The following article may prove helpful to Personal Tutors wanting to understand how different students respond to the process of cultural adjustment.
Yakunina, E. S., Weigold, I. K., Weigold, A., Hercegovac, S. and Elsayed, N. (2013), International Students’ Personal and Multicultural Strengths: Reducing Acculturative Stress and Promoting Adjustment. Journal of Counseling & Development, 91: 216–223. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00088.x
This article looks at the cultural disruption faced by students arriving in the United States but many of the lessons are generalisable. International students are often encouraged to cope with acculturative stress by relying on personal and multicultural strengths, the article explores whether a ‘positive attitude’ has a direct impact on successful acclimatisation. Data from 336 international students does suggest that pre-dispositions have a significant impact on the cultural adjustments necessary for successful study in a country other than one’s own. The implications could be that students should be given significant ‘cultural orientation’ and more insight into multiculturalism prior to arrival in the host country.