International Students' Intercultural Adaptation And Coping Strategies

Recent years have witnessed the rapid increase in the number of international students enrolled in a degree in China,especially under the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative.This paper applied Stress Subscales in College Success,the Brief Cope Scale,the Index of Sojourner Social Support Scale and the Academic Adjustment Scale to conduct a survey in Shanghai International Studies University.This was meant to find out the correlations of stress and coping strategies,as well as what social support the international students have for their academic adjustment.112 valid participants in all are counted in the analyses.Through the difference and correlation analyses,the author found that the overall academic adjustment of the participants is good.In particular,their academic motivation is relatively higher than their academic lifestyle and achievement.Their stress mainly comes from their performance in class.While dealing with stress and other problems,the participants are more likely to apply secondary coping strategies.They received more support from their families and friends in their motherlands,especially in terms of socioemotional support.Age,whether this is their first visit to China,previous overseas experiences,and language proficiency have significant impact on the different variables of academic adjustment.As to correlation analyses,primary coping and instrumental social support have significant positive impacts on academic achievement and motivation;the secondary coping is positively correlated with academic lifestyle.Apart from the questionnaire,the author also conducted four in-depth interviews among those international students who have problems with the academics in their programs.The students explore their specific academic stress and coping strategies.Practical suggestions are raised to improve their adaptation in terms of administration and environment.