"I Feel so Happy Now": Afghan Students' Cross-Cultural Adaptation Experiences in Turkey

The main purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand Afghan students' cross-cultural adaptation experiences by applying Kim's theory of cross-cultural adaptation. Within the first part of this study, we discuss cross-cultural adaptation theory and give some information about Afghan immigrants in Turkey. Then, Afghan students' experiences are discussed under three sub-themes within the frame of Kim's stress adaptation growth model. The participant group consisted of three middle school students who have come from Afghanistan to Turkey at different times. Data for this study were collected by using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through a content analysis technique. Findings revealed that Afghan students have lived through many positive and negative experiences in the whole process. Similar cultural characteristics, the target language, people's attitudes towards immigrants in the host country, religious and cultural proximity play critical roles in adapting to the new environment. The last section includes a conclusion and offers some implications for research and practice.