledged to hold great potential to enhance the educational setting. However, the transition from previous educational cultures can be demanding for these students.

This paper will examine accounts of this process and will propose framing as a concept which may hold potential in this area. The background theoretical work will be summarized with particular reference to Higher Education, where it has been applied to the analysis of text rhetorical structure. It will be argued, with reference to an interview study with mainland Chinese postgraduate students, that this framework may be extended to cover transitions into the discourse practices of UK Higher Education in general. It will conclude with implications for practice.

Keywords: Framing, Chinese students, academic discourse