The Influence Of Chinese Proficiency Of African Degree Students In China On Intercultural Adaptation

In recent years,the friendly relationship between China and Africa has enhanced the development of its educational cooperation.More and more African students came to China for degree studies.Their intercultural adaptation has thus attracted attention for research.As language barrier is considered as one of the first few challenges encountered by international students,it is worth researching into the influence of Chinese proficiency of African degree students in China on their intercultural adaptation as well as the coping strategies for better adaptation.This paper is based on an empirical study on the influence of Chinese proficiency of African degree students in China on their intercultural adaptation.The research was conducted from the three dimensions of social and cultural adaptation,psychological adaptation and academic adaptation.A questionnaire survey was deployed from the voluntary sample of African degree students from three universities in Zhejiang province,China(N=87)as the main method for this research followed with in-depth interviews with the questionnaire sample(N=11)to triangulate the validity and reliability of the data yielded.The questionnaire is self-designed in 5Richter scale.The data from the questionnaire was analyzed with SPSS 25.0,which was evidenced by the qualitative data from the interviews.The main findings are as follows:(1)The intercultural adaptation of African students is generally at a good level.The score of social and cultural adaptation is the highest,and the score of academic adaptation is the lowest.(2)There are differences between the total scale of intercultural adaptation and the dimensions of social and cultural adaptation,but there are no significant differences in the dimensions of psychological and academic adaptation.(3)The level of Chinese proficiency can only positively predict,to a certain extent,the intercultural adaptation of African degree students in China.The level of Chinese proficiency cannot determine their intercultural adaptation.This research indicates that intercultural adaptation is dependent on students’ individual differences,the recognition of their intercultural identity as well as the academic support mechanism available.Chinese proficiency is not the decisive factor influencing their intercultural adaptation.This study puts forward suggestions for targeted groups as university administrators,university teachers and African students that higher education institutions should,among others,provide international students with better humanistic care as well as improved management and service.Besides,universities should enhance education the quality of and provision students for academic learning.Concerted efforts should be made to improve students’ competence and level of intercultural adaptation so as to shorten the period of intercultural adaptation.