Culture shock

CHAPTER 5: CULTURE SHOCK&

CHAPTER 6: ADAPTATION

By: 

Teddy Fiktorius (F5221 2025)Angela Genoveva (F5221 2028)

Postgraduate Study of English Language Education

Teacher Training and Education FacultyUniversity of Tanjungpura

Pontianak2013

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CULTURE SHOCK

International students’ challenges

Environmental lingusitic academic social

Adaptation

Difficulty

Familiar ways VS. New ways

MULTITUDE OF DIFFERENT BEHAVIOURSObvious VS. Not so obvious behaviours

American students bring food and drinks to classroomsAmericans show physical affection in public places

obvious behaviours

How American greet, introduce, interrupt, take turns speaking, stand in line, open a gift, ask the teacher questions, etc

Not so obvious behaviours

More difficult to cope with

MICRO-BEHAVIOURS

Hall (1998):

Micro-behaviours

Nonverbal cues

Cues that tell people how to behave

Whether or not to pass an approaching person on a sidewalk on the left or right?When and how long to look into a person’s eyes during a conversation?

Differ across cultures out of awareness(Anderson & Wang, 2006; Hall, 1998; Morain, 1986)

WHAT CAUSE CULTURE SHOCK?

obvious behaviours not so obvious behaviours micro-behaviours

Emotional difficulties

Culture shock

Brown (2000), Kohls (1996), and Storti (1989):Symptoms of culture shock

Anxiety, homesickness, helplessness, boredom, depression, fatique, confusion, self-

doubt, weeping, paranoia, physical ailments, isolating behaviours, aggressive symptoms

- Stay alone in the room

- read and study excessively

- avoid contact with Americans

- solely befriend with people from their own homeland

Isolating behaviours

AGGRESIVE SYMPTOMS

- Compulsive eating

- obsessive drinking

- exaggerated cleanliness

- hostility towards Americans

How culture shock can affect a student’s behaviour and attitude

Narrative 1: What happened to Roger?An American student sees behavioural changes in her Malaysian boyfriend

Roger: A Malaysian fitness trainer who went to the United States to study Physical therapyRoger’s girlfriend (the narrative writer): An American women strength trainer

who have similar interests

Frequented the movie theatre Did aerobics

Went cycling, running, swimming, and dancingEnjoyed listening to the ‘80s music

A beautiful life romance, huh???????

AFTER SOME TIME IN THE U.S.

…entering a stage of …

Roger started to complain about

The snow-covered terrain

A freezing apartment

The food

Grueling semesters of classes

“What have I done? I had a good life (in Malaysia), I think I really made a

mistake”

WHAT IS NEXT???

Roger identified it as STRESS

depression related to culture shock

emotional and physical hardship of living in another country

…A happy ending narrative…

Roger finally worked through his depression and regained his ‘life’

Roger’s girlfriend now understands more about

cultural adjustment & culture shock

IS THE CURE?????

NARRATIVE II: Stranger at My Door-A Married Indian Student’s feeling of Isolation Sparks Her Wild Imagination

How loneliness and isolation triggers ….

Husband: An Indian graduate student in the U.S.Wife (the narrative write): An Indian undergraduate student in the U.S.

How it starts….

Arriving at a new, quiet home far away from the city….

A perfect place that would inspire anyone to study???

YET,…

As time went by….

The nice big house A place of its own

Homesickness and loneliness Nobody to see or talk to

Loss of appetite, ability to read and study, & smile Life changed

Wild Imagination (beyond our imagination) Depression & fear

‘A Stranger at My Door’

HOW IT ENDS….

After spending a good deal of time in the U.S. and living in that house….

…becoming used to life there

Making a lot of friends

Being able to adapt to the quiet country life…

AGAIN, IS THE CURE????

Stages of Cultural Adaptation: Emotional Reactions to the Unfamiliar

• Preparation• Initial Experiences• Ongoing Interaction and Challenges• Culture Shock• Adjustment

The U Curve of Cultural Adaptation

It is called a "U Curve" because people generally start at a high

point, then experience a decline, or depression, before a leveling off period, then go through a critical

"recovery" stage and end up more or less balanced, where they began

Phases of adaptation according to Oberg (1960)

Honeymoon Stage(Happiness and fascination)

• Have high hopes and expect great things• Feel this is a very exciting time• Feel everything is new and interesting• Feel confident and that you can easily cope

with problems and stress• Tend to focus on what is similar between the

host country and the culture and country you come from

The Crisis(Disappointment, confusing feelings,

frustration and irritation)

• Feel happy about the challenges you have overcome• Feel frustrated, confused and disappointed• Feel very positive one day & very negative the next

day• Focus on the differences between yourself & natives• Miss your family & feel no connection to the host

country• Feel loneliness for your country and loved ones• Feel guilty about leaving family members behind

Recovery(Gradual adjustment)

• Feel more in control of your life as you gain a better understanding of the host country

• Feel more confident in your language skills• Gradually get involved in the community• Have a better understanding of how to adapt

to live in the host country• Have a better sense of what you need to do to

get what you want

Adjustment(Acceptance)

• Feel more comfortable in the host country• Have made some friends and be more

involved in your new community• Understand better how things are done in that

new country• Be studying, planning to return to school or

working at better jobs• Generally feel content about having come to

the country

Adjustment• Some have too many conflicts with values and

ways of behaving and cannot fully adjust• Some do adjust enough to participate in the

culture, but they become comfortable and do not want to go much beyond the minimum

• Other international students move into larger community (make friends, adapt the values)

• Some even become bicultural (function in two cultures with confidence)

Thank you