Exploring the expectation–experience dynamics in academic sojourns

The relationship between sojourner expectations and experiences has long interested intercultural researchers and trainers but has received limited attention recently – despite rising critical perspectives, growing concerns about essentialism, and renewed consideration of interculturality. To better understand the expectation–experience dynamics in academic sojourns, we applied Holliday's Grammar of Culture (GoC) to narratives from five Chinese international students at the start of their UK sojourns. Our analysis revealed three types of expectation–experience dynamics, potentially offering insights relevant to other forms of intercultural experience.<br/><br/>