On The Causes Of And Solutions To Chinese International Students’ Cross-cultural Adaptation Problems In The U.S.

With more and more Chinese students going to the United States for studies,their overseas life and cross-cultural adaptation have been drawing greater and greater attention from researchers.The present study,drawing upon Young Yun Kim’s integrated cross-cultural adaptation theory,sets out to explore the problems with Chinese international students in American higher education institutions in their cross-cultural adaptation with Chinese undergraduate students as case studies who are interviewed in the documentary,WE Students Abroad.Among the main findings are: 1)They have encountered academic problems(i.e.the barriers of the English language,difficulties with choices of majors,learning shock,overloaded reading and writing tasks,etc.),socio-cultural problems(i.e.socio-cultural adaptation,American ways of interpersonal interaction,overloaded extracurricular activities,dilemma in hunting for employment,etc.),and psychological problems(i.e.culture shock,racial discrimination and prejudice,cultural acculturation and uncertainty of cultural identity,etc.)2)They have experienced a similar three-stage process of what is termed by Kim as the Stress-Adaptation-Growth Dynamic Model(i.e.inevitable stress,transitional adaptation and encouraging growth.)3)What have caused these stressful phenomena are mainly differences between China and the U.S.in culture and education(i.e.cultural patterns,value orientation,patterns of thought,social norms and customs,education system,educational philosophy,educational features,educational goals,teaching and learning styles,family education,ethnocentrism,etc.)Therefore,the present study focuses on these three aspects to find out some practical ways of helping Chinese students in the U.S.with their cross-cultural adaptation.The application and enrichment of Kim’s model have proven its validity and practical value,which will be of some reference value to those who are going to or are already in the U.S.for their cross-cultural adaptation.In addition,the present study has its implications for English teaching in China.