I am in the Homeless Home or I Am Always on the Way Home: Formatting Identity and Transcultural Adaptation Through Ethnic and Host Communication

2.1 Cross-Cultural Adaptation Theory

Kim’s cross-cultural adaptation theory (2001) focuses on the relationship between individuals and the environment and recognizes cross-cultural adaptation experiences as a dynamic process. The theory characterizes cross-cultural adaptation as the complete experience of individuals who, after moving to an unfamiliar sociocultural setting, endeavor to create and sustain a reasonably steady, mutual, and effective connection with that environment. The premise of the cross-cultural adaptation theory is that transnational migrants, no matter whether immigrants or sojourners, all experience a certain degree of cultural adaptation and identity transformation. Increased functional fitness, psychological health, and transcultural identity determine the degree of adaptation and cultural transformation. In addition, to explore how individuals undergo adaptive changes through host and ethnic communication, Kim (2001) proposed a structural model and a series of axioms and theories (p. 89). The structural model includes dimensions of individuals’ predispositions and environmental factors. In this model, individuals’ interactions with both host members and ethnic members (interpersonal communication), as well as their use of both host and ethnic media (mass communication), all directly influence the cross-cultural adaptation and identity transformation process.

Kim’s cross-cultural adaptation theory emphasizes the complex and dynamic process of cultural transformation of transnational migrants. Similarly to Kim’s theory, Berry et al. (1987) focused on the cultural adaptation process and proposed that an individual’s level of cultural adaptation is determined in part by two independent processes: the extent to which one preserves their native identity and the level of interaction with the host culture and micro-cultural groups. Berry (1997) stated that adaptation includes both strategies and outcomes. To be specific, Berry examined the transformation of cultural identity and suggested four outcomes: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization.

First, assimilation involves the effort to distance oneself from one’s native culture and instead fully embrace the host culture and actively participate in the dominant society. The second outcome, integration, occurs when individuals strike a harmonious balance between their affiliation with their native culture and their engagement with the host culture. In this scenario, individuals develop a bicultural orientation that effectively merges and harmonizes cultural elements from both groups while preserving their identity within each group (Neuliep, 2015). When individuals have limited interaction with the host culture while maintaining strong connections to and reaffirmation of their native culture, the resulting acculturation outcome is referred to as separation. In this context, those who are separated primarily interact with their own group and avoid forming close connections with members of the host culture. Lastly, marginalization pertains to communication behaviors in which individuals consciously choose not to identify with either their native or host cultures. According to Neuliep (2015), individuals experiencing marginalization may feel a sense of alienation from both cultures and often grapple with a feeling of abandonment.

2.2 Cultural Identity and Transculturality

The cross-cultural adaptation theories have been constructed on the premise that individuals can adopt various communication orientations and select certain types of communication practices. Both Berry and Kim’s theories emphasize the development of transcultural identity by examining communication practices based on the degree of retaining their native cultural identities and the degree of interaction with the dominant and host cultures. As we have witnessed, frequent mobility has become a global phenomenon of identity construction; therefore, it should be explored within this context of change and transformation.

Notably, more and more scholars have adopted a transcultural perspective and approach to studying cultural adaptation, which acknowledges that cultural adaptation is not a simple process of adapting to a different culture (Schwanebeck & Smith, 2020). Also, scholars pointed out that the cross-cultural perspective always views one culture as the norm or dominant so people from other cultures are expected to adapt to this dominant culture (Li & Wekesa, 2022; Schwanebeck & Smith, 2020). Instead, transculturality emphasizes a transcultural space that allows individuals to examine various paths of communication between different cultures (Ritzer, 2020). Hall (1994) pointed out that diasporic and sojourning identities continuously produce and reproduce themselves along the journey of migrating while creating and recreating the never-ending desire to return to “lost origins.” In contrast, Cuba and Hummon (1993) suggested that mobility extended home-enriched identity, and produced different patterns of home affiliations. The cultural transformation includes the development of a transcultural identity by integrating home and host cultures (Kim, 2005). Berry (1997) suggested that sojourners could grow and develop in both home and host cultures. The combined perspective fosters a more comprehensive model that strengthens our understanding of international students’ cultural identity construction and negotiation.

Taking a sociocultural perspective on identity, which focuses on the context of the communicative activity, Iddings et al. (2007) agreed that identities are not rigid or unchanging constructs; rather, they are flexible, evolving, loosely defined, and shaped through the activities in which individuals participate. In this present research, cultural identity emphasizes the shared knowledge and experiences, defined as “oneness” by Hall (1994), amongst an imagined cultural group with constant identity re-discovery and transformation. Shi (2005) conducted in-depth interviews with some Chinese diaspora subjects and found that diasporic lives are full of paradoxes. These diaspora participants not only constructed the myth of return when they encountered difficulties in identifying with traditional ways of life but also denied the changed lifestyle as “Westernization” and kept being aware of the line between “West” versus “East.” According to Shi, individuals within the diaspora assess the authenticity of all cultural Chinese individuals on a spectrum, positioning those at the center as more authentic and those at the margins as less so. Simultaneously, their awareness grows regarding the collective identity of all cultural Chinese as a unified minority group within the hierarchical societal framework of the United States. This aligns with the observations made by Gupta & Ferguson, 1992, suggesting that as physical localities and geographic boundaries become increasingly blurred, the concepts of culturally and ethnically distinct places become more pronounced. Consequently, the notion of imagined communities gains prominence, wherein displaced individuals congregate around remembered or envisioned homelands, locales, or communities.

2.3 Sojourners’ Communicative Practices and Transcultural Adaptation

Sojourners are people who choose to reside in a place and move to a different culture temporarily for professional or academic purposes, who might face challenges of cultural adaptation and identity confusion.

[Post online publication correction added 11 April 2025: the citation (Cheung & Wong, 2014) was removed.]

As sojourners, international students communicate with host members and their ethnic members simultaneously, which is a dynamic and ongoing process. Their migrating experiences tend to make their identity flow and negotiations more complicated.

For sojourners, ethnic communication provides an essential discursive space in various national and social contexts and operates in several ways (Sun, 2002). Advanced information and communication technology such as digital videos, satellite TVs, the Internet, and other electronic media has provided access to ethnic media content and new virtual spaces and imagined communities globally. Placeless cultures and communications offer sojourners tools and frameworks for shaping their envisioned identities and communities (Shi, 2005).

However, Kim’s cross-cultural adaptation theory suggests that ethnic communication might soften the stress of host communication during the initial phase of cultural adaptation; but ethnic communication’s adaptive role declines with time and then impedes host communication and cultural adaptation. It claims that ethnic communication might reinforce an individual’s original cultural maintenance, limit host communication activities, and, therefore, impede cultural adaptation. To verify the theory, Kim and McKay-Semmler (2013) examined the relationship between host and ethnic interpersonal communication and found that host interpersonal communication, rather than ethnic interpersonal communication, was significantly correlated to individuals’ functional and psychological well-being during the cultural adaptation process. In contrast, Lee’s (2018) study on Korean immigrant community presented the opposite case of Kim and McKay-Semmler’s (2013) research. This research found that ethnic communication did not necessarily limit host interpersonal communication and called for more studies to test Kim’s theories on the negative relationship between ethnic and host interpersonal communication.

Also, alongside the flow of capital, and global, political, and cultural interpenetrations, the traffic of ethnic media and cultural products across national borders has increased in quantity and multi-directionally, forming a truly global media sphere. Kim (2001) suggested that ethnic media had supportive functions for sojourners by providing information and resources about the host environment, as well as emotional support. Shi (2005) proposed that ethnic media played a constitutive role for sojourners, which not only can re-connect their identity flows to lost origins but also satisfy their desire for memories and re-discoveries (Chen et al., 2018). For example, Lum (1996) implied that karaoke is a socializing tool for bringing people into public spaces and enhancing the formation of imagined communities and viewed karaoke audiences as active participants who indigenize mass-mediated texts into their daily interpretation of social meanings. Another study by Sinclaire et al. (2000) investigated Chinese immigrants in Australia from Chinese mainland, Chinese Taiwan, Chinese Hong Kong, and the ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia. Through surveys and ethnographic interviews, this study revealed that ethnic media, particularly ethnic TV programs, have enhanced their “Chineseness” and created and recreated various forms of diasporic identification. However, Kim (2001) argued that this type of maintenance function hinders the development of proficiency in host communication and the establishment of meaningful participation in host communicative activities. This is because many individuals living abroad grapple with the challenge of reconciling their desire to preserve their ethnic identity with the necessity to adapt to the host society.

Overall, both the cross-cultural adaptation theory and the transcultural communication perspective provide valuable frameworks to understand the Chinese sojourners’ experience of cultural adaptation and how their communication practices with host and home cultures influence their transcultural identities. However, very few studies have specifically focused on Chinese international students’ ethnic communication culture and the connection between their ethnic communication and their cultural identities. As mentioned above, most of the existing literature has focused on their communication activities with host members, their cultural adjustment, emotional well-being, and the related educational outcome (Imamura & Zhang, 2014; Lértora & Sullivan, 2019; Ye, 2006). As Yan and Berliner (2011) argued, interactions within American culture influence the behavior and way of life of various ethnic groups and social classes, without altering their ethnic identity or ideological beliefs. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the interaction between host communication and ethnic communication practices of Chinese students in the United States. The researchers raised the inquiry question: How does host and ethnic communication influence the cultural adaptation and transcultural identity of Chinese international students in U.S. higher education?

3.1 Phenomenological Approach

A phenomenological method is characterized as a method that depicts the shared significance that individuals attribute to their firsthand encounters with a particular concept or phenomenon (Creswell, 2013). Husserl (2000) discusses that phenomenology describes the lived world and lived experiences of a phenomenon (cited by Sadala & Adorno, 2002). He views phenomenology as a science focused on describing the fundamental qualities and activities of consciousness (Sadala & Adorno, 2002). According to Creswell, phenomenological studies center around a specific phenomenon and delve into it by examining individual participants who have all encountered a similar experience. Essentially, a phenomenological approach provides a platform for research participants to articulate the intricacies, insights, and experiences they have undergone concerning a particular phenomenon. Researchers must remove their own biases to accurately capture and describe the participants’ experiences, shedding light on the “what” or “how” of their encounter with the phenomenon. International students in the United States undergo diverse lived experiences, making it essential to consider how each traveling individual assigns meaning to their unique journey. The impact of host and ethnic communication on identity is one such experience that international students undergo differently, leading to various symbolic expressions. Hence, a phenomenological approach proves most appropriate for comprehending how Chinese international students perceive, navigate, and construct their evolving self-conceptions through their encounters with ethnic communication, or in Creswell’s words, their “reality” (2013, p. 78).

3.2 Sampling and Participants

This research adopted the method of non-probability sampling with a combination of criterion and convenience samples. The participants in this study were all students in the United States from different regions of China. The participants were chosen based on the convenience of availability. In addition, the participants must have been international students within the past two years or currently maintain status as international students in the United States to ensure relevant, timely experience. After getting approval from the Institutional Review Board of the leading researcher’s institution, the researchers started recruiting participants through emails, phone calls, and social media. Since both researchers are from China, working in American universities, the participants were recruited through personal connections at the beginning and then snowball sampling. Informed consent was obtained before the interview and the research participants did not receive any compensation. After conducting 25 interviews based on the established criteria, the researchers found that the interviews had reached theoretical saturation. Participants in the study were also asked to include demographic information about their gender, age, education, years in the United States, and purpose for coming to the United States. Table 1 contains the participants’ demographics.

3.3 Data Collection Procedures

Data was collected through in-depth interviews. These interviews were either conducted in person, one-on-one through online video calls, or via email, depending on geographical proximity and practicality. Each interview session spanned roughly 30–60 min, as participants shared their unique experiences, often requiring different amounts of time to elaborate. The interviews followed a semi-structured approach, with a set of ten open-ended questions serving as a guide. These questions were designed to explore areas that had emerged from the literature review, including ethnic communication, cultural identity formation, and transformation. Some examples of the interview questions were “How do you balance your communication with people in the host culture and your home culture?” “What are, if any, your home country media programs that you consume often and why?” “How does communicating and sharing views about the ethnic media programs influence your identity?” Throughout the interviews, the researchers had the opportunity to pose probing inquiries whenever they believed participants could provide further details about their experiences or clarify the substance and significance of those experiences. The interviews were conducted in either English or Chinese according to the interviewees’ preferences. Overall, 14 interviews were conducted in English and 11 in Mandarin. Since both the researchers are fluent in both languages, we were able to translate the interview transcripts in Mandarin into English. During the interviews in English, the researchers used Mandarin several times to clarify and confirm some specific terms, which allowed the interviewees to express themselves more in-depth and provide rich and detailed narratives (Smith et al., 2008; Welch & Piekkari, 2006). All the translated interview transcripts were shared with the interviewees for member checking to ensure accuracy and authenticity (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed and stored in Microsoft Word format, safeguarded on a secure USB drive. In an additional layer of confidentiality protection, all personal names in the original transcripts were substituted. These transcriptions were coded to identify pertinent text, recurrent concepts, thematic elements, and theoretical constructs.

3.4 Data Analysis

The process of data analysis commenced with the original textual content, aiming to compile a list of noteworthy statements—specifically, statements elucidating how individual international students perceived their experiences with ethnic communication. A thematic approach was adopted to analyze the transcripts. Both researchers independently immersed themselves in the participants’ experiences by thoroughly reading and re-reading the transcripts multiple times. Following this, the researchers coded the data by identifying logical connections, contradictions, and statements of significant importance.

Once a comprehensive list of significant statements had been established, the researchers collaborated to categorize the relevant text into recurring ideas, subsequently merging these recurring ideas across multiple transcripts. This culminated in the creation of a master list of recurring ideas, which were then organized into cohesive categories. In the process of identifying themes and sub-themes, the researchers associated the codes with themes that either offered a textual depiction of “what” participants had experienced or presented a structural depiction of “how” participants had experienced it. The criteria employed for discerning these themes included their repetition, recurrence, and emphasis (Orbe & Groscurth, 2004).

To provide specific details, the interviews in this study yielded a total of 618 significant statements, which were further categorized into 82 recurring ideas. These recurring ideas were subsequently grouped into four overarching themes. The themes were comprehensively expounded upon, with participant quotations serving to illuminate their experiences and provide rich, detailed descriptions.

5.1 Communication Orientations and Strategies during Cultural Adaptation

One of the premises of cross-cultural theory is that people always navigate between the host and home cultures and adopt various communication strategies. Existing literature found that ethnic communication reinforces sojourners’ home cultures and is negatively related to the cultural adaptation process (Hwang & He, 1999). However, their ethnic communication tends to be more home culture-oriented rather than equally balanced between home and host cultures. As Nesdale and Mak (2003) stated, the increased cultural distance might even strengthen their native cultural identity as a response to the complexities of the new and changing environment. Compared to other types of immigrants or sojourners, international students always have clearer career and academic goals (Trice, 2004). To achieve these goals, they have to adopt common strategies to develop relationships with American peers, professors, and communities. Also, the connection with members from the same culture of origin helps them to maintain their national identity, receive social support, and identify other individuals who have similar experiences within the dominant society. They engage in ethnic communication to maintain their Chinese cultural identity and connections with their home country, it is hard to say whether it positively or negatively influences their cultural adaptation process.

The research findings have found that ethnic communication plays an important role in creating community and kinship among Chinese students in the United States. It has to be noted that, from the psychological adaptation perspective, ethnic communication provides them with imagined connections and establishes an imagined community within a specific situational context. As Georgiou (2013) stated, the accessibility and utilization patterns of both traditional and modern media unveil power dynamics associated with the regulation of technologies, information, and cultural values. Through sharing and exchange of cultural meaning and symbols, they can develop a sense of belonging as well as social and mental support beyond the boundaries of place and space. Ethnic communication is a tool for them to exchange, interact, and engage in their cultural identities and reimagine cultural influences and memories through spaces and practices.

Scholars suggested that ethnic activities are relational strategies for people to deal with problems. According to Georgiou (2013), the use of ethnic media is interpersonal exchanges within sojourners’ daily lives. Ethnic communication is a type of strategy to balance multiple cultural identities and influences as they actively communicate within and among various groups and educate others. It facilitates more frequent and closer connections with Chinese international students’ home countries. Also, the behavior of sharing ethnic media content is an effective way to express communication and to resist the dominant system that contains mis-portrayal and stereotypes. The research participants criticized the mis-portrayal of China by Western media, which impacted their willingness to use Western media. As Suler (2002) stated, the selection of media can deeply intertwine with the level of identity amalgamation or disconnection and with how much a person portrays either their genuine or fabricated self. The use of ethnic media reflects the power relationship between sojourners and host members. The media choice reflects users’ identification and management of their cultural identity, which is a multi-dimensional and fluid process that cannot be oversimplified as positive or negative.

5.2 Multi-Layered Cultural Identity

Although the present study’s participants all have the necessary competence, such as language competence and the ability to adjust to the educational expectations, to study in the United States, most of them spend time with their Chinese peers and maintain close connections with their families and friends in China. Therefore, they maintain Chinese cultures, traditions, and behaviors and attempt to understand American culture and society simultaneously.

Consistent with previous studies (Cao et al., 2017; Yu & Wang, 2011; Zheng & Berry, 1991), this research also finds that integration is the most adopted strategy among Chinese students for cultural adaptation, followed by separation. This can be explained from different perspectives. As Cao et al. (2017) stated, integration and separation are both characterized by the strong influence of the heritage culture. Although the present study’s participants all have the necessary competence to study in the United States, most of them spend time with their Chinese peers and maintain close connections with their families and friends in China. Therefore, they maintain Chinese cultures, traditions, and behaviors and attempt to understand American culture and society simultaneously.

According to Berry et al. (1987), cultural adaptation strategies vary based on the social standing of the sojourners with the people and society of the host culture. Previous studies found that people are more likely to be integrated into a multicultural society such as the United States, Canada, and Australia (Berry et al., 1987). The United States, Canada, and Australia are all countries with very diverse cultures and multiple cultural and ethnic groups. In contrast, Kim (2001) proposed that ethnic proximity is one factor that impacts cultural transformation and suggested that ethnic proximity and cultural similarity are positively related to cultural adaptation. These two perspectives might better explain the integration and separation of Chinese international students in the United States. According to Yu and Wang (2011), integration and separation were both the dominant strategies used by Chinese students in Germany due to the nation’s ethnocentrism and strict policies toward immigration. With the increasingly complicated immigration policies and political conflict between the United States and China, we can expect to see more sojourners return to their ethnic roots.

The research results elucidated how Chinese students simultaneously and continuously seek and negotiate both their outsider and insider identities through communicative practices. Hall (2006) has outlined three directions of migrants’ cultural identity development: (1) “to contest the settled contours of national identity and to expose its closures to the pressures of difference, ‘otherness’ and cultural diversity;” (2) “a strengthening of local identities;” and (3) “the production of new identities” (p. 264). Generally, Chinese international students are undergoing both psychological and sociocultural changes and experiencing challenges such as the language barrier, homesickness, mental health issues, and cultural misunderstanding, especially between different cultural and value systems. Chinese students’ cultural identity is reinvented based on the interrelationships of positioning, cultures, and values, which are inseparable from a continuous balancing and negotiating process. On the one hand, they maintained and shared their Chinese cultural identity through their interaction and communication with people from their home country consciously or unconsciously. It is difficult to detach themselves fully from their upbringing in a prominent collectivist culture. Although the present study’s participants all have the necessary competence to study in the United States, most of them spend time with their Chinese peers and maintain close connections with their families and friends in China. Therefore, they maintain Chinese cultures, traditions, and behaviors and attempt to understand American culture and society simultaneously. On the other hand, they experienced (dis)connections among their cultural identities and acknowledged the importance of establishing new social connections with people from the host culture. Therefore, these international students have multiple even competing identities depending on the situation (Malcolm & Mendoza, 2014).