An Analysis Of Overseas Chinese Students' Cultural Acculturation And Solution

Where there is intercultural contact, there is culture shock and cultural acculturation. This paper studies the problems of the cultural acculturation of Chinese overseas students, which is based upon the case study of the Chinese overseas students in Oklahoma University in the United States of America,This paper aims to discover the state of Chinese overseas students'acculturation; and to probe into the most influencing factor leading to acculturation and the solutions to acculturation problems through the use of a social support network.This paper consists of five parts:Chapter One serves as an introduction; the author explains the significance, objectives and the framework of the thesis. The author also explains why the cultural acculturation of the Chinese overseas students In Oklahoma University of USA was used as the thesis topic.Chapter Two is a review of pertinent literature. The author first introduces some relevant concepts of cultural acculturation from the perspective of intercultural communication. Then it gives a brief review of the research on cultural acculturation in the history in China and overseas, which give us a good overview of cultural acculturation of the Chinese overseas.Chapter Three probes the four processes and characteristics of cultural acculturation: fresh, honeymoon, crisis, recover, all taken from the perspective of the Chinese overseas students in Oklahoma University. It also aims at the factors influencing their acculturation, in the hope that it will provide helpful strategies to present and future overseas students. The survey consists of questionnaires taken of 407 Chinese overseas students who are currently studying in Oklahoma University.Chapter Four is the conclusion of the thesis with and explanation of some interpersonal social support networking, combined with some culture-specific methods toward acculturation. This thesis also emphasizes the development of a social networking of overseas Chinese Organization, including Student Unions, the Confucius Institute, Internet, culture training, psychological consulting, Social Supporting Organization, etc. Finally, the last part is the conclusions, summing up the study limitations and shortcomings inherent in this thesis. The author hopes the paper makes more people pay more attention to the cultural acculturation of the Chinese overseas students.This thesis shows 91% Chinese overseas students suffer cultural acculturation problems of varying degrees. The students face the study pressure, economic pressure, psychological difficulties, a language barrier, foreign foods, cultural difference, personal safety, racial discrimination, etc. Among these problems, language proficiency and social support networks affect them the most in process of their cultural adaptation.