International students’ acculturation in host countries: A typology of intergroup and intragroup contact

Abstract

International students conduct academic, economic, social, and cultural activities and interact with host communities within and beyond university settings. We explore how these activities shape the acculturation outcomes of Sri Lankan postgraduate students in Japan. We employed intergroup (and intragroup) contact and acculturation theories as our theoretical foundation. Using open-ended semi-structured questions, we interviewed 20 students and analysed interview transcripts using thematic coding techniques. Our findings indicate that different types of intergroup and intragroup activities result in different acculturation outcomes. Regular and formal intergroup activities between Sri Lankan students and the Japanese host community result in cultural co-existence, while irregular and formal intergroup activities result in enculturation. Similarly, regular and informal intergroup activities result in integration, while irregular and informal intergroup activities result in socialisation. The formal and informal intragroup activities between the Sri Lankan students and Sri Lankan immigrants in Japan facilitate their socialisation to the host culture and their resocialisation to ethnic and academic cultures in the host community. These activities contribute to ethnic and cultural maintenance. Synthesising these findings, we contribute by developing a typology of intergroup and intragroup contact for international students’ host country acculturation.