Culture shock is an issue that can affect people adjusting to a new

cultural environment.

1. Background

An issue that everybody, who has changed their environment, faced is culture
shock. Unfortunately, this happens because most people choose to leave their home
countries in favour of new possibilities, such as studying in a more prestigious
University or working in a famous company, even people who have a vacation
abroad can experience this problem. Therefore, this causes many challenges and it
becomes difficult to overcome them when alone, especially as an international
student. For this reason, it would be relevant to research challenges of culture shock.

2. Aims

The purpose of this research is to find out what problems encountered people who
move to a new environment. These constraints might relate for their work or studies,
especially how these affect their personal life as a whole. Consequently, the
research will find out how do people overcome difficulties they face in regard to
culture change.

3. Sample

3.1. The Sample

The study was conducted using an online questionnaire designed in google

Forms. 12 international students from UGIC, both male and female genders, have
answered the online form, using the WhatsApp platform.

3.2. Data collection

This report is a research of the culture shock challenges that occurred to

International students of UGIC. The participants of this research were 12
international students who are students within University of Greenwich International

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College. The study uses an online questionnaire, designed in Google Forms. The
form is made of 7 questions with multiple responses related to culture shock
condition, that are very easy to answer by students. This survey utilizes simple
graphic statistic for small research by percentage. Consequently, the research found
out what problem is the most common and how students have overcome the
challenges they encountered.

4. Findings

Based on the outcomes of the online questionnaire in which international students

were asked about challenges they encountered while moving to a new environment,
it can be noticed that almost all international students, aged 18 and over, have faced
the culture shock.

4.1. Findings about causes of Culture Shock

The bar chart illustrates the

What signs have made you understand that you are
experiencing culture shock? findings about the signs that
60% 50.00%
50% 41.70% made students understand if
40%
30% they are experiencing culture
20%
10%
8.30%
0.00%
shock.
0%
on
e ity ce ty
z c ur den xie From Figure 1, it is clear that
fo
rt se nfi An
in co
om an
d f- a proportion of 50% of students
fc el
to ea
r fs
ou F s so understood that they are
g Lo
in
Be
experiencing culture shock by

Figure 1

being out of their comfort zone. A fraction of

41.70% of students realized that they were facing culture shock by feeling fear and
insecurity. Another 8.30% said that loss of self-confidence had made them
understand that they encountered this problem. And none of them had faced no
signs of culture shock.

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 4.2. Findings about the effect
What aspect of culture shock did you
experience? of culture shock on students

8% Language Barrier
Homesickness As indicated in figure 2, it can
17% Weather
42% be observed that the majority of
British Cuisine
students faced with the language

33%
barrier. Nearly a third of students
encountered the homesickness
aspect. Almost seventeen per cent
of students confronted with rainy
and unsteady weather of the UK. Only a small minority of 8.30% experienced with
traditional British cuisine.
Figure 2

4.3. Findings about overcoming culture shock

How did you manage to overcome culture

shock?

Got to know people

in the new
8% environment
33%
25% Kept an open mind
Learned local
language
33% Started new hobbies

The pie chart highlights that a Figure 3

proportion of 33.3% of students

has equally managed to overcome culture shock by getting to know people in the
new environment and by keeping an open mind. A quarter of students overcame the
culture shock by learning and practicing the English language. Only 8.30% of
students overcome this problem by starting new hobbies.

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 5. Conclusion

5.1. Commentary

In conclusion, culture shock is an inevitable aspect that almost everybody faces

when moving to a foreign environment on behalf of new possibilities. It is connected
with the outcomes of their cultural background. However, step by step, they
discovered numerous methods to adjust themselves to the new cultural environment.

5.2. Recommandation

This study also has certain limitations related to the questionnaire and how the
results were collected. The multiple-choice questionnaire was not enough to find out
the whole image of culture shock. In order to gain more information, is suggested to
design a questionnaire which contains open-ended questions, that will show to
readers the whole image of the challenges. Another limit was the online collection of
the outcomes. The recommendation is to ask these questions face to face which will
provide their true feelings and experiences.