Mapping the Paths from Language Proficiency to Adaptation for Chinese Students in a Non-English Speaking Country: an Integrative Model of Mediation

Abstract

Non-native English speaking international students residing in non-English speaking countries were found to face the challenges from inadequate command of both English and the host language. This study simultaneously examined the influences of language proficiency (i.e., English proficiency and local language proficiency) on social and academic adaptation, through the mediating variables of social connectedness in mainstream society and social support satisfaction among Chinese international students in a non-English speaking European country. A sample of 202 Chinese international students responded to a web-based survey. Results from structural equation modeling analysis indicated that English and local language proficiency explained 42% of the total variance in social connectedness in mainstream society; social connectedness in mainstream society explained 68% of the variance in satisfaction with support from host members; taken together, social support satisfaction and English proficiency accounted for 47% of the variance in social adaptation and 22% in academic adaptation, respectively. Results from the bootstrapping method also revealed that social connectedness and social support satisfaction fully mediated the relationships between local language proficiency and social/academic adaptation and partially mediated the relationships between English proficiency and social/academic adaptation.