I am in the Homeless Home or I Am Always on the Way Home: Formatting Identity and Transcultural Adaptation Through Ethnic and Host Communication

Abstract

This study uses a phenomenological approach and 25 in-depth interviews to better understand ethnic and host communication by Chinese international students in U.S. higher education and the impact of such communication practices on their cultural identity transformation and transcultural adaptation. The research findings reveal that their ethnic communication reflects their dynamic negotiation of cultural identities and their efforts to integrate their original cultural background and their expectations of others to redefine their own cultural identities and communicative behaviors. It also highlights that Chinese students engage in ethnic communication not only for community building and cultural identity reinforcement but also assertively to express themselves and educate others.