intercultural communication_intercultural adaptation

Intercultural Communication
-- Intercultural adaptation
I. INTRODUCTION
In other countries or environment, most people will meet intercultural communication problems like culture. So they must experience acculturation. In this paper I will introduce acculturation, culture shock and then talk about intercultural adaptation and the strategies of avoiding culture shock and engaging in intercultural adaptation. From these introduction, people can get more academic knowledge about intercultural adaptation and some good methods to deal with it.
II. BODY
Lead in case
Wu Lian, an English major student in the U.S, start out confidently. She knows her language skills are better than most Chinese students. At first, everything is fine Later, professors no not present well-organized materials and speak clearly. foreign accents or fast language speed. A whole book every week each class. Term papers longer than graduation thesis.Library is big and complex.WuLian finds she cannot understand the group conversations of her native speaking classmates. They use a lot of slangs and jokes that she cannot understand. Some treat her kindly but like an incapable child. The way they talk about “partying” frightens her. She has neither time nor money to participate social activities. In the meantime she gets letters from her family and friends at home, expressing their pride and confidence in her. Her parents tell her to work hard and take care of her health
Questions and discussions:
1. Why does Wu Lian at first feel proud but later depressed?
2. What causes her so many troubles?
3. If you were Wu Lian, would you also feel the same way and how would you deal with the problems?
A: Acculturation
Pre-reading Task:
If you go abroad now, what kinds of situations will you be in and what kinds of relationships can you develop with people of that culture? Please list some possible results.
1. The definition of acculturation
Acculturation（文化适应）acculturation is the term used to describe what happens when people from one culture enter a different culture. It refers to an individual’s learning and adopting the norms and values of the new host culture. The individual must find a new source of livelihood and build a new life. This adaptation to the new host culture is called acculturation.
2.Modes of acculturation
A. Assimilation
is a process in which members of an ethnic group are absorbed into the dominant culture, losing their culture in the process
b. Integrationis
a process of desiring a high level of interaction with the host culture while maintaining identity with their native culture.
c. Separation and segregation
Separation is when individuals prefer low levels of interaction with the host culture and associated microcultural groups while desiring a close connection with, and reaffirmation of, their native culture. If such separation is initiated and enforced by the dominant society, this is called segregation
d. Marginalization
Marginalization occurs when the individual chooses not to identify with his or her native culture or with the host culture.
3.Factors Affecting Acculturation
Communication, personal communication, social communication
Host environment, host receptivity, host Conformity Pressure, Ethnic Group Strength Predisposition, Preparedness, Ethnicity, Personality
B. Culture Shock
Pre-reading Task: Have you ever experienced any strange situations? What were your responses? Tell them to your group members and discuss why you had certain feelings or responses towards these situations.
Definition: It refers to the traumatic experience that an individual may encounter when entering a different culture.
1.Symptoms of culture shock
a. physical symptoms
Physical symptoms are over-concern about cleanliness of food, bedding, and dishes, extreme stress on health and safety; fear or physical contact with anyone in the new country; great concern over minor pains and skin eruptions; craving “home cooking”; use of alcohol and drugs; and a decline in work quality.
b.psychological symptoms
Psychological symptoms are insomnia, fatigue, isolation and loneliness, disorientation, frustration, criticism of new country, depression, nervousness, self-doubt, irritability, anger, and emotional and intellectual withdrawal.
2. Forms of culture shock
nguage Shock
Language shock occurs when we are unfamiliar with the host language. Many sociorelational cues lie in the domain of human language. If we do not understand the language, we lose the ability to adjust ourselves to the new symbolic environment.
b. Role Shock
Role shock refers to the feeling of loss of personal status in an ambiguous new environment in which we make efforts to switch our role in order to fit and function well in the host culture.
c. Transition shock
Transition shock is used to describe the distress we experience when trying to cope with the multitude of changes required by the host culture. It is similar to the state of losing a close family member, divorce, or geographic relocation.
d. Culture fatigue
Culture fatigue is used to describe the physical and psychological discomforts experienced by sojourners trying to adapt to a new culture.
e. Education shock
Education shock is frequently used to describe what happens to international students who try to adapt themselves to academic life, especially when the learning situation is new and distressing.
f. Adjustment stress
Adjustment stress is a term used to indicate bodily physical tension that signals a person’s readiness to face the challenges of the new cultural environment.
g. Culture distance
Culture distance refers to the distance between a sojourner’s culture and the host culture and signals the degree of alienation, estrangement, and psychological distress the sojourner feels as a result.
3.Effects of culture shock
Positive：1. Provide a learning opportunity that demands new reponses from sojourners in coping with a constantly changing environment.
2. Create an environment and serve as a motivational force
3. give sojourners a welcome sense of challenge and achievement
4. Offers us a high but not extreme level of anxiety that causes us to learn about a new culture
5. the experience from it produces new ideas
6. the practice help us deal with culture that we have not experienced
negative: 1. constitute a misbalancing experience.(euphoria,excitement--hysteria,depression)
2.a set of desirable or proper behaviors in one culture might be considered bizarre in another.
C. Intercultural adaptation
1.the definition of intercultural adaptation
The intercultural adaptation refers broadly to the process of increasing our level of fitness to meet the demands of a new cultural environment. In other words, intercultural adaptation is
a process of dealing with maladjustment within a host culture.
2. different models
The U-curve pattern includes four stages: honeymoon period, crisis period, adjustment period and biculturalism period. The honeymoon is the initial period of intercultural adaptation. This stage is characterized by fascination with the new culture and by the excitement about all
the new things we encounter in the host culture. In this stage we are still viewing the new environment from our own cultural perspective. The crisis period is also called the hostility or frustration stage. During this stage, a person experiences what is called culture shock. This stage is characterized by frequent confusion and disintegration as we confront differences in values, beliefs, behaviors, and lifestyles. Some people never recuperate from the crisis stage of culture shock and return home or isolate themselves from the host culture by restricting their interaction with it, such as fostering only intracultural relationships. When the lines of communication with the host culture are severed, there is little hope of acculturation or recovery from the crisis stage. The adjustment period is referred to the recovery stage, during which sojourners also begin to appreciate and respect the new culture and to develop sensitivity toward cultural differences. At this stage, people actively seek out effective problem-solving and conflict resolution strategies. They begin to develop a positive attitude about solving their problems. The last period is biculturalism period. In this period, we have cultivated an understanding of the host culture and can begin to work and play in the new environment with a feeling of enjoyment. At this point, individuals actively engage in the culture with their new problem-solving and conflict resolution tools with some degree of success. Moreover, they develop a level of competency in communicating with the natives.
The W-curve pattern refers to a reverse culture shock, which means if sojourners plan to return to their home countries, they may face a similar process of adaptation to their own cultures. If one returns home, he must proceed through the four stages of U-curve pattern again. In other words, when people return home after an extended stay in a foreign culture, they will experience another round of culture shock in their native culture. Although it may be
an easier process for them than to adapt a foreign culture, it will still give them a sense of loneliness.
D. strategies to overcome the culture shock
Some strategies are provided in our textbooks. These are all practical skills for a person to overcome culture shock, some of the strategies are especially useful and I would like further explain them.
The first strategy is learning basic verbal and nonverbal language skills. Practicing functional and frequently used phrases will help you perform basic survival tactics. And we should keep in mind that common verbal colloquialisms can be wildly misinterpreted across cultures. We should pay special attention that some of the hand gestures we used in daily life may extremely offend people in foreign countries, and if we come to foreign countries, we should learn this custom in advance.
The second strategy is to develop intercultural relationships. A common mistake made by many expatriates, Asian in particular, is remaining within a network of intracultural relationships. The best way to get to know and understand another culture is to establish relationships with host nationals. Host nationals know the norms and subtleties of their culture and can be immense help in assisting you to learn and understand them.
The last strategy is to maintain an intimate social network. This may sounds contradict to previous point, but here means to maintain the association in a moderate way. The close interpersonal relatio ns can provide positive feedback on matters related to one’s self-esteem and emotional needs. Venting your problems to understanding can be an effective outlet for
stress and frustration.
III. CONCLUSION
After introduction, we can see that culture shock is a really serious and serious problems which can set barriers in our intercultural adaptation. So, leaning intercultural adaptation and overcoming culture shock is necessary in intercultural communication. In this process, we should not only try to adapt to out host country, we should also inherit our own native culture. It is a better way to mix them together. In this way, we can be ourselves who have our own characters and be welcomed by the people in new environments.
Reference
James W.Neuliep Intercultural communication--- A contextual Approach. Sage Publications 2006, p.421 James W.Neuliep Intercultural communication--- A contextual Approach. Sage Publications 2006, p.418 /search/index?tn=baiduimage&ipn=r&ct=201326592&cl=2&lm=-1&st=-
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Yan Ming, a course book for intercultural communication, Tsinghua University Press, 2009, p.274-p.300。