Looking Into Intercultural Adaptation Theories From The Perspective Of Paradigm

Intercultural adaptation has been attracting great concerns from anthropology, sociology, psychology, intercultural communication and other disciplines. Since1930s, researches in these fields have yielded fruitful results. However, theoretical researches on intercultural adaptation are comparatively few, mainly focusing on the construction, revision and verification of theories, instead of systematic review of and reflection on the existing theories. In view of this, this study, based on Kuhn’s Paradigm Theory, makes an attempt to review the existing intercultural adaptation theories systematically and transdisciplinarily, and to reflect on the essential similarities and differences among these theories. It is aimed to clarify the status quo and future development of intercultural adaptation theories.The study primarily expounds the applicability of Paradigm Theory to the researches in social sciences, and redefines "paradigm" accordingly. After that, the leading paradigms which guide the theoretical researches on intercultural adaptation, the main intercultural adaptation theories, and an intercultural adaptation case are analyzed sequentially at different levels as illustrated below.At the macro level, three leading paradigms in the theoretical researches on intercultural adaptation are identified according to the disciplinary background of the researches and the essence of intercultural adaptation, taking account of the paradigm categories in social sciences, especially in intercultural communication. The study argues that the theoretical researches on intercultural adaptation are mainly based on positivist paradigm, critical paradigm and constructivist paradigm. Then, the ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions of these three paradigms are elaborated.At the medium level, intercultural adaptation theories within the three different paradigms are introduced respectively and the representative features of these theories are subject to content analysis. We hold that the fundamental assumptions of a paradigm, namely its ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions, decide or influence the representative features of its theories, and correspondingly, the representative features of a theory reflect its fundamental paradigmatic assumptions. Thus, the representative features of the theories such as their aims, concepts and relations, and the methods of constructing and verifying are analyzed in order to figure out their fundamental paradigmatic assumptions. Due to the large number of theories, only some representative theories within the respective paradigms are analyzed as examples.At the micro level, different analytical perspectives of the above-mentioned paradigms are compared and contrasted by an intercultural adaptation case study. Together with the analyses at the macro and medium levels, it reveals the advantages and limitations of the leading paradigms, and highlights the theoretical development of intercultural adaptation researches.This three-level analytical framework not only helps us understand the essential similarities and differences among so many intercultural adaptation theories from the perspective of paradigm, but also makes the abstract paradigmatic differences embodied. Based on this progressive analysis, the result of our study demonstrates that:(1) Kuhn’s Paradigm Theory is applicable to our research on intercultural adaptation theories.(2) The leading paradigms in the theoretical researches on intercultural adaptation include positivist paradigm, critical paradigm and constructivist paradigm.(3) The ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions of a paradigm decide or influence the representative features of its theories, and correspondingly, the representative features of a theory reflect its fundamental paradigmatic assumptions.(4) The diverse paradigms in the theoretical researches on intercultural adaptation are complementary and commensurable, and the application of different paradigms is uneven. The diversity, complementarity and commensurability of the research paradigms will be beneficial to our thorough and deep understanding of intercultural adaptation while the uneven application of different paradigms in researches will be obstructive to such understanding.(5) The theoretical development of intercultural adaptation researches requires the cultivation of paradigm consciousness, close attention to the context and intersubjectivity of intercultural adaptation, and open attitude towards new paradigms.Theoretically, our review of and reflection on intercultural adaptation theories from the perspective of paradigm helps us grasp the essential similarities and differences among these theories to deepen our understanding of intercultural adaptation and bridge the gaps among different disciplines to contribute to transdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation. It also can be served as an illustrative example of the application of Paradigm Theory to researches in social sciences, especially in intercultural communication. Practically, our study not only provides better theoretical guidance for the floating population in the globalizing world to help accelerate their intercultural adaptation, but also offers important theoretical guidance for intercultural education and training.To sum up, our study initiates researches on intercultural adaptation theories from the perspective of paradigm. It generates a new look into intercultural communication theories. This new research perspective, together with the three-level analytical framework and the transdisciplinary view, is innovative in the researches on intercultural adaptation theories.