The transition of international students to academic studies and lifestyle in a cross-cultural setting is not that simplistic. These changes include dealing with linguistic proficiency and communicative competence both in an academic and social setting, as well as adjustments to discourse styles and worldviews that need negotiation. There is academic literature that focuses on niche areas, such as language mastery; psychological adjustment; academic adjustment; changes in self-identity; social networking, and lifestyle. However, this niche approach ignores the fact that culture exists in a complex system, where the confluence of these factors may result in wide variations of cross-cultural adaptation (CCA) experiences. This situation is particularly acute for Chinese international students studying in Australia, where the Australian and Chinese discourse systems are at antithetical positions. This study will use a mixed-methods approach, through online questionnaires and a short-term longitudinal study, to ascertain the positive and negative CCA experiences of Chinese students during their social and academic sojourn in Australia. Findings suggest that the confluence of academic and sociocultural factors results in Chinese students' CCA experience having wide variations from 'perceived' cohort behaviour. Moreover, attitudes from members of the host culture may play an influence regarding these complex experiential differences.

Authors:
Dennis Lam, Western Sydney University, Australia

About the Presenter(s)
Mr Dennis Lam is a University Doctoral Student at Western Sydney University in Australia

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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