Swedish Students Intercultural Adaptation Research In Shanghai

With the rapid development of Chinese economy, the steady rise in international status, as well as the increasing political, economic and cultural exchanges, the demand for learning Chinese is growing sharply across the world. Known as an international metropolis and the financial center of China, with Shanghai regional culture, Shanghai is attracting more and more international students to study Chinese and experience Chinese culture after the World Expo.Studying abroad means being suddenly confronted with a completely new environment, including different climate and food, language barrier, diverse values and patterns of behavior. This more or less will discomfort International students, and therefore, it is necessary to carry out research on the cross-cultural adaptation of foreign students. This article discusses cross-cultural adaptation of different countries, studying Swedish students at Fudan University and analyzing both their cross-cultural adaptation in Shanghai and the factors that influence them.This research adopts Ward’s definition of cross-cultural adaptation. First, cross-cultural adaptation is divided into sociocultural adaptation and psychological adaptation. Furthermore, the methods regarding both quality and quantity are applied in this research. The cross-cultural adaptation of Swedish students at the universities in Shanghai and the factors that influence them are investigated by means of questionnaires and interviews. Last but not least, strategies and recommendations are put forward.