The Use Of WeChat And Cross-cultural Adaptation Of Indonesian International Students In China

Nowadays,the global population mobility is increasing.What is different from the past is that Internet communication technology brings new opportunities and challenges to cross-cultural adaptors.As a special cross-cultural adaptation group,international students are confronted with the requirements of academic adaptation and have strong motivation to acculturate.Moreover,as active users of the Internet,they are more likely to have digital acculturation experience.With the improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and the implementation of The Belt and Road Initiative,the number of foreign students in China continues to increase in recent years,and the cross-cultural adaptation of foreign students and the use of social media need to be concerned.This study takes Indonesian students in China as the research object,and the sample includes 224 Indonesian students in China.The research method is a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods.The questionnaire mainly includes demographic information,cross-cultural adaptation strategies,WeChat use intensity,WeChat use initiative,WeChat contact groups,cross-cultural adaptation level,and the life story between Indonesian students in China and WeChat.Semi-structured in-depth interview is proposed on the basis of research problems and quantitative research results,mainly including the effect of WeChat on cross-cultural adaptation,the composition and structure of WeChat network,the difficulty of cross-cultural adaptation in China,and the reverse culture shock after returning to Indonesia.The author selected 8 subjects and conducted 40-120 minutes of online interviews respectively.The results of the interviews were presented in the form of interview logs.As for the analysis of the research results,this research mainly used SPSS for quantitative analysis,and Nvivo12 plus for qualitative spindle coding.The results of this study found that,on the whole,Indonesian students in China adapt well,but there are difficulties in social and cultural adaptation,especially in language and values.Indonesian students in China through in-depth interviews found that there is a serious "huddle together for warmth" phenomenon,many Indonesian students choose not to break through the language of comfort zone,and prefer to go shopping,communicate with Indonesian students in China.to some extent this is not conducive to Indonesian students language and values in China.In terms of the selection of cross-cultural adaptationstrategies,most Indonesian students choose the integration strategy,followed by the assimilation strategy,and few choose the separation and marginalization strategy.In terms of demographic factors,the degree of cross-cultural adaptation of Indonesian students in China is significantly influenced by whether they are of Chinese descent.The level of cross-cultural adaptation of Chinese Indonesians is higher than that of non-Chinese Indonesians.There was a significant positive correlation between time spent in China and WeChat use intensity,and WeChat use intensity of master students was higher than that of undergraduates.The core finding of this study is that there is a significant linear correlation between the use of WeChat and the level of cross-cultural adaptation.The increase in the use of WeChat includes the increase in the use intensity of WeChat and the increase in the use initiative of WeChat,which can lead to the improvement of the cross-cultural adaptation level of Indonesian students in China,while the use intensity of WeChat alone or the use initiative of WeChat cannot directly lead to the improvement of the cross-cultural adaptation level.Therefore,this provides enlightenment for the cross-cultural adaptation of Indonesian students in China.They should take the initiative to use WeChat and improve the intensity of use,so as to deepen communication with Chinese people and get familiar with Chinese society and culture,finally,improve the level of cross-cultural adaptation.Meanwhile,the international student administration should further explore the possibility of cross-cultural communication provided by WeChat,so as to make WeChat space become the link between international students,the university and the Chinese society.However,it should not be ignored that in the cyberspace represented by WeChat,they also suffer from a certain degree of Internet culture shock,which is mainly reflected in the account restrictions,high entry barriers,unclear rules,resulting in a sense of discrimination,misunderstanding caused by different decoding methods of network symbols,and network harassment.In view of these problems,WeChat platform should pay attention to them.It should use multiple languages or use short videos that are easier to interpret to explain the management rules of WeChat platform to them,so as to eliminate the gap between WeChat platform and international students in China.At the same time,the international student administration should organize corresponding online cultural exchange activities to actively help the international students from Indonesia and other countries to achieve a smooth digital life in China.It is important to note that during the outbreak of COVID-19,most of the Indonesian students return home,and they have experienced a certain degree of reverse culture shock,such as language,social customs,living environment,the conceptof time,the differences of Internet technology,etc,.In reaction to the phenomenon,the international student administration shall be notified in advance the Indonesian students may appear the phenomenon,to guide students prepare for returning,and provide some training on adaptation skills.The most important thing is the cultivation of cultural intelligence of international students,which requires the joint efforts of schools,international student management departments,Indonesian students in China and media.The cross-cultural experience of international students is not only related to personal growth and happiness,but also to the communication between countries as a member of diplomacy.Therefore,it is of great significance to improve the cross-cultural adaptation level of international students in China.