KENDİNİ KAYBETMEKTEN YENİDEN BULMAYA: TÜRKİYE'DEKİ ULUSLARARASI ÖĞRENCİLERİN SOSYOKÜLTÜREL UYUM YOLCULUĞU

Abstract

This study examines the sociocultural adaptation processes of international students in Türkiye from a process-oriented and identity-centered perspective. Adopting a qualitative research design based on the constructivist grounded theory approach, the study draws on in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 international students, primarily in Ankara, with one participant from Istanbul (online). The data were analyzed through iterative coding and constant comparative analysis, resulting in 3,224 initial and 478 focused codes being organized into a three-phase process model. The findings conceptualize adaptation not as a linear progression, but as a dynamic and non-linear process structured around the core category of “From Losing to Finding Yourself.” The initial phase (crisis and disorientation) includes categories such as pre-arrival decision making and preparation, expectation–reality gap, language barriers, social isolation, and emotional distress. The middle phase (reorientation and integration) involves the development of social networks, cultural encounters and negotiation, academic adaptation, and coping strategies that enable active engagement with the host context. The transformation phase encompasses categories related to the development of self-efficacy, positive meaning-making, lifestyle transformation, future orientation, and the construction of belonging and a sense of home. The results demonstrate that adaptation is not merely a response to external conditions, but an active process in which individuals interpret, negotiate, and reconstruct their identities through ongoing interactions with their social and cultural environments. In this respect, the study contributes to the literature by reconceptualizing sociocultural adaptation as a multilayered process shaped by identity transformation, meaning-making, and subjectification.