In this section the researcher is exploring theories that have been developed that may assist the appropriate parties to making the adaptation and adjustment of international foreign students in Taiwan better. The theories explain why students encounter certain problems and descriptions and examples of those problems. According to Kim (1988), new sets of relationships can help facilitate newcomers’ adaptation to the new cultural environment. The adaptive functions of relational networks, such as informational and emotional support, provide newcomers a sense of security and well-being as well as various types of knowledge about the host culture. Studies have consistently found that interactions with new close ties, especially interactions with members of the host culture, are positively linked to successful adaptation.
Culture shock
The anthropologist Oberg (1960) was the first to use the term culture shock. As most people take for granted that all cultures operate and behave in exactly the same manner as their own, they are 'shocked' or made temporarily uncomfortable by the differences and unpredictability they encounter, whether it be in the language, food or various society ceremonies of everyday life. One positive aspect of the living abroad experience is the ability to better understand one’s own culture and society through observing another. The most common occurrence is a feeling of uncontrollability and helplessness. Oberg identified four stages and six aspects to this reaction, which has been seen as a normal part of a routine process of adaptation to cultural differences and the manifestation of a longing for a more predictable and understandable environment. The stages, according to Oberg are Initial Euphoria, Irritability and Hostility, Gradual Adjustment, and Biculturalism.
Upon arriving in the new cultural milieu, the international student encounters Initial Euphoria. Most people begin their new responsibility with great expectations about themselves and a positive frame of mind towards the host country. Anything new is intriguing and exciting but soon, disappointment is inevitable. The international student will then move into the Irritability and Hostility stage. In this stage, gradually, the focus shifts from the excitement of being in interesting places with fascinating people to the
difficulty of living amongst them. People seem to focus on the differences (which suddenly seem to be everywhere) and begin to emphasize them. The next stage the student experiences is Gradual Adjustment. The crisis is over and people seem to be more open to others and willing to share. Once students are able to interpret some of the subtle cultural clues, which were overlooked earlier, the culture seems more familiar. One becomes more comfortable in it and feels less isolated. Interestingly, a person's sense of humor returns and there is a realization that the situation is not a hopeless one after all.
Then finally, the student reaches the stage of Adaptation or Biculturalism. Full recovery will result in an ability to function in two cultures with confidence. Students might even enjoy a great many customs, ways of doing and saying things, and personal attitudes to which they have acculturated (to some extent) and which they might even miss when the time comes to pack up and return home.
Acculturation theories
Acculturation refers to changes in cultural attitudes, values, and behaviors that result from the continued firsthand contact between two distinct cultures. Acculturation is marked by physical and psychological changes due to the adaptation required in diet, climate, housing, interactional styles, norms, and values of a new society. Berry (1997) stated that cultural maintenance (how much foreigners strive to maintain their cultural identity and characteristics) and contact and participation (how much foreigners become involved with the host society’s population) influence acculturation. According to Berry there are four strategies of acculturation: Assimilation, Separation, Integration, and Marginalization. Foreigners using either Assimilation or Integration strategy seek daily interaction with people in the host culture. Naturally, they will be influenced by the host society’s values and preferences and learn appropriate behaviors for the new cultural context more than foreigners using Separation or Marginalization strategy.
Berry describes the Integration strategy as maintaining cultural heritage while supporting inter-group relations. The Assimilation strategy entails relinquishing or giving up one’s cultural heritage and adopting the beliefs and behaviors of the mainstream culture. The Separation strategy involves one maintaining their heritage culture while rejecting intergroup relations. The Marginalization strategy entails one not adhering to
43 the heritage or mainstream cultures. In the case of Marginalization, the individual relinquishes contact with his heritage and mainstream cultures. Berry believes that it is important to know how the four apply to individual preferences. For Berry (1997), a host society’s interest to improve intercultural relations requires institutional and individual change. Berry believes that corporate practices (i.e., curriculum, recruitment, policies, etc.) must be modified in order for immigrants like international students to socialize and professionally adapt. Berry (1997) terms the changing (modification) “cultural sensitivity training” and during this change process, the inability to change institutionally, from the
“inside out/top down,” will not ensure the person full understanding of and acceptance to diverse societies. Cultural distance between foreigners’ native culture and a new culture is another factor influencing acculturation.
The psychological adaptations to acculturation are a matter of learning a new behavioral repertoire that is appropriate for the new cultural context. It may be accompanied by some moderate “cultural conflict,” and individuals may experience
“acculturative stress” if they cannot easily change their behavior (Berry, 1997). Since adaptation refers to changes that take place in individuals or groups in response to environmental demands, these adaptations can either occur immediately or be extended over the longer term. Short-term changes during acculturation are not always positive.
Sometimes these are negative and disruptive in character. However, for most acculturating individuals, after long-term period of time, some long-term positive adaptations to the new cultural context usually take place.
Sodowsky and Plake (1992) described acculturation as “a dynamic process of relating to the dominant group, whereby, the minority group selectively adopts its value system and culture practices when involved in the processes of integrating with, and differentiating from, the dominant group”. Adding to this research Suinn, Khoo, and Ahuana(1995) highlight three possible outcomes of acculturation: (i) assimilation, whereby the person adopt to the host culture’s attitudes, values, and behaviors, thereby giving up his or her original culture (ii) resist assimilation whereby the person resists the host culture and maintains his or her own and (iii) biculturalism whereby the person adopts both the host culture and his or her own.
In 1967, Graves took a more in-depth view at the definition of acculturation and made a distinction between acculturation as a collective or group-level perspective and a psychological perspective. Graves’ (1967) Acculturation Framework depicts group-level acculturation as a change in the culture of the group; whereas, psychological acculturation is a change in the psychology of the person. Graves’ framework indicates that the study of acculturation is designed to provide a distinction between the cultural variables influencing people and the psychological outcomes of those cultural variables.
According to Graves, the dominant culture and the acculturating group(s) have continuous contact within and among themselves. Based on contact between and among the groups, acculturation is viewed in two manners. According to Graves, the contact between the dominant culture and acculturating groups will generate group-level acculturation, which entails experiencing one or more of the following changes: physical (such as, urbanization and population density), biological (associated with diet, health, and diseases), political, economic, cultural, and social. Graves indicates that the same contact between the cultures can also generate psychological acculturation, which entails experiencing one or more of the following changes: behavioral, value, identity, acculturative stress, pathological, and adaptation. Although Grave’s reasoning for the study of acculturation resides with changes being more obvious in a group over individual people, his theory is still applicable. International students in Taiwan can be viewed as a group.
Social network theory
Acculturation scholars believe that for adaptation to take place, communication must be present via social contacts. International students will reduce the intensity of isolation from the new society through social contacts with members of the host society.
The international students as out-group members become acculturated primarily by participating in communication with members of the in-group, host nationals. Studies have shown that the more frequently one associates with the host people, the more easily one may adapt to the dominant society. Kim (1988) indicates ties with host people would replace some of the ethnic ties, making the immigrant social network increasingly heterogeneous over time.
45 Social network theory is concerned with the properties of social support networks and social support and resource exchanges among network members. From a social network perspective, a social network involves a set of actors and the relations that connect them. Actors, either individual people or aggregated units such as organizations or families, exchange resources. These resources may include data, information, goods and services, social support, and financial support (Marsden & Campbell, 1984).
According to social network theory, an individual’s social networks comprise strong ties and weak ties - a tie simply refers to the relationship between a certain individual and a particular network member - that help the individual identify with others of different groups, not just different ethnic groups, but also across boundaries of age, gender, class, organizational or professional affiliation or even across boundaries of identity constructs such as hobbies, personalities, and subculture identification. While strong ties can provide informational support and validation, the close relationships among strong ties may play an effective role, which can satisfy an individual’s emotional needs. Weak ties, on the other hand, involve fewer intimate exchanges and less frequent maintenance.
Weak-tie relationships allow people to diversify their networks or connections, thus providing a helpful alternative for social support.
Social network theory, particularly its contentions about strong ties and weak ties, is applicable to the examination of social support networks for international students.
International students are a group in transition who live in a foreign country to pursue their educational goals. These students need to seek support and help from different sources and personal networks in order to cope with the feelings of inadequacy and frustration in their changed environment. There are types of strong ties in cross-cultural adaptation: new relationships established in the host country, and distant long-standing relationships in the home countries. According to Kim (1988), new sets of relationships can help facilitate newcomers' adaptation to the new cultural environment. The adaptive functions of relational networks, such as informational and emotional support, provide newcomers a sense of security and well-being as well as various types of knowledge about the host culture. Interactions with new close ties, especially interactions with members of the host culture, are positively linked to successful adaptation.
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