文化衝擊研究: 海外留學生華語習得期間之文化適應 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學 National Chengchi University. 華語文教學碩士學位學程 Master’s Program in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. 碩士論文. 政治大. Master’s Thesis. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 文化衝擊研究：. 海外留學生華語習得期間之文化適應. ‧. sit. y. Nat. When Culture Shocks or Not:. er. io. Acculturating while Acquiring Mandarin. a. n. v i in al Study Abroad Context n C hengchi U. 指導教授 Advisor：張玉玲博士 Dr. Christie Chang 研究生 Student：陳薇蒂 Ruby Chin（98161017）撰中華民國 100 年 6 月.

(2) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my advisor Christie Chang, for her guidance during the writing of my thesis. Despite her busy schedule, she was still able to pass on useful information for my research and made great efforts to explain things clearly and simply. I also want to express my appreciation to Professor Fahn Rui-ling and Professor David Blundell for their helpful advices and encouragements. Likewise, I would like to thank Dr. Chang Shang Kuan, director of Master‟s Program in TCASL, who have supported me throughout my writing with his. 政治大. patience and knowledge, whilst at the same time allowing me the space to work. 立. independently.. ‧ 國. 學. I am grateful to Hui Jun, the secretary in the Teaching Chinese as a Second Language department for constantly reminding me the important dates and helping make. ‧. all administrative process run smoothly, as well as for assisting me in many different. sit. y. Nat. ways.. io. er. I would also like to thank the CIEE students for their enthusiasm in participating. al. v i n C h and support throughout I appreciate their wisdom, knowledge the process of this study. engchi U n. and contributing to this research. It has been a privilege and a pleasure being their friend.. Throughout my thesis-writing period, I wish to thank all my close friends, my sister, my aunt, uncle and my adorable little cousins for helping me get through the difficult times, and for all the emotional support. Their cute smiles and silly talks always cheered me up and drove me to continue forward. Without them, I would have been lost. Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to particularly thank my parents, Terrence Chin and May Chin. During my graduate studies, although, they were far away on the other side of the globe, they were still able to give me loving and encouraging words, along with emotional support. They nag me, raise me, support me, and most of all they love me. ii.

(3) ABSTRACT This qualitative research study investigates exchange students from the United States (America) in the program of the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), in terms of their experiences during their process of acculturation while acquiring Chinese Mandarin language skills. Previously as a study abroad program student in National Chengchi University, Taipei, and currently as a graduate student in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language Master‟s Program, and Language Coordinator of CIEE, (a study abroad program on the same campus), the author proposes to do a case. 治政 experience in second language acquisition by American 大students through ethnographic 立 methods.. study on the program‟s students. The purpose is to understand the effects of cultural. ‧ 國. 學. The author proposes that in order to effectively acquire Chinese Mandarin language,. ‧. it could be important for tracking American students‟ acculturation process of 1. Anticipation, 2. Cultural Shock, 3. Disorientation, and 4. Adaptation. It is observed that. y. Nat. io. sit. although most people assume that East-Asian Americans experience less culture shock. n. al. er. due to their Asian heritage, the study shows that their lack of „culture shock awareness‟. Ch. i n U. v. in fact puts them at a disadvantage, which delays their adaptation, and impedes upon. engchi. their success in Mandarin language training.. The study concludes that decreasing social distance and promoting social interaction through acculturation in classrooms may be effective methods for both East-Asian and non-East-Asian American students to become successful in acquiring Chinese Mandarin language. Thus, it is suggested that students and teachers should increase their level of culture shock awareness in the study abroad context in order to assist Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners.. Keywords: acculturation, Mandarin acquisition, culture shock, awareness, CIEE American students iii.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. iii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Context of Study: CIEE American Students in Taiwan ............................................... 4 1.3 Purpose of Study and Research Questions ................................................................... 6 1.4 Organization of Thesis ................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 8 2.1 Acculturation................................................................................................................ 8 2.1.1 Acculturation in Second Language Acquisition .................................................. 8 2.1.2 Acculturation Phases ......................................................................................... 11 2.2 Culture Shock............................................................................................................. 12 2.2.1 Stage Theory of Culture Shock ......................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Psychology of Culture Shock ............................................................................ 14 2.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 18. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Nat. y. sit. n. al. er. io. CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND FIELDWORK ............................................. 19 3.1 Ethnographic Methods ............................................................................................... 19 3.2 Design of the Study .................................................................................................... 20 3.3 My Fieldwork............................................................................................................. 22 3.3.1 The Participant-Observer................................................................................... 23 3.3.2 The Collector ..................................................................................................... 24 3.3.3 The Interviewer ................................................................................................. 25 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 26. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. CHAPTER FOUR: INITIAL OBSERVATIONS ................................................................... 27 4.1 Culture Shocks of Taiwan ....................................................................................... 28 4.1.1 Personal Experience .......................................................................................... 28 4.1.2 Values and Beliefs ............................................................................................. 31 4.1.3 Social Roles and “Rules” of Behavior .............................................................. 32 4.1.4 Climate, Attire and Food ................................................................................... 36 4.2 Participation-Observation .......................................................................................... 39 4.2.1 Classroom .......................................................................................................... 39 4.2.2 Outside the Classroom....................................................................................... 40 4.3 Semi-constructed Interviews ...................................................................................... 43 iv.

(5) 4.3.1 Causal Talks to Gossips .................................................................................... 43 4.3.2 Survey Follow-ups ............................................................................................ 46 4.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 48 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS AND ANALYSES ................................................................ 50 5.1 Acculturation Phases .................................................................................................. 50 5.1.1 Anticipation ....................................................................................................... 51 5.1.2 Culture Shock .................................................................................................... 51 5.1.3 Disorientation .................................................................................................... 53 5.1.4 Adaptation ......................................................................................................... 54 5.2 When Culture Shocks or Not ..................................................................................... 55 5.2.1 East-Asian Americans ....................................................................................... 56 5.2.2 Non-East-Asian Americans ............................................................................... 57 5.3 Acculturation and Language Acquistion ................................................................... 59 5.3.1 Acculturation Advantages and Disadvantages .................................................. 60 5.3.2 Language Acquistion Timeline ......................................................................... 62 5.4 Summary and Conclusion .......................................................................................... 64. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. ‧. CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 65 6.1 Before Closing ............................................................................................................... 65 6.2 Conclusions and Implications ........................................................................................ 66. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 6.3 Contributions and Limitations ....................................................................................... 68 6.4 Closing Remarks............................................................................................................ 70. v. n. Appendix 1: Sample Survey Questions ................................................................................... 71 Appendix 2: Selected articles from CIEE Newsletter written by CIEE students.................... 74 Appendix 3: Original transcriptions of CIEE students‟ reflection journals ............................ 87 References ............................................................................................................................... 96. Ch. engchi. v. i n U.

(6) CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION. What is the difference between studying a new culture and actually adapting to it? The answer is parallel to the idea of knowing how our minds work and actually using that knowledge. Therefore, to simply study a new culture does not equate to truly being able to become accustomed to that culture. But according to Franz Boas, “language is culture and culture is language.” In order to completely understand another culture, one must also have direct access to its language because there is a complex homologous relationship between. 政治大. language and culture, which mutually influence one another in the language learning. 立. process. (Boas 1940) However, learning a new language and being accustomed to a whole. ‧ 國. 學. new different culture is neither quick nor easy. In order to fully acquire and entirely accept a new language, along with familiarizing with a new culture, time and motivation is a. ‧. must.. y. Nat. sit. While understanding that it requires time to learn a new language, my strong interest. n. al. er. io. in mastering Chinese language forced me to invest a great amount of time in proficiently. i n U. v. acquiring it and adjusting to its culture. This later on led me to expand my education in. Ch. engchi. teaching Chinese to others as a second language. As a Taiwanese-American, I grew up in an environment comprised of various cultures and languages. Consequently, the main focus of this chapter will be on how American and Chinese cultures influenced and shaped my way of life. I will first trace back to my Chinese-language learning experiences in America and in Taiwan (section 1.1). Then, I will describe my developed interest in researching the process of American students acquiring Mandarin in relation to culture in the study abroad context in Taiwan (section 1.2). In conclusion for this chapter, I will identify my purposes and my research questions for this thesis (section 1.3).. 1.

(7) 1.1 BACKGROUND Who am I? I often asked myself this question when I was young. In America, many people asked me, “Where are you from?” My answer always ended up lengthy, explaining how I was actually born in Taiwan, but my parents are Burmese-Chinese, born and raised in Burma, but my grandparents are originally from Guangdong, China. Immediately, a blank look would appear on their faces and they would reply, “So … are you Chinese, Burmese or Taiwanese? Who are you?” I couldn‟t blame them for asking such an impolite question, because I, myself, was especially confused. I wanted to identify myself according. 政治大 However, there are too many cultures I felt I could relate to, and I could not exactly choose 立 to the culture that I understood myself as and to a culture that I associate myself with.. the appropriate one that truly represented „me‟.. ‧ 國. 學. This identity crisis I had was finally resolved when I had the opportunity to study. ‧. abroad in Taiwan during my senior year at the University of California, San Diego. In Fall. sit. y. Nat. 2007, I studied abroad through an international exchange program called, Council of. io. er. International Educational Exchange (CIEE). As a CIEE study abroad student, I went on a mission to my birthplace, Taiwan, to not only improve on my Chinese language skills, but. al. n. v i n C h and search for my more importantly, to understand myself identity. In the end, my engchi U. experience in Taiwan did not fail me. Unexpectedly, I went through different stages of adapting to the once-familiar culture I thought I was accustomed to, and from shock to confusion, I finally reached an understanding of the Taiwanese culture. The experience helped me to be able to fully identify with my own cultural background, and at the same time, advance on my Chinese language abilities. This understanding finally resolved my crisis and I was able to confidently identify myself as a Taiwanese-American, a person with various backgrounds and languages, but by and large more closely related to the Taiwanese and American cultures, and for that reason, it could not be any better than to classify myself as a Taiwanese-American. 2.

(8) During my time in Taiwan, I‟ve made several important life-long friends, met influential people and encountered various obstacles that later on helped me grow as a person. The experience was so inspirational that I decided to return to Taiwan to continue my education in the Mandarin language, but this time in the field of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. The person who influenced my decision most was the Resident Director of the CIEE Taipei Study Center. As our teacher and „mother‟ in Taiwan, I was able to talk to her about my problems, share my joy and even discuss future career paths. One significant issue I discussed with her was about a potential continuation of study in a. 政治大 loved language and was willing to spend time to perfect it. In the field of Mandarin 立. graduate program, which related to my future occupation. At that time, I was certain that I. Chinese especially, I was eager to advance my language abilities and perhaps further my. ‧ 國. 學. study in the field of teaching Chinese to second language learners. Having the passion for. ‧. languages, I was already thinking about going into the career of becoming an interpreter, a. sit. y. Nat. translator, or a language instructor. However, making a decision to continue education and. io. er. choosing a career path that is suitable for me was especially difficult. Up until now, I clearly remember the words of the resident director, who told me that she personally. al. n. v i n believed I am suitable to becomeC a teacher and that sheU h e n g c h i can definitely see me as an. excellent teacher. After our meeting, I took her words, gave the idea some thought, and sincerely considered becoming a Chinese instructor as a possible career path. Even when I returned to the States, I continued to take into account that teaching Chinese may be a possible direction to take. As I worked part-time being an English tutor and a pre-school Chinese teacher, I soon realized through my experience in teaching and working with students that I truly do have a deep passion for education. In the end, it was the CIEE Taipei resident director‟s valuable advices and encouragement which inspired me to return to Taiwan and strive for something I enjoy, and which will help me to progress to becoming a qualified and respectable teacher. 3.

(9) 1.2 CONTEXT OF STUDY: CIEE AMERICAN STUDENTS IN TAIWAN Different people often come up to me and ask, “What is CIEE?” CIEE, abbreviated for Council on International Educational Exchange, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to provide international education experiences for university students, faculties, and administrators. United States university students are able to study abroad through 60 different programs in over 30 countries. In other words, the program acts as a connection for American university students to gain the knowledge of the language, and also immerse themselves into the cultural sphere for understanding its. 政治大 In light of what CIEE is, this research particularly focuses on American university 立. diversity.. students who travel to Taiwan to study Mandarin for either a semester or for a whole year.. ‧ 國. 學. Established in 1993, the Taiwan CIEE study center locates in Taiwan‟s capital, Taipei,. ‧. which is a metropolitan city with high speed trains, highways, modern hotels, superb. sit. y. Nat. restaurants, and vigorous nightlife. Despite its modernity, Taiwan also preserves traditional. io. er. Chinese and Taiwanese cultures in ancient temples, and the museums, etc. Likewise, extraordinary Taiwanese snacks, also known as, xiǎochī “小吃,” are most commonly sold. al. n. v i n C h industrial andUhabitual society, Taipei is also a at night markets. In addition to Taiwan‟s engchi. place that preserves several beautiful natural reserves, such as the Yangmingshan National Park, the Guandu Nature Reserve, and the Sungshan Nature Reserve. These excursion places give students pleasure for enjoying natural and cultural sites, or to relax in hot springs while sipping a good cup of tea. Located in an international city, the CIEE Taipei study center accepts approximately twenty to thirty American students each year and provides students with a unique opportunity in Mandarin Chinese language training, using traditional characters and the latest teaching pedagogies. The academic culture provided by CIEE Taipei enhances students‟ Chinese language and research skills through their Intensive Chinese Language 4.

(10) and Culture program. Additionally, students take three courses that consist of a Chinese language class taught in Chinese, a Language Practicum and a core course, both of which are taught in English and organized by CIEE. The design of the program teaches students about modern Taiwan from both a social science and a linguistic perspective. Similarly, from academic culture to cultural activities, field trips are also integrated into the curriculum, either with the Chinese Language Practicum or with the CIEE core course. Students are able to not only learn about the culture in the classroom, but also have enriching experiences by attending several planned trips to temples, mountains, tea. 政治大 Nonetheless, out of many other study programs out there, why was CIEE chosen to 立. plantations, porcelain works, and museums around northern Taiwan.. become a part of my research, and why Taiwan? Besides the reason that Taiwan is a. ‧ 國. 學. beautiful island full of modernity and surprises, the actual reasons are simply because my. ‧. personal experiences are very much influenced by studying and working through CIEE. sit. y. Nat. Taipei study center and notably, CIEE students studying in Taiwan are comprised of a. io. er. homogeneous group that is suitable as a coherent group for research. Moreover, because CIEE is based in the United States and because one of its purposes is for American. al. n. v i n students to travel abroad, studentsCwho join the programUare all Americans. On the other hengchi hand, it is also because CIEE students are a homogeneous group of people who are. “Americans” that there are in fact differences among them due to the fact that diverse ethnicities make up what we call “Americans” today. Because this study investigates students‟ process of acculturation to Taiwanese culture and their acquisition of the Mandarin language in Taiwan, it is even more fascinating to look into how this homogeneous, yet distinct group of American students adapt to Taiwanese culture while acquiring Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan.. 5.

(11) 1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS As a former CIEE student studying Mandarin in Taiwan‟s National Chengchi University, personal experiences and self-reflections concerning cultural shocks facilitated in accumulating useful preliminary data in the present study of acculturation and acquisition of the Mandarin language. Currently as a graduate student in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language on the same campus, I plan to further examine American students studying Mandarin in Taiwan, who perhaps experienced similar cultural and language related issues. Consequently, as the Language Coordinator for the CIEE Taipei study center,. 政治大 Having spent a great amount of time in socializing and communicating with them, I 立. I am able to work closely with and supervise the CIEE students.. gradually noticed that among the group of CIEE American students, there are, in fact,. ‧ 國. 學. different approaches in which specific groups of students choose to use in order to confront,. ‧. understand and adapt to the cultural differences they perceive. “When culture shocks or not”. sit. y. Nat. is essentially questioning whether specific groups of students did or did not encounter any. io. er. culture shock and if they are aware of the shock. As a result, I was curious as to how different groups of students are able to successfully adjust to the new environment of a. al. n. v i n C h Mandarin. Taking new culture while attempting to acquire this curiosity into consideration, engchi U the purpose of this study is as follows:. 1. To observe CIEE students in the development of Mandarin language learning in National Chengchi University by means of ethnographic methods. 2. Acquire students‟ previous knowledge of Taiwanese/Chinese culture and their cultural backgrounds. 3. Determine if students experienced culture shock and how it affects their course of Mandarin acquisition. 4. With the analysis of the collected data, provide pedagogical advice and 6.

(12) considerations for teaching Mandarin to American second language learners. Based on the four purposes, my research questions are: 1. What are students‟ prior knowledge of Taiwanese/Chinese culture and their cultural backgrounds? 2. Do students experience culture shock during their stay in Taiwan and are they aware of the shock? 3. How does culture shock impact students‟ Mandarin acquisition and how does the awareness of the culture shock assist students‟ language acquisition?. 政治大 language classroom and how can the teacher utilize the notion to better assist 立. 4. What are the possible implications of culture shock and awareness in a second. students‟ Mandarin learning?. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. 1.4 ORGANIZATION OF THESIS. io. er. Recognizing the above purposes and research questions, the organization of the following chapters for my thesis will be in the following order. Firstly, chapter two will. al. n. v i n C ofh acculturation andUculture shock, as well as how it is examine the conceptual framework engchi related to second language learning. Given that this is a qualitative and an ethnographic. research, chapter three will introduce the methods of ethnography, the design of the study and my fieldwork. Next, chapter four will illustrate and analyze the observations taken as a participant-observer, an interviewer, and a collector. Following this, chapter five will discuss what it means to experience “culture shock” for different groups of Americans and how it affects students in acquiring Chinese as a second language. Finally, in chapter six, a conclusion for the thesis, as well as possible pedagogical implications on how to aid students to overcome some issues in learning Mandarin and its limitations, will be given.. 7.

(13) CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW. 2.1 ACCULTURATION Acculturation, a term that is widely used when discussing culture and language, is a process in which people are faced with a foreign culture in their surroundings and undergo various phases to embrace the elements. Acculturation may also be defined as the process in which someone learns a new culture that is other than their own and the culture includes different moral values, behaviors, customs, practices and language. To focus on the relation between language and acculturation, two things should be considered: the degree to which. 政治大. a person learns the language of the new country and the degree to which a person adopts. 立. the culture of the new language. Generally, the more the individual is willing to accept the. ‧ 國. 學. other culture, the faster they learn the language. This is especially true in situations where. ‧. the individual comes from a different culture into an environment with a new language and is acculturating to the target language‟s culture.. y. Nat. io. sit. Although a number of scholars explored the study of acculturation and the effects of. n. al. er. acculturation on second language acquisition, there is no research that focuses on the. Ch. i n U. v. awareness of learners experiencing cultural shock during acculturation and how the. engchi. awareness of the shock impact students‟ Mandarin acquisition. In the following, I will first examine former scholars‟ point of views in relation to acculturation while acquiring the second language and I will then point out the significance of my current research on American students acquiring Chinese as a second language.. 2.1.1 ACCULTURATION IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISTION The process of acculturation during second language acquisition typically occurs through a mixture of means, including both formal classroom educations as well as in the 8.

(14) course of informal social interactions. In spite of this, there are still individuals who are thrown into a target language‟s culture but fail to assimilate fully into the new culture, which in fact noticeably affects the learner‟s success in acquiring the target language. Hence, “Second language learning is often second culture learning.” (Brown 1986:33) In order to learn a new or “second” culture, one must acculturate. According to John H. Schumann (1978), in each cultural situation, the notion of acculturation depends on the extent to which the two language communities adapt to each other. In his Acculturation Model, which is designed to account for second language acquisition (SLA) under. 政治大 suggested that success in SLA is inversely proportional to the social distance between the 立 conditions of immigration where learning takes place without instruction, Schumann. second language learning and target language communities. He realized “SLA is just one. ‧ 國. 學. aspect of acculturation and the degree to which a learner acculturates to the TL [target. ‧. language] group will control the degree to which he acquires the second language.”. sit. y. Nat. (Schumann 1978:34) In other words, acculturating to a target community‟s culture and. io. er. custom may situate learners on a scale that ranges from social and psychological distance to social and psychological proximity with speakers of the target language.. al. n. v i n C hof acculturation, theUlearner can successfully acquire Thus, depending on the degree engchi. the second language. Schumann‟s hypothesis proposed that despite many opportunities to acquire the dominant language of the city, a foreigner who had lived in the target language‟s communities but created a social distance between the target culture and of their own, will not be encouraged to acquire the language. Similarly in past researches, the term acculturation was often brought up to discuss the relations between motivation in learning a second language and cultural embracement. Second language learning and the role of motivation is frequently placed mutually next to each other, thus becoming accustomed to a new culture is facilitated by consistency between motives and goals. (Rubenfeld etal. 2006) In Stephen Culhane‟s “Intercultural 9.

(15) interaction model,” he suggested that there are different functioning levels and usage contexts within formal and informal language learning for first language (L1) and second language (L2) learners. These functioning levels and usage contexts link with the motivational schema that characterizes the extent those learners allow themselves to undergo acculturation into new linguistic and cultural setting of a second language. The motivation models comprised of various types of motivations that may affect learner‟s readiness in adjusting in a new culture. Hence, learners with strong instrumental motivations are more likely to make less effort to interact with people of cultural group. 政治大 On the contrary, when given the opportunity, learners with a strong integrative 立. who use L2. (Culhane 2004). motivation are likely to make more immense efforts to connect with culturally different. ‧ 國. 學. members. Socializing with culturally different groups acts as a way of gaining the. ‧. linguistic and cultural knowledge needed for socio-cultural competence. Given this. sit. y. Nat. proposal, interaction motivation conveys the learner‟s concentration on integrating into the. io. er. cultural context of an L2 to action during intercultural interactions. (Culhane 2004) This interaction based model not only showed the importance of goals and active motivations in. al. n. v i n learning a new language, but alsoC emphasized the significance h e n g c h i U of gaining deeper. connection with the target cultural communities in order to achieve learner‟s linguistic ambitions in acquiring L2. In a similar idea, American students who wish to study Mandarin are naturally motivated to travel abroad in China or Taiwan. Therefore, when focusing solely on students studying Mandarin in Taiwan, it is apparent that they also go through social and psychological factors that distance them from the Taiwanese culture. Thus, the only way to successfully acquire the language is to undergo the process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns. For this reason, it is not only evident in ESL learner‟s acquisition in. 10.

(16) language that acculturation is necessary, and it is equally apparent in CSL learner‟s acquisition in Mandarin that this is true. Although Schumann pointed out that acculturation requires two language communities to adapt to each other, and though Culhane mentioned the importance of motivation in acquiring the target language, they did not specifically examine the effects of culture shock within the acculturation process that American learners may endure as they acquire Mandarin as a second language. As a result, my present study focuses on American students‟ awareness of culture shock and the process of acculturation in relation to Mandarin language acquisition.. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. 2.1.2 ACCULTURATION PHASES. ‧. Correspondingly, there are various studies that concluded stages people usually go. sit. y. Nat. through in acculturation. One research asserted by H.D. Brown‟s observation on. io. er. sociological research in acculturation identified four stages of cultural adjustment that people experience while adapting to and learning about a new culture: the euphoric (or. al. n. v i n C hstage, the culture stress honeymoon stage), the culture shock stage, and the recovery stage. engchi U The honeymoon period of acculturation is when there is excitement about cultural. novelties and enthusiasm about learning. The next is the culture shock period, when the shock emerges as the individual begins to realize more cultural differences, which soon will extend to a period of culture stress where cultural difference becomes intolerable. However, in the final period of recovery, the individual recovers from the shock and slowly adjusts to the new culture, heading towards adaptation and assimilation. Moreover, other scholars also stressed that the acculturation process for immigrants to gradually become a part of the community typically undergo: a period of stereotypes, a period of shallow comprehension, a period of deeper comprehension, and finally a period 11.

(17) of empathy and permanent adjustment. (Scarcella and Oxford 1992) In Scarella and Oxford‟s study, they based their analysis upon immigrants who had immigrated to America for a period of time. In order for them to be a part of the community of new customs and new ways of life, time and deep understanding are necessary for them to become permanently accustomed in the new country. These different views of acculturation stages are interrelated, yet distinctive. Various researchers name these four stages differently (Brown, 2000), and there are also different explanations on the crucial traits of the final stage. Consequently, it is noticeable that learners‟ attitudes toward a target culture may. 政治大 Although Schumann‟s Acculturation Model for SLA supports the idea that SLA and 立. influence SLA in the process of acculturation and tolerance of culture shock.. adapting to a culture has deep relations, it does not account for language teaching and/or. ‧ 國. 學. learning in a foreign country. Instead, it targets mostly immigrants in the United States who. ‧. acquire the language without any instruction. Similarly, past acculturation researchers have. sit. y. Nat. also discovered that learning environments can influence individuals‟ accomplishment of. io. er. learning a new language. However, very few to no researchers have done analyses that focus on the acculturation in relation to Chinese second language acquisition. As a result, it. al. n. v i n would be fascinating and helpful C to understand the process h e n g c h i U and cultural adaption in relation to Chinese second language acquisition; accordingly, this is exactly what my research will be focused on.. 2.2 CULTURE SHOCK “Oh my god, can I really eat this?” “Why are they looking at me funny and what should I do?” Normally, these reactions are what we call “culture shock,” which occurs when a person moves or travels to a new environment for a long period of time and experience anxiety when they encounter a culture that is different from their own. The 12.

(18) person may express the lack of direction, the feeling of not knowing what to do or how to do things in a new environment, as well as not knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate. Likewise, the feeling of culture shock can either become a physical or emotional discomfort for most people, but for those that overcome the shock and accept the differences in culture usually gain a significant learning experience. (http://www.englishintaiwan.com) Consequently, culture shock usually entails going through different stages, thus it is important to see first what stages of culture shock people typically undergo, then explore into American learners‟ awareness of culture shock when they acquire Mandarin in Taiwan.. 2.2.1 STAGE THEORY OF CULTURE SHOCK. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. ‧. Culture shock also comprises of many stages, the majority of which are similar to the. sit. y. Nat. acculturation stages that were mentioned earlier, yet slightly different. Some scholars. io. er. believe that the stages of culture shock are comprised of five stages, while others believe that there are only four. Each one of these stages can be ongoing or only appear at certain. al. n. v i n C hCasse (1981), thereUare four stages of the culture times. According to Professor Pierre engchi. shock process: First Contact, where the individual has an initial idea on how they will react when they join the new cultural environment and they are filled with excitement and high expectation. After the initial reactions comes the first attempt to adjust, where the individual attempts to integrate himself/herself to the new cultural setting but is confronted with problems. Later, confrontations create stress for the individual, which means that the new cultural setting may lead to some emotional reactions. These new reactions can become extreme enough to the point that they create tension. However, this tension can sometimes be moderate enough that actually develops into a remarkable experience. Lastly, individuals who experience anxiety will ultimately have to cope with stress, which means 13.

(19) they have the option to either recover or control the situation. Similar propositions suggested that there are four phases to culture shock: The honeymoon phase, negotiation phase, adjustment phase and mastery phase. Although each categorization is different in terms, the contents all contain similar implications. While some scholars propose four stages of culture shock, there are others who believe there are in fact five stages: honeymoon stage, disillusionment stage, understanding stage, integration stage and re-entry stage. Likewise, in line with International Keynote Speaker, seminar leader and consultant, Deborah Swallow (2010), culture shock stages. 政治大 http://www.deborahswallow.com). The only difference the five-stage theory has compared 立 should be labeled as: honeymoon, distress, re-integration, autonomy, and independence. with the four-stage theory is that the final stage of culture shock includes the shock that the. ‧ 國. 學. individual undergoes when returning to his or her home country. These stages may have. ‧. different labeling but they are parallel because arrival to a new cultural environment is. sit. y. Nat. always described as being overly excited and then gradually encountering distress, then,. io. er. attempting to adjust and finally having confidence and assimilating to the new culture. Despite the fact that there are different stages to culture shock, it would be valuable to. al. n. v i n C h understandingsUand adaptations of another culture explore into different groups of people‟s engchi and how it can facilitate their language acquisition.. 2.2.2 PSYCHOLOGY OF CULTURE SHOCK Culture shock: the term shock is usually used to describe the feeling of intense surprise or disbelief. In the medical community, to have shock is “a serious, life-threatening medical condition defined as an inadequate perfusion of tissues which is insufficient to meet cellular metabolic needs.” (www.pharminfo.net) In any case, the expression of “shock” presents a negative sensation and when used along with the word 14.

(20) culture, it seems to suggest that having culture shock may be severe, even harmful to an individual‟s state of mind. In Adrian Furnham and Stephen Bochner‟s Culture shock: Psychological Reactions to Unfamiliar Environments (1986), the author sets out to describe and explain the psychological consequences of cultural contacts to unfamiliar environments. Chapter two of their book describes the process of cross-cultural contact, or what is entailed when individuals from different cultural backgrounds interact with each other. It also describes the likely outcomes of such interactions. Furnham and Bochner (1986) brought up a. 政治大 will have some positive and negative consequences. Accordingly, the model points out that 立 cost-benefit model of cross-cultural contact which illustrates that inevitably, the process. exposure to unfamiliar environments consist of two conflicting outcomes, one that is of the. ‧ 國. 學. pessimistic view and the other of the optimistic view. In terms of the pessimistic view,. ‧. consequences of cultural contact include the core notion of culture shock in which. sit. y. Nat. evidence illustrates that exposure to an unfamiliar environment can be stressful and. io. er. potentially harmful. Rather than enlightening the mind and providing a satisfying and interesting personal experience, it was hypothesized that unfamiliar environments, in fact,. al. n. v i n C h in individualsUwho are overly exposed. (Furnham create anxiety, confusion, and depression engchi and Bochner: 4) Therefore, instead of creating mutual understanding, exposure to. unfamiliar environments often leads to hostility and poor interpersonal relations among those involved in the cultural exchange. In extreme cases, a direct consequence, such as physical illness, may also be a result of culture contact. In contrast, there is also evidence which supports the suggestion that culture contact can have beneficial effects. Furnham and Bochner assert that experiencing a different culture is held to be beneficial since exposure to new perceptions and traditions is said “to broaden one‟s perspective, promote personality growth and provide insight into the culture of origin through a contrast with other world-views.” (ibid.:3) Additionally, second-culture 15.

(21) exposure is not only valuable in the education and entertainment aspects, it is also encouraged on the stances that it can reach better mutual understanding between the diverse people of the world. Moreover, reaching mutual understanding between the people of the world will in turn lead to better international relations and less inter-group opposition and disagreements. In general, the cost-benefit model of cross-cultural contact entails the notion of culture shock and its negative and positive psychological consequences. Fifteen years after the first book, Colleen Ward, Adrian Furham, and Stephen Bochner. 政治大 Although the book proposes similar findings as the first volume-the original edition in 立. (2001) came up with a follow-up volume called, The Psychology of Culture Shock.. 1986, the latter focuses on the assumption that people hold about experiences confronting a. ‧ 國. 學. second culture, and describes the theories that have been proposed to account for the. ‧. effects of intercultural contact. Due to growing psychological literature on different social. y. Nat. and political trends and an increase in migration, travels, and such, research of intercultural. er. io. sit. contacts has increased. In view of that, Ward, Furham, and Bochner‟s empirical research focuses on social psychology of the cross-cultural encounterance and seeks the causes and. al. n. v i n consequences of “culture shock” C but also considered strategies h e n g c h i U that might be helpful in. diminishing the problems correlating with intercultural interactions. Consequently, the role of individualism and collectivism in shaping the influencing intercultural interactions were given particular attention to as one of the reasons why intercultural encounters may be difficult. By differentiating the four phases in which the process of intercultural contact can be understood, different types of groups were being studied (e.g., tourists, immigrants) to demonstrate the following inference: it is referred that social contact between culturally dissimilar individuals is difficult and often stressful. Likewise, according to theoretical principles that explain why culture contact is problematic, there are extensive bodies of 16.

(22) empirical evidences in support of that contention. One main theoretical principle used to bolster that the encounterance of culture difference may create anxiety is the similarity-attraction hypothesis (Byrne and Griffitt 1969). The hypothesis proposed that cultural identification is categorizing people according to their similar characteristics, thus people are more likely to enjoy, understand, want to work and socialize with people who share relevant characteristics with them. In the same way, when cross-cultural interactions occur between people who do not share these salient qualities, they are less likely to enjoy or work with them. Other theoretical principles implying that cross-cultural interaction is. 政治大 1990). The process of social categorization refers to the inclination for individuals to sort 立 intrinsically complicated include the process of social categorization (Abrams and Hogg. out others as people of another group, specifically discriminate others and create an own. ‧ 國. 學. group, in-group, out-group or some other groups. Furthermore, the psychology of culture. ‧. shock is also analyzed as three major cultural syndromes, which were discussed as a source. sit. y. Nat. of difficulties in intercultural interactions (Triandis 2001). These cultural syndromes. io. er. include cultural complexity, tight versus loose cultures, and individualism-collectivism, which refer to patterns of attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviors. As a result, cultural. n. al. Ch. syndromes can be used to contrast groups of cultures.. engchi. i n U. v. In relation to culture shock, the psychology of culture shock is basically the psychology of intercultural contact in which different cultures interact with each other. This implies that the studies of “culture shock” are deemed as intercultural contact and cross-cultural transition, which is within the wider context of and relating to the acculturation theory. Given that American customs and Chinese customs are distinctively carried out, American students studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan must go through certain experiences that guide them into gradual acceptance of the target culture. In addition, American students studying Mandarin in Taiwan will go through social and psychological 17.

(23) factors that distance them from Taiwanese culture, and the only way to successfully acquire the language is to undergo the process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns. Hence, it is important to note students‟ adaptation to Taiwanese culture, which facilitates their acquisition of the Mandarin language.. 2.3 CONCLUSION Summing up from previous discussion, the frameworks proposed by H.D Brown,. 政治大 propose that American students studying Mandarin in Taiwan typically undergo four 立. Scarcella and Oxford have helped me create and carry out this study. As a result, I intend to. phases of acculturation: anticipation, cultural shock, disorientation, and ultimately adaption. ‧ 國. 學. to the culture. Although similar to H.D. Brown‟s observation of acculturation stages, I. ‧. propose that because CIEE students are a group of students consisting of Americans with. sit. y. Nat. distinct ethnic backgrounds, the stages of acculturation they experience may vary. io. er. depending on the individual‟s awareness of the cultural shock; additionally, I have observed that this awareness has affected students‟ abilities to adapt into their new. al. n. v i n C hacquiring language.UConsequently, I plan to apply the environment as well as to effectively engchi acculturation framework to analyze my data in the next few chapters.. 18.

(24) CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND FIELDWORK. Generally speaking, methodology, unlike methods where specific techniques and given procedures are described, methodology, following a study, constitutes a constructive generic framework and is divided into sub-processes. Therefore, to conduct a good research, it is important to decide on an appropriate methodology for a research. During the course of my research and fieldwork, it was mentioned earlier that the methodology employed in this research is of the ethnographic methods. Likewise, it is essential to grasp. 政治大 ethnographic research. As a result, in this chapter, before presenting the research findings 立 a few concepts of the significance of ethnography research, as well as comprehend the. and analyses, conceptual framework of the ethnographic method employed in this research. ‧ 國. 學. will first be discussed in section 3.1. Next, the design of the research as well as the. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 3.4 respectively.. ‧. approach of data collection of the fieldwork will then be described in section 3.2, 3.3, and. Ch. 3.1 ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS. engchi. i n U. v. With the aim of observing American CIEE students in the development of Mandarin language learning in Taiwan, ethnographic methods are applied to study students‟ cultural understanding in second language acquisition. “Ethnography,” the English prefix – ethno meaning „people‟ in Greek, along with the suffix -graphy meaning either „writing,‟ together is the type of research that describes a culture, in which according to Spradley, the goal of ethnographic research is “to understand another way of life from the native point of view” (1979:3). Spradley emphasizes that “rather than studying people, ethnography means learning from people” (1979: 3). Based on the ethnographic approach, according to Nancy Bonvillain, the author of 19.

(25) Language, Culture and Communication, discusses that the ethnography of communication (Hymes, 1974) includes “descriptions of all explicit and implicit norms for communication, detailing aspects of verbal, nonverbal, and social parameters of interaction.” (Bonvllain 79) Therefore, the components of carrying out the ethnographic research are (1) participants (2) code used by interlocutors (3) channel (4) setting (5) genre (6) topics and attitudes. The ethnography method emphasizes that researchers should have personal involvement in the community by means of being a participant and an observer. Although the communicative events take place in informal interactions and may seem unconstructed, they are also. 政治大 Since ethnography is a social science research approach that we all use in everyday 立. limited by cultural norms of roles, rights to speak, and ways of speaking.. life to make sense of our surroundings, it relies heavily not solely on observation, but on. ‧ 國. 學. intimacy, personal experience and participation. Accordingly, ethnography‟s crucial point. ‧. may incorporate intensive language and culture learning for education implications such as. sit. y. Nat. understanding both the students‟ and teachers' needs in language learning and teaching. In. io. er. addition, understanding such information like students‟ experiences, viewpoints, and goals can enable teachers to generate practical and valuable instructional design and ultimately. al. n. v i n C h As a result, recognizing improve students‟ language acquisition. that the ethnographic engchi U. methods allow researchers to have contextual fieldwork and engage in the study group‟s. daily activities, applying the ethnographic approach to my research on American students‟ process of acculturation and Mandarin acquisition in the study abroad context may be the most appropriate method for this study.. 3.2 DESIGN OF THE STUDY This qualitative research comprised of American CIEE students who have had taken at least a year of Chinese language course in their home university and had studied abroad 20.

(26) in Taiwan in the semester of Spring 2010, Fall 2010 and Spring 2011. The study was largely focused on 27 CIEE students‟ involvement in the Language Practicum curriculum as well as additional cultural fieldtrip and social outings. Consequently, as a previous CIEE student, personal experiences in the process of learning Mandarin in Taiwan will also be included as part of the data collection. Personal data will be presented in two forms: one as a narration of personal encounterance in relation to culture shocks and adaption, the other from weekly journals of personal perspective on Taiwanese culture written in a blog during my study abroad period in Taiwan.. 政治大 in academic and cultural experiences in Taiwan. Through academic courses, reflection 立. Furthermore, majority of the data will be concentrated on CIEE students‟ participation. journals and one-on-one biweekly meeting records from Language Practicum will be taken. ‧ 國. 學. into consideration; written observational notes by participating in social outings, causal. ‧. chats and cultural fieldtrips will also be taken into account to examine the various. sit. y. Nat. problems and questions American students encountered during their cultural and language. io. er. learning experience in Taiwan. In addition, at the end of the study abroad program, CIEE students completed a background language questionnaire designed to better assist the. al. n. v i n C h languages and Chinese understanding of their heritage, spoken cultural understanding. The engchi U survey not only determines students‟ cultural knowledge of Taiwanese/Chinese culture. prior to studying abroad in Taiwan and their ethnic backgrounds, it also evaluates problems CIEE students encountered while studying Mandarin in Taiwan. Such data is particularly helpful in analyzing American students from diverse ethnic backgrounds‟ motivation in language learning and influences in cultural acceptance as well as Mandarin acquisition. Ultimately, data collection derive from three sources: (1) direct, first-hand observation notes of daily participation from personal experience and with the CIEE students, (2) interview records from an academic course of Language Practicum, where the conversation took on different forms from small talk to long interviews, and (3) surveys that students 21.

(27) filled out at the end of the program that revealed student‟s own perspective on self cultural adaptation and language learning.. 3.3 MY FIELDWORK It is difficult, if not impossible, to provide a clear-cut set of rules and accurate procedures for an effective fieldwork. To efficiently conduct a fieldwork in fact depends on the situation, the purpose of the study, the nature of the setting, interests, needs, and point of view of the observer. Therefore, fieldwork is a highly personal experience with a blend. 政治大. of individual resources, multiple roles and situation variation. For an ethnographic research,. 立. the fieldwork employs three main types of data collection method: (1). ‧ 國. 學. participation-observation, (2) interviews and (3) documentation; all together the resulting. ‧. data is of the narrative description. Relying on up-close, personal experience of participation rather than just observation, the researcher must take on many different roles. io. sit. y. Nat. for data collection.. n. al. er. During my fieldwork, as the CIEE students‟ friend, I was able to attend social. Ch. i n U. v. excursions and partake in small talks to socialize and understand their everyday behaviors. engchi. and emotions; as the language coordinator, I was able to conduct interviews with the students; as the graduate student of TCASL, I was able to not only observe their language learning performance but also collect related data and documents. In order to collect useful, unbiased and reliable data, there must be a clear distinction between the different perceptions of the multi-roles when participating, observing, collecting and even interviewing. In the following, three roles as well as the types of data collected for the study will be discussed.. 22.

(28) 3.3.1 THE PARTICIPANT-OBSERVER In terms of method in an ethnographic research, engaging in a participant-observation is necessary in order to gain an insight into social practices, cultural adaptation and even the details of life of the group of people being studied. As a participant-observer, one may not merely be an outside observer, but simultaneously be an observer that joins the group being studied, experiences and shares understandings with the group. Under observation, the researcher must take on a role in the social situation and immerse oneself in the social setting. Often times, the roles are interchangeable and the goal of experiencing the events with the subjects under study is to discover the nature of social reality by understanding. 政治大. their perception and interpretation of certain social circumstances.. 立. Having accepted the position as the CIEE Language coordinator, my job is to organize. ‧ 國. 學. additional courses related to teaching the Mandarin language while supervising the CIEE. ‧. students on their learning progress and assisting them in any problems they encounter. I was also able to advance on CIEE students‟ social contacts and observe their academic. y. Nat. io. sit. situation. Therefore, as a participant-observer, I have had participated and observed. n. al. er. according to three settings: cultural excursions, social events and students‟ CIEE academic. Ch. i n U. v. course. As the former CIEE student of Fall 2007, I had taken on the role as the students‟. engchi. senior and friend to better blend in and engage in cultural excursions arranged by CIEE program and social outings that was invited by the students. Accepting almost all the opportunities to join their social gatherings and intermingle with them whenever there is a chance, I was able to, as a friend, find out how they felt about life in Taiwan, what they thought about the cultural differences and notice their behavior and reactions due to their cultural experiences. These observations were then noted after each event in a cultural activity log and analyzed accordingly. Additionally, in order to observe students in their classroom setting, as a graduate student of the TCASL, I attended the CIEE core course bilingual discussion to lead students into further discussion on various Taiwanese social, 23.

(29) historical and political topics. Reflections on students‟ classroom performance were accumulated as a whole at the end of the semester course.. 3.3.3 THE COLLECTOR Besides participant-observation, the role of being the collector is also imperative in this field of research. In order to better grasp CIEE students‟ experience and impression of Taiwan, retrieving texts written by students and analyzing self-written blogs as a CIEE. 政治大 own awareness. Therefore, as the collector, CIEE study abroad newsletters, reflection 立. student are helpful in understanding American students‟ point of view in regard to their. journals from language practicum tutoring, acculturation surveys, as well as blogs I written. ‧ 國. 學. during my study abroad experience as a CIEE student were collected for this research.. ‧. Considered documents for this research comprised of written records by students. sit. y. Nat. themselves and are collected from three phases during their stay in Taiwan: in the. io. er. beginning, during and toward the end of the program. Therefore, written articles by the students are essential records because each semester, students were required to write two. al. n. v i n C hin the beginning ofUthe semester and the other towards CIEE study abroad newsletters, one engchi the end of the semester. In the first newsletters, students shared activities they were. involved in and perhaps ups and downs during their experience. In the latter newsletter, which was towards the end of the program, students were able to express their opinion and conclude about their overall experience in Taiwan. Moreover, as mentioned before in the earlier chapter, CIEE students were also required to attend to three courses in which one of them was Language Practicum, where students had to complete a total of at least fifteen hours of tutorial with native Taiwanese speakers and type up reflection journals after every tutorial meeting. Those reflection journals articulated students‟ progression in Mandarin learning during class and during their meetings with their language tutor(s). Lastly, 24.

(30) acculturation surveys were given to students at the end of program in which students were given the opportunity to reflect back on cultural problems or issues they might had encountered during their stay in Taiwan. Nevertheless, the collected data are valuable documentations that included personal observations as past CIEE student but also from recent CIEE students themselves throughout their study abroad experience in Taiwan.. 3.3.2 THE INTERVIEWER. 政治大 may be strict, formal, and/or causal and relax, essentially it is a conversation between two 立. Another important role as an ethnographer is the role of an interviewer. An interview. people where questions were asked by the interviewer and answered by an interviewee.. ‧ 國. 學. Thus, as Duranti points out, interviews could be considered as simply “a common form of. sit. y. Nat. questions in the line of research. (1997: 102). ‧. interaction during fieldwork” since ethnographers are constantly asking all sorts of. io. er. As the interviewer, the type of interview that was conducted is of semi-formal, where questions were answered by students during bi-weekly language practicum meetings and. al. n. v i n C hout during social gatherings casual chats to gossips were carried and cultural trips. engchi U. Moreover, upon completion of the questionnaire that evaluates problems CIEE students encounter while studying Mandarin in Taiwan, the participants were asked if additional discussion on the topic was possible. Accordingly, a number of participants accepted further semi-constructed interviews concerning their acculturation process in Taiwan and further interviews took place either over online messaging or face-to-face chats in a casual setting.. 25.

(31) 3.4 CONCLUSION In this chapter, theoretical concepts of an ethnographic method research were introduced. I am aware that the approach to data collection is "unstructured in the sense that it does not involve following through a detailed plan set up at the beginning; nor are the categories used for interpreting what people say and do pre-given or fixed.” (Genzuk 1999) However, this does not imply that the research method is unsystematic; instead the data collected for this study were gathered from a range of sources in which the main sources derive from participation- observation and relatively informal conversations. Nonetheless, to better understand the relation between culture adaption and second. 政治大. language acquisition, the variety of sources retrieved in the study is authentic, up-close. 立. first hand and personal. Consequently, to understand how American students adapt to. ‧ 國. 學. Taiwanese culture, it is crucial that there is personal involvement and personal experience. ‧. in order to fully comprehend American CIEE students‟ acculturation process while acquiring the Mandarin language.. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 26. i n U. v.

(32) CHAPTER FOUR: INITIAL OBSERVATIONS. “Taipei is a bit of a paradoxical place: full of life, color, and people, yet relaxed, unhurried, and regulated” (Marjorie Rivera, Spring &Fall 2010 CIEE student). How Taiwan is a place of contradiction is truly an interesting subject to ponder upon. It is a place of contradiction because it is a place where one can be surrounded by ancient temples, traditional festivals and even Taichi practitioners in parks; yet at the same time, it is also easy to be caught up in a modernized city of Taipei with high-end department stores, trendy boutiques and designer products from all over the world. Although Taiwan is a. 政治大. contemporary country, foreigners who arrive to a new environment such as Taiwan may. 立. still experience the feeling of culture shock.. ‧ 國. 學. To most CIEE American students, traveling to Taiwan was their first time traveling to. ‧. Asia or even their first time to fly to another country. Consequently, besides being overwhelmed with people ubiquitously speaking the Mandarin language, there were many. y. Nat. io. sit. culture shocks students had encountered when they first arrived in Taiwan. In section 4.1:. n. al. er. Culture Shocks of Taiwan, initial observation of personal cultural experience when. Ch. i n U. v. studying abroad in Taiwan will be portrayed; in addition, reflection journals written by. engchi. students themselves will illustrate a few Taiwan and American cultural differences, as well as culture shocks that they have personally experienced in three sub-categories of: (1) Taiwan‟s values and beliefs, (2) social roles and “rules” of behavior, and (3) Taiwan‟s climate, attire and food. Section 4.2 will describe the discoveries of students‟ behavior and thoughts to cultural differences in the context of in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Moreover, section 4.3 will discuss findings obtained from semi-interviews from causal talks to survey follow-up interviews which will include students‟ cultural adaptation in association with language acquisition.. 27.

(33) 4.1 CULTURE SHOCKS OF TAIWAN 4.1.1 PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Before jumping in to discuss the culture shocks of the 2010 and Spring 2011 CIEE students, it is necessary to recount the time when I was a CIEE student in 2007 Taiwan and the effects of culture shocks I had experienced. Having been raised in an Asian family as well as growing up in an American society, I was exposed to multiculturalism at an early age. Therefore, a few Taiwanese customs seemed familiar and not peculiar until I studied abroad in Taiwan and experienced unexpected encounterance as well as cultural. 政治大 forgotten what it felt like residing in my place of birth. My return to Taiwan and the 立. misunderstandings. Having immigrated to the States at the early age of seven, I had long. ‧ 國. 學. thought of living there for a longer period of time created a sense of nostalgic sentiment that surfaced along with enthusiasm. Previous glimpse of blissful memories from. ‧. childhood unquestionably made me felt as if I was returning to a place I really belonged to.. sit. y. Nat. I was convinced that it would be of no difficulty to integrate into the Taiwanese social. io. al. er. groups and finally converse with the younger generation about recent Taiwanese dramas,. v. n. singers and general topics. All the same, I was eager to settle into the city I used to live in for seven years.. Ch. engchi. i n U. This excitement was then encountered with surprises as I entered the life of a university student in Taiwan. The narrow hallway, public showering stalls and restrooms occupied with a majority of squatting toilets seemed somewhat peculiar and uncomfortable. Even so, I entered my dormitory with better expectation. Disappointingly, the room not only felt confining, but the metal beds and unsupplied mattress seemed as if I was living in a downgraded motel. The tight, confined area barely allowed any walking space and the closed out dark room certainly created an aura of gloomy ambiance. As a result, my first impression of Taiwan university life was one that was depressing, obsolete and most of all,. 28.

(34) it was different. Furthermore, it was noticeable that Taiwanese college boys and girls seemed much too concern about their attire when attending lectures and going to school. The greater part of the college students in Taiwan embellish themselves as if they were going on a date or preparing for a party. It was quite apparent that most Taiwanese students doll up when attending school; in contrast, Americans students typically wear casual apparels, even pajamas to class. In other words, students in the United States care less about their outfits when attending classes in a university, while students in Taiwan express the importance of clothing as an act of respect to professors and to each other.. 政治大 surprises that I never had thought I would experience, I eventually became hesitant about 立 Coming upon various cultural American and Taiwanese differences as well as. being able to become accustomed to the means of Taiwanese lifestyle. These anxieties. ‧ 國. 學. involved confusion on carrying out the appropriate manners in a given situation,. ‧. dubiousness of my own ability to blend in with the social norm and incapability of. sit. y. Nat. effectively performing habitual routines. I became self-conscious on the form of clothing I. io. er. was supposed to put on in given circumstances and pondered endlessly on the idea of “acceptable clothing” for going to class and such. Likewise, I eventually realized that the. al. n. v i n C hwas heavily influenced younger generation of the Taiwanese by the Japanese culture and engchi U fashion, hence, our mutual subject for conversation detoured. Therefore, it was not only. difficulty to find interesting topics we all shared; it was also sometimes awkward when we encountered different senses of humor. Unexpectedly, I was truly not accustomed to taking out the trash every once in awhile when the music of “Fur Elise” was played. Taking out the trash to a large garbage container whenever I had the time felt more convenient than to have to wait for the garbage truck to arrive on certain times. I recognized that Taiwanese people are friendly and welcoming, but I still felt as if I was detached from the world I once thought I was familiar with. Although the distress I experienced did not intensely disturb my attempt to assimilate 29.

(35) with the Taiwanese, I have had stumbled upon similar troubles as American students who had no Chinese background whatsoever. This produced a sensation of not really knowing what to do in this different environment and being puzzled on the uncertainty of what is appropriate or inappropriate. Fortunately, time changed everything; the longer I stayed in the country the more I accepted the differences in practice, and at the same time learned to live with it on my own terms. After living a few weeks in the dorms, I quickly got familiarized with the squatting toilets and actually found it more convenient to use them compared to the sitting toilet.. 政治大 showering in the small stalls with tarnished doors was no longer a problem for me. 立 Strangely, I didn‟t find the restroom to be fetid-smelling anymore and the regular. Becoming familiarized with the living style and environment of the university dorms. ‧ 國. 學. allowed me to realize that the living situation is, in reality, not at all terrible. I came to. ‧. appreciate my living conditions in Taiwan and understood that there are worse situations. sit. y. Nat. than the ones I was in. I also began to see things on a wider prospect as well as. io. er. acknowledge that it is only because of the cultural distinctions that caused my misapprehension. I no longer worried about the appropriate attire for clothing and simply. al. n. v i n C h With time, blending dressed as how I felt was appropriate. into the social model of engchi U. Taiwanese/Japanese fashion was of no problem. Likewise, finding similar issues to discuss with the Taiwanese was also no longer an issue as I made a breakthrough by placing myself inside Taiwanese peoples‟ shoes and empathizing with their different ways of thinking. As a result, I found that it was much easier to intermingle with the community as long as we shared similar knowledge and understanding. Although at times, the American side of me emerges, I see it as a way of expressing my individuality and uniqueness, not a way of separating myself as an outsider.. 30.

(36) 4.1.2 VALUES AND BELIEFS In order to talk about Taiwanese values and beliefs, it is imperative to first bring up the most influential religion in Taiwan. Although Taiwan respects other faiths and has a variety of religions including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism, and etc, the practices of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are the most prevalent. For that reason, values and ethics of the people of Taiwan are based on the teachings of a Chinese moral and social philosopher: Confucius. Therefore, it is easy to see the values and ethics of the people of Taiwan by just observing the everyday life of peoples‟ daily routines. Many CIEE students noticed the values and ethics of Confucian ideals when they. 政治大. utilize public transportation, such as the public buses and Taipei‟s Metropolitan Rapid. 立. Transit. They were aware that yielding seats to elders is common and ordinary, which. ‧ 國. 學. demonstrates the instilled Confucian values of respecting the elders as part of the very. ‧. foundation of being a “gentlemen.” Moreover, it is also apparent that Taiwan is surrounded by small to large religious Buddhist, Taoism and even Confucian shrines and temples. One. y. Nat. io. sit. Spring 2010 student stated, “Almost everywhere we go, we either see a shrine or a temple,. n. al. er. they are everywhere!” Students‟ acknowledgment of numerous temples and shrines in. Ch. i n U. v. Taiwan does not necessary convey their shock toward another culture; instead it. engchi. demonstrates their awareness of the cultural differences. Some students also found it fascinating to see the practice of praying with incense sticks, as well as witnessing people burning a special form of paper money burnt as an after-life ancestral offering. Besides finding temples interesting, religious beliefs, or sometimes defined as “superstitions” that followed by religious rituals, were also something that the CIEE students were aware of. Another female CIEE student described, “I think for the living to send dead ancestor money in the afterworld is interesting. It explains how superstitious Taiwanese are about life after death, but I think it also shows how much the living still respects the dead.” Although hell notes may appear as 31.