Understanding International Graduate Students’ Acculturation Using Q Methodology

Abstract

When students from other countries come to the United States to study, social, cultural, and often academic adjustments are necessary to foster their successful integration into college and university life. Using multiple theories of personal adaptability (social, emotional, cultural, communication), a Q sort of 47 statements was sorted by 21 international students studying at a Midwestern land-grant university. The procedures of Q method were followed to yield 3 resultant factors, which were interpreted as Confident, Appreciative, and Apprehensive Optimists. Implications for student development and programs to facilitate success for international students are evident.

A Brief Introduction to Q Methodology

“…In education, Q has been used to examine topics such as student perceptions of blended e-Education (Kim, 2012), women's attitudes toward mathematics, science, and computer science subjects (Author, 2013), undergraduate student personal epistemology toward physics (Ramlo, 2008), international students' acculturation process (Bang & Montgomery, 2013), and undergraduate student learning behavioral patterns (Author, 2014).…”

International Graduate Students’ Second Language Acquisition in Their Acculturation: A Research Synthesis

“…Several authors (e.g., Bang & Montgomery, 2013;Cheng & Erben, 2011;Lam, 1994) borrowed the definition of acculturation from the established model, such as Schumann's acculturation model. Schumann (1986) connected acculturation to second language acquisition with its definition: "the social and psychological integration of the learner with the target language (TL) group" (p. 379).…”

“…Cheng and Erben (2011) also stated that "acculturation is an individual's process of adaptation and socialization, in which members of one cultural group accept the beliefs and manners of the host culture" (p. 479). In the same vein, Bang and Montgomery (2013) referred to acculturation as an individual's adjustment process of the interactional dynamics between two or more cultural systems.…”

The Importance of Cross-Cultural Capabilities for Chinese Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Australia

“…In particular, compared with other clusters, optimists' attitude capability was right polarised, which is valued the most in their set of cross-cultural capability. People who tend to be open-minded, with a more positive attitude, may have a higher possibility of achieving emotional well-being (Bang & Montgomery, 2013). This may not explain optimists' attitude capability, as attitude capability did not seem to affect their emotion capability.…”

“…Lastly, cross-cultural research has identified that individuals have different profiles that display how well they adapt to the host country, such as immigrants' different cultural identities and different strategies of international students (Bang & Montgomery, 2013). A key issue is whether findings from research with immigrants can apply to immigrant entrepreneurs, as the profiles of immigrant entrepreneurs, specifically in relation to their cross-cultural capabilities, have been largely unexamined.…”