Foreign Students’ Intercultural Adaptation at IIUI: An Intercultural Pragmatic Study

The aim of this research was to examine how foreign students at IIUI adapt to intercultural communication in relation to three key factors: Context, Salience, and Common Ground. To explore the experiences and challenges faced by these students, the study employed Colleen Ward's Cultural Adjustment Process Model and the Socio-cognitive approach, specifically focusing on context, salience, and common background. Data was gathered through a questionnaire consisting of both open-ended and close-ended questions from 18 randomly selected students of IIUI, from various countries. The results suggest that the students rely heavily on their prior experiences and use a combination of these experiences and the emergent situation, salience, and common ground to adjust to intercultural communication.