Cross-cultural adaptability of linguistic and cultural barriers among EFL student-researchers during international collaboration

Researchers and academic writers must adapt to foreign cultures by configuring their linguistic and cultural perspectives, helping them manage every challenge properly. This study explored the ecological perspective of cross-cultural adaptability (CCA) strategies to cope with linguistic and cultural barriers experienced by English as a foreign language (EFL) student-researchers during international research and academic writing collaboration (IRAWC). Thirteen participants, consisting of master, doctoral, and postdoctoral students from state and private universities in Indonesia, were invited to attend multiple semi-structured interviews during a three-month session. The findings were twofold. First, this study revealed that the EFL student-researchers were challenged not only with linguistic barriers (i.e., language proficiency, academic writing conventions, interpretation, and translation issues) but also cultural barriers (i.e., communication styles, social and interpersonal communication, moral and ethical concerns, and time management). Second, student-researchers’ CCA strategies comprised microsystem (e.g., open communication), mesosystem (e.g., the interplay between academic practice and communication style), exosystem (e.g., language training), macrosystem (e.g., cultural values), and chronosystem (e.g., continuous cultural learning). These categories help the researchers systematically engage with basic and comprehensive CCA strategies during such academic work. It is suggested that every researcher or writer, along with their international academic collaboration, should manage CCA strategies based on particular linguistic (e.g., language proficiency issues) or cultural barriers (e.g., problems in communication style).