A Study of Acculturation and Cultural Identity among University International Students in China

In the context of accelerated globalization and the growing internationalization of China’s higher education system, the increasing number of international students in China has brought attention to the issues of acculturation and cultural identity in international education research. However, the interaction mechanism between acculturation and cultural identity within China’s unique higher education context remains insufficiently explored. This quantitative study investigates the interplay between acculturation strategies and cultural identity among 204 international students from a university in Southwest China. The findings reveal that integration emerges as the predominant acculturation strategy, reflecting students’ dual commitment to preserving their heritage cultural identity while actively engaging with the Chinese society. Additionally, the separation strategy is slightly more common than assimilation, suggesting some students’ stronger preference for cultural maintenance. Furthermore, their cultural identity is marked by a notable pattern of ‘high cultural practice identification but low linguistic identification’. Regression analyses further reveal that integration strategy exerts significantly stronger positive effects across all cultural identity dimensions than assimilation, establishing its superior efficacy in enhancing cultural identification. Importantly, acculturation strategy analysis reveals regional variations: integration alone significantly predicts cultural identity among South Asian students, whereas integration and assimilation show predictive power for North African students. The study elucidates how China’s collectivistic orientation, high-context communication norms, and guanxi networks may collectively shape this interaction mechanism. These findings enhance the theoretical understanding of acculturation in Chinese contexts and provide practical implications for improving international students’ experiences during their stay in China.

Keywords

acculturation, cultural identity, international students, Chinese culture

source

International Journal of Chinese Language Education; Jun 2025; Issue No. 17; p.97-126

Language

Chinese