The Role of Language-Game in Sociocultural Adaptation: Russian Students in France

Higher educational institutions throughout the world are involved in communication with each other, exchanging instructional ideas and practices, as well as exchanging students through a number of international mobility programs. This paper examines sociocultural adaptation of international students with special attention to the dimensions of adaptation viewed from the perspective of language-game. For this purpose, 34 Russian students who study in French universities and higher schools (“grandes écoles”) as exchange students were interviewed in Paris (France) and Novosibirsk (Russia). The research shows that language-game is used in different dimensions of adaptation related to educational system, sociocultural context, mentality, and sociopolitical life. In order to overcome problems in adaptation and establish successful interaction, students use language-game to adjust to the unfamiliar social, cultural, and educational contexts.