SOCIO-CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT A RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY: A COMMUNICATIVE ASPECT

Abstract

The body of international students studying at Russian universities has been growing due to
the intensive development of contacts between countries. The requirement to increase the competitiveness
of Russian universities in the field of international educational services necessitates the study of the sociocultural adaptation among international students. The research aims to investigate the communicative aspect of socio-cultural adaptation among international students while their study at a Russian educational institution.

The authors analyzed the structure of communicative aspect of sociocultural adaptation of international
students, identified the difficulties the international students encounter, and considered the forms integrated by SUSU Center for Socio-Cultural Adaptation to develop the communicative aspect. A diagnostic
toolkit, including a socio-cultural adaptation scale (SCAS-R), structured interview with the representatives
of different ethnic groups, a questionnaire, formalized and informalized conversations were used to identify
the difficulties international students encounter. The research shows that the greatest challenges identified
are group engagement, language proficiency, and academic adjustment. The influence of forms of inclusion
of international students in a different cultural and educational environment integrated by the SUSU Center
for Socio-Cultural Adaptation (CSСA) to optimize the adaptation of international students is revealed.