Beyond Language Barriers: Chinese Students’ Cross-cultural Adaptation in Catalonia through a Life Story Lens
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Abstract
With the globalization of higher education, the number of Chinese students undergoing cross-cultural adaptation in multilingual context in Europe is increasing. This inquiry employs a narrative research approach based on life history, conducting semi-structured interviews with four Chinese undergraduate international students from the Faculty of Education at the University of Barcelona in Spain. It examines their current state of cross-cultural adaptation in these environments, as well as the factors that influence this process. The findings show that the cross-cultural adaptation process of Chinese students is influenced by a combination of individual and contextual factors. While they currently demonstrate the capacity to adapt well to their overseas study life, they have not yet fully integrated or actively adopted relevant strategies. Therefore, this inquiry proposes strategies to enhance the future cross-cultural adaptation process for this group, focusing on improving their proficiency in the local languages of the multilingual context, constructing more life-oriented local social networks, and bolstering their psychological resilience to against diverse challenges.
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