The online acculturation of Chinese student 'sojourners'

This paper presents a work-in-progress research project that explores the acculturation of Chinese student 'sojourners' to online learning at an Australian university. Building on Berry's (1980, 2005) acculturation frameworks, this project examines the processes of change in the students' perceptions of online learning and the strategies they use to adapt to online learning. The research consists of two parts: a pilot study and the main study. The aims of this paper are to explain why Berry's frameworks have been chosen for this investigation and to report on the pilot study findings. The overall results indicate a strong clash of educational values and practices between this student group's heritage and host cultures, pointing to a number of adaptation challenges that may be exacerbated by online learning. The main study is currently being conducted. It is expected that a refined framework for conceptualizing the participants' online acculturation experiences will be developed based on the findings of the main study.