Benwick, Caira Louise 18 March 2016

Lacquesta, Jacqueline
SOC 140 C

Review of Related Literature

In a study by Snoubar and Celik (2013) which concerns Turkish international students
of Sakarya University, the reasons behind the students decision of choosing the country to go
to for studies is for the host country to have a better education level and have a wide range of
opportunities to offer in comparison to their home country. Aside from an important part of
the economy, international students assists in the promotion of international understanding
about cultural diversity. In addition, the lack of progress in developing better policies
concerning international students have an effect towards the number of international students
that go to the country to study.
Huang and Yongsheng (2011) defined international students as the students of other
nationalities who are formally studying at colleges and universities. International students
may have different religions and political systems, but they share common circumstances that
allow them to be identified as a group as stated by Misra & Castillo (as cited in Wilson,
2011). Being transient and having to adapt, socially and culturally, to their new temporary
situations where these characteristics include . This adaptation experience causes them to
experience more stress than domestic students and also more stress than other international
groups, such as immigrants and refugees.
The sense of similarity and differences of the individual which is caused by exposure
to strange environments, different languages, behaviors, regulations, eating habits and
educational systems starts the course of cross-cultural adaptation. The reconsideration and
adjustment of behavior and ideological criteria to better match another culture is cross-
cultural adaptation. Individuals will experience different changes whether it is physical or
psychological in the course of adapting to new culture with the present one. It is an
adjustment process in which individuals intend to start understand and integrate another new
culture from their own cultural context as what Constantine suggests (as cited in Huang and
Yongsheng, 2011). They will start to understand their cultural orientation when they face the
division between different cultures. Overall, in order for the individual to have more than two
cultural orientations, the individual would expand their existing behaviors and habits and the
greater their willingness is, the higher their tolerability towards change of reasoning by
external factors.
As defined by Kim (as cited in An and Chiang, 2015) intercultural adaptation is when
an individual move to a new unfamiliar culture from their home culture and they attempt to
maintain a relatively balanced and productive with that new environment. For the past five
decades, a great number of empirical studies were conducted back in the 1960s when the term
culture shock became popular according to Oberg (as cited in An and Chiang, 2015).
According to Oberg (as cited in Wilson, 2011), culture shock is the stress and conflict when
individuals come in contact to different cultures. It often results in feelings of confusion and
anxiety which has a relation with the cultural and social rule changes. It was identified by
Winkelman (as cited in Wilson, 2011) as a normal part of being in a different cultural
environment. The need of acknowledging the state of culture shock within the self in order to
resolve the problem was contended by Winkelman. He also stated that dealing with culture
shock through understanding and accommodating (not necessarily assimilating), is
unavoidable in adapting to a local culture. Terms such as assimilation, adjustment,
acculturation, integration, culture learning are just one of the many others that is related to
intercultural adaptation. Even though intercultural adaptation has many empirical studies
regarding it from different disciplines, there is a continuing issue about its dimensions and the
stages it undergoes.
In existing studies of Lysgaand and Oberg (as cited in An and Chiang, 2015) who
made the first proposals, intercultural adaptation is normally divided into four stages. The
process of adapting into a new culture has a U-shaped curve that starts from a period of
excitement at the entry point (Stage 1) through a period of crisis at the contact point (Stage 2)
and a period of coming to terms with the new environments (Stage 3) up to a period of
regained adjustment (Stage 4) as noted by Lysgaand. Despite having different names and
definitions, the process of intercultural adaptations have been described by these stages.
According to Ruben and Kealey (as cited in An and Chiang, 2015), the length of each stage
varies from different person but the general process of adjusting to new culture would take up
a year.
Existing studies regarded that the stages of adapting to between two or more cultures
were learning and developmental processes. Adaptation was seen as a process of growth and
transformation in the culture learning model wherein the strangers were not informed of the
rules and norms (social and cultural) of the new culture and would be later on engaged in
learning experience that leads to a new perspective, new identity together with intercultural
knowledge, attitude and behavioral capacities. The developmental model of intercultural
sensitivity which describes the psychological journey of ethnocentric orientation(denial,
defence and minimization) up to ethnorelative orientation (acceptance, adaptation and
integration, has something in common to intercultural adaptation.
According to the studies of Gudykunst and Hammer, Kim and Triandis that
intercultural adaptation also occur in specific dimensions such as cognitive, affective and
behavioral and not only in stages. Taking interest towards specific dimensions of adaptation
in contrast to the early works on the stages of intercultural adaptation was done by Searle and
Ward (as cited in An and Chiang, 2015) whereas they suggest two forms of adaptation
namely, psychological and socio-cultural. Psychological adaptation refers to the emotional
well-being and its relation to stress and and coping processes whereas sociocultural refers to
the skills or abilities to fit in the host culture and resulting from culture learning experience.
In relation to these, there is a vast number of empirical research that measures the specific
states of each adaptation and their relationship with each other.
The study of An and Chiang (2015) examines the international students cultural
adaptation in terms of five dimensions: (1) cultural empathy, (2) open-mindedness, (3)
emotional stability, (4) social flexibility and (5) language proficiency at a major national
university in China whereas a survey was designed to measure international students
adaptation to the Chinese socio-cultural and educational environments. The findings of the
study supports the existing hypothesis regarding the critical period for cultural adaptation is
the first year for there are important alterations to some adaptation indicators especially
emotional stability. The changes in these indicators became less and less significant in the
course of time. The sufficiency of existing theories in explaining the results and their
significant effects to international students adaptation to the specific culture of China were
also discussed.
The difficulty of adjusting towards the cultural environment due to some psycho-
social problems arising from the experiences of war and conflict were addressed too as one of
the factors that affects the students' adaptability towards the country's culture in Celik and
Snoubars study (2013).
The importance of practicing social work was taken account in order to solve the
problems of cultural differences because it has been stated by Thomson (as cited in Celik and
Snoubar, 2013) that the greater the difference between the culture of students' native land and
host country causes cultural stress.
 It was addressed by Ali and Kohan (as cited in Magro et.all, 2011) that providing a
mechanism for socialization is needed in order to alleviate the sense of isolation among
students and promote support and understanding. The study of Magro et. all (2011) discusses
the effects of social networking sites (such as Facebook) in the process of adapting to
different culture. The findings of the study showed that social networking sites can enhance
knowledge exchange, alleviates apprehension and enables socialization and community
building.
The large number of international students as subjects is where researchers of cultural
adaptation mostly relies on. Aside from facing the most common problems of
communication difficulties and and loneliness, international students needs to face academic
challenges. Student-supervisor relationships and academic marginalizations were some of the
main challenges.
A study by Huang and Yongsheng (2011) analyzed the relationship between
international students cross-cultural adaptation and the dominant language of Taiwan,
Chinese and put emphasis on the relationship between the linguistic competence acquired
from studying abroad and the level of cross-cultural adaptation, as well as how they affect
each other. In the Acculturation theory proposed by Schumann (as cited by Huang and
Yongsheng, 2011), he stated that the course of learning a second language indicates the level
of adaptation towards the culture of the certain language.
The results of the study showed that there is a negative influence regarding the living
and financial conditions aspect of cross-cultural adaptation of the international students' with
their Chinese language. This implies that the lacking of the students phonetic system usage
ability and Chinese characters writing will neither affect their adaptation to social interactions
and living conditions in Taiwan. The language difficulty has a pose a greater challenge in the
academic performance of the student than to its cross-cultural adaptation. Therefore, the
confidence of the international student plays a big role in the process of cultural adaptation.
The stress on the states of intercultural adaptation indicates an empirical shift from the
early view of adaptation as a curvilinear sequence. The notion of culture shock hindering
the valuable studies regarding predictors and factors related to culture adaptation was argued
by Ward and Kennedy (as cited in An and Chiang, 2015). The absence of the U-curve and the
euphoria stage was found by Ward in a longitudinal study of Japanese students adapting to
New Zealand. Value discrepancies and cultural identity (Ward and Searle); locus of control
and relational satisfaction (Ward and Kennedy); cultural distance and amount of contact with
hosts (Ward and Kennedy) and cultural fit (Ward and Chang) were a number of factors
related to adaptation.
A study was conducted by Dr. Rodrigo Sicat during the years 2007 to 2009 entitled,
Foreign Students Cultural Adjustment and Coping Strategies and was published the year
2011. It was a qualitative study done in the Tarlac State University in the Philippines and its
respondents were Timorese, Nepalese, Indian and Korean students. Its objectives were to
answer questions such as: in what aspect of the students stay at the university they found
difficulty in, how they adjusted to the culture of their host school and what strategies they
employed in order to cope with these difficult adjustments.
For the purpose of the study, the method of case study analysis by interviewing and
observing the different groups was used. There were 18 Nepalese participants, 109 Timorese
participants and an unspecified number of Korean participants. Each student was interviewed
about their adjustment according to their food habits, health habits, studies and their
relationship with Filipino students.
The area in which the foreign students found most difficulty in is the food and
hygiene practices of the Filipinos. For their culture, it is an uncommon habit to bathe
everyday and so they were shocked by the Filipino students outward dislike of their smell
an effect of both their hygiene and food habits. The students expressed that they enjoyed
Filipino food. However, being homesick was a huge problem for them. The countrys climate
was not an issue for the Timorese, Nepalese and Indian students but it was an adjustment for
the Korean students, as their countrys climate differed from the Philippines. The students
also encountered communication barriers as it took them some time to acclimate to the accent
of the English-speaking instructors. There was also an issue with their religion Nepal and
India are predominantly Buddhist countries while the Philippines is mostly Catholic,
therefore there werent many institutions that could cater to their religious needs. As for their
interaction with Filipino students, they found little difficulties as they described Filipinos to
be friendly, easy to go with and happy-go-lucky.
In order to cope with these difficulties, the students learned to bathe frequently for
both hygiene purposes and to counter the hot climate of the country. The students also found
comfort through frequent prayer, though the Nepalese and the Indians compromised their
religions in order to fit what was practiced in the Philippines. The students also made use of
social media technologies in order to keep in contact with their friends and families in their
respective countries, in order to lessen their feeling of homesickness.
 It was recommended by the researchers that in order for foreign students to better
adjust to other cultures should they choose to study in another country, cultural education on
the chosen country must be offered prior to their departure from their country of origin. The
materials to aid in this cultural education may be in the form movies, documentaries,
seminars and orientations. For the Philippines in particular, it was recommended that there be
a center wherein foreign students may be informed about the Filipino culture so that they may
better understand the countrys environment. Lastly, it was recommended that each
educational institution set up an Office for International Affairs and that it is here that
activities and strategies will be created in order to better assist foreign students about the host
country.
In 2010, another study on foreign students was done in New Zealand in order to
evaluate the effectiveness of a program enforced in the New Zealand University. This
program aims to introduce its foreign students to Maori culture by inviting them to the
university to participate in their program called, International Student Noho Marae Weekend
(ISNMW), an activity organized by the Auckland University of Technology. The study is
entitled, International student cultural experience: A case study of the Noho Marae
Weekend and was conducted by Irene Teh. The aim of the research was to broaden the
knowledge on the effectiveness of programs in helping international school students adjust
culturally and socially in their host country and to spread this information amongst other New
Zealand educational institutions.
The method used to gather data was through a semi-structured interview of twelve
past participants of the ISNMW. This was so that participants could freely share their
experiences, with proper guidance from the researcher, in order to remain within the topic of
interest. Each interview lasted between 20 and 50 minutes and was audiotape for better
accuracy at capturing the students responses. Participants were chosen via convenience
sampling in which the researchers posted an announcement in the universitys Student
Noticeboard and its Facebook group, as well as snowball sampling. Twelve students were
recruited and participated in the study six male and six female and hailed from seven
different countries across Asia and Europe.
Findings showed that the ISNMW program was effective in helping the students
adjust to the Maori culture, based on the way the students were able to share three or more
Maori-related experiences. It suggested that the students had a cultural awareness beyond
their own culture, although the study was limited in that it was unable to measure the degree
of cultural awareness and it was recommended that a future study measure the degree of
cultural awareness in the form of pre and post surveys. Students found the hands-on activities
(learning native dances and songs, making poi a ball like artifact and playing stick games,
for example) as well as the significant presence of Maori facilitators to be most helpful in
their adjustment to Maori culture. Another beneficial method of adjusting was the way
students identified similarities in the Maori culture to their own culture. Being able to relate
both cultures helped the students establish familiarity with the local culture. It also helped
them forge closer relationships to the local students.
It was therefore concluded that the most effective implementation of the program
includes the incorporation of hands-on activities, the provision of an accessible cultural
immersion environment with the inclusion of a heavy local community presence and
overnight stay and the surety of a friendly environment.
When it comes to foreign studies, it was observed that there has been a significant
amount of Chinese students coming to the United States to pursue their higher education.
This is why Yuan (2011), being a Chinese who relocated to the United States to pursue his
studies, examined Chinese students at one university in the United States in order to better
understand the challenges that these students undergo in and outside of school, their social
interactions and their disposition towards the American culture. The study consisted of ten
Chinese students nine graduate students and one undergraduate student and two American
professors who volunteered to participate and were referred by the researchers friends. They
were all from the same state university and were interviewed (semi-structured) and observed
for the purpose of the study. The interviews with the Chinese students were conducted in
Chinese, later translated to English while the American professors were interviewd in
English. Each interview would last somewhere between 40 and 90 minutes. The researcher
also used participant observation to gather data by attending Chinese students social
gatherings and participating in campus activities organised by the Chinese Students
Association and other organizations that cater specifically to Chinese students (bible studies,
Moon Festival celebrations and English classes).
Based on their experiences, Chinese students found the American education system as
a way to open new experiences for them as it was more relaxed and flexible than the Chinese
education system. They were surprised that you could eat and drink in the classroom, that you
could joke with the professor and that the students were very active in the discussions.
Another participant though, was disappointed at the social science disciplines offered by the
university and felt that he didnt learn anything new except English. In general, there were
mixed feelings towards the American educational system. However, it was agreed by all
when it was said that English was the highest challenge the students had to face. It was the
same for the American professors, who found it difficult to communicate and get their
Chinese students to participate in the class discussions. There is a fear amongst the Chinese
students that their peers, will mock them for their limited English skills. The students
lamented that while they study for their classes and would like to participate, it is difficult to
do so since they are unable to express themselves properly in English. When asked if having
more knowledge on American culture would help them adjust, one participant explained that
there was no need as their class discussions do not involve personal or religious matters while
another disagreed and expressed that it would have been helpful, as it would make them feel
more like part of the class.
The students also had to deal with loneliness and homesickness, which was why they
mostly stuck with other fellow Chinese students. This caused the students to feel as if they
never left China at all, as most of them live together and so speak in Chinese when they come
home. Although, some of them made the effort of attending activities organized by the Office
of International Affairs or Baptist Student Union and its other sister student clubs. This
helped international students find host families and though the participants initially planned
to have host families, they ended up not meeting with them very often. It was observed that
the Chinese students mostly stuck to their own and because of both work and study, found
little time to interact with American students and meet new American friends. The
participants said that they wished to have American friends but found language as a barrier
and therefore could not relate to their American counterparts, which prevented them from
establishing meaningful relationships with them. Most of the Chinese students still found the
American culture to be confusing and some Americans they encounter resort to stereotyping
them because of their ethnicity. Although it was agreed by majority that discrimination was
not entirely a huge issue as most of their professors were very open-minded.
In conclusion, although Chinese students kept themselves informed of the practices of
the Americans, they did not feel the need to adapt to the American culture in order to achieve
success. Language was a barrier but found that in light of pursuing their higher education, the
challenges were worthwhile as it provided them a new outlook on life, academic and personal
growth and more opportunities.
Immersing oneself into anothers culture may result in cultural shock. This is why
Winkelman (1994) decided to study the aspects of cultural shock and adaptation. He defined
cultural/culture shock as a multifaceted experience resulting from numerous stressors
occuring in contact with a different culture. It is basically when one feels unable to handle
their environment due to their unfamiliarity with the norms and traditions (Taft, 1977) and
this may result in both psychological and physiological manifestations of stress.
According to Winkelmans research, there are four stages of cultural shock. The first
is the honeymoon or tourist phase in which the reason for experiencing another culture is due
to trips of either a personal or business nature and is marked by positive expectations and
excitement. The next stage, the crisis phase, occurs when there is lack of preparation and,
depending on the individual, culture shock in this case may happen instantaneously or
gradually. The third stage is the adjustment and reorientation phase and is mostly about
learning how to adjust to a different culture. Others adjust acceptably while others may adjust
without adaptation, resulting in isolation or flight. Finally, there is the adaptation, resolution
or acculturation phase. This happens when one is able to adapt successfully based on the way
they manage to solve problems when it comes to the new culture. This may result in a
bicultural identity for the individual.
The causes of cultural shock are both physiological and psychological. It could be due
to stress reactions, causing hormonal imbalances to the body or cognitive fatigue or more
commonly known as information overload. Another cause is role shock, wherein one is
unable to identify their new role and subsequently their place in the new culture. Then there is
personal shock, which occurs when one has to drastically change their personal life to fit the
new culture. This is where one loses their personal intimacy (Adelman, 1988) and
interpersonal contact (Furnham & Bochner, 1986).
Winkelman surmmised that in order to overcome cultural shock and its causes, one
must have the initiative to learn about the new culture prior to their immersion so that one can
assess possible situations and create probable resolutions. He concluded that the only way to
do this is to learn culturally appropriate behaviors and implementing problem-resolution
procedures in order to adapt to new cultures.
In the recent years, Singapore has been a major destination for Asian students to
pursue their higher academic studies (Nasirudeen et. al., 2014). However, this may also result
in increased acculturative stress as a new environment would mean adapting to changes one
may not be used to and may result to acculturative stress. Acculturative stress is defined as
the stress that manifests when an individual has to make a cultural change, relating to their
personal, social and physical environment. The purpose of this study conducted by Dr.
Nasirudeen and her colleagues for the Journal of International Students is to understand the
characteristics of international students, identify their level of acculturative stress and
examine its correlation to gender, English language proficiency, country of origin, length of
stay in Singapore and monthly income.
In order to measure acculturative stress, the Acculturative Stress Scale for
International Students (ASSIS) (Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994) was used. Convenient sampling
was used to gather 392 international students ranging from China, Myanmar, Nepal,
Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Malaysia and these students hailed from a tertiary institure in
Singapore. In the end, only 356 of the questionnaires were deemed usable and data gathering
occurred from April to July of 2012. The ASSIS has 36 items with subcategories that include:
perceived discrimination, homesickness, perceived hate, fear, culture shock, guilt and
miscellaneous and responses are scored on a 5-point Likert scale. The higher ones score, the
higher the acculturative stress levels.
Results showed that there was no significant correlation between gender or years of
study and acculturative stress while there was a high level of acculturative stress for English
language proficiency as only 280 reported Mandarin and Myanmar as their first language
while only six students reported English was their first language. This posed as a barrier as
the courses are taught in English. The country of origin also showed significant effect on
acculturative stress, specifically on culture shock, perceived discrimination, perceived hate
and miscellaneous subcategories with students from China and Myanmar experiencing higher
levels of acculturative stress compared to Malaysian students while length of stay showed no
significant effect to acculturative stress although there was a negative correlation between
homesickness and length of stay. International students who had a lesser length of stay had a
higher report of homesickness while those with a longer length of stay had a lower report of
homesickness. As for monthly income, those who earned more than one thousand dollars a
month displayed significantly lower levels of acculturative stress than those who earned less
than one thousand dollars which could be attributed to the cost of living in Singapore being
higher than other Asian countries.
Summarily, the researchers expressed the importance of studying acculturative stress
as it would foster better social and financial guidance for international students as well as
raise awareness of acculturative stress amongst international students. Consequently, the
study should be helpful for counselors should international students seek their support. It is
suggested by the researchers that since Asian students are mostly reluctant to share their
problems to virtually unknown people and because of cultural stigmas, support services
should be accessible for these students. These services could be in the form of culturally
sensitive outreach programs that aim to normalize international students experiences by
pairing them with senior international students and alumni wherein they share their previous
experiences. In this way, social interaction is promoted and encouraged. The senior partner
may also serve as point person for international students to practice their English as well as
have an English tutor theyre comfortable with. This could be accompanied by more English
language bridging courses with the school-level international student advisor facilitating and
making more accessible financial support resources and social activities.

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