Culture Shock of Sojourners and the Implications for Higher Education Performance

Abstract

The advent of globalization and international educational exchange has enabled a large number of foreign students have been studying in the USA, the UK and Australia, etc. simultaneously, more and more foreign teachers have come to teach in Chinese universities and colleges. This has made intercultural communication inevitable and important to the teaching quality and culture shock has exerted a direct on teaching, learning and research. Therefore, identifying intercultural differences and managing culture shock should be a prerequisite to quality classroom teaching and higher education performance. This paper analyzes the relevant theories, stages and causes of culture shock, interviews Chinese students and sojourn scholars in foreign countries, investigates foreign teachers in China and explores the various countermeasures to manage culture shock to enhance higher education performance.