A Study On Culture Learning Strategies Of International Students In China From An Intercultural Communication Perspective

With the significant development of education for international students,China now stands as the third most popular country for international students to study globally and the most popular among all the Asian countries.The study of international students as a research subject has attracted increasing attention from the academic field in China.As one of the major contributors in the research related to international students in China,the field of teaching Chinese as a second language(TCSL)has made a great effort to improve international students' learning experiences in China,particularly on how to develop their Chinese language skills.In recent years,as international students are playing an increasing role in spreading Chinese culture to other parts of the world,the importance of intercultural communication theory in the field of teaching Chinese as a second language has been widely recognized and valued.Based on the culture learning theory developed in intercultural communication research,this dissertation focuses on culture learning experiences of international students in China and explores culture learning strategies that have not been closely studied in the field.It aims to answer the following research questions:(1)What are the culture learning strategies used by international students in China? What types can these learning strategies be categorized into?(2)How do international students in this study use culture learning strategies?(3)How do factors like gender,length of study in China,Chinese proficiency,home country affect the use of culture learning strategies?To answer these research questions,this study employs a mixed-methods design combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches,and adopts research procedures according to the exploratory sequential design.The study is divided into two phases.The first phase is the qualitative one.Through the purposeful sampling method,successful language and culture learners(N=14)are selected as interview respondents.The specific culture learning strategies employed by them are identified,summarized,and analyzed,and finally a system of international students' culture learning strategies is developed.The second stage is the quantitative one.Based on the culture learning strategy classification system developed in the qualitative research,a survey instrument for the quantitative research is developed.After the reliability and validity test of the questionnaire is completed,international students are recruited(N=515)to participate.SPSS 19.0 software is employed to analyze the data collected.Descriptive statistics are used to discuss how international students are using culture learning strategies;the t-test and One-way analysis of variance(ANOVA)are used to analyze how learners' gender,length of study in China,Chinese proficiency,and home country are affecting their use of culture learning strategies.The results of this study can be summarized as follows: First,a culture learning strategy classification system for international students in China is developed.The system consists of five dimensions,including(1)“culture contact strategies”,(2)“participant observation strategies”,(3)“culture understanding strategies”,(4)“emotion management strategies”,and(5)“acculturation strategies”.Second,international students in this study are found to be at a medium level in the overall use of those culture learning strategies,and they are also at a medium level considering use of all five sub-strategies.The participant observation strategy is the most frequently used strategy compared to other strategies.The culture contact strategy is the least frequently used.Third,gender,length of study in China,Chinese language proficiency,and home country are examined and found to be significant factors influencing the use of certain culture strategies.Chinese proficiency and length of study in China are the most significant factors affecting the use of culture learning strategies for foreign students.Chinese language proficiency has a significant impact on the overall strategy use and the use of five sub-strategies;length of study in China is one of significant factors affecting the overall strategy use and five sub-strategies except emotion management strategy;the influence of gender as a factor only exists in the use of emotional management strategies,which indicates that female learners are better at using emotional management strategies than male learners;learners' home country is mainly found to have influence on the use of culture understanding strategies.