Sociocultural Adjustment And Intercultural Competence Enhancement

This qualitative study aims to investigate the intercultural experiences of members from the IFSA Buddy Program in the Chinese context.To address this research goal,Byram’s model of Intercultural Competence and Searle and Ward’ s sociocultural adjustment framework are utilized to explore the Chinese students’ intercultural competence and American students’ sociocultural adjustment.By adopting the method of participant observation and in-depth semi-structured interviews,the findings show that the Buddy Program exerts a positive influence on the sociocultural adjustment of American students and the intercultural competence of Chinese students.As for American students,this study firstly explores the initial motivations and expectation,and examines factors that influence American students’ adjustment process.Findings,based on the analysis of intercultural experiences throughout the Buddy Program,show that the American students enhance their language competence,better understand and respect the cultural differences,and more engage in the Chinese community throughout the Buddy Program.As for intercultural competence development of Chinese students,this study reveals that Chinese students improve their intercultural competence,which is reflected in the growth of cultural knowledge,the improvement of communication skills as well as the change of attitudes.The qualitative study on the Buddy Program will not only enrich the literature of the Buddy Program in the Chinese context but provide valuable insights for increasing the intercultural interaction between Chinese and American students on the principle of mutual benefit.Besides,some best practices and suggestions of participants identified in this research could serve as references for program organizers in higher education.In the meanwhile,it gives some recommendations for improving the Buddy Program and implications for future research in this field.