Cross-cultural adaptation and second language acquisition: A study of international students in universities of the People’s Republic of China

In the past decade, studying Chinese as a second language has prospered, which has attracted a large influx of international students from all over the world into China. The enrollments of international students in Chinese universities have shown on double digit increases annually since 1999. Yet in China, such students remain one of the most understudied populations. This book comprehensively reviews theories in motivation in second language acquisition, cross-cultural psychology and higher education, expands and tests Gardner?s well-known Socio-educational model by incorporating socio-cultural adaptation and academic adaptation as the mediators. It is one of few studies where the relationships of the study variables are thoroughly investigated over a reasonably long period of time in a non-Western country. This book will appeal to language teachers, program designers, campus counseling staff and researchers in applied linguistics, cross-cultural psychology, international education and bilingual education.