Willingness to Communicate in Intercultural Interactions between Chinese and Americans

This study investigated the differences in willingness to communicate (WTC) between Americans and Chinese living in China and the United States, and the factors affecting WTC between these two nationalities. A battery of questionnaires was administered to 47 American and 54 Chinese college students in China, and 51 American and 42 Chinese college students in the US. Overall Americans were found to be more willing to communicate with Chinese than were Chinese with Americans. Participants living abroad reported higher levels of WTC than those living in their home country. Among Chinese, WTC was positively related to self-perceived communication competence, language competence, immersion time and motivation being positively correlated and negatively associated with CA. Similar results were obtained from Americans, except that immersion time and language competence were not related to WTC.     

The adaptation of African students to American societyLa adaptación de estudiantes Africanos a la educacion NorteAmericanaL'adaptation d'etudiants Africains a l'education Americaine

This report summarizes the results of a questionnaire study involving 296 sub-Saharan African students from a representative set of nine American campuses. Some of the results suggest that African students in this country in the middle 70s: are predominantly Christian and middle-class in origin. coming mostly from cities of over 10,000; Nigerians vastly outnumber those from any other country; are two-thirds undergraduates and one-third graduate students, with at least a third having started their American education in a community college; are mostly supported by their families or themselves. Their major problems at first are in the areas of climate, communication with Americans, discrimination, homesickness, depression, irritability, and tiredness. Only a minority feel comfortable with the basic elements of American culture, though the vast majority are pleased with the education they arc receiving. It was possible to identify several correlates of adjustment, defined as happiness and freedom from various problems. Students have a more positive attitude toward American values if they are from more prominent families, have attended an orientation to American education, and spend time with Americans rather than other Africans. Contact with the foreign-student office on campus seems to he an effective bridge to American culture and also engenders positive attitudes toward American education.     

Embodied inter-referencing: encounters with and among “Asian” students in the Australian classroom

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the pedagogical practice of referencing my experiences as a transnational Korean American woman in the classroom and considers how it opens up space for domestic and international students of East, Southeast, and South Asian backgrounds to reflect on their different identities, histories, and cultures. In particular, it focuses on how this practice enables Asian students to share their experiences of and insights about racial difference, racism, and whiteness in Australia and other parts of the world. Building on the concept of Asian “inter-referencing” from Chua Beng Huat (2015), I coin the term “embodied inter-referencing” to describe the strategic ways I use autobiographical narrative to create an inclusive, interactive, and mutually respectful learning space. I centre here on how some Asian students respond to this strategy by telling their own stories and in the process, create transnational, diasporic, and inter-Asian affective communities inside and outside the classroom.     

Asian international students’ help-seeking intentions and behavior in American Postsecondary Institutions

While the number of Asian international students has increased in postsecondary institutions in the United States over the last two decades, unlike their American peers, these students were reported to have more severe mental health issues with less help-seeking intentions and behavior. This study drew the national data collected by American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) from 2011 to 2014 to examine how various factors were associated with help-seeking intentions and behavior among Asian International Students (AIS) in the U.S. After case-wise deletion of missing data, the dataset used in regression analyses included 97,259 college students, including 2999 AISs, who were randomly drawn within the 62 participated postsecondary institutions. The study performed a series of logistic regression with complex survey design that controlled for institutional clustering effects to analyze the relationship between various factors and AISs’ help-seeking intentions and behavior. The results showed that AIS utilized significantly less services and were less willing to seek mental health services than not only American domestic students but also other international students. Variables related to institutional characteristics, demographic information, academic status, and health conditions were found to significantly influence AISs’ help-seeking intentions and behavior. College mental health professionals and university stakeholders need to pay more attention to the mental health needs of AIS. Implications for college mental health professionals and university stakeholders are discussed.     

Theorizing difference and difficulty: “wreading” Asian American poetics in South Korea*

ABSTRACT

Reflecting on a personal experience teaching and studying Asian American poetry in South Korea, this paper examines how and why Asian American poetry in South Korea has been marginalized in the academia and argues that Asian American poetry needs to be newly dealt as a frontier that vigorously experiments the role of cultural poetics and humanities in and out of the university programs. The reception of Asian American poets and their poetry in South Korea is inseparable from the interpellation and understanding of Asian Americans as subject. This essay, rather than inscribing Anglo American critical frame that has focused on the reductive reading of essentializing racial traits and minority identities, tries to build a platform for inviting inter/cross-cultural thinking under the umbrella of poetry reading. Through the process of “wreading” Asian American poetry, I argue that difficulty and difference can be reinterpreted as practical monitors for alternative reading of Asian American poetry against the grain of the white Anglican national self of America.     

So close and yet so far? Predictors of international students’ socialization with host nationals

Socialization with members of the host culture (host nationals) is a persistent challenge for international students, especially those from East/Southeast Asian countries. The present study investigated three theoretically grounded predictors of international students’ socialization with host-national students—self-esteem, university identity, and perceived discrimination—in a sample (N = 256) of East/Southeast Asian international undergraduate students in the U.S. Socialization with other internationals was assessed to enable a direct comparison of socialization with international students’ two primary peer groups. Across analyses, self-esteem predicted greater socialization with host nationals but not other internationals. Although support was qualified, university identity tended to predict greater socialization with both host nationals and other internationals. Perceived discrimination was unrelated to socialization with either group. Mixed model analyses confirmed the differential pattern of relations between self-esteem and socialization with host nationals versus other internationals, as well as the similar pattern for university identity and socialization target. Results suggest that self-esteem may be a particularly important resource for East/Southeast Asian international students striving to forge relationships with host nationals. Further, boosting university identity may foster better relationships for international students with both host national and other international students on campus.     

College Students’ Perspectives in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Malaysia,Singapore, England,and the US: Formative Evaluation Insights and Implications

The purpose of this study was to elicit college students’ knowledge and perceptions about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), attitudes and practices regarding condom use, and information about what educational and prevention materials that they think would be most effective for their peers. As part of a larger study, data was collected using focus groups and questionnaires. While American and Malaysian college students in the US participated in the focus groups, the open-ended questionnaire was emailed to college students recruited in Malaysia, Singapore, and England. Participatory communication was used as the theoretical framework to generate information and message concepts necessary for the design of effective health education and promotion materials. This study revealed that college students, regardless of nationality, should be informed and educated of the STIs problem on a gradual basis through various means and communication channels.     

Stressors, anxiety, acculturation and adjustment among international and North American students

The acculturation process generally contributes greatly to stress and anxiety levels among international students. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to see whether international students experience more anxiety, irritability, and stress from being apart from family and friends, pressure from school, difficulties with language, work and finances than students with permanent US residency, and (2) to investigate the same stressors in groups within the international student population. Surveys were distributed to 246 students aged 17–51 at an ethnically diverse community college in Southern California, US. Analysis of variance was conducted to investigate group differences between students: permanent US residents vs. international students, and, permanent US residents vs. European and Asian students, respectively. No significant differences were found between international students and students with permanent US residency. However, when the international student population was sub-grouped by above cultural regions a different pattern emerged. Difficulties of not being able to work and of socially related problems were perceived as more severe for the European and the Asian groups, while finance problems were hard for all three groups. The variable of language difficulties was harder for Asian students, while that of stress of being apart from family was harder for students from Europe. Findings are not only congruent with prior research results on international students but also demonstrate that international students with culturally diverse needs should not be considered as one homogenous group. It is suggested that educational systems need to properly adapt in order to accommodate international students’ unique cultural needs.     

Crossing cultures: Student travel and personal development

This paper is concerned with what students do and learn when they travel abroad. First, the behavior and daily routines of American college students travelling in Europe, while on a term abroad, are examined through their journals and travel logs and the researcher's observations. What the students learn about other cultures is often superficial, yet the experience is found to be educational in ways that were unexpected. Much of the personal benefit of travel comes not from what students learn about the places or cultures they visit, but from the need to continuously make decisions and deal with the demands of daily life in new and unfamiliar settings. It is suggested that these experiences foster personal development in several ways.     

Patterns of interpersonal criticism in Japan and United StatesModes de critique interpersonelle au Japon et aux Etats-UnisNormas de critica interpersonal en el Japon y en los Estados Unidos

To investigate patterns of interpersonal criticism in Japan and United States, preliminary interviews were conducted. Three major variables: sources of dissatisfaction; the status of communicative partners: and modes of giving criticism were identified. These variables were incorporated into an Interpersonal Criticism Questionnaire and then administered to 149 Japanese and 168 American college students of both sexes, after establishing cross-cultural equivalence. The results demonstrated a significant difference between the two cultures, but no significant difference between the sexes. Both cultures favored expressing dissatisfaction in a direct way, but Japanese more frequently employed passive forms of criticism and Americans active forms. While Japanese consistently adapted critical messages to the status of their communicative partners, Americans consistently adapted their critical messages to the character of the provocation.     

Retrospective perception of parental child-rearing practices in three culturally different college groups

Retrospective perceived child-rearing practices reported by three culturally different groups of college students—Latin Americans (n = 164), CubanAmericans (n = 127), and Anglo-Americans (n = 154)—on sixteen parent practices variables were compared using a 2 (sex) × 3 (cultural group) multivariate analysis of covariance with social class as the covariate. Cuban-American mothers were perceived as more similar to Anglo than to Latin mothers, specifically in their use of disciplinary techniques. Cuban-American mothers and fathers were perceived as applying the greatest amount of achievement pressure. Anglo fathers were perceived as using physical punishment significantly more than Cuban and Latin American fathers. Overall the results provide some support for previous findings in the literature but indicate that the results in the literature on child-rearing practices comparing Anglos to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are not easily generalizable to other Hispanic or Latin American groups.     

Black Like Who?: The Class of 2014 Considers Race in Dear White People

Modern educational institutions were associated with the separation of children from ordinary people and of the schoolhouse from the ordinary world, creating an educational subculture and a minority population of schoolchildren. Passage through this subculture became a universal shared experience. Higher education grew at the same time into an experience that separated those who went to college from those who did not, becoming a basis for the modern class system. Popular culture reflects this split as the college movie, a genre that addresses only part of the movie audience. As in other American institutions, there is also a split between the worlds of Black and White colleges. Only the mainstream White version of college appeared in movies until recently. The African-American-themed college movie was pioneered in School Daze. Dear White People followed that lead. The movie concerns a generation of Black college students whose perspectives rest on a familiarity with more than a half century of ideas about race in America.     

Development and test of an international student performance taxonomy

Based on the cross-cultural adjustment, education, and job performance literatures, an international student performance taxonomy is proposed and tested with a sample of 272 business exchange students from nine Asian, European, and North American countries studying in Mexico. Results of confirmatory factor analyses provided tentative support for an eight-factor taxonomy comprised of performance dimensions labeled: engaging in academic and non-academic tasks, communicating with host nationals, writing and using the local language, helping and cooperating with other international students, demonstrating effort in an academic setting, maintaining personal discipline, developing social and personal relationships with host nationals, and adjusting to general conditions of living abroad. Issues concerning the practical implications of these findings as well as the generalizability of the confirmed performance taxonomy to other educational and work contexts are discussed.     

Racial stereotypes revisited

Fifty-one black and 66 white college students were administered the Katz and Braly Checklist (1933) and instructed to select five adjectives that best described first themselves, second, black Americans, and third, white Americans. They then rated each adjective on a favorability scale from 1 to 5. Changes in the content of stereotypes were determined by calculating the 10 most frequently checked adjectives for black and for white Americans and comparing that with data from Katz and Braly (1933), Bayton (1941) and Maykovich (1972). Currently, black Americans are described as musical, loyal to family ties, very religious, progressive, ambitious, and quick-tempered. White Americans are described as intelligent, materialistic, ambitious, industrious, conventional, and conservative. The content of the white stereotype remained more stable over the years than the black stereotype. The white stereotype has slowly decreased in favorability over the years while the black stereotype has increased. Black and white students rated themselves more favorably than they rated the other or their own race.     

Interrogating Identity and Social Contexts Through “Critical Family History”

Tracing one's family genealogy is a complex process that requires situating a family's narratives within a historical context. This article reviews the use of critical family history research in an undergraduate Asian American studies course to examine not only the diversity and experiences of Asian Americans but also the unspoken narratives that lead to the creation of a single story. We are told single stories that often neglect the sociocultural factors—the historical reality—of our past. Our family histories are constructed historically and are embedded in social, political, and economic processes and relationships. This article argues that we need to complicate what we know about our past and examine policies and cultural practices that lead to a racialized system of power and privilege, racialized policies, and racialized oppression and progression.     

Workplace and school microaggressions on anxiety symptoms: The role of cultural values among Hispanic Americans

ObjectivesThis study examined the main and interaction effects of the workplace and school microaggressions and cultural values of cultural pride, familismo, espiritismo, and simpatia on anxiety symptoms among Hispanic Americans.Design266 U.S. Hispanic American college students participated in this cross-sectional survey research. Of the 266 participants, 68% identified as cisgender women; 87% reported English mastery. The reported mean age was 19.92 (SD = 3.07).ResultsTo test whether cultural values moderated the relationship between workplace and school microaggression on anxiety symptoms, we conducted separate interaction models for each interaction term. Findings showed that overall, cultural values and specific values of cultural pride and espiritismo moderated the relationship between workplace and school microaggression on anxiety symptoms. Specifically, the positive relationship between workplace and school microaggression and anxiety symptoms was most robust for Hispanic Americans endorsing greater cultural values and specific values of cultural pride and espiritismo.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that Hispanic Americans who closely associate with these cultural values may be more conscious of being othered and marginalized by these microaggressions, which may lead to higher reports of anxiety symptoms. Taken together, our findings suggest that these cultural values may serve as a risk or protective factor in the relationship between workplace and school microaggressions and anxiety symptoms and has implications for vocational interventions.     

Transnational dream,transnational practice: Tracking women students in Asia's knowledge diasporas

Since the mid-1980s, there has been a worldwide increase in women travelling on their own to seek educational and career-advancement opportunities, rather than as legal appendages of husbands. In northeast Asia this trend is particularly marked, and the increasing representation of women among the ranks of northeast Asian international students in Western nations can be seen as part of this trend. This essay engages with Youna Kim's book, Transnational Migration, Media and Identity of Asian Women: Diasporic Daughters, and considers Kim's answers to the question: what are the subjective and material experiences of geo-cultural mobility for the current hyper-mobile generation of young northeast Asian women?     

Under-Prepared Students: Essentials beyond Academics

Teacher education programs continue to struggle with preparing highly qualified teachers ready to meet the academic, cultural, exceptionality and linguistic challenges, which are increasingly the reality of American's classrooms. Despite increased academic rigor in such programs, many emerging teachers are still ill prepared to each effectively students from cultural and racial backgrounds different from their own. The article asserts that this is due in part to a lack of an appropriate disposition on the part of future teachers. Further, the authors provide three strategies they use routinely with their undergraduate teacher education students that hold promise for effecting positive changes in disposition.     

Gender,culture, and geography: A comparison of seating arrangements in the United States and Taiwan

The present study describes and compares seating preferences among Taiwanese and American respondents. Using a questionnaire method, seating preferences were obtained for 75 male and 100 female college students from the United Slates, and for 29 male and 54 female teachers of English in Taiwan. Responses were obtained for all possible combinations of sex of interaction partner, location (task or social), and six interpersonal activities. Results were summarized in the form of proportions of respondents choosing each of four possible angles of interaction: corner, opposite, diagonal, and side seating. Comparisons were made using Chisquare tests for independence.In general, results showed that Taiwanese respondents, when compared to Americans, are more likely to prefer side seating and less likely to prefer corner seating. Culture, sex of respondents, and sex of interaction partner interact in influencing preferences. In the United States, seating preferences function to unite males with females and to separate same-sex partners, while the opposite is true in Taiwan. Results are interpreted in terms of implications for intercultural communication.     

Communicating love: Comparisons between American and East Asian university students

This study examined cultural differences in communicating love among 143 young adults from the US and East Asian countries of China, Japan, and South Korea. Through inductive analyses we examined similarities and differences in the activities and beliefs Americans and East Asians have about love in friendship and marriage, as well as the activities and ways in which love is expressed. Americans and East Asians reported that caring, trust, respect, and honesty were all important beliefs about love in friendship, and trust was an important belief about love in marriage. Love in marriage was seen as important and unconditional for Americans, while East Asians were more likely to report caring as an important belief. Sports, preparing food, and shopping were activities associated with expressing love for Americans, while talking and preparing food constituted activities for expressing love for East Asians. Finally, both US and East Asian students expressed love to a friend through acts of support, open discussion, and the sharing of common experiences, while they expressed love to a spouse through physical intimacy, acts of support, and expressions of love such as “I love you” and “I miss you.”