Research Trends in Cross-Cultural Communication and International Student Adjustment in Higher Education
Keywords:
bibliometric analysis, cross-cultural communication, international students, student adjustment, higher education, intercultural communicationAbstract
This study maps research trends in cross-cultural communication and international student adjustment in higher education through bibliometric analysis. Drawing on 346 Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 2015 and 2025, the study examines publication growth, productive authors, leading journals, highly cited documents, and keyword co-occurrence networks. The data were retrieved using a structured TITLE-ABS-KEY search strategy and analyzed with VOSviewer and Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny to combine performance analysis and science mapping. The findings show that the field has developed into a maturing interdisciplinary area shaped by international student mobility, intercultural communication, language-mediated learning, study abroad, intercultural competence, and student well-being. The International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Journal of International Students, and Language and Intercultural Communication emerged as major publication venues, while highly cited documents highlight the importance of English as a lingua franca, online study abroad, transcultural communication, and intercultural task-based interaction. Keyword analysis further confirms that intercultural communication, international students, study abroad, intercultural competence, and intercultural communication competence are the central themes structuring the field. The study contributes to international higher education research by clarifying the intellectual structure of the literature and showing that international student adjustment should be understood as a communicative, relational, and institutional process.
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