The Impact Of WeChat Use On The Cross-cultural Psychological And Social Adaptation Of International Students In Lanzhou

With the increasing number of the international students in China,the study on international students’ cross-cultural adaptation has become a hot research topic in China.The domestic research on cross-cultural adaptation mainly focus on psychological adaptation,social adaptation and the influencing factors on cross-cultural adaptation.Social media brings new opportunities and challenges to cross-cultural adaptors in the new technological era.Therefore,the influence of social media on the cross-cultural adaptation of international students in China needs to be studied.Based on Berry’s two-dimensional model of cross-cultural adaptation,this research intends to study the following questions:1.How do demographic factors affect the cross-cultural psychological and social adaptation of international students in China?2.How does the motivation and intensity of WeChat use affect the cross-cultural psychological and social adaptation of international students in China?3.Are the motivation,intensity,cross-cultural psychological and social adaptation of the foreign students in China related to their Chinese proficiency?This study collected 119 international students in China from 34 countries in the form of questionnaire surveys.The questionnaire included demographic information,Chinese proficiency(HSK level and individual scores),WeChat use motivation,WeChat use intensity,cross-cultural psychological adaptation and social adaptation.The results of the study are as follows:1.The average depression index of all subjects is0.56,which is considered mild depression.International students have a high degree of depression in terms of homesickness and attitudes toward Chinese people,thus should be used as the object of psychological problem prevention.In the demographic characteristics,two aspects of different countries and different time duration of studying abroad have a significant impact on psychological adaptation,while two aspects of different genders,different ages have no impact on psychological adaptation.The average difficulty of social and cultural adaptation for all subjects is 0.49,which is a general difficulty.The understanding of the local language and the adaptation to the Chinese political system are the most difficult areas for international students and should be counseled.Only different countries have a significant impact on social and cultural adaptation,while the three aspects of different genders,different ages,different time duration of studying abroad have no impact on social and cultural adaptation.2.There is a significant positive correlation between WeChat use motivation and the cross-cultural psychological and social adaptation of international students in China,and there is a significant causal relationship,that is,the stronger the WeChat use motivation,the better the cross-cultural psychological and social adaptation of international students.There is no correlation between the intensity of WeChat use and the cross-cultural psychological adaptation and social adaptation of international students.3.The Chinese proficiency of foreign students has no correlation with WeChat motivation,intensity,and cross-cultural psychological adaptation of foreign students,but there is a significant positive correlation with international students’ cross-cultural social adaptation,and there is a significant causal relationship,that is,the stronger the Chinese proficiency,the cross-cultural social adaptation of foreign students The better.4.The listening proficiency,reading proficiency,and writing proficiency of the same level of foreign students are not related to the motivation,intensity,and cross-cultural psychological adaptation of the foreign students in China.But these three are significantly positively correlated with cross-cultural social adaptation,and there is a causal relationship,that is,the stronger the listening,reading,and writing skills,the better the social adaptation.The results of the current study provided some implications for international students and their Chinese universities on how to make good use of social media to adapt to the life in China successfully.Firstly,more attention needs to be paid on teaching international students how to use WeChat correctly and efficiently,enhancing their motivation of using Wechat,strengthening communication with Chinese people,and to be familiar with Chinese society and culture,so as to improve their own cross-cultural adaptation.Secondly,teachers should train international students in listening,reading,and writing skills to improve their Chinese proficiency and promote their cross-cultural social adaptation.What’s more,Chinese universities should provide supports for international students to use social media in their cross-cultural adaptation solving the problems encountered by international students in the process of cross-cultural adaptation.