SOCIO-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND FUTURE EXPECTATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: THE CASE OF KÜTAHYA DUMLUPINAR UNIVERSITY

Authors : Zeynep HİÇDURMAZ, Işılay GÖKTÜRK, Gökhan GÖKTÜRK

Pages : 216-236

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Publication Date : 2023-09-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In line with the goal of internationalization in education, one of the important strategies of Turkish universities is to become a center of attraction for international students. With the initiatives taken in this direction, Turkey has recently been hosting an increasing number of international students from many different countries. The number of international students studying at Kütahya Dumlupınar University is also increasing day by day. For this reason, it is extremely important to understand the educational and social adaptation of international students to identify the problems they experience, if any, and to lay the groundwork for the steps to be taken to find solutions to the problems. The aim of this study is to understand the educational and social adaptation levels and future goals of international students studying at Kütahya Dumlupınar University. For this purpose, the educational experiences of international students, their relations with the university and the city, their perceptions of Turkey and the country of origin, and their future expectations are revealed. Within the scope of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 international students studying at Kütahya Dumlupınar University. Based on the data, 7 themes were obtained: insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(1); The reason for choosing Turkey, insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(2); The reason for choosing the university, insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(3); Sociocultural adaptation, insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(4); Educational situation, insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(5); Views about the university, insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(6); Views about the city, insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(7); Future expectations.
Keywords : Uluslararası öğrenciler, eğitim uyumu, sosyokültürel uyum, Kütahya Dumlupınar Üniversitesi