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ChineseStudents’PsychologicalandSocioculturalAdjustmentstoBritain:AnEmpiricalStudyHelenSpencer-OateyTheLanguageCentre,UniversityofCambridge,DowningPlace,CambridgeCB23EL,UKZhaoningXiongFlat4A,WoodlandGrange,31DeanParkRoad,BournemouthBH11HY,UKThispaperreportsanempiricalstudyofthepsychologicalandsocioculturaladjust-mentsoftwocohortsofChinesestudentstakingafoundationcourseinEnglishlanguageataBritishuniversity.UsingZung’s(1965)Self-RatingDepressionScaleandamodificationofWardandKennedy’s(1999)SocioculturalAdaptationScale,quantitativedatawereobtainedonthestudents’adjustmentexperiences,andthesewerecorrelatedwithothervariablessuchasgradepointaverage,ageandlengthofstayinBritain.Interviewdataprovidedaricherpictureoftheirexperiences.Thestudyfoundthatthemajorityofstudentshadfewpsychologicalorsocioculturaladjustmentdifficulties.Nevertheless,socialinteractionwithnon-Chinesewasconsistentlyidentifiedasproblematicandthis,aswellasdifficultiesinadjustingtodailylife,wereveryhighlycorrelatedwithpsychologicalstress.End-of-coursegradepointaveragewasfoundtobenegativelycorrelatedwiththepsychologicalstressexperiencednearthebeginningoftheacademicyear.Thepapercallsforfurtherresearchtofollowupthesefindings,andconcludeswithalistofsuggestionsforuniversitiestohelpaddressoverseasstudents’psychologicalandsocioculturaladjustmentneeds.Keywords:adaptation,Chinesestudents,cultureshock,internationalstudents,psychologicaladjustment,socioculturaladjustmentArecentsurveyreportbyUKCOSA(TheCouncilforInternationalEducation)statesthat‘itisamajorconcernthattwoofthelargestnationalgroupsoncampus(GreekandChinesestudents)mainlysocialisewithfellownationalsorotherinternationalstudentsoncampus.’(UKCOSA,2004:67).Unfortunately,veryfewstudieshaveexploredindetailtheexperiencesofChinesestudentsor,infact,thoseofanyoverseasstudentsatBritishuniver-sities;mostresearchhasbeenconductedintheUSA,AustraliaandNewZealand.Thisstudyisanattempttostartredressingthebalance.Thepaperfocusesonthepsychologicalandsocioculturaladjustmentexperi-encesoftwocohortsofChinesestudentsataBritishuniversity.Itreportsquantitativeandqualitativedataanddiscussesthepracticalimplicationsofthefindings.NoassumptionsaremadeastowhethertheChinesestudentsaresimilarordifferenttootherinternationalstudents;furtherresearchisneededtoascertainthis.370790-8318/06/01037-17$20.00/0#2006H.Spencer-Oatey&Z.XiongLANGUAGE,CULTUREANDCURRICULUMVol.19,No.1,2006ModelsofCulturalAdjustmentAnumberofdifferentmodelsofculturaladjustment(e.g.Bennett,1986;Berry,1990;Kim,2001)havebeenproposed,butonethatwehavefoundparticularlyhelpfulisthatdevelopedbyColleenWardandhercolleagues(e.g.Ward,1996;Wardetal.,2001).Wardmaintainsthattherearetwomaintypesofadaptationoutcome,psychologicalandsociocultural,andthattheseoutcomesareinfluencedbyarangeofindividuallevelvariablesandsocietallevelvariables.Psychologicaladaptationconcernspeople’ssenseofphysicalandpsychologicalwell-being;socioculturaladaptationconcernspeople’ssenseastohowwelltheycan‘fitin’tothenewenvironment.Psychologicaladaptationisbestunderstoodfromastressandcopingperspective.Naturally,everyoneissubjecttostressfuleventsandcircum-stances;itisnotuniquetooverseasstudents,letalonejustChinesestudents.GoingtouniversitycanoftenbeamajoradjustmentforBritishstudents,inthattheymaybeleavinghomeforthefirsttime,sharingaccommodationwithcomparativestrangers,learningtocook,dealingwithfinancialpressuresanddebt,andfindingoutwhatisexpectedofthematuniversity.Alloftheseadjustmentscantaketheirtollintermsofgeneralpsychologicalwell-being,andsothestudentscanbecomestressed,anxiousandmaybedepressed.However,thenumberofsignificantlifechangesthatoverseasstudentsexperi-enceistypicallyhigherthanforhomestudents,sotheirriskofpsychologicalill-healthisevengreater.Socioculturaladaptationisbestexplainedwithinasocialskillsorculturallearningparadigm.Severalauthorshaveidentifieddifferentdomainsofsocioculturaladaptation;forexample,BlackandStephens(1989),whohaveresearchedinterculturaladjustmentinthemanagementfield,specifythefollowingthreedomains:(1)Generaladjustment(managingdailylife).(2)Interactionadjustment(relatingeffectivelytohostnationals).(3)Workadjustment(accomplishmentofwork-relatedobjectives).Foroverseasstudents,academicadjustmentisclearlyoneofthemaindomains,althoughworkadjustmentmaystilloccuriftheyhaveapart-timejob.Theirinteractionaladjustmentalsoinvolvesgettingonwellwithotheroverseasstudents,fromarangeofcountries,notjustwithBritishstudents.Previousresearchonoverseasstudents’adjustmentsAnumberofstudieshaveattemptedtoidentifytheproblemsexperiencedbyoverseasstudents.CranoandCrano(1993)developedtheInventoryofStudentAdjustmentStrain,whichrequiresrespondentstoconsiderifaparticularitemrepresentsapersonalstrainforthemand,ifso,theextenttowhichtheyareaffectedbytheproblem.Theyadministeredthis60-itemquestionnairetwicetomorethan220students,fromfivedifferentSouthAmericancountries,whowerestudyingintheUSAforayear.Afactoranalysisoftheresultsyieldedsixsub-scales:education,hostfamily,language,‘cultureshock’pro-blems(e.g.dietaryconcerns,health),personalwelfare(