Abstract
A Field Research on the Relationship of Migration and Inter-Cultural Communication
The development of communication and transportation facilities along with technological advances has accelerated transnational human mobility. On the other hand, wars and conflicts caused forced displacement. Human mobility is also the meeting of individuals or the culture of the masses. Intercultural encounters bring along communication and adaptation problems. In search of solutions to these problems, such as intercultural communication and intercultural communication competence, can provide opportunities for interdisciplinary research and practice. Intercultural communication aims to understand and explain the communication between people belonging to different cultures. On the other hand, intercultural communication competence refers to the ability of individuals to communicate beyond borders. In this study, transnational migration, intercultural communication, and intercultural communication competence were analyzed within international student mobility. Afghan students living in Ankara, their migration experiences, and also their cultural encounter processes have been studied. Also, the study questioned the thoughts of university students about increasing migration from their countries to Turkey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students who came from Afghanistan and continued their higher education at various universities in Ankara. Participants were determined by snowball sampling/paradigming technique. Afghan students, who migrated from Afghanistan to Turkey, mostly irregular migrants, were interviewed about the current situation of Afghan immigrants and Turkey's attitude towards this immigration. Findings related to the problem of migration of Afghan students from Afghanistan to Turkey, who perceived intercultural communication competence as compatible with flexibility, empathy, and tolerance. This study shows that these immigrants can express themselves in accordance with the openness dimension.
Keywords
Immigration from Afghanistan, Afghan, Intercultural communication, Intercultural competence
