Adjustments And Coping Strategies Of International Students In China

International students face certain challenges in the course of their academic sojourn. Thesechallenges can be termed as stress, while stress according to Kelly and Evans (2004), is a20thcentury disease that has been viewed as a complex and dynamic transaction between individualsand their environments. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the stress,adjustment and coping strategies of international students in Northeast China. Qualitative andquantitative research designs were employed for the study. A questionnaire consisting of fivescales was administered to254international students randomly selected from two universities inChangchun City. Seven research questions and seven hypotheses were tested in the study. Uni-variate and bi-variate statistical measures were adopted to analyze data. Findings of the studyrevealed that weather,(94%), language barrier(87%) and food choices (60%) were the mostprevalent stress factors among international students, while the most effective coping strategieswere calling home (86%), visiting friends (80%), listening to music (79%) and surfing theinternet (72%). The study also revealed that although weather was the highest stress factor, therewas no significant effect of weather on the social adjustment experience of international students(Χ2=1.10, p>0.05). Furthermore, there is a significant effect of continent of origin and officiallanguage of the respondent on Chinese language proficiency,(Χ2=6.87, P<0.05), wherebyKorean language has the highest influence on Chinese language proficiency. Also, one yearChinese language study has a significant effect on cultural adjustment of international students(Χ2=42.3, P<0.05), while length of stay of international students also has a significant effect onChinese language proficiency (F=5.473, P<0.05). However, duration of stay of internationalstudents has no significant influence on adjustment experience (F=2.099, P>0.05). Therelationship between demographic variables of age, sex and marital status on social adjustment experience of international students showed that age had the strongest positive correlation withsocial adjustment (r=0.16). The study reveals that there is a significant effect of marital status ofrespondents on social adjustment experience of international students (Χ2=20.8, P<0.05), as non-married respondents had more highly adjusted international students compared with marriedstudents who only fairly adjusted to social life in china. Finally, findings of the study reveal thatthere is a positive relationship between out-of-class activity, sport activities, social interactionand social adjustment to host community. This study concludes that language proficiency is verysignificant in the socio-cultural adjustment of international students among several other factorsassociated with this process and international students from different continents, representingdiverse cultural backgrounds adjust differently to stressful conditions.