Problems in Acculturation and Enculturation

by
nelunova, grigoreva, and okhlopkova

SUMMARY

Enculturation and Acculturation is reinforcing the basic values, norms of a culture and the values of it is
acquired. Enculturation is the process by which a person adopts the behavior patterns of the culture he
lives in. While Acculturation is one culture group adopting the practices of another cultural group is an
example of acculturation. However, there are Various problems occur in this. According to nelunova,
grigoreva, and okhlopkova, one of the problems is it might cause losing an identity of a person are
regarded or people living abroad and members of bilingual families. Specially, the conditions of
multilingual polycultural environment language as an instrument and culture as a way of self-
preservation and self-defense of the person in the process of their enculturation and acculturation.
Socialization is the bilateral process. On one hand, the person acquires social experience when enters
community of people of his own society, starts social communications and becomes the member of this
society. On the other hand, they actively reproduce this system in his activity. Every day the person
accepts information which surrounds them, analyzes, and generalizes, involving intellectual activity of
their internal psychological experiences. Communication with people, internal experience, and
acquisition of social interaction help the person to be formed as personality. The person starts entering
the society, social environment, starts acquiring system of sociocultural values of society and feels
comfortable and confident as a citizen. Socialization assumes integration of the person into society, and
the term "inculturation" means understanding and acceptance of world and behavior inherent in his
culture. As a result, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral strategies of the person become like
representatives of his culture and differ from outlook of people of other culture. When the person is
born, he enters native culture at once. This process of behavior and speech proceeds during all life.
During this process there is a formation of fundamental skills such as types of communication with
people, forms of control of behavior, types of expression of emotions. In the process of inculturation the
person develops his cultural competence as substantial part of assimilation of language, traditions,
customs, and human values. When the person enters other social environment, language and culture,
acculturation process is shown. The person can have a different acculturation level, for example, partial
or full. At full acculturation the individual plunges into foreign culture and forgets native values. In this
regard in conditions of globalization, multilingualism and polycultural space moving inculturation and
acculturation there is a high probability of loss of preservation of uniqueness of the personality and
his/her security in habitat. So-called "language person" is generally in risk. He knows foreign languages
very well, anticipating and accepting foreign culture value, living, and developing his/her professional
activity in multilingual polycultural environment. The language person, being high professionals in
linguistics, perceives culture of other people, study their life, mentality, tolerantly, and sometimes with
admiration copies their behavior, imperceptibly starts following them not only externally but also
internally. The language person unconsciously changes, accepting with admiration some behavioral
phenomena of other people. Thus he/she is in love with learned language and literature, art and even
representatives of that nation. We also recognize that during acculturation the person realizes his
identity. On the other hand, the language person easily transforms him, consciously assuming behavioral
features of other people. Adolescents whose acculturation results in assimilation have a negative ethnic
identity but a positive national identity, are friends with peers from the country of destination rather
than from their own ethnic group and speak the language from the country of destination rather than
their heritage language. Adolescents whose acculturation results in marginalization have negative ethnic
and national identity and appear to be diffuse and struggling with their sense of direction and purpose in
their lives.

Stress during the process of acculturation can result in psychological problems such as anxiety,
depression, and feelings of uncertainty as well as behavioral problems such as aggression
and delinquency. The most adaptive, as well as the most common, outcome of acculturation is
integration, in which the adolescent participates in the majority culture without giving up his or her own
cultural background. The least adaptive outcome of acculturation is marginalization, in which the
adolescent struggles to identify with either the majority culture or the heritage culture. Marginalized
adolescents often struggle with both internalizing and externalizing problems, whereas integrated
adolescents have better mental health and fewer behavior problems.

COMMENTS/ANALYSIS

Enculturation and Acculturation is entails in many ways process of change. Research and theory have
contained with a focus on the adjustment and changes experienced by minorities response to their contact
with dominant majorities. Acculturation is a unidirectional process. Acculturation is a second culture
learning and the learning of appropriate behavior of one’s host culture. It may be beneficial in some ways,
but we should not forget that it might give stress during the process of acculturation can result in
psychological problems such as anxiety. Our psychological wellbeing is at risk.

Conclusion

language could be understood as a component and tool of culture. At the same time, language, culture,
and personal qualities of the person are peculiar ways and means of self-preservation of identity and
self-defense from risk to assimilate in another environment. The language person is exposed to
inculturation and acculturation, having partially acquired traditions and values of foreign culture to live
and work in that environment. Bilingual family is the universal and unique environment of socialization,
inculturation and acculturation of persons who could be members of several social and cultural
communities at the same time. multilingual educational polycultural environment promotes natural
course of socialization, inculturation and acculturation of the person, thereby excludes possible
assimilation.

Thus, inculturation and acculturation of the person in multilingual, polycultural environment are natural
as the expected result of socialization. Assimilation is possible because of compromise with dominant
society. In general, awareness of the identity is the message to self-knowledge of skills and abilities
causing formation for self-affirmation with a support on which the person starts realizing himself not
only in society where he was born, but also in any foreign culture habitat.