Exploring Acculturation Strategies and Intercultural Communication Competence of Chinese International Students at a Private University in Thailand
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This study aimed to explore freshman Chinese international students’ acculturation strategies (AS) and intercultural communication competence (ICC) using explanatory sequential mixed method. A total of 145 Chinese undergraduates studying in six international programs at a private university self-assessed their AS and ICC through an online questionnaire; six of them voluntarily participated in semi-structured interviews. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed by SPSSPRO, frequency and percentage for the participants' personal information, and mean and standard deviation for their AS and ICC. Content analysis was used to analyze data from the interviews.
The quantitative results revealed their predominant choice of integration strategy ( =3.53) so as to maintain their own culture and seek involvement in Thai society and their highest level of ICC ( =4.29). Their highly self-perceived ICC driven by learning about English-speaking cultures previously during their study of English in middle and high schools (93.10%) and liking to learn about those English-speaking cultures (71.72%), acquiring intermediate and advanced English levels (84.82%), staying in the host country at least a year (77.94%), watching English movies (76.55%), reading cultural books (71.71%), and acquiring intermediate and advanced Thai levels (69.66%) were seen to influence their appropriate choice of AS. The qualitative outcomes supplemented reasons behind this choice in that they obviously recognized the integrative benefits which would make their life easier during their study in Thailand, help them communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds better and improve their academic performance. The findings implied that the Chinese students could undergo the process of acculturation better or adjust themselves to the Thai social environment more easily because they had positive attitudes towards other cultures, an understanding of their own culture and of others, skills in interacting with foreigners and dealing with cultural differences, and awareness of cultural values of Chinese culture and of others.
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