The Intercultural Construction Of Social Networks Of Chinese Students In Germany

Recently,there has been a rapid increase of Chinese students studying abroad in Germany.In order to gain support and get used to life in a new country,it is necessary for them to construct new social networks.In this case study,I choose T University as a research field and use the methods of participant observation and quantitative research to analyze the process of students' construction of social networks in an intercultural context.In this paper,I analyze the behavioral strategies of Chinese students from rational,structural and cultural perspectives.There are three stages in the process of constructing social networks:In the first stage,Chinese students are introduced into the new society and start to build local relationships.The direct ways of building networks include coming across contacts accidently and getting into contacts from activities in different places.The indirect ways of meeting contact include building relationships through a third person,through organizations for overseas students and through social media.In the second stage,students rationally take measures to develop and maintain relationships within their networks."Double-relations",special events and common interests are important opportunities for developing relations.The most commonly used methods to maintain relationships are maintaining contact behavior,social behavior and kindness exchange behavior.In the last stage,students mobilize resources within their social networks to get the necessary support.In order to get information resources,students tend to utilize both weak ties and strong ties according to the situation.In order to get instrumental support,the strategies of expressing demands and responding to offers are of great importance.For emotional support,students usually ask for the closest friends in their social networks and show a great amount of emotional involvement in mutual support.In the process of constructing social networks,rational choices,social structures and cultural conventions all influence students' specific behaviors in situations.In order to adapt to German society,students are able to adjust their contact methods to different situations,thus making progress in the construction of intercultural social networks.The whole process of social network construction shows the "stranger" state of Chinese students,in which "understanding" and "misunderstanding" coexist.It is also difficult for them to obtain a sense of belonging.By participating in activities,students gain the reflective ability of intercultural behaviors.These features turn out to be the outcome of rational,structural and cultural effects on overseas students.