Research on Intercultural Adaptation of International Students in China

A Case Study of Shanghai University

DOI

10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_200How to use a DOI?

Keywords

International students; intercultural adaptation; Shanghai

Abstract

International students in China are facing the problem of intercultural adaptation, especially for those who are studying in the megacities. Employing semi-structured in-depth interview techniques, this research interviews 12 international students from Shanghai University, who have studied there for at least two years. Based on Black’s theory of “three-dimensional” model of intercultural adaptation, this paper proposes a “four-dimensional” model, namely, life adaptation, study adaptation, interpersonal adaptation and China’s national image adaptation. Findings reveal that maladjustment is mainly reflected in the inconvenience during Ramadan, Chinese cultural products, overall positive but conceptual perception of China’s national image, execution delay, and classmates/lab-mates-centered Chinese friend circle; whereas Chinese cuisine, logistics, and living environment have been well embraced by the international students. Moreover, social media accelerate the intercultural adaptation process and bridge the connection with international students’ home countries. In view of the above international students’ status quo of adaptation, the study puts forward several suggestions on promoting adaptability and encouraging further mutual understandings for both sojourners and host society.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yu Su
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/02/13
TI  - Research on Intercultural Adaptation of International Students in China
BT  - Proceedings of the 2022 4th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1560
EP  - 1570
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_200
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_200
ID  - Su2023
ER  -