Digital consumer culture and digital acculturation

The advent of digital technology has significantly transformed human lives and added new dimensions to our consumption behaviours. Responding to these constant changes in socio-cultural dynamics, this commentary defines and theorises digital consumer culture and explains how digital consumer culture facilitates digital acculturation. We pioneer a conceptual framework that explains the reciprocal, iterative and dynamic inter-relationships between digital consumer culture and digital acculturation and spells out the three inherence characteristics of digital consumer culture. These include consumer empowerment, reciprocity between online and offline worlds and decompartmentalisation of identities; together they make digital consumer culture unique. Finally, by identifying and discussing three outcomes of digital acculturation: digital integration, digital separation and digital deprivation, we make further contribution to theories, with the view of generating debates in studying acculturation in the digital age.     

The development of the Khmer acculturation scale

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a multidimensional, culture-specific acculturation measure, the Khmer acculturation scale (KAS), for use with Cambodians living in the United States. The KAS development was guided by Berry's [W. H. Holtzman, T. Z. Bornemann (Eds.), (1990) Mental health of immigrants and refugees, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Austin, TX, pp. 90–102] framework and involved two studies. The first study involved the derivation of 130 questionnaire items and demonstration of content validity using 22 expert informants and judges, relevant literature on Cambodian and American cultures, and existing acculturation scales that had been developed for other ethnic groups. Items were created for two KAS subscales written in both English and Khmer, the Khmer orientation scale (KOS) and Anglo-American orientation scale (AOS). The second study inspected reliability and validity of KAS scores obtained from 410 Cambodian participants living in nine states. The two subscales were reduced in length via factor analyses and were found to have high internal consistency and stability reliability. Criterion validity was supported by a modest significant correlation between the KAS and scores on the Suinn–Lew Asian self-identity acculturation scale [Suinn, Rikard-Figueroa, Lew, & Vigil, Educ. Psychol. Meas. 47 (1987) 401]. Construct validity evidence for the KAS was indicated by its factor structure and support for the following predictions derived from Berry's acculturation framework: (1) Those who were in the higher SES and educational levels, of a younger generation, and employed were more acculturated compared to their counterparts; (2) Lower psychological distress as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 [Mollica, Wyshak, de Marneffe, Khuon, & Lavelle, Am. J. Psych. 144(4) (1987b) 497] was associated with greater acculturation; (3) Those who acculturate in the integration mode, on average, scored in the normal range on the HSCL-25, while those in the separation mode scored, on average, in the clinical range.     

Reconstructing culture: the promises and challenges as articulated by Latino/a youth

This qualitative study examines how a group of Latino/a high school students living in the Southeast used youth media as a forum to promote a selective pattern of acculturation. The study explores the ways in which the students’ discourse emphasised the maintenance of the students’ home culture and privileged familismo, a cultural construct that holds the needs of the family above the needs of the individual. The doubly precarious issue of gender and biculturalism is examined, and found to be problematic for the female participants who personally struggled with a patriarchal family structure, yet publically promoted family loyalty and respect. The study highlights the female participants’ challenges and the importance of providing a space to examine these challenges.     

'Donkeys of the University': Organizational culture and its impact on South African women administrators

This article examines workplace experiences of six senior womenadministrators in South African institutions of higher education.Given that women have historically been under-represented andcontinue to be under-represented in the higher education sector,it is important to gain insights into their experiences and toinform the process of creating institutional environments thatare supportive of their professional endeavors.     

少数民族文化背景下汉族青年的文化逆适应——以青海地区为例

本文通过对青海民族大学学生进行深入访谈,探讨了青海地区汉族青年对少数民族文化的逆适应问题。认为在高等教育阶段不仅要对少数民族大学生进行跨文化教育,而且还要对不同年级的汉族学生施以不同的教育措施,以引导汉族大学生的文化逆适府向更加理性的方向发展。     

The acculturation of preservice adventure educators: development of perspectives and beliefs

Little research on the socialisation of adventure educators into their craft has been conducted. The purposes of this study were to describe (a) the perspectives and beliefs of preservice adventure educators as they began adventure education training (AET) and (b) the elements within their acculturation that led to these perspectives and beliefs. Participants were 20 preservice adventure educators at the beginning of their AET. Data were collected with three types of interview. They were coded, categorised, and reduced to meaningful themes by employing analytic induction and constant comparison. Results revealed that preservice adventure educators possessed one of three orientations. These were a leisure orientation, outdoor pursuits orientation, or adventure orientation. Factors shaping these orientations were family and friends, experiences of outdoor and adventurous activities, experiences working as counsellors, timing of occupational selection and age, and a number of secondary attractors including the motivation to remain connected to the world of adventure. Should they transfer to preservice adventure educators in AET at other institutions, the main practical implication of the study’s results is that they should provide the basis for AET faculty to understand and deconstruct any less than desirable beliefs and perspectives with which prospective adventure educators enter their programmes.     

文化涵化与族群——以"黄佤"族群文化为例

“黄佤”族群长期与傣族、汉族杂居,经过长期的文化涵化,“黄佤”在语言、风俗习惯、民间信仰等方面形成了自己独特的不同于其它佤族支系的文化。但“黄佤”文化涵化过程中,民族认同与其传统文化决定着涵化的方向．涵化只改变了“黄佤”文化的表象,未改变其对佤族的认同。涵化作用下“黄佤”族群形成。     

试论我国大学城的文化缺失现象

我国目前的大学城普遍存在各种文化缺失现象,主要表现在文化底蕴、文化共享与整合、文化创新与转换以及文化传播与涵化等方面;在大学城建设的初期,应着重处理好文化功能和其他功能之间的关系,解决好独立和共享的矛盾.     

对多元文化语境下中国外语教育的思考

基于当前中国外语教育（尤其英语教育）的现状,本文从多元文化角度分析了中国外语教育由于在教学原则和理念、教学目的、教材和课程设置等方面的西化倾向,可能会带来一些负面结果,因而,建议应该在国家外语教学大纲、教师角色以及教材选择诸多方面,突出并加强对母语文化的教学,从而使外语教育真正促进全球文化多元性的发展,而非导致文化单一性。