An ethnographic study of the intercultural adaption process between Chinese students and their British lecturers and fellow students in the UK

Abstract

This ethnographic study mms to extend Kim's (1988, 2001) model of cross-cultural adaptation and Jin's (1992; Jin and Cortazzi, 1993) Cultural Synergy model by providing qualitative data to demonstrate the two-way intercultural adaptation process between Chinese students and British lecturers/students in a MBA programme at 'Weston University' (a pseudonym) in the UK, in both classroom and group communication contexts. The total population of this study is 228 (190 students and 38 academic staff) in 2003-2004. A backgr~und introduction to traditional Chinese culture and academic culture is presented, since cultural distance and academic cultural distance are identified as two underlying factors that influence Chinese students' intercultural adaptation process. Intercultural adaptation is a process of self growth involving one's behavioural, cognitive and affective factors change over time (Kim, 1988,2001; Ward, 1996), and a process of one's cultural identity adaptation from mono cultural to intercultural (Kim, 2001). Meanwhile it is a process of one's intercultural sensitivity development, ranging from ethnocentric to ethnorelative (Bennett, 1986, 1993). This study aims to explore how both Chinese students and British lecturers/students meet each other's academic expectations and adapt to the intercultural academic identity (a mixture of Chinese and British cultures of learning) and how they cope with the dilemma of retaining their original academic identities (and co-national relationship) as well as developing new academic identities - intercultural academic identities (and inter-relationships), based on Berry et al. 's (1988, 1989) acculturation model and Jin's (1992, Jin and Cortazzi, 1993) cultural synergy model. This study accepts an interpretive-qualitative paradigm and adopts ethnography as its research strategy, with an emphasis on the process of participants' intercultural adaptation in the particular cultural contexts. A mixed method or triangulation is adopted as the main data collection method, which involves participant observation, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and documentary analysis. Grounded theory is the main analysis strategy for generating the new concept and theoretical model. Several analysis methods are employed: episode analysis, transcript analysis, artificial 'dialogue', comparative analysis, and key sentence quote. The research findings indicate that Chinese students and British lecturers/students underwent three-stage adaptation processes in both classroom and group communication contexts, from the initial unfamiliarity and frustration, relatively good relationship, via gradual adaptation but more frustration, less good relationship, to the final stage of gradual adaptation and relaxation (better communication and relationship between those adopting integration strategies, less good communication and relationship between those adopting separation strategies).

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