CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction This chapter, is a review of the literature associated with culture shock, the chapter will cover the definitions, history and conceptual framework of culture shock under which the causes and symptoms of culture shock, the various stages of culture shock and the training of expatriates before they embark on their sojourn will be considered. Then the scope and importance of studies on culture shock will be discussed, followed by diverse culture shock models, and a brief description of the chosen research method. Lastly a brief summary of the chapter will be discussed. Definition, History and Conceptual Framework of Culture Shock According to Eickelmann (2006) “Culture Shock” has been a topic of research …show more content…
Meerand (n.d.) noted that scholars have identified four stages of cultural shock. Below are the various stages he identified; 1. The Simulation stage; at first, the expatriate will be full of excitement at the prospect of going to a new location, and will feel curious, excited, and fascinated by the new country upon their entry to a totally new environment. This period often lasts from a couple of weeks to half a year. Meerand (n.d.) 2. The Culture shock stage; at this stage the expatriate will interact with the host culture actively. Culture shock manifests itself as homesickness, boredom, irritability, hostility to the host culture, disappointment, frustration, confusion and anxiety. Meerand (n.d.) 3. The Adjustment stage; After the passing of the initial settling period, the expat will start to feel more ‘at home’ in his/her new environment as his/her understanding of, and empathy with, the host culture grows and develops hence the expat starts to feel more comfortable about his surroundings. Meerand …show more content…
al (2011) Qualitative research is an approach that allows you to examine peoples’ assumptions and paradigms. The importance of reflexivity and how to practise it is described using field examples. Qualitative research can be used for a wide range of applications. Qualitative methods are typically used for providing an in-depth understanding of research issues that embraces the perspectives of the study population and the context in which they live. Qualitative research is useful for exploring new topics or understanding complex issues; for explaining people’s beliefs and behaviour and for identifying the social or cultural norms of a culture or society. Therefore, qualitative research is most suitable for addressing “why” questions that describe processes or behaviour. Qualitative methods are also particularly suitable for examining sensitive topics, as the process of rapport building provides a comfortable atmosphere for participant
For example, looking at stage one, in which the new culture is at its
Emily Hervey, a licensed Clinical Psychologist , in her article "Cultural Transitions During Childhood and Adjustment to College” (2009), argues that a missionary kids past experiences with transitions will affect how they perceive current ones. She supports this claim by first demonstrating that missionary kids adapt to their foreign culture even though it is not their parent’s culture (p. 1-3), then she showed how this can lead to bad experiences when transitioning (p. 1-3), and finally she used statistics to prove that missionary kids who had bad experiences transitioning were more likely to have bad experiences transitioning into college (p. 7). Hervey’s purpose is to convince the reader that bad experiences early on in a missionary kid’s
America is the “melting pot” country where immigrants from various countries around the world come here and settle. They come here either for economy, political, education or medical reason. When they migrate here they bring with them their culture, religious, value and belief which makes America more diverse and interest. Yet, at the same time it often leads to two cultures collision. Cultural shock is unavoidable for almost newcomer refugee people.
Therefore, there is an apparent dynamic system of constraints and barriers and an immigrant or refugee’s level of assimilation or acculturation in which suggests that as one becomes more familiar and integrated into their new environment, the constraints and barriers they face will not be as significant (Stodolska, 1998).
Throughout my life, I have traveled to many different cities in the United States. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to experience staying in a different country or foreign culture for an extended period. One experience that I experienced culture shock in would be my travels to Mississippi. About six years ago, I joined my grandmother’s family in their travel to her native hometown of Holly Springs, Mississippi to visit her relatives.
It can be overwhelming to immigrate to a new nation since everything is unfamiliar—new
However, his theory and most of the previous research focus on mainly immigrants’ acculturation. Considering that there are also other groups such as sojourners and expatriates, Berry’s theory and other acculturation theories may not totally apply to the groups apart from immigrants. (Lian & Tsang , 2010). Furthermore, acculturation is usually referred as an adjustment and adaptation process of cultural change as the final outcome (Adler and Gielen (2003). For this reason, the extensive body of research in the expatriation literature has focused on cross-cultural adjustment process of individuals and minority groups in response to their contact with the dominant majority and it constitutes the central conceptual framework of this
Acculturation is the method of attaining the lifestyle of one’s host country which encompasses the concurrent detachment from their native culture. Immigrant acculturation is a continuous process that can take years to decades to complete (Ajayi & Ajayi, 2008). Unidimensional acculturation occurs along a linear scale from not being completely absorbed in one’s original culture to being utterly engrossed in the new dominant culture (LaVeist & Isaac, 2013). An example of a unidimensional transition can be seen when teens become heavily involved with new friends or a new group at school and follow the crowd in order to fit in. Bi-dimensional acculturation emphasizes the integration among both the dominant culture and the original culture (LaVeist & Isaac, 2013).
The Lee family is just one example of a family having to move countries and redefine their lives in this new place. All over the world, people move every day, to and from so many places. When moving within a country it is hard because you are still having to accommodate to this new society. However, here we are looking at the change from one country to another, completely changing cultures. When going through the initial culture change there are four stages: euphoria, cultural shock, anomie, and finally either assimilation or adaptation.
Introduction Qualitative research are those kind of researches that an outcome is obtained without the application of statistical methods of data analysis (Strauss and Corbin, 1990 cited in Golafshani, 2003). However, the qualitative research takes a direct approach, where the researchers arrive at a conclusion through the observation of events as they occur naturally without external interferences (Golafshani, 2003). Ethical and methodological issues may arise, therefore in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of Qualitative research it is important to integrate rigour and trustworthiness. Potential ethical issues There is the need to take into consideration ethical issues that may arise from conducting qualitative researches.
Nevertheless, when immigrating to the U.S. many newcomers find themselves lost the vastness of the contemporary culture this is known as culture shock. Since most people move to the U.S. from developing countries they are not used to the freedoms that America offers. An instance of this is when the speaker of the presentation came emigrated from Israel. At first inclination he found himself enthralled by the independence of Americans. Ironically, he soon became astray when traversing through the subway system.
Without cultural self-awareness we are not able to explore cultural intelligence. As I mentioned I have experience cultural shock only in Australia. I believe my cultural awareness has not made me safer extreme cultural shock. It has been my experience that cultural shock is not as extreme as most people think, it has been my cultural awareness that has buffered me against. It is important to maintain and understand the culture similarities and difference between two cultures.
3. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH THEORY 3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Qualitative research is a form of research in which the researcher collects and interprets data, meaning the researcher is as important in the research process as the participants and the data they provide. Reason and Rowan (2004) have argued that the core element of a qualitative research approach is to connect meanings to the experiences of respondents and their lives. According to Clissett (2008) qualitative research involves a variety of research methods that can be used to explore human experience, perceptions, motivations and behaviours. Qualitative research is characterised by collection and analysis of words in the form of speech or writing.
After the migration, each individual of overseas students are maintaining one’s cultural identity. However adaptation to a new environment is necessary regardless of how long the duration of their migration. Meanwhile during the process many of them are challenged on so many different levels. Due to the different culture from one’s country, each individual encountered different challenges of unfamiliar situations. All of these processes influenced individuals’ cognitive process, behavior and influenced perception of how they interpret the world.
Culture Shock-One of Common Problems in Intercultural Communication. Cross-Cultural Communication, 11(8), 71-74. INTRODUCTION Do you think studying in a different country is something that sounds very exciting? Are you like many young people who leave home to study in another country thinking you will have lots of fun?