Self-Adaptation Among Students at Nurul Madany Islamic Boarding School in the Context of Intercultural Communication: An Analysis Based on Young Yun Kim’s Adaptation Theory

ABSTRACT: This study aims to examine the self-adaptation process of students to the pesantren culture at Nurul Madany Islamic Boarding School. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, data were collected from seven student participants through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation, and analyzed using Young Yun Kim’s Adaptation Theory from an intercultural communication perspective. The findings demonstrate that students’ adaptation is a dynamic process involving adjustment to institutional regulations, social norms, communal living patterns, and communication practices within the pesantren environment. Through ongoing interactions with teachers, senior students, and peers, students gradually acquire new cultural understandings and behavioral patterns, fostering greater discipline, independence, and communication competence. The study concludes that adaptation within the pesantren context represents an intercultural communication process characterized by cultural adjustment, negotiation of meaning, and identity development in response to a new cultural environment.

KEYWORDS: self-adaptation, intercultural communication, cultural adaptation, Young Yun Kim’s Adaptation Theory, Islamic boarding schools.