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1.
It is nearly three years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 crisis as a pandemic. Since its inception, border closures have been subscribed to by many countries as an extreme policy tool to curb the rate of infection amid emerging variants. China, one of the earliest countries to implement this measure just opened its borders to international students for inbound and outbound travel with several preconditions. Homesickness, a grave discomfort because of its cognitive hallmark of destabilizing the affective states and routine activities of individuals has been underexplored in many studies on the COVID-19 impact on education. This phenomenological study is the first to explore the level of border-closure-induced homesickness among international students in an Asian context (China). International students (n = 20) sampled from five universities in China were interviewed on how the COVID-19-engineered border closures have prompted homesickness among them and their development of coping skills. The thirteen (13) themes that emerged from the study suggest that the students suffered from somatic and psychological symptoms of homesickness. The social and academic life of students were negatively affected. Participants in the study relied on frequent phone calls, entertainment, and indoor and outdoor activities such as exercise and campus excursions as coping strategies against homesickness. It is advocated that higher education leaders in China put in measures to hasten the acculturation of international students to minimize their homesickness. Further research areas such as taking a keen focus on maladaptive symptoms of homesickness are also discussed.  相似文献   

2.
In this study, the perspectives of international students about homesickness and their adaptation to Turkish culture were explored. A multidimensional homesickness analysis based on the perception of international students in Turkish universities is presented. For this purpose, a mixed method was used. Two different techniques were used in the qualitative dimension: metaphor analysis and cognitive mapping. Metaphors were created by 60 international students studying at a state university in Turkey. Cognitive mapping data were collected from 22 international students. In addition, a survey model was used to procure quantitative data. Quantitative data were collected by using the Utrecht Homesickness Scale. The sampling group included 200 international students studying in eight different public universities. The inductive content analysis technique was used to analyse qualitative data and the metaphors related to homesickness were conceptualised as deprivation, difficulties, pain, and yearning. The metaphorical expressions revealed both the compelling homesickness of international students and socio-cultural adjustment difficulties in Turkey. The cognitive mapping concerning homesickness was highly similar to the metaphors. Cognitive mapping results aggregated as memories, cultural events, dishes, family members, friends, and hobbies. The quantitative results indicated high mean homesickness scores for ‘missing family’ and ‘missing friends’ sub-dimensions. Moreover, the mean scores were relatively low for the ‘adjustment difficulties’ and ‘loneliness’ sub-dimensions. Quantitative data revealed that the perceptions of homesickness differ depending on various socio-cultural factors. This study proposes that countries hosting international students should take psychological, social, and cultural adjustment measures, especially for freshmen students who experience more homesickness.  相似文献   

3.
International students continue to grow in number worldwide, prompting researchers to look for ways to make the study abroad experience more fruitful. One avenue of research has focused on friendship formation, the significant role it plays in the study abroad experience, and the unique friendship combinations made possible by the study abroad experience. International students form friendships with individuals from their own country, from other countries, and from the host country. Research has found that international students often have more friends from their home country; however, research has also demonstrated a relationship between having more host country friends and satisfaction, contentment, decreased homesickness, and social connectedness. The current study looks to further explore these relationships through a social network lens by examining friendship network ratios, strength, and variability of the three friendship groups. A friendship network grid was developed to assess where international students’ friends are from and how strong those friendships are. Eighty four international students completed a survey examining the relationship between friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, contentment, and satisfaction. Contrary to prior research, international students did not report having a higher ratio of individuals from their home country in their friendship networks. However, international students with a higher ratio of individuals from the host country in their network claimed to be more satisfied, content, and less homesick. Furthermore, participants who reported more friendship variability with host country individuals described themselves as more satisfied, content, and more socially connected. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.  相似文献   

4.
Based on findings from a qualitative case study focused on Mexican postgraduate international students at a prestigious university in the south of England, this article explores the coping strategies implemented by the participants prior to departing to their study abroad experience. Findings revealed varying degrees of involvement with pre-arrival preparations where some participants employed a series of creative tactics to ease their adaptation upon arrival, and some others who did not envision any strategies to prepare. However, as afterthoughts, the latter group of students realised such omission had hindered their transition to the new culture. This led to the conceptualisation of the studying abroad experience as a dynamic process enhancing the perspective of the international student as an active agent of their process of adaptation Ward et al., 2001).  相似文献   

5.
Homesickness is one of the challenges that international students may encounter when they leave home. Homesickness is associated with social interactions and sociocultural adjustment, yet the directions of associations and temporal precedence are not clear. Thus, in this study, we tested a model which proposes that face-to-face (FtF) interaction with the host-country network, and Facebook interactions with the host- and the home-country networks predict homesickness, which, in turn, predicts sociocultural adjustment. We used cross-lagged and non-lagged reciprocal effects path analyses on a three-wave panel data gathered via online surveys. The results indicated that Facebook interaction with the host-country network lowered homesickness, in the long-term and the short-term. Paradoxically, homesickness increased Facebook interaction with the host-country network in the short-term. Lastly, homesickness lowered sociocultural adjustment in the short-term. We discuss how Facebook interaction with the host-country network could provide solace to international students when they miss home; and describe the implications of these findings for Facebook use and sociocultural adjustment among international students.  相似文献   

6.
Universities in Western countries host a substantial number of international students. These students bring a range of benefits to the host country and in return the students gain higher education. However, the choice to study overseas in Western countries may present many challenges for the international student including the experience of acculturative stress and difficulties with adjustment to the environment of the host country. The present paper provides a review of current acculturation models as applied to international students. Given that these models have typically been empirically tested on migrant and refugee populations only, the review aims to determine the extent to which these models characterise the acculturation experience of international students. Literature pertaining to salient variables from acculturation models was explored including acculturative stressors encountered frequently by international students (e.g., language barriers, educational difficulties, loneliness, discrimination, and practical problems associated with changing environments). Further discussed was the subsequent impact of social support and coping strategies on acculturative stress experienced by international students, and the psychological and sociocultural adaptation of this student group. This review found that the international student literature provides support for some aspects of the acculturation models discussed; however, further investigation of these models is needed to determine their accuracy in describing the acculturation of international students. Additionally, prominent acculturation models portray the host society as an important factor influencing international students’ acculturation, which suggests the need for future intervention.  相似文献   

7.
The current study examined the interaction between venting (as a form of emotional coping) and perceived emotional social support in predicting internalising psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms) over time in international students. A short-term longitudinal survey design was employed with three months between two measurement points. Participants were 130 international students from a university in New Zealand. The questionnaire included questions on venting, perceived emotional social support and internalising symptoms. The longitudinal impacts of venting and its interaction with emotional support on internalising symptoms were evaluated using structural equation modelling. Perceived emotional social support significantly moderated the effect of venting on internalising symptoms over time. Specifically, venting was associated with decreased internalising symptoms when students reported low levels of perceived emotional social support. However, venting was associated with increased symptoms when they reported very high levels of perceived support. In the presence of moderate to high emotional support, venting was not associated with changes in internalising symptoms over time, indicating that venting has no significant psychological consequences for international students with moderate to high perceived support. Venting can be an adaptive coping response for those with low perceived support, but it can be harmful in the presence of very high perceived support.  相似文献   

8.
This report summarizes the results of a questionnaire study involving 296 sub-Saharan African students from a representative set of nine American campuses. Some of the results suggest that African students in this country in the middle 70s: are predominantly Christian and middle-class in origin. coming mostly from cities of over 10,000; Nigerians vastly outnumber those from any other country; are two-thirds undergraduates and one-third graduate students, with at least a third having started their American education in a community college; are mostly supported by their families or themselves. Their major problems at first are in the areas of climate, communication with Americans, discrimination, homesickness, depression, irritability, and tiredness. Only a minority feel comfortable with the basic elements of American culture, though the vast majority are pleased with the education they arc receiving. It was possible to identify several correlates of adjustment, defined as happiness and freedom from various problems. Students have a more positive attitude toward American values if they are from more prominent families, have attended an orientation to American education, and spend time with Americans rather than other Africans. Contact with the foreign-student office on campus seems to he an effective bridge to American culture and also engenders positive attitudes toward American education.  相似文献   

9.
This study examined the inter-relationships of acculturative stressors experienced by Chinese international students. A sample of 463 Chinese students in six EU countries (UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain and Belgium) responded to a web-based survey. The results showed that Chinese students in France suffered from bigger constraints in linguistic issues and dealing with life tasks than Chinese students in UK. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that language constraints and perceived cultural differences play a key role in influencing other stressors. The findings indicated that language constraints and perceived cultural differences accounted for 62% of the total variance of academic integration difficulty; language constraints accounted for 17% of the variance of problems in dealing with daily tasks; perceived cultural differences accounted for 56% of the variance of social integration difficulty; academic integration and problems in dealing with daily tasks explained 14% of the variance of homesickness.  相似文献   

10.
The global increase in international students’ population necessitates identifying their needs and engaging in practices that may support their adjustment. Along with excitement, positive attitudes and high expectations about higher education and life abroad, international students might also experience dread as they prepare to start a new life. Challenges in adjustment during the transition and developmental issues might contribute to such students’ susceptibility of intense emotional experiences, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. Nevertheless, limited research has been conducted on interventions to facilitate transition and adjustment. Indeed, there is a dearth of psychological interventions that enhance the adjustment of international students in Turkey. This study involves a program and examines how effective this program is in enhancing the adjustment levels of international students. With a 2 × 3 controlled quasi-experimental group design, the participants in the experiment group underwent eight weekly sessions of a cognitive-behavioral-oriented psychoeducational program. The posttest results indicated significant differences in coping self-efficacy favoring the experiment group. However, no significant differences were noticed between the two groups in terms of psychological adaptation and distress. Follow-up results revealed significant changes in all the three measures favoring the experiment group. The findings indicated a positive long-term effect of the psychoeducational program in enhancing the international students’ adjustment levels. Consequently, implications for college counseling service providers in terms of designing psychoeducational programs were discussed.  相似文献   

11.
This article examines the influences of international students’ beliefs of how their compatriots are evaluated by host nationals (i.e. metastereotypes). Modified labeling theory was used to predict how international students’ metastereotypes are associated with their self-disclosure, loneliness, and depression. One hundred and forty-six international students in Japan were asked to rate their metastereotypes, amount of self-disclosure, loneliness, and depression. The results showed that metastereotypes were positively associated with the amount of self-disclosure and negatively associated with loneliness and depression. A structural equation model further indicated that metastereotypes were indirectly associated with depression through loneliness. Theoretical and practical contributions are considered.  相似文献   

12.
Intercultural communication research rarely addresses the perspective of international students, who face challenges as they leave family, move to a foreign place in the US, pursue a degree, and study in a foreign language. Considering these students’ perspectives, US universities, which house large numbers of international students, should consider how they can help these students better adapt to US academic life. To address these challenges, we invited international students at a 4-year tier-one state university to interview, and we qualitatively analyzed their responses to identify how universities can help international students. Our participants noted that US students can befriend them, respect them in the classroom, and learn about other cultures to be more welcoming. Faculty have the most to do to improve international students’ success in the classroom; faculty can grade consistently, communicate outside the classroom, allow time for students to ask questions, help students adapt to US classrooms, speak slowly and eliminate idioms from examples, explain course objectives per industry, share interests and personal information, effectively use class time (particularly final examination weeks), and learn about cultures to better meet students’ needs. Additional research can diversify international students’ needs per their classification (graduate versus undergraduate), home culture, and expectations.  相似文献   

13.
Psychological resources such as emotional intelligence are claimed to act as protective factors against negative psychological adjustment outcomes of acculturative stress and depression for international students in their intercultural transition in the host country despite the dearth of substantial empirical evidence. With this in mind, the study was conducted to investigate the relationships between emotional intelligence, acculturative stress and depression. The study recruited international university students (N = 506) who were purposefully drawn from seven Chinese universities located in Wuhan. Participants completed three self-report questionnaires: Emotional Intelligence Scale, Acculturative Stress for International Students scale and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The result of the study revealed that students with a higher level of acculturative stress were found to have greater depressive symptoms. The study also indicated that emotionally intelligent students were likely to experience a lower level of acculturative stress and fewer depressive symptoms. The finding of the study further suggested that students with a higher level of emotional intelligence were likely to experience a lower level of acculturative stress and consequently appeared less depressed. Findings of the present study may assist university communities to have an insight into the nature of emotional intelligence and its impact on acculturative stress and depression, and then make the best use of this insight to work on facilitating the psychological adaptation of international students in the new environment. Implications, limitations, and future research directions for the study are discussed.  相似文献   

14.
This study examines Vietnamese students’ experiences of language choice practices in intercultural interactions with their local Taiwanese peers. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with students from five different Taiwanese universities where both English and Mandarin Chinese are used as mediums of instruction and communication. Findings suggest that the students frequently used English as a language of neutrality to communicate with local students, which either connected them with or disconnected them from their peers. They, whereas, considered Mandarin as a language of convergence, which helped them to get closer to their Taiwanese friends. They also occasionally made use of Vietnamese—a language of divergence—to a small extent to connect with their local peers. As international students seem to be the ones who often put more effort into addressing the linguistic and cultural gaps and improving the communication effectiveness compared with their local counterparts, it is recommended that local students should play a more proactive role in using proper accommodation strategies to connect with international students. Internationalised universities should also contribute to building a healthy and inclusive intercultural environment for international and local students and facilitating respectful and effective intercultural interactions among them.  相似文献   

15.
The empirical research has not provided definitive answers to questions about how to assess and report academic adjustment and whether or not it influences psychological and sociocultural adjustments. This study is a longitudinal investigation into the relationship between academic and psychological adjustment of international students from South Asian countries in a cross-cultural learning context who partied in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL) teacher education programs in Chinese universities. Using Zun's Self-Rating Depression Scale and the self-developed Scale of Academic Adaptation, the first test in December 2017 (T1) and the second in December 2019 (T2) were conducted to measure depression, learning motivation, learning behavior, learning efficacy, academic achievement, and satisfaction of South Asian students. The paper discovered significant positive correlations between five variables, indicating an interaction between the five aspects showing how involved and effective overseas students were in learning in China and a cross-lagged relationship between depression and academic adjustment. This longitudinal empirical study of international students in China aimed to help expand the application of cross-cultural adjustment theory in different educational backgrounds, and provide diverse samples and methods different from the traditional western perspective.  相似文献   

16.
The current research focus in acculturation study has been shifted to a resilience framework. Post-migration growth is one of the positive adaptation outcomes in cross-cultural adaptation. The objective of this study was to investigate post-migration growth and its predictors among Chinese international students in Australia. A total of 227 Chinese students were recruited from universities in a big Australian city, for a cross-sectional survey study. It was found that Chinese students developed a moderate level of post-migration growth in their adaptation to Australia. Hierarchical regression analysis showed (a) that duration of residence in Australia, challenge appraisal, sense-making coping and meaning-in-life were significant positive predictors; and (b) that acculturative hassles and threat appraisal were significant negative predictors of post-migration growth for Chinese international students in Australia. Theoretical implications for resilience research in acculturation and practical implications for resilience-based and meaning-oriented intervention for Chinese international students were suggested.  相似文献   

17.
Acculturation can be a challenging experience for Asian international students moving to Western countries for study. The majority of international students are young adults, a population that has recently entered the legal alcohol purchase age, and who might not be familiar with new regulatory contexts and socio-cultural environments where drinking is common. Informed by theories of acculturative stress, ethno-identity conflict and adaptation, we explored 15 Asian international students’ lived experiences of alcohol in Australia, and the social, cultural and religious contexts within which these experiences were situated. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken, with an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis exploring subjective experiences of alcohol and acculturation processes. Participants articulated numerous and varied experiences of their transitions, however, did not draw connections between stressful transition experiences and subsequent drinking. Most participants reported having increased their drinking since arrival in Australia, and although many participants had adapted to Australian patterns of drinking and socialising, they also reported it was challenging to navigate different cultural and social expectations and values around alcohol that were strongly rooted as a part of their ethnic heritage. Our participants’ experiences may be useful to inform future research on this much under-studied topic, as well as being used by universities to consider appropriate strategies for addressing alcohol-related acculturation processes as part of orientation curriculum with international students.  相似文献   

18.
Acculturation of short-term international sojourners, such as expats and international students, has received considerable attention from scholars in the past decades. Acculturation is commonly defined as the interplay between cultural maintenance, the sojourner’s desire to maintain their home culture identity, and host country participation, their desire to initiate contact with members of the host society. The present paper focuses on the role that Social Network Sites (SNS) play in the acculturation process of this group. Through a survey, we examined how 126 short-term sojourners in the Netherlands use SNS to interact with relations in both home and host country, and how this affects their cultural maintenance and host country participation. Furthermore, we examined psychological alienation and online social support as possible mediators. Our results show that on the one hand SNS contact with home country relations is positively related to online social support. On the other hand, it is also related to psychological alienation, which in turn is related to cultural maintenance. This shows that sojourners who keep in touch with friends and family at home also experience more loneliness and homesickness, and place more emphasis on their own cultural heritage. Finally, we found that SNS contact with host country relations predicts host country participation. Through online activities, sojourners are able to foster social interaction and strengthen friendships with locals.  相似文献   

19.
The purpose of this research was to develop and test a model of cross-cultural adaptation which proposes that adaptation to movement across cultures involves three processes: learning new social norms, matching behavior to these norms, and matching one's self-concept to the newly acquired behaviors and social norms. According to this model, adaptation problems arise when the foreigner fails in one or more of these processes so as to create various types of mismatches between the components of norms, behavior, and self-concept. Each type of mismatch was hypothesized to lead to a particular affective response and to be most effectively resolved by unique coping strategies which would restore balance among these three components. Successful adaptation, then, occurs when the foreigner uses the coping strategy which is appropriate to the type of mismatch problem encountered in the acculturation situation.This study tested the hypothesized relationship between mismatch problem, affective response, and coping strategy. Subjects were 40 foreign and 40 Canadian students at a Canadian university. They were presented with scenarios depicting five types of mismatches in hypothetical acculturation situations. Results showed that subjects' interpretations of these agreed with the mismatches proposed by the model. Moreover, their reported affective and coping responses confirmed the majority of the hypothesized relationships. These findings suggest the mismatch model may serve as a good framework for classifying diverse adaptation problems and for predicting the coping strategies which would effectively resolve these.  相似文献   

20.
The acculturation process generally contributes greatly to stress and anxiety levels among international students. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to see whether international students experience more anxiety, irritability, and stress from being apart from family and friends, pressure from school, difficulties with language, work and finances than students with permanent US residency, and (2) to investigate the same stressors in groups within the international student population. Surveys were distributed to 246 students aged 17–51 at an ethnically diverse community college in Southern California, US. Analysis of variance was conducted to investigate group differences between students: permanent US residents vs. international students, and, permanent US residents vs. European and Asian students, respectively. No significant differences were found between international students and students with permanent US residency. However, when the international student population was sub-grouped by above cultural regions a different pattern emerged. Difficulties of not being able to work and of socially related problems were perceived as more severe for the European and the Asian groups, while finance problems were hard for all three groups. The variable of language difficulties was harder for Asian students, while that of stress of being apart from family was harder for students from Europe. Findings are not only congruent with prior research results on international students but also demonstrate that international students with culturally diverse needs should not be considered as one homogenous group. It is suggested that educational systems need to properly adapt in order to accommodate international students’ unique cultural needs.  相似文献   

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