ISANA

Chong Zhou, Guiyun Chen

Abstract:   In this study, the researcher intends to make some contributions to the research literature regarding
the analysis of secondary students’ cross-cultural adjustment through investigating a group of
Mainland Chinese students’ experiences in secondary schools in South Australia. The study
explores the perceptions of Chinese students in a more naturalistic way through conversations with
them in their own language. It focuses on the cultural challenges faced by these Chinese students
and provides some insider’s knowledge about the underlying causes for these challenges and their
coping strategies in the process of adjusting to living and learning in Australian culture. This paper,
as part of the study, will particularly focus on the challenges involved in the homestay situation, the
results of which indicated that the secondary school Chinese students at homestays were confronted
with four broad categories of challenges: difficulties with food, English language, household chores
and relationships with homestay hosts. The findings also uncovered the detailed basis of each of the
students’ difficulties, providing some specific cultural information for educational practitioners to
better understand secondary Chinese students in Australia.

Key words: homestay, culture, language, challenges, adjustment

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