The Effects of the Chinese Students’ Acculturation Strategies on Students’ Life and Learning Achievement: A Case Study of a Thai Private University

Abstract

Acculturation is the change in the original culture of one or both parties when people of different cultural groups are in continuous direct contact. Acculturation strategies divide acculturation into four types of strategies: assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization.This study uses a mixed-methods approach to investigate the acculturation strategies and the effects of the chosen strategies on student life and learning achievement of Chinese students at a private university in Thailand. The sample consist of 159 Chinese students, sampled from the target population of 263 Chinese students enrolled between 2019 and 2020 Academic Year. The instruments were 35-item questionnaire and in-depth semi-structured interview. The results of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis showed that most of the Chinese students in the sample used integration strategy, which had positive effects on student life and learning achievement. This study suggests that universities provide more help during the acculturation stage of international students, and that international students can prepare themselves in advance to better adapt to the new environment.