A Study On The Adaptation Of International Volunteer Chinese Teachers In Thailand To Cross-cultural Communication

To meet with the international wave of Chinese learning along with China’s rapid growth of economy and the profound cultural heritage, about 500 Confucius Institutes have been co-established by domestic and foreign universities in 134 countries by 2016 within huge support from Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) (hereinafter referred to as Hanban). Accompanied with the construction of Confucius Institutes, the international volunteer Chinese teacher project has been launched for ten years since 2006 and thousands of international volunteer Chinese teachers (hereinafter referred to as IVCTs) have been sent to overseas Confucius Institutes to teach Chinese language and spread Chinese culture. Living in an unfamiliar environment with alien culture, IVCTs inevitably face with the issue of adaptation to cross-cultural communication. By combining the cross-cultural adaptation modes and adaptation strategies, this thesis, which aims at studying the adaptation status of IVCTs in Thailand, endeavors to answer the following three questions:(1) What about the adaptation status of IVCTs in Thailand? Do maladaptation problems exit to IVCTs, and, if so, in what kind of aspects? (2) Does the IVCTs’cross-cultural adaptation process have stage characteristics or laws? (3) Are there any adaptation strategies adopted by IVCTs, if so, what are the strategies and effect?The qualitative research method is the main one used in the paper, which has advantages for the delineation of the study objects’inner experience and for the interpretation of the cross-cultural adaptation behavior and for the construction of meaning, for the representation of the life interactive process in cross-cultural adaptation. The research tools used include questionnaire and two times of semi-structure deep interviews. Furthermore, the research includes a follow-up investigation into the cross cultural adaptation by six IVCTs in the Confucius Institute at Prince of Songkhla University.The study finds out the following features of cross-cultural adaptation by six IVCTs in question. In the first instance, IVCTs in question are smooth in cross-cultural adaptation, mainly including two aspects. On the first hand, the social cross-cultural adaptation by IVCTs in question is well, which especially embodied in the following aspects:etiquette of residence and house, eating patterns, common practice in work, clothing custom and daily transportation. On the other hand, IVCTs in question also do well in the interpersonal communication, including the good choice of communication skills and the harmonious living with foreigners. Secondly, the process of cross-cultural adaptation by IVCTs is a gradual one which in general includes initial stage and final smooth cross-cultural adaptation. The initial stage is characterized by IVCTs’excitement and consternation simultaneously for the first time in a totally unfamiliar country. The total adaptation process echoes the U-curve mode. Thirdly, IVCTs adopt integrative communication skill which embodies the following four pieces of strategies: reinforcement of learning language and culture in the target country, making full use of Thai communication tools, strengthening communication with the local people in the target country and having an open, positive and tolerant cultural attitude. Finally, when it comes to the factor analysis, the study reveals that IVCTs’growing Thai cultural knowledge help IVCTs to adapt to Thai culture. Again, identities of Chinese teachers also help IVCTs to set up good interpersonal relationship with Thais.