TURKISH ERASMUS STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 38 - 48, 01.01.2017

C Akın Şahin

Abstract

The study reports on Turkish Erasmus students’ level of adaptation to different cultures in foreign countries by making use of quantitative and qualitative research methods. It presents the results of an eight-month investigation into cross–cultural adaptation to different surroundings. Thirty undergraduate students majoring in finance, business and economy at a university in the northwest of Turkey took part in this study. The participants were divided into experimental outgoing exchange students and control groups campus students . Using the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory CCAI , a pre-test and post-test were employed to find out to what extent the Turkish Erasmus students adapted to different cultures. After the inventory was conducted, a semi-structured interview was administered to the focus group to ensure an in-depth understanding of how they survived the different cultures. The findings indicate that the Turkish Erasmus students developed a good sense of cross-cultural adaptation during their stay abroad. However, the study demonstrates that they had difficulty in using foreign language skills

Keywords

Cross-cultural adaptation Turkish Erasmus students Student mobility Erasmus programme

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