ABSTRACT
Globalisation demands that graduates are culturally adept: Cross-cultural experiences within an international classroom are an important part of contemporary higher-education agendas (Kimmel and Volet, 2012; Montgomery, 2009; Rienties, Johan, and Jindal-Snape, 2015). The opportunities for learning from other cultures is noted as one of the reasons that international students study abroad (Merrick, 2004). Patterson, Carrillo, and Salinas (2012) documented that cross-cultural learning could bring a number of advantages for both host-national and international students, such as understanding and appreciation of the world, ability to think critically, ability to integrate multiple perspectives, and acquisition of global knowledge, hence being able to work effectively in a global world. While studying abroad is increasingly common (Brisset, Safdar, Lewis, and Sabatier, 2010; Montgomery, 2009), research consistently suggests that international students continue to face a number of transitional challenges (Rienties, Beausaert, Grohnert, Niemantsverdriet, and Kommers, 2012; Ye, 2006; Zhou, Jindal-Snape, Topping, and Todman, 2008).
