ERIC Number: EJ1042199
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Jul
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1028-3153
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Intercultural Identity and Intercultural Experiences of American Students in China
Tian, Mei; Lowe, John Anthony
Journal of Studies in International Education, v18 n3 p281-297 Jul 2014
The number of international students in China is increasing rapidly, but their experiences in China remain largely unknown. This article reports an intensive longitudinal multiple case study that explores eight American students' intercultural experiences and the impacts of such experiences on individual identity during their study in a Chinese university in 2010. Data come from monthly interviews and diaries that the students kept. Findings support Kim's depiction of the processes by which intercultural identity emerges, notably the "stress-adaptation-growth" cycle and the concurrent processes of "acculturation" and "deculturation". These findings reveal the journey of participants from cultural naivety to an emergent intercultural awareness and cultural critical capacity. Despite considerable ignorance and misunderstanding about China as an exotic "other" at the beginning of the program, all participants underwent some degree of cultural identity shift toward the more "open-ended . . . self-other orientation" of Kim's "intercultural identity."
Descriptors: Self Concept, Foreign Countries, Foreign Students, Longitudinal Studies, Case Studies, Acculturation, Cultural Awareness, College Students, Interviews, Student Attitudes, Biculturalism, North Americans, Diaries, Study Abroad, Exchange Programs, Reflection, Questionnaires
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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