A Study Of Lao International Students' Sociocultural Adaptation And Academic Adaptation At A Regional University In Yunnan Province

With cultural exchange among countries deepening,an increasing number of international students come to China and receive higher education.International students' sociocultural adaptation and academic adaptation have long been major focuses among sociolinguistics,which assist in investigating international students' situation in new environment.Also,they are of significance to improve international education and to boost cultural exchange among countries.Even though international students in China have drawn researchers' attention from home and abroad and researchers especially pay attention to those who study in famous universities in metropolitan areas,there is a limited research on the international students at regional universities which are close to other countries,let alone southeast Asian students.Based on the background,the present study explored Lao students' sociocultural adaptation and academic adaptation at a regional university in Yunnan province,and to find out their adaptations patterns and characteristics.Besides,the challenges that Lao students encountered in daily and academic life were discovered.Finally,correlation analysis between sociocultural adaptation and academic adaptation was conducted.A total of 284 Lao students participated in the questionnaire.Among them,10 anonymous students received face-to-face interviews.The software SPSS 18.0 was applied to analyze the questionnaire statistics.The results showed that: 1)Lao students at the regional university experienced slight difficulty in sociocultural and academic adaptations in general.The pattern of their sociocultural adaptation was similar to a parabola,while the pattern of their academic adaptation started from a relatively low point to a relatively high point and tended to be stable;2)As for the characteristics of the two types adaptation,gender had a great impact on sociocultural adaptation and major had a significant impact on academic adaptation;3)Through factor analysis,the challenges they encountered in daily life included the interaction with people in public situation,the interaction withother students,objective factors,the ability to Chinese comprehension and communication,the initiative to interact with others,the ability to understand dialect,and the way of contacting families.The challenges in academic life included the initiative to study,understanding of Chinese education mode,understanding of school regulations,and the devotion to extracurricular reading;4)Correlation analysis proved that Lao students' sociocultural adaptation and academic adaptation were positively associated.The findings of this study may provide suggestions to teachers who arrange international students' curriculum and enrich international students' extracurricular activities.Also,the findings may benefit for schools to improve teaching quality and to attract more international students.