LITERATURE REVIEW - A STUDY ON FACTORS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE AT THE MA

Chapter Overview

Chapter two presents the findings of previous studies that were used as a framework for this research. The following theories were referred to during the process of questionnaire designing. The structure of following literature review starts with more general concepts in order to explain the issue of cross-cultural adjustment, hierarchy of personal needs and motivator-hygiene theory. The later topics focus on more specific research areas that are applicable for this study.

Cross-Cultural Adjustment

When people arrive to a foreign country, they need to adjust to many things that differ from their culture of origin in order to stay there for a period of time not for purpose of traveling. Process of adjustment might be uneasy and can be even frustrating. This happens especially in the case when the new culture is remarkably variant from the primary culture.

Interactions between cultural groups are situations fraught with difficulties for the person concerned. These difficulties arise due to the phenomenon of „culture shock‟

that describes the emotional response to new or unfamiliar cultural acts or symbols that have little or no meaning.

(Adler 1975; Pawanteh 2000, p.20)

Pawanteh (2000) further alleged, that a person may be exposed to a various emotions such as anxiety, excitement or provocation related to the loss of all familiar cues that form the basis of his/her understanding of reality.

One of the most important studies that concerns about international students and their adjustment in new surroundings was conducted by Sveere Lysgaard in the year 1955.

Lysgaard‟s study questioned 200 Norwegian students who went to the United States to pursue their studies on various university levels. In his paper “Adjustment in a Foreign Society:

Norwegian Fullbright Grantees Visiting the United States”, he offered a model of a U-curve of adaptation. This well known model is shown below to further illustrate the main idea of the theory. At the beginning of stay in foreign country, sojourners are excited and feel satisfied (the honeymoon phase of cultural shock). However, this state changes into dissatisfaction over the time and leads to the second phase of cultural shock – the disillusionment phase.

Figure 2.1. U-curve of adjustment

Source: A proposed model of expatriates in multinational corporations, 2008.

Originally, the hypothesis of cultural shock counted with three stages that the sojourner is going through:

1) The Honeymoon Phase

2) The „Everything is awful‟ Phase 3) The „Everything is OK‟ Phase

In the work of Varner and Beamer (2005), four stages of adjustment were introduced as the stage of integration (or mastery) was added (Tange, 2005):

o Euphoria o Disillusionment o Adjustment o Integration

During this period, the differences between the old and new culture are seen in a romantic light, wonderful and new. For example, in moving to a new country, an individual might love the new food, the pace of life, the people‟s habits, the buildings and so on.

(Wikipedia Foundation Inc., 2009) The first encounter with a new culture, euphoria or the holiday stage, is mostly exciting, but according to Beamer and Varner it normally lasts no longer than two weeks, and, they add; “some people skip it altogether.” (Varner & Beamer 2005; Tange 2005, p. 3)

After a few days, a few weeks, or a few months, minor differences between the old and new culture begin to add up to become tiresome and annoying. One may long for food the way it is prepared “back home”, may find the pace of life too fast or slow, may find the people‟s habits annoying, etc. (Cultural Shock, 2009)

In contrast, the second stage of culture shock is characterized by a general downtum.

Sojourners find their constant exposure to an alien culture frustrating and may seek consolation in the company of countrymen in similar circumstances. The feeling of culture shock develops from the realization that one does not possess enough knowledge to manage in the new cultural setting. Its symptoms may be physical (illness and physical strain) as well as psychological (frustration, homesickness, depression).

(Varner & Beamer 2005; Tange 2005, p. 4)

Culture shock forces sojourners to open their minds and to confront members of the host culture in their search for inside information, which in the end will further their integration. (Guirdham 1999; Tange 2005) Again, after a few days, weeks or months, one grows accustomed to the new culture‟s differences and develops routines. At this point, an individual no longer reacts to the new culture positively or negatively, because it no longer feels like a new culture. An individual becomes concerned with basic living again, as they were in the original culture. (Wikipedia Foundation Inc, 2009)

The third stage of adjustment is characterized by Beamer and Varner as the ability to

“cooperate more effectively with members of the host culture”. (Varner & Beamer 2005;

Tange 2005) Although they may not achieved the level of linguistic and cultural fluency that we find in the fourth stage of integration, sojourners possess enough insight into the host culture to navigate safely.

The last stage of integration is described by Beamer and Varner as „going native‟. At this stage, they reflect, business may worry “that they employee, who is now at home in different culture, does not totally represent them anymore”. (Varner & Beamer 2005; Tange 2005) Guirdham (1999) refers to this stage as the “establishment of an intercultural identity”

and, as opposed to Varner and Beamer, perceives it to be positive development.

The very last phase that is sometimes mentioned as a part of culture shock is the

„Reverse culture shock‟, which is referring to the stage after returning to the original culture.

There, a person may undergo the whole process of culture shock again, as he/she already got accustomed to another culture and integrated it.

In their study, Alazzi and Chiodo (2006) learned what kind of problems students face when they decide to pursue their higher education degree in a foreign country. They focused on students of one nationality coming to the United States. However, in the end, they concluded that all students who become minority in foreign countries campuses might be facing the same problems.

They also proved and thus supported the idea of Varner and Beamer, that the Honeymoon phase (or the Euphoria phase) are skipped in the case of international students and they are immediately experiencing the second phase – disillusionment (or „everything is awful‟ phase). Further, their results show clearly, that problems, which international students are facing, do not change over time. In their research, problems were reported from four different areas: academic, language, socio-cultural and personal.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The above-mentioned research leads to other studies that deal with need theories of motivation. In 1943, Abraham Maslow introduced his study in the paper called A Theory of Human Motivation. Despite the fact, that this theory comes under the field of psychology, it is used even in today‟s studies for explaining the human innate curiosity and need to grow in various spheres of research.

Maslow (1943) divided human needs into five levels: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization level. In the figure 2.1, Maslow‟s hierarchy is represented as a pyramid, with the most primitive needs at the bottom. Such graphic illustration shows clearly the main idea of this theory. Maslow proposed, that human needs

are coming from the basic/essential level to the top of the pyramid and thus grows from the physiological needs, through safety and security needs to social and esteem needs to the last level that represents growth needs. “According to Maslow, once a need is satisfied, it no longer motivates.” (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2008)

Maslow also suggested that the achievement of one level is not constant. The moment a person loses the achieved need, he/she will go downward (in the scale of the pyramid) to a lower level, in order to re-achieve the needs that have been lost. This happens or is very likely to happen when a person (a student, an expatriate, a spouse of a student or expatriate, etc.) arrives to a different country. They come to a different environment and are exposed to the changes. Usually, friends (in case of students) or the company (in case of expatriates) will act as a bridge over the dissimilarities. However, to get to the stage of adjustment or integration (see Lysgaard‟s hypothesis on adaptation, Chapter II, Cross-Cultural Adjustment, p. 13) takes considerably long time. Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs can be used in order to explain, why stage of disillusionment (see Lysgaard‟s hypothesis on adaptation, Chapter II, Cross-Cultural Adjustment, p. 12) might be rather long and what happen during that period of time.

Foreign students have to deal with changes in their hierarchy of needs. Suddenly, question of different food and all eating habits needs to be dealt with. Students have to face the question of housing and other resources. These needs are appearing on the lowest levels of Maslow‟s pyramid. A considerably big number of international students, who come to Taiwan to start learning Chinese or to continue in their studies of Chinese language, obtained various scholarships. General idea about such students is, that they are very good students in their countries. Their feel motivated by gaining respect of others and thus confidence, enhancing their creativity and problem solving ability. Such needs are at the very top of Maslow‟s hierarchy. To drop from the top of the pyramid to the bottom and suddenly deal with existential problems can cause feeling of frustration or depression. To overcome all obstacles in physiological and safely level and regain love/belonging and esteem level could

21 be time consuming.

This theory is also explaining why some foreign students might skip the first phase of Lysgaard‟s U-curve of adjustment – the honeymoon phase. As sojourners have to deal with existential problems in the first moment, they might not feel the excitement about experiencing new things.

Figure 2.2.Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs Source : Maslow's hierarchy of needs, 2009.

Motivator-hygiene Theory

A study conducted by Herzberg (1966) came up with a so-called motivator-hygiene theory, which assumes that a job has two basic characteristics – motivators and hygiene factors. The first mentioned include such characteristics that make employees satisfy their higher-level needs. On the other hand, hygiene factors allow employees to meet their lower-level needs such as security needs. This state can be reached for example by good benefits and working conditions (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2008).

Herzberg (1966) was the first researcher, who saw the importance of „hygiene factors‟

at a workplace. This study assumes that motivator-hygiene theory does not apply only to workplace, but also to schools – from the students‟ point of view. Students have to spend time at school mostly or almost every day, therefore the researcher assumes that they do care about the environment, facilities and classrooms equipment as well as faculty and staff attitude. It is not only a question of taste or delight for the eye; nice, clean and friendly environment supports human well-being and mental health. “It is widely acknowledged that a strong relationship exists between physical environments and human health and wellbeing. More specifically, various dimensions of person environment (PE) relationships have been studied relating to the psychological, physical and social aspects of human interactions and transactions.” (Suresh, 2008)

Well-being and Mental Health

Under this section, issues that are very hard to be measured, are discussed. According to the Webster‟s Online Dictionary, mental health is the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment or, in other words, the state wherein the person is well adjusted. As for the precise meaning of well-being, the same dictionary defines it as the psychical and psychological state that makes an individual fell adjusted to his environment. (Webster‟s Online Dictionary, n.d.)

Both terms refers to mental state and even for this fact they might be neglected by human resource management, by school staff and faculty etc. However, nowadays, it becomes a part of common knowledge that to take care of students/employees well-being and mental health is essential for success in business field and for sustainability of quality of services in schools and services sphere.

In order to foster these human needs, which more and more people try to reach in their personal life as well, organizations of any nature may provide special services. To narrow down this idea and to focus again on school environment, we may see only limited options of such service at first. However, such perspective may be constricted by our own experience when, in the past, the option of schools‟ assistance were minimal.

In present, students of higher education especially, tend to perceive schools as organizations providing service. This is easy to understand as students are paying tuition fees.

Therefore we can say that the relationship of student and school is synonymous to customer and dealer, synonymous to demand and offer. It is a common knowledge for businessman that unless they will not be innovative, they will not make constant research on the market and will not care about customers‟ needs their business can hardly be prosperous. Even schools have to change their management and administration and involve means that will allow them to analyze precisely current trends and changes that may occur in the future. This need is even more crucial in an international environment of language centers, where foreign

students form a salad bowl of culture backgrounds, education levels etc. Such institutions

“need to constantly evaluate the entire context into which they recruit and educate international students. It is insufficient to focus on the concerns they have as merely as expression of individual problems. Rather, attention must be given to the different parts of the social system that foster or inhibit these students‟ adjustment.” (Poyrazli & Grahame, 2007, p.29)

To deal with mental health and students‟ well-being, schools may establish counseling centers. Up to now, this may be the best solution for both sides of participants.

However, there may be a big gap between founding such center and between its fully utilization.

First thing, that may come up in everybody‟s mind is the ordinarily negative perception of counseling. For many people in general, seeing the counselor may be apprehended as a sign of weakness or immaturity, as loss of face or as a conclusive indicator of defective mental health. Somebody may feel fear of ludicrousness and shame. Some people may also be afraid of unveiling their thoughts because these may be stigmatized as socially unacceptable or wrong in the host culture. “Critical cultural differences in basic beliefs about mental health problems have been a hindrance to international student‟s use of services.” (Mori, 2000, 139)

Even more difficulties are being faced by international students. Due to the fact that they are in (to some extent) unknown environment, they may face more stress which is coming from multiple sources.

Besides the normal developmental concerns that every student may have, international students encounter additional stressors due to demands for cultural adjustment.

Difficulties with the following linguistic, academic, interpersonal, financial, and intrapersonal problems constitute unique sources of stress for international students.

(Mori, 2000, p.137)

In the abovementioned quotation, financial situation is indicated as a source of stress.

However, not only the money issue itself may be stressful, but also how others perceive an individual (as a wealthy one etc.) may be rather unpleasant. In Taiwan, racial issue supports negatively this fact. Generally, in the eyes of Taiwanese people, Caucasians are somehow preordained to be American nationals. Here we do not judge or analyze this phenomenon. It is only mentioned here in order to understand the fact of false perception of financial situation as stressor for international students. Why is that? It has to be said that not only are the white race members apprehended as American nationals but as wealthy American nationals. For white non-Americans in Taiwan, this may be an issue not only because of the pressure of possible financial stringency itself, but for now, only this part will be considered.

Such a presumption may affect everyday live situations and may even lead to refusal of communication (for example shopping on night markets, where prices are not fixed and for white foreigners the upset price is often higher than for local people). This issue also occurs in other countries, but may be even more pressing in Taiwan, as the presumption tends to be prevalent. “Crisis situation can also arise from their financial difficulties. The general assumption that most international students are wealthy is, in fact, erroneous; the lack of sufficient funds is one of their most commonly expressed concerns.” (Cadieux & Wehrly 1986; Mori, 2000, p.138)

International students have to deal with two environments at one time. Not only do they face themselves in an unknown environment; they have to deal with situations and issues that are tight back to their homes and families. If something good happens that bring happiness to their whole family and relatives, it may generate sadness because they cannot experience it with their immediate family. If anything bad happens to their family members or friends, it negatively affects their situation abroad with manifold intensity.

In addition to the complication of the student‟s relationships….their personal crises originating at home – such as illness or death among their families, relatives, and friends, and parental discord or divorce – are very traumatic for them, and management of these crises, especially when they are unable to go home, can produce a tremendous amount of stress.

(Burak 1987; Mori 2000, p. 138)

Loss of traditional ceremonies, religious festivities or holidays (Christmas, Ramadan, Diwali etc.) in culture totally different from the origin one also puts a lot of pressure on international students. All of the aforementioned stressors may seem unreal or at least not occurring so often, but from researcher‟s experience and long time observation (year 2004 and from 2006 up to now), they happen more than often.

International students deal not only with stress of what have been left behind, of time shared with their family and friends being lost. Stress from the new culture is added to that too. Newly experienced style of live, different sets of values, standard of living, hygiene standards, new customs, habits or traditions all counts into the stress factors. “…experiences of events that violate their basic sense of morals, values, logic, and beliefs about normality and civility may contribute to their cultural confusion and disorientation.” (Winkelman 1994;

Mori, 2000, p.139)

Differences of the new culture may keep students from coming to the counseling centers; therefore the school/language center should promote such facilities in appropriate way. “Because international students are hesitant to seek services on their own, it is crucial for counselors to take proactive approaches (Sandhu, 1995) to increase the visibility and the accessibility of the counseling facilities.” (Mori, 2000, p.140)

As long as the language issue may by another reason why international students avoid utilizing counseling services and try to deal with their problems on their own, the service

should be provided in more languages. Counselors should know how the language center is operated, facilities it provides etc. in order to help even with matters of everyday concern.

For successful, comprehensive therapeutic interventions, it is desirable for counselors to integrate such multiple functions as those of an intercultural communicator, developmental facilitator, crisis manager, student advocate, and information provider and processor (Axelson, 1993). For instance, given the international students‟

在文檔中 A STUDY ON FACTORS RELATED TO INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE AT THE MANDARIN TRAINING CENTER IN THE NATIONAL TAIWAN NORMAL UNIVERSITY (頁 22-38)