The Journal of Intercultural Communication Vol. 21 No. 1 (Issue 55, March 2021)
Journal of Intercultural JICC Communication published since 1999 by the Immigrant Institute, Sweden - ISSN 1404-1634
Volume 21, Number 1 (Issue 55, March 2021)
Adaptive Personality, Communication Competence and Psychological 1 Health | Yang Soo Kim & Soon Chul Lee
Navigating Contact Zones in 21st Century Schools: Creative Identity 19 Development in Two Complex Transcultural Spaces | Claude-Hélène Mayer
Intercultural Topics in the Indonesian English Language Teaching 34 Classroom: Contextualizing Local and Neutral Cultures to Target and Global Cultures | Marwa Marwa, Bambang Yudi Cahyono, Mohammad Adnan Latief & Johannes Ananto Prayogo Revisiting Hofstede’s Uncertainty-Avoidance Dimension: A Cross- 46 Cultural Comparison of Organizational Employees in Four Countries | Jung-Soo Yi
Predicting Intercultural Communication in Malaysian Public 62 Universities from the Perspective of Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) Theory | Pragash Muthu Rajan, Sultana Alam, Khor Kheng Kia & Charles Ramendran SPR Subramaniam
Thriving in Indonesian Academia: French Students’ Intercultural 80 Communication Competence in Studying Abroad | Dadang Sunendar, Dante Darmawangsa & Vidi Sukmayadi
A Qualitative Study of Intercultural Friendship through New Social 92 Media | Yanrong (Yvonne) Chang
Journal of Intercultural Communication, 21(1): 1-18
Adaptive Personality, Communication Competence and Psychological Health
Yang Soo Kim1 & Soon Chul Lee2 Middle Tennessee State University and Busan University of Foreign Studies, Korea
Abstract: Expatriate adjustment has gained wide attention because of its relevance to expatriates’ successful performance. This study examined the adaptation experience of Korean expatriates in India. Y.Y. Kim’s Integrative Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation offers a multidimensional system to explain the link between adaptive personality, communication and psychological health. Our analysis uses a self-reported questionnaire collected from 78 Korean expatriates. Results show positive correlation between theoretical constructs, suggesting expatriates’ personality, ability to communicate and ability to participate in the host country's social processes facilitate successful cross-cultural adjustment overseas. Keywords: adaptive personality, host communication competence, expatriates, expatriate adjustment.
1. Introduction The business environment is increasingly global. Because of the strategic importance of global markets and management of subsidiaries, many companies dispatch their employees across borders, and this trend will continue (Brookefield Global Relocation Services 2016). Expatriate managers, as sojourners, leave their home country for a business purpose, with the intent of eventual return (Aycan & Kanungo 1997). While the benefits of a successful international assignment include organizational success and individual career progress (Dickmann & Doherty 2008), ineffective performance can be detrimental to multinational corporations’ global business (Harvey & Moeller 2009). The inability to adjust to a foreign cultural environment, rather than lack of technical competence, has been noted as the predominant contributing factor to ineffective performance and premature return (Stroh, Black, Mendenhall & Gregersen 2005); according to that study, 20-40% of American expatriates return early, incurring costs to the company including reduced productivity, damaged relationships, and lost opportunities. Managers are also negatively affected with loss of self-esteem, self-confidence and reputation (Dowling, Festing & Engle 2013). For this reason, expatriate adjustment has gained wide attention in recent decades. Numerous studies have identified factors that promote expatriate adjustment, including individual job, organizational, and situational issues (Malek, Budhwar & Reiche 2015; Shaffer, Harrison & Gilley 1999); personality traits (Shaffer, Harrison, Gregersen, Black & Ferzandi 2006); spousal or family adjustment (Palthe 2008; Trompetter, Bussin & Nienaber 2016); cultural novelty (Dunbar 1994; Jenkins & Mockaitis 2010); cultural intelligence (Guðmundsdȯttir 2015); previous experience (Takeuchi, Tesluk, Yun & Lepak 2005); and training (Moon, Choi & Jung 2012; Okpara 2016). The literature has identified models highlighting three distinct dimensions of adjustment: work adjustment, interaction adjustment and general life adjustment (Black, Mendenhall & Oddou 1991).
1 Dept. of Communication Studies, Middle Tennessee State University, P.O. Box 200, Murfreesboro, TN 37132 USA. Email: [email protected]. 2 Busan University of Foreign Studies, Dept. of Indian Studies, 65. Geum Saem-Ro, 485 Beon-Gil, Geumjeong- Gu, Busan, Korea. Email: [email protected]. 2
The primary purpose of the present study is to build on these findings, to seek additional clarity and depth in the current understanding of the role of personality and communication in the adaptation process of Korean expatriates in India. Additionally, while there are many studies on North American and European expatriates in Asia, there are not many studies on Korean expatriates in India (Kim & Tung 2013). Thus, this study also seeks to fill this gap by investigating the cross-cultural adaptation of Korean expatriates in India. We employ Kim’s (1988, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2015) Integrative Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation. Incorporating macro- and micro-level factors into a single, comprehensive communication framework, the theory offers a multidimensional account of the nature of the cross-cultural adaptation process.
1.1 Economic and cultural context in India South Korea’s foreign direct investment in India began in the 1990s when India opened its market to foreign investment, stimulated by its economic growth and the government’s open- door policy (Figure 1). Major Korean companies -- Daewoo, Samsung, Hyundai Motors and LG Electronics -- entered the Indian market. Since 2003, the Indian economy has shown 7-8% average annual growth due to the influx of large amounts of capital resulting from the expansion of global liquidity (Cho & Choi 2013).
Figure 1: Korea's foreign direct investment in India; adapted from (Export-Import Bank of Korea, 2019).
In 2007, investment reached a peak of US $514 million when 260 additional Korean firms invested in India, doubling the number of previous investments by Korean companies. While stagnating during the global recession, investment grew again because of the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership of 2010 (Lee et al. 2014). A total of 482 new Korean firms entered the Indian market 2008-2016, which led a total Korean investment in India of US $4.4 billion. As of July 2016, the Korea Trade-investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) estimates the presence of 294 Korean firms in India employing 1,144 Korean expatriates (Table 1).
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Table 1: Number of expatriates and local employees employed in Korean firms in India Local Industry Firms Expatriates employees Mining and quarrying 1 6 - Manufacturing 131 724 63,542 Electricity, gas, water supply and other utilities 1 3 2 Construction 27 156 2,574 Trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related 90 166 2,679 to broadcasting Financial, real estate and professional services 40 83 6,835 Public administration, defense and other services 4 6 36 Total 294 1,144 75,668 Adapted from (KOTRA 2016).
India consists of 29 states and seven special territories with languages and cultures. Each local government has its own labor regulations and corporate laws. Korean expatriates largely depend on their local employees to manage business because of a limited knowledge of local culture and government regulations (Seo & Kim 2014). Although Hinduism is the predominant religion contributing to core cultural values, there are hundreds of religions in India. Korean expatriates often have difficulty understanding the behavior of local employees based on differing cultural values and religious beliefs. Korean expatriates are often flustered when their local employees prioritize their family or religious events by taking days or even weeks off (Lee, Cheong, Choi & Oh 2006). While India and Korea are both identified as collectivist Asian societies, Indians are not so highly collectivist as some other cultures. Indian collectivism emphasizes loyalty to family, but Indians are individualistic in their pursuit of needs and interests (Bhatnagar & Tjosvold 2012). Korean business culture, strongly tied to Confucian values, tends to emphasize loyalty to the company, centralized authority, vertical hierarchies, clearly defined gender roles, seniority, position, harmony among employees, diligence and a strong commitment to education (Cho & Yoon 2001; Lee 1998; Morden & Bowles 1998). Cultural differences pose a challenge for Korean expatriates working in India.
1.2 Theoretical grounding Guiding this investigation is Kim’s (1988, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2015) Integrative Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation. Taking a system perspective, the theory strives to integrate previously separate and, indeed, divergent approaches into a comprehensive conceptual framework to explain cross-cultural adaptation. Using the term “strangers” to cover immigrants, refugees, and sojourners, Kim proposes that, in order to maintain equilibrium, strangers respond as “open systems” to drastic environmental challenges and psychological stress – better known as culture shock. Kim (2001: 90) notes that the term “adaptation” is used broadly to embrace more specific terms including “assimilation”, “acculturation”, “integration” and “adjustment”. Kim's theory addresses two basic questions. (1) What is the essential nature of the adaptation process that individual settlers undergo over time? (2) Why are some settlers more successful than others in attaining a level of fitness in the host environment? To address the first question using a process model, the theory explains cross-cultural adaptation as a long- term process of systematic change in the individual’s psyche: a gradual psychic 4 transformation involving a “stress-adaptation-growth interplay” fostering increased chances of success in meeting the demands of the host environment.
1.3 Structural model In addition to its process model, Kim’s theory offers a multidimensional structural model (Figure 2) to address the questions (1) why do some settlers adapt faster than others? and given the same length of time, why do some settlers attain a higher level of adaptation? The structural model identifies key factors that facilitate or impede adaptation to a culturally different environment. Emphasizing the centrality of communication to cross-cultural adaptation, the theory posits that an individual adapts to her host environment through communication activities ranging from intrapersonal to intrapersonal (social), identified as the dimensions of host communication competence (Dimension 1) and host social communication (Dimension 2).
Figure 2: Kim's (2001: 87) structural model: factors influencing cross-cultural adaptation.
Kim (2001) describes host communication competence as the overall capacity of a stranger to encode and decode information in accordance with the host communication systems. It consists of an individual's cognitive, affective, and operational/behavioral capabilities, deemed the engine that makes it possible for that individual to move forward along an adaptive path. Host communication competence is inseparably linked to host social communication (Dimension 2): the degree of one's engagement in the host social communication system through interpersonal, mass-communication activities in the host environment. Ethnic social communication (Dimension 3) involves interpersonal / mass communication with co-ethnics in the host society. There are three key conditions to the host environment (Dimension 4): host receptivity, host conformity pressure, and ethnic group strength. The theory also recognizes an individual’s predispositions (Dimension 5): internal conditions prior to resettlement in the host society, consisting of preparedness for the new environment, ethnic proximity or distance, and adaptive personality. 5
These five dimensions influence one another. Together, they facilitate or impede the overall process of intercultural transformation (Dimension 6), which has three aspects: increased functional fitness, psychological health and intercultural identity. The level of intercultural transformation, in turn, helps explain and predict the progress of all other dimensions.
1.4 Research questions and central thesis To examine the adaptation experience of Korean expatriates, we propose two broad research questions:
RQ1: How is personality likely to facilitate Korean expatriates’ adaptation in India? RQ2: Does communication serve as a central vehicle to facilitate Korean expatriates' adaptation in India? The present study focuses on four of the theoretical constructs identified in Kim’s structural model – (1) adaptive personality, (2) host communication competence, (3) host interpersonal communication, and (4) psychological health – comprising the primary variables for understanding the role of personality and communication in the process of adaptation. The interrelationships between and among these constructs are articulated in four theorems (Kim 2001: 91-92):
Theorem 3: The greater the host communication competence, the greater the intercultural transformation (functional fitness, psychological health, and intercultural identity). Theorem 5: The greater the host interpersonal and mass communication, the greater the intercultural transformation (functional fitness, psychological health, and intercultural identity). Theorem 19: The greater the adaptive personality, the greater the host communication competence. Theorem 20: The greater the adaptive personality, the greater the host interpersonal and mass communication.
1.5 Hypotheses As we aim to investigate predicted relationships among the theorem constructs based on these four theorems, we propose the following four research hypotheses:
H1: The greater the adaptive personality of a Korean expatriate, the greater that person's host communication competence. H2: The greater the adaptive personality of a Korean expatriate, the greater that person's host interpersonal communication. H3: The greater the host communication competence of a Korean expatriate, the greater that person's psychological health. H4: The greater a Korean expatriate’s engagement in host interpersonal communication activities, the greater that person’s psychological health.
2. Method To test the hypotheses, a study was conducted during the first three months of 2017 among Korean expatriate workers in India. The study employed a standardized questionnaire consisting of background information (e.g., gender, age, length of stay, education, etc.) and scalar questions assessing the research variables, followed by open-ended questions about 6 experience dealing with Indian coworkers and business partners (e.g., differences and difficulties when communicating with Indians).
2.1 Participants A combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling was used to recruit participants. This was taken as the practical alternative to probability-based sampling, given the inaccessibility of and difficulties obtaining cooperation from eligible respondents in Korean firms in India. Information on Korean employees was obtained from the business directory of KOTRA (KOTRA 2016), which showed 294 Korean companies operating in India, employing approximately 1,144 Korean expatriates. Companies and employees were selected based on accessibility and availability. To expedite response from the intended respondents, we contacted managers of the companies with whom we had personal connections, asking for their cooperation with the study. Respondents were asked to name potential additional participants. Most respondents worked in metropolitan areas such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon, Noida, Shahpur Jat and Bengaluru. In total, 78 expatriate managers representing 42 companies participated. Ages ranged from 23 to 62 (M = 38.39, SD = 10.44), with 60 (76.9%) male and 18 (23.1%) female respondents, of whom 46 (59%) were married. Most had earned at least one college degree: 2 (2.5%) had high-school diplomas only, 63 (80.8%) had undergraduate degrees but not graduate degrees, and 13 (16.7%) had graduate degrees. Length of residence in India ranged from one month to twenty years, two months (M = 3.3 years, SD = 3.35). Regarding prior intercultural experience, 28 (35.9%) had lived in at least one foreign country. Eighteen (23.4%) received training prior to their international assignment; 59 (76.6%) had not. Training consisted of intercultural training (22.2% of respondents), language training (11.1%), both language and intercultural training (50%), or other forms of training (16.7%).
2.2 Data collection An original version of the questionnaire was pilot-tested between September and November 2016. The wording was refined based on comments and suggestions from pilot-study participants. The questionnaire was first written in English then translated into Korean by a Korean-American interpreter. Following Brislin’s (1980) method, the Korean questionnaire was then back-translated by the interpreter. Both English and Korean versions were given to participants, who were asked to choose one version. All participants chose the Korean version. A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed via the Web or administered in person by Korean-company managers who had personal connections with the authors. Of the questionnaires distributed, 88 (58.7%) were returned. Ten were excluded due to the number of unanswered questions, leaving 78.
2.3 Measurement The four theoretical constructs (adaptive personality, host communication competence, host/ethnic interpersonal communication, and psychological health) were operationalized mostly into Likert scales. The reliability of each scale was determined using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Items in a scale that lowered its reliability were dropped from the scale to enhance reliability. Adaptive personality was measured in terms of two attributes: positivity and openness. Positivity refers to “affirmative and optimistic mental outlook” (Kim 2001: 177). A new general self-efficacy scale consisting of eight items was used to assess participants’ self- evaluation of effectiveness: achieving goals, accomplishing difficult tasks, obtaining outcomes, succeeding at most endeavors, overcoming challenges, performing different tasks, outperforming others, and performing well in a tough situation. Scale items were adapted from Chen, Gully and Eden (2001). Answers used a five-point Likert scale with 1 = totally 7 disagree and 5 = totally agree. The reliability of this scale was found to be satisfactory, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .87. An open-mindedness scale consisting of eight items assessed participants' self- evaluation of flexibility and openness: maintaining one's own opinion, no point listening to other people, rejecting different opinions, trying new ways, doing things in conventional ways, listening to others’ views with an open mind, being willing to read or listen to opposing views, believing there are two sides to every question. Scale items were mostly adapted from Tammam (1993). Answers used a five-point Likert-type scale with 1 = never true and 5 = always true. To improve reliability, the first and fifth items were deleted. The resulting six- item scale yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of .81. Host communication competence was measured in three areas: cognitive, affective, and operational. On the cognitive dimension, respondents were asked to assess their English- language ability and knowledge of Indian (Hindu) culture. English was used for host-language competence because English is the working language for foreign expatriates conducting business in India. Host-language ability was measured with seven items assessing participants' self-evaluation of adequacy speaking, listening, reading, and writing in English to carry out specific communication activities: taking care of simple everyday needs, conversing with friends over the phone, asking questions and solving problems at work, understanding the news on American radio or TV, reading/comprehending English-language newspapers, and writing business or personal letters. Answers used a five-point Likert scale with 1 = very inadequate and 5 = very adequate. Scale items were mostly adapted from Maruyama (1998). The reliability of this scale was found to be satisfactory, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .92. Knowledge of host culture was measured as knowledge of Indian (Hindu) cultural norms and communication rules. The five scale items adapted from Gudykunst (1991) included understanding Indian cultural norms and values, how Indians communicate nonverbally, how Indians express themselves verbally, and how Indians think. Answers used a five-point Likert scale with 1 = not at all and 5 = very much. The reliability of the scale was found to be satisfactory, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .88. For host communication competence, an adaptation motivation scale assessed participants' motivation to adapt to Indian society and culture. A five-point Likert scale was used from 1 = not at all to 5 = very much. Of the five items constituting this scale, three were drawn from Kim’s (1976) measure of acculturation motivation: making friends with Indians; understanding the ways Indian people behave and think; and learning about current political, economic, and social situations and issues in India. The remaining two items were adapted from Maruyama’s (1998) research: learning the Hindi language, interacting with Indian people, and adapting to Indian culture/society. The combined five-item scale yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of .89. The operational dimension was assessed by a behavioral competence scale, comprising eight five-point Likert-scale items measuring how effectively participants could communicate with and relate to Indians. The first four items were adapted from Tammam (1993). The remaining items were adapted from Maruyama (1998): (1) avoiding misunderstandings with Indians, (2) achieving what one hopes to achieve in one's interactions with Indians, (3) communication flowing smoothly when interacting with Indians, (4) getting one's point across easily, (5) being flexible enough to handle unexpected situations, (6) having difficulty establishing personal relationships with Indians, (7) feeling awkward and unnatural when communicating with Indians, and (8) finding interacting with Indians challenging. The answers used a five-point Likert scale from 1 = totally disagree to 5 = totally agree. Cronbach’s reliability test yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of .89. Host and ethnic interpersonal communication was measured by participants' interpersonal ties according to group categories and intimacy levels. Adapted from the 8 measure of interpersonal communication in a study of interethnic communication (Kim, Kim, Duty & Yoshitake 2002), participants were asked to indicate the percentage of people with whom they had relationships in each group: Indians, co-ethnics (e.g., Koreans), and others; and the corresponding levels of closeness: casual acquaintances, casual friends, or close friends. Host interpersonal communication was measured in terms of three levels of relationship with Indians, while ethnic interpersonal communication in terms of three levels of relationships with co-ethnics. The reliability test yielded an alpha coefficient of .76 for host interpersonal communication and .78 for ethnic interpersonal communication. Psychological health -- the subjective sense of well-being while living in India -- was assessed by two indicators: satisfaction and alienation. Satisfaction was measured by seven items, consisting of four items adapted from Gao and Gudykunst (1990) and three additional items adapted from Maruyama (1998). A five-point Likert scale was used (1=not at all; 5=very much) measuring participants' sense of life in India as satisfactory, comfortable, rewarding, or stressful, as well as participants' acceptance of Indian people’s attitudes, satisfaction in their relationships with Indians and satisfaction in their experiences of Indian culture. The combined seven-item scale yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of .88. Alienation was measured by a five-point Likert scale (1= totally disagree; 5=totally agree) comprising seven items adapted from the ten-item measure of Kim’s (1980) Indochinese refugee study. The seven items assessed participants' feelings of awkwardness and frustration, difficulty understanding the Indian way of life, feelings of loneliness and being disliked by Indians, as well as overall levels of frustration and disappointment in life in India and desire to return to the home country. The combined seven-item scale yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of .88. As multiple indicators, both satisfaction and alienation scales make the measurement more reliable for assessing psychological health.
3. Results Table 2 presents descriptive analysis to examine distribution of data on the key research variables, based on means and standard deviations. Descriptive analysis according to principal demographic factors is described in tables 2.1 (gender), 2.2 (age) and 2.3 (length of stay).
Table 2: Descriptive analysis on key research variables (n = 78). Mean SD Variables
Adaptive personality - Self-efficacy 3.91 0.54 - Open-mindedness 3.97 0.56 Host communication competence - Host language competence (English) 3.52 0.61 - Host culture 3.15 0.71 - Adaptive motivation 3.46 0.85 - Behavioral competence 3.57 0.64 Host interpersonal communication 37.74 22.86 - Casual Indian acquaintances 58.21 28.15 - Casual Indian friends 34.73 28.39 - Close Indian friends 20.27 26.67 Ethnic interpersonal communication 54.54 25.10 - Casual Korean acquaintances 34.69 25.47 9
- Casual Korean friends 57.59 30.80 - Close Korean friends 71.33 33.10 Psychological health - Satisfaction 2.98 0.68 - Alienation 2.46 0.75
Table 2.1: Descriptive analysis on key research variables according to gender (n =78). Gender Variables Male (n = 60) Female (n = 18) Adaptive personality Mean SD Mean SD - Self-efficacy 3.96 0.53 3.74 0.55 - Open-mindedness 3.98 0.56 3.92 0.56 Host communication competence - Host language competence (English) 3.48 0.64 3.67 0.49 - Host culture 3.16 0.74 3.13 0.57 - Adaptive motivation 3.36 0.91 3.79 0.50 - Behavioral competence 3.61 0.61 3.44 0.74 Host interpersonal communication 36.02 21.66 43.44 26.37 - Casual Indian acquaintances 57.25 28.10 61.39 28.89 - Casual Indian friends 32.83 27.32 41.06 31.73 - Close Indian friends 17.98 23.60 27.89 34.77 Ethnic interpersonal communication 54.26 24.86 55.48 26.59 - Casual Korean acquaintances 33.78 24.61 37.72 28.71 - Casual Korean friends 57.53 30.75 57.78 31.86 - Close Korean friends 71.45 32.71 70.94 35.16 Psychological health
- Satisfaction 2.95 0.72 3.10 0.55 - Alienation 2.47 0.74 2.44 0.79
Table 2.2: Descriptive analysis on key research variables according to age (n = 78) Age in years Variables 20-29 (n = 21) 30-39 (n = 21) 40-49 (n = 21) 50+ (n = 14) Adaptive personality Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD - Self-efficacy 3.76 0.54 3.92 0.31 3.96 0.61 3.96 0.67 - Open-mindedness 3.92 0.56 3.98 0.51 3.90 0.59 4.08 0.60
Host communication competence - Host language 3.56 0.52 3.60 0.58 3.42 0.68 3.42 0.64 competence (English) - Host culture 3.14 0.65 3.22 0.66 3.05 0.81 3.19 0.71 - Adaptive motivation 3.67 0.83 3.72 0.67 3.08 0.97 3.30 0.77 - Behavioral competence 3.50 0.73 3.69 0.45 3.43 0.65 3.63 0.66 Host interpersonal 40.41 24.76 35.56 22.60 37.13 21.48 40.60 22.79 communication 10
- Casual Indian 63.57 28.81 53.57 27.26 59.67 24.00 59.07 32.24 acquaintances - Casual Indian friends 35.90 28.11 31.24 26.68 35.62 30.76 39.36 29.50 - Close Indian friends 21.76 32.96 21.86 26.44 16.10 23.12 23.36 23.76 Ethnic interpersonal 59.14 24.80 53.90 26.7 57.67 23.11 47.79 23.20 communication - Casual Korean 36.14 28.66 38.57 24.89 34.38 22.61 29.64 26.28 acquaintances - Casual Korean friends 63.57 28.29 57.52 31.11 60.71 31.36 48.14 30.98
- Close Korean friends 77.71 33.32 65.62 33.62 77.90 30.34 65.57 31.51 Psychological health - Satisfaction 3.11 0.66 2.98 0.61 2.83 0.72 2.97 0.81 - Alienation 2.31 0.79 2.59 0.72 2.62 0.78 2.30 0.68
Table 2.3: Descriptive analysis on key research variables according to length of stay (n = 78). Length of Stay Variables *1 **2 ***3 ****4 *****5 Adaptive personality Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD - Self-efficacy 4.00 0.34 3.80 0.55 3.96 0.64 4.03 0.47 3.44 0.88 - Open-mindedness 3.95 0.59 3.91 0.57 4.1 0.54 3.87 0.53 3.67 0.47
Host communication competence - Host language 3.49 0.64 3.40 0.59 3.63 0.54 3.65 0.68 3.14 0.20 competence (English) - Host culture 2.95 0.47 3.10 0.71 3.09 0.54 3.49 0.99 3.20 0.57 - Adaptive motivation 3.89 0.58 3.37 0.90 3.21 0.86 3.66 0.86 3.30 0.14 - Behavioral 3.42 0.42 3.43 0.72 3.67 0.51 3.83 0.63 3.63 0.53 competence Host interpersonal 40.76 25.18 35.51 23.78 37.44 24.00 42.38 17.70 49.17 5.89 communication - Casual Indian 59.09 25.87 58.18 29.71 57.11 29.91 62.08 22.49 67.50 31.82 acquaintances - Casual Indian friends 40.91 30.40 30.91 28.41 34.33 29.50 40.46 27.90 47.50 3.54 - Close Indian friends 22.27 32.51 17.42 25.53 20.89 29.53 24.62 24.02 32.50 17.68 Ethnic interpersonal 58.94 25.10 58.10 26.89 52.52 25.20 50.10 18.70 45.83 1.18 communication - Casual Korean 40.45 26.12 36.73 27.19 33.56 26.83 30.00 19.38 27.50 24.75 acquaintances - Casual Korean 58.64 30.17 62.10 32.15 54.94 31.59 54.92 28.08 47.50 3.54 friends - Close Korean friends 77.73 32.51 75.49 33.11 69.06 33.99 65.38 30.85 62.50 24.75
Psychological health - Satisfaction 3.18 0.45 2.92 0.72 2.66 0.74 3.32 0.58 3.21 0.10 - Alienation 2.14 0.79 2.61 0.72 2.75 0.77 2.00 0.51 2.43 0.61 * 1: less than a year, ** 2: one year and a month to three years, *** 3: three years and a month to five years, **** 4: four years and a month to ten years, ***** 5: More than ten years.
A bivariate correlation analysis was employed to test the hypothesized theoretical relationships between and among the research variables. 11
The first hypothesis, positing a positive association between adaptive personality and host communication competence, is partially supported. As shown in Table 3, correlation analysis clearly indicates that two indicators of adaptive personality, self-efficacy and open- mindedness, are significantly positively related to some assessed dimensions of host communication competence. Self-efficacy is significantly positively related to host language (English) ability (r =.33, p < .01), knowledge of host culture (r =.25, p < .05) and behavioral competence (r =.31, p < .01), but not significantly related to adaptation motivation (r =.17, p > .05). Open-mindedness is significantly positively related to host language (English) (r =.44, p < .01) and behavioral competence (r =.46, p < .01) but not significantly related to knowledge of host culture (r = .19, p > .05) or adaptation motivation (r =.17, p > .05). The second hypothesis positing a positive association between adaptive personality and host interpersonal communication is fully supported. Correlational analysis indicates that two personality traits – self-efficacy (r = .29, p < .01) and open-mindedness (r = .25, p < .05) – are significantly positively related to host interpersonal communication. The third hypothesis, predicting a positive theoretical relationship between host communication competence and psychological health, is measured by two indicators: satisfaction and alienation. As shown in Table 3, correlation analysis clearly supports this hypothesis. All assessed dimensions of communication competence are significantly positively related to satisfaction: host language (English) competence (r = .28, p < .01), knowledge of host culture (r =.48, p <.01), adaptation motivation (r =.67, p <.01) and behavioral competence (r = .46, p < .01). The same dimensions are significantly negatively related to alienation: host language (English) competence (r = -.26, p <.05), knowledge of host culture (r = -.40, p <.01), adaptation motivation (r = -.57, p <.01) and behavioral competence (r = -.48, p <.01).
Table 3: Simple correlation coefficients (r) between research variables. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Adaptive personality - Self-efficacy 1 - Open-mindedness .47** 1 Host communication competence - English .33** .44** 1 - Cultural .25* .19 .39** 1 knowledge - Adaptive .17 .17 .41** .53** 1 motivation - Behavioral .31** .46** .60** .59** .50** 1 competence Host interpersonal .29** .25* .14 .07 .20* .23* 1 communication Ethnic ** ** ** * * ** ** interpersonal -.50 -.36 -.30 -.26 -.25 -.46 -.64 1 communication Psychological health - Satisfaction .13 -.01 .28** .48** .67** .46** .27** .23** 1 - Alienation -.35** -.15 -.26* .40** .57** .48** .35** .29** .74** 1 * p < .05, ** p < .01. 12
4. Discussion Employing Kim’s (1988, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2015) Integrative Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation, the primary goal of this study was to add clarity and depth to insights generated from previous studies by exploring the cross-cultural adaptation experience of 78 Korean expatriate managers in India. The four research hypotheses positing predictive relationships among adaptive personality, host communication competence, host interpersonal communication and psychological health were tested using numeric data collected through a self-reported survey questionnaire. The findings reveal significant relationships, suggesting that expatriate workers’ adaptive personality and communication competence were associated with their psychological health. Results for the first hypothesis indicate that Korean expatriate workers who have a higher level of self-assurance in their capabilities to achieve a level of performance (“self- efficacy”) tend to have better English ability, knowledge of the host culture and behavioral competence. Korean expatriates who are more open-minded (“open-mindedness”) are likelier to show better English ability and behavioral competence, which refers to communication and relationship skills. Relatedly, results for the second hypothesis suggest that these personality traits tend to promote more active engagement with host nationals. These findings offer clear explanation of how personality factors play out in facilitating expatriate adaptation, as posed in the first research question. Adaptive personality tends to positively influence host communication competence and host interpersonal communication, with these two factors facilitating psychological health in the process of adjustment, as confirmed by testing hypotheses Three and Four. These findings are consistent with those from previous expatriate studies reporting positive associations between open-mindedness and adjustment (Albrechet et al. 2014, Kim et al. 2014, Peltokorpi & Froese 2012) and between self-efficacy and adjustment (Bahtti, Kaur & Battout 2013; Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. 2005; Osman-Gani & Rockstuhl 2009). Results for the third hypothesis indicate that all indicators of host communication competence (i.e., host language/knowledge of host culture, adaptation motivation, and behavioral competence) help to facilitate psychological health in expatriate workers. The findings suggest that Korean expatriates are more likely to be satisfied in their life overseas when they have higher levels of host-language (English) competence, better knowledge of host culture, higher adaptation motivation and competent behavioral skills. Korean expatriates who are equipped with all dimensions of host communication competence are less likely to have a feeling of alienation in their lives overseas. Consistent with the theoretical relationship predicted in Hypothesis Four, three levels of host interpersonal relationship have been found to be important factors in facilitating the psychological health of expatriate workers. Korean expatriates who actively engage in personal relationships with host nationals (Indians) tend to have more satisfaction and feel less alienated in their lives overseas. Obviously, interpersonal networks with host nationals play an important role in facilitating the adaptation of expatriate workers, as posed in the second research question. These findings are consistent with findings from previous studies, of Korean expatriates (Kim & Kim 2007) and Bosnian Refugees in the U.S. (Cheah, Karamehic-Muratovic, Matsuo & Pojarevic 2011), that host communication competence and host interpersonal communication contribute to expatriates’ and refugees’ adaptation. Other studies (e.g., Kim & Slocum 2008, Zhang & Peltokorpi 2016) specifically reported host language proficiency as positively related to expatriates’ adjustment. Overall, the study suggests that, as predicted by Kim’s theory, one’s ability to communicate and participate in host social processes is essential to successful adaptation. The more expatriate workers have host-language competence and know about a host country’s 13 cultural norms and systems and the more they are engaged in interpersonal relationships with host nationals, the better their psychological health is likely to be. Conversely, also as predicted by the theory, this study has demonstrated the reciprocal influence between lack of knowledge, motivation, operational skills, interpersonal contact and interaction at all levels of relationships on the one hand, and higher levels of stress and dissatisfaction in the host environment on the other. Expatriate workers’ adaptive personality traits have a strong influence on their host-communication competence and their ability to maintain meaningful relationships with host nationals, facilitating psychological health and successful adjustment overseas.
4.1 Practical considerations The findings of the present study have important practical implications for the management of expatriate workers in multinational corporations. When recruiting expatriate managers, human-resource management personnel should consider personality as part of their selection criteria, given the importance of an adaptive personality for successful adjustment. Motivation also needs to be considered. Taking these factors into account would help companies identify which individuals have the greatest potential for international assignments, as well as those most likely to be at risk. Enhancement of host-language competence, knowledge of host culture, adaptation motivation and operational competence should be considered among the primary objectives of any intercultural training program. Frequent interaction with host nationals is important to emphasize. Together, these factors comprise the general capacities needed for successful adjustment. Their significance is illustrated in responses to the open-ended questions on the questionnaire. Some participants commented that unclear instructions due to language issues might cause misunderstandings that are not easy to resolve. Many participants indicated culture differences in terms of local employees’ lack of punctuality or lack of motivation to overcome unfavorable business circumstances. One participant reported that the information he had received about India was not accurate. He stressed that India is a country of many regions with different dialects and cultures. It would be beneficial for expatriates, he thought, if more specific information was made available about the culture(s) in the region to which one is being assigned. This suggests that HR personnel need to create more customized training programs. One participant shared his experience regarding interpersonal networking with host nationals:
According to Koreans in India, it is very difficult for them to enter Indian society; however, it depends upon how actively you try to interact and communicate with them. As for me, I eagerly said hello to people that I encountered in the morning work-out every day. After two years, the relationship has been developed beyond casual acquaintances at the park for morning exercise. Now I have been enjoying socializing activities with them, drinking at a membership club on weekends. By offering carefully designed training programs, multinational firms might help their employees acquire all dimensions of host-communication competence – knowledge of the host language and culture, adaptation motivation, and operational skills – thereby promoting participation in host interpersonal communication (Kim 2003).
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4.2 Limitations and future research The findings from the present study leave room for improvement. As an exploratory study, the study had a sample size of 78 Korean expatriate managers, who were selected using a convenience sampling method combined with snowball sampling. To make these findings generalizable, a more comprehensive survey is needed based on a sample that is larger and more representative of expatriate managers in India. Future studies can benefit from incorporating an additional theoretical variable: host environment. By adding macro-level environmental factors – host receptivity, host conformity pressure and ethnic group strength – these studies could offer a more comprehensive theoretical account of the adaptation process for expatriate workers. Future studies could incorporate in-depth personal interviews to obtain participants’ own voices on their adaptation experiences, offering valuable additional insights to reinforce the statistical findings. The present study explored expatriate adjustment in a non-Western cultural context: namely, India. Future studies will be more fruitful if they examine expatriate managers’ adaptation experience in other Asian countries: e.g., Vietnam, Thailand, or Indonesia.
5. Conclusions Most previous studies of expatriates have been conducted from an American or otherwise Western perspective. The present study offers insights about the adaptation experience of Korean expatriates in a non-Western cultural context. This study links communication variables (host communication competence and host/ethnic interpersonal communication) to expatriates’ psychological health as well as making the association between adaptive personality and these communication competences. It demonstrates why expatriate managers need to think consciously about how their communication activity plays a crucial role in facilitating their successful adaptation overseas. For multinational organizations and human-resource personnel, the present findings offer practical insights into how they can help expatriate workers facilitate their successful adaptation overseas. Special training programs could be offered, focusing on improving language competence, familiarizing oneself with host cultural norms and practices, and fostering meaningful social interactions with host nationals. Human-resource personnel need to take personality factors into account when recruiting employees for international assignments.
About the authors Yang Soo Kim is professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. As a former expatriate manager, Dr. Kim focuses his research on global competence and cross-cultural adaptation among international managers. Most recently, Dr. Kim co- authored the book Global Business and Understanding Indonesian Culture published internationally. He has published in the journal Intercultural Communication Studies.
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Soon Chul Lee is associate professor in the Department of Indian Studies at Busan University of Foreign Studies, Korea. His research focuses on international business in India. He has co-authored the books International Market Research and FTA and Business.
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Navigating Contact Zones in 21st Century Schools: Creative Identity Development in Two Complex Transcultural Spaces Claude-Hélène Mayer1 University of Johannesburg and Europa Universität Viadrina
Abstract: This article describes the experiences and the creative identity development of A., an 11-year-old bicultural and bilingual boy who attended school in two different cultural contact zones (CCZs), in South Africa and Germany. The study is anchored in a single case qualitative research paradigm and follows an ethnographic approach by using qualitative interviews, observation and field notes. Findings show A.’s identity development within the two CCZs. The article discusses how A. develops creatively to manage himself in the different CCZs by focusing on expanding or minimizing selected identity parts to create “safe zones”. It concludes that to grow within the two school environments, identity needs to be developed creatively and flexibly in correspondence with the schools’ approaches to diversity. Keywords: identity development, creativity, cultural contact zones, school system, Germany, South Africa.
1. Introduction Internationally schools are increasingly characterised by a diverse, culturally complex student population (Civitillo, Schachner, Juang, van der Vijver, Handrick & Noack 2017; Wahab, Nathan, Hasnida, Ghazali, Rabi & Dawi 2018). Educational concepts across countries, also in Germany and South Africa, aim at implementing inclusive concepts to cater for this diversity (Schneider 2018; Sleeter 2018). However, students with bi- or transcultural identities often challenge the attempt of educational policies and practices in European countries to homogenize and assimilate diverse individuals to provide social justice and equity (Dewilde & Skrefsrud 2016). According to Pratt (1981), global societies are “contact zones” in which cultural exchange takes place dynamically through communication. These cultural contact zones (CCZs) are complex with highly hybrid, heterogenous and interwoven cultures, also described by Welsch (2017) as transcultural. These CCZs are experienced as challenging and unsafe (Dewilde & Skrefsrud 2016), since all information within their space is heterogeneously comprehended and interpreted. This might lead to dilemmas in educational contexts, where cultural values, identities and processes are complex and constantly (re-)negotiated (Singh &Doherty 2012). A high ambiguity tolerance, defined as an individual difference that predicts short- and long-term reactions to a spectrum of situational characteristics relevant to a wide variety of life contexts and outcomes, is needed to cater for the multiplicity of heterogeneous concepts and interpretations in CCZs (Furnham & Marks 2013). “Safe moments” are required in CCZs to cope with cultural complexity and the urge for homogeneity and similarity (Dewilde & Skrefsrud 2016: 1041). This article presents findings based on a longitudinal qualitative study of a single case in two selected school CCZs in South Africa and Germany. It argues that creative identity development can support managing the self in highly and less complex CCZs. The aim is to provide in-depth insights into the complexity of management of the self and its meaning-
1 Dept. of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, 2006 Johannesburg, South Africa. Email: [email protected]. 20 making within these CCZs and to understand the relevant cultural specificity, as well as the complexity of individual identity development processes needed to cope within these schools. The research’s significance is anchored in its in-depth exploration of a single, bilingual and bicultural identity of a specific individual. It provides new insights for the reader into how exactly bicultural and bilingual identities are influenced by their sociocultural contexts and the interlinkages of the intersectionalites of identity. This research provides valuable insights into the interplay of complex CCZs and the individual, which can serve as an example to understand and optimize individual development within these contexts.
1.1 Educational contexts An increasingly diverse and culturally complex student body leads to new challenges in schools (Sleeter 2001, 2018). Educational systems in South Africa and Germany aim at implementing inclusive concepts to cater for this diversity (Meier & Hartell 2009; Werning, Löser & Urban 2008). Many of the mainstream educational contexts in Europe have been dominated historically by monocultural and monolingual practices in terms of pedagogy, curriculum policy and design, syllabus, teaching methods, and reforms related to the interplay of these concepts. Baker (2011) has pointed out that cultural and linguistic plurality within educational contexts are still marginalized in the mainstream school culture, while students with transcultural identities often challenge school systems (Dewilde & Skrefsrud 2016). To operate an equitable and socially just school system, cultural and linguistic plurality need to be integrated into educational routines (Freire, 1970). According to Dewilde and Skrefsrud (2016), the cultural multiplicity in Norwegian CCZs in schools challenges homogenic concepts and leads to tensions and insecurities and a challenged sense of belonging (Mattei & Aguilar 2016). To deal with these challenges in CCZs, individuals need to have a strong sense of coherence, which contributes to a complex understanding of the self and situation, with the ability to manage that complexity and find a sense of meaningfulness (Mayer 2011). Previous studies have shown that bicultural students feel more empowered than monocultural students in schools in China. They challenge their classmates to explore and celebrate their differences through arts (Schulte, Webster, Anttila & Haseman 2018). Studies emphasize how schools mainly follow a “sink or swim” philosophy and hardly offer support for bicultural students (Clarke & O’Donoghue 2017). These students are challenged by peers to choose one ethnic or cultural identity (Longerbeam 2016). Critical consciousness within schools can support a reflexive approach to diversity, equity and social justice (Palmer, Cervantes-Soon, Dorner & Heimann 2019), leading to the development of peaceful and sustainable transcultural spaces.
1.2 Cultural contact zones (CCZs) The notion of CZZs was introduced by Pratt (1991), who developed her theory in opposition to viewing culture, identity and language as stable, monolithic, coherent concepts. Pratt (1991: 37) writes that CCZs usually contrast with ideas of these areas being monolingual, self-defined, discrete entities based on homogeneity and a shared language across all community members. CCZs are diverse in terms of culture, language, religion and other intersectionality markers (Naples 2008). Vertovec (2007) calls CCZs a place of super- diversity, while Welsch (2017) refers to transculturality. In CCZs, cultural exchange takes place based on global migration flows (Dewilde & Skrefsrud 2016). Coming from a language perspective, Canagarajah (2013) describes CCZs as translanguaging, constituting a space where language is created heterogeneously. Fine (et al. 2008) and Torre (et al. 2008) emphasize that research on CCZs supports understanding of interaction between individuals and groups of different power. Torre sees CCZs as intellectually charged spaces in which individuals are able to experience, analyze 21 and work through power inequalities, similarities and differences. Tensions and experiences of discomfort can be addressed (Pratt 2007) while providing space to work on issues such as voice, agency, power and desire (Askins & Pain 2011). CCZs provide space for pedagogical thinking and practice, as well as exchange of ideas on context, place, identity and lived experience (Soja 2010). Dewilde and Skrefsrud (2016: 1033) write that schools should deal with topics of inclusion, exclusion and marginalisation, thereby promoting inclusive and hybrid CCZs, rather than fostering a “pedagogy of place- and spacelessness” that promotes monocultural approaches to diversity, such as cultural and linguistic homogenisation and assimilation.
1.3 Creativity and identity development through identity narrations Previous research has shown that identity discourses are multifold, interdisciplinary and transcultural (Bamberg, de Fina & Schiffrin 2011; Mayer 2008), have increased in complexity, and are strongly relevant in a globalized world formed of hybridity and multiplicity (Frost and Regher 2013, Jeldtoft & Nielsen 2014). Identity is created through thoughts, perceptions, social- and intra-psychological processes and ascriptions of self and others through communication processes and interactions (Mayer & Flotman 2017). In CCZs, identity constructions and narrations are (re-)created, responding to the question “who am I?” (Mayer 2015) based on sociocultural and contextual embeddedness (Coté and Levine 2014). Individuals may use different identity concepts derived from manifold memberships in different groups (Stets & Burke 2000). Sandhu and Higgins (2016) emphasize that identity development can only be comprehended within their contextual relatedness. In post-colonial contexts, identity development is strongly built on intersectionalities such as class, ethnicity, language and gender and can be countered with concepts of hybridity (Bhabha 2015). O’Sullivan-Lago, de Abreu and Burgess (2008) write that, to establish continuity in CCZs, individuals use an “I as a human being” strategy to guarantee continuity in identity positioning in a world full of fragments and tensions. It is common in CCZs to construct identity through a socially shared repertoire of cultural knowledge, values and practices that go along clearly marked power asymmetries (Mahalingam 2008).
1.4 Creativity in identity development processes in CCZs In CCZs, individuals need contributive identity processes to develop a positive, constructive, multiple and flexible yet stable identity across the lifespan (Mayer 2015; Mayer & Maree 2018). Creativity can support identity development in CCZs, where original ideas, wisdom and intelligence are needed to develop the self in context. Creativity is developed through interplay of individual and environment (Csikszentmihalyi 2014). Characteristics of creative individuals have been discussed in manifold ways (Beghetto & Kaufman 2007, 2013; Gralewski & Karwowski 2018; Runco & Albert 2010; Sternberg 2005). Creativity supports the ability to define and resolve novel solutions of high quality (Sternberg & Lubart 1995). Creativity is a mental activity that includes behavioural processes, systemic interactions of the individual and embeddedness in a sociocultural background (Csikszentmihalyi 2014). Saad et al. (2012) point out that culturally rich environments, bicultural contexts and bicultural identity development foster cognitive processes and particularly creativity. Creative individuals need to be original, effective and knowing in their approaches (Runco & Jaeger 2012) to resolve fundamental and diverse human challenges (Csikszentmihalyi & Wolfe 2014) through their ability to change perspectives (Glăveanu 2015; Runco 2015). They need to have ambiguity tolerance, sensible risk taking, and willingness to manage challenges, as well as intrinsic, task-focused motivation (Sternberg & Lubart 1995). All of these attributes of 22 creative individuals might contribute well to identity development in CCZs, fostering transcultural understanding and functioning (Mayer 2011).
2. Research methodology This article presents findings from a longitudinal, qualitative, single case study (Yin 2009). It uses an ethnographic approach to present, reflect upon, interpret and discuss the experiences of a single individual within two CCZs over a period of five years. The case study is based on the social-constructivist research paradigm (Berger & Luckmann 1966), which assumes that culture is a learned social dimension in which meaning is created and negotiated. Through the description and analysis of findings, this ethnographic approach aims at understanding narrated experiences in the defined CCZs through the contextual and cultural perspectives described (Berry 2007; Ellis, Adams & Bochner 2010).
2.1 Data collection, analysis and presentation Data were collected through interviews with A. along with observations and field notes over a five-year period. The narratives collected draw on significant, remembered moments in life (Denzin 1989), opening possibilities of extracting narrations on creative identity development (Wood 2009). The resulting data were analysed through the five-step model of data analysis developed by Terre Blanche and colleagues (2006): (1) familiarisation and immersion (reading through the collected data), (2) defining basic themes, (3) coding of sub-categories, (4) elaboration (exploring content in depth) and interpretation, and finally (5) re-evaluating the findings. Throughout the process, intersubjective validation processes were used (Yin 2009). These processes included reflections and discussions about experiences to validate the researchers' perceptions and interpretations. The data and findings were discussed over a period of several months, with the expectation of yielding rich, complex and detailed descriptions (Chan et al. 2015, Creswell 2015). The case study provides readers with references to creative identity development and emic, in-depth, culturally embedded perspectives (Chang 2007, Denshire & Lee 2013) within CCZs (Pratt 1991). It leads to discussion of findings in the context of the literature review, followed by conclusions and recommendations.
2.2 The setting This case study describes A.’s experiences in two schools. South Africa finds itself in the post-Apartheid era since 1994. Organizations, including schools, have become key players in the transformation from a society built on racial segregation, discrimination and oppression (Cloete, Bunting & Maassen 2015) towards a democratic, multicultural society based on equality and human rights. In post-apartheid South Africa, governmental and municipal organizations are legally bound to ensure diversity and inclusion (CHE 2015, Cloete et al. 2006). However, inequality for Black individuals within the society still prevails in terms of education and career opportunities (Mayer & Barnard 2015). At the same time, discourses of “de-racialization, de- colonialization, de-gendering and de-mascularization” are vivid (Badat 2016: 80) are vivid; new, creative and effective ways to deal with these challenges remain to be found (Mayer & Louw 2013). The South African school is a private, British-orientated international school (grades 7 to 12). It prepares students for Cambridge-system examinations to prepare for university. The school is placed in a previously white metropolitan area. Values such as discipline, internationalization, endeavour and individuality are core. Class sizes vary between 10 and 25 students. The student body consists of approximately 80% students of South African or other African background, while 20% are international. The parents are mostly highly educated and 23 are working as diplomats, business people, doctors or academics. Because the school requires high school fees, the parents belong to the upper middle or upper class and represent the financial elite in South Africa. In recent years, Germany has advanced to being a multicultural society albeit one that is constantly challenged by society’s reaction to increasing numbers of migrants and refugees in the country (Karakayali 2018). Multiculturalism has become a derogatory term in Germany; how people of different origins can live together needs revisiting (Schönwälder 2009). In contemporary Germany, it is common that citizens position themselves verbally as “multicultural” but do not necessarily have a multicultural mindset (Hage 2012). This might be anchored in Germany’s recent history, as well as its role in Europe as a unified country of former East and West Germany. Germany’s historically pro-immigration role is based in its history and its development since the two world wars (Kühnhardt 2018). The school A. attends in Germany is a governmental school, grades 5 to 12. Students aim at finishing school with their Abitur to enter university. The school is based in an upper- class area of a medium-sized city. It is a humanistic Gymnasium, with Latin and Greek as core languages. The school has a reputation for having “gifted” learners, being conservative, and catering to the educational elite. The majority of students are German; the percentage of so- called foreigners at the school is relatively low: 10%-15% of the entire student body of approximately 1,000 students, with 28 to 32 students per class. The “foreigners” are mainly from other European countries or are so-called Deutschtürken (“German Turks”).2 Since 2015, with the strong influx of refugees from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, the school has had to include a few select refugees. Parents of the German students usually hold university degrees (master's or doctorate) and work in professions such as law, medicine, or university education; they belong to the city's educational elite.
2.3 The individual A. is an eleven-year-old, able-bodied boy of Black South African3 origin with dual German and South African citizenship. He grew up bilingual -- English and German -- and has lived in both countries for several years. A. was adopted at the age of eight weeks and grew up in a predominantly white German able-bodied middle-class family, having an older sister and one younger brother. The children speak English with the mother and German with the father. A., as a highly gifted learner, taught himself reading from the age of three and at the age of 11 was in Grade 9.4 His major interests revolve around technology, programming, reading, drawing, cooking and scientific discussions. He does not enjoy social contact with peers and prefers reading or talking with older adolescents and adults. A. has travelled extensively with his mother and his siblings due to his mother’s profession. He has already held talks at international conferences.
2.4 Ethical considerations and limitations Ethical clearance was given by the German research institution. This study is limited to a single longitudinal case study within a qualitative research paradigm. It provides subjective, in-depth information on a single individual occupying two CCZs. The findings are not
2 Deutschtürken belong to the second, third or fourth generation of Turkish immigrants to Germany. The first generation came to Germany in the 1950s and '60s. From the second generation onwards, these people are usually bicultural and bilingual. 3 As an official racial category in South Africa, “Black South African” includes individuals of African, “Coloured” (“mixed race”) or Indian origin (Department of Labour 1998). These groups are defined as "previously disadvantaged groups" due to racial discrimination and segregation during Apartheid. They are currently empowered through institutional legal actions such as Black economic empowerment and affirmative action. 4 The research reported here covers A. from the age of six. 24 generalizable but rather provide an in-depth example of individual analysis within the two contextual settings. Future research can be inspired by this research and duplicated in multiple settings.
3. Research findings The South African school is highly diverse, multilingual, multicultural and multi-religious. At the time of the research in South Africa, A. attended grades 6 to 8. A. really enjoyed his South African school. At the time of the following interview excerpt he attended Grade 8:
I like to go to this school, because teachers and students are kind and friendly and they never question me in terms of where I come from and why I have got the parents I have. I told them I speak German and English and nobody asks me why I do not speak an African language. Or questions me. They take me the way I am – I am just A. A. feels accepted within the CCZ as an individual, not as a representative of a certain ascribed cultural or language group. He feels respected in his personal hybridity as a bicultural and bilingual person. The school seems to be successful at implementing an inclusive school concept in which diversity is fostered and the culture built on the diversity of its students (see Schneider 2018, Sleeter 2018). The school does not seem to attempt to homogenize or assimilate bi- or transcultural individuals, but rather develops a transcultural approach to social justice and equity through diversity. This is in contrast to the Norwegian school system described in Dewilde and Skrefsrud (2016) and a “sink and swim” philosophy (Clarke & O’Donoghue, 2017). The private school is prepared for diversity; its core objectives include preparing students for future globalized work interactions (Meier & Hartell 2009; Werning, Löser & Urban 2008). In another interview, A. talked about feeling accepted the way he is: I feel that I can be the person I am. People know me and accept me just as a human being. I like to read and they let me read. I do not like to interact too much with people, so I just read during break time. I am an introvert.... they just let me read. Nobody calls me a loner or names. They know me as the reader! A. is a gifted learner with a high IQ and low interest in social interaction. He enjoys reading and occupying his mind rather than social interaction. By spending his break time reading, A. is an exception, conscious about being different to the mainstream. However, his difference is accepted and even celebrated (as in Schulte, Webster, Anttila & Haseman 2018). Reading becomes a safe zone (Dewilde & Skrefsrud, 2016): it provides him comfort and gives him the opportunity to define himself in the CCZ through one of his important identity parts: reading. It makes him unique. It is a stable and consistent characteristic for him and his school community within a “super-diversity” space (Vertovec 2007). In his reading world, he finds himself in a reality in which he does not need to negotiate power issues, inequalities, similarities or differences (Fine et al. 2008, Torre et al. 2008). His reading world is removed from the sociocultural interaction of the CCZ. He places himself in a position of power: as “the reader” he is perceived as intellectual, knowledgeable and well-read: acknowledged values in the school community. Becoming "the reader” constitutes a highly creative and powerful act while defining himself as a human being like everyone else (O’Sullivan-Lago, de Abreu & Burgess 2008). Through being human, he creates similarity and continuity within the respected values and practices of the school (as in Mahalingam 2008). He thereby uses two constructive, positive yet stable identity constructions (Mayer 2015, Mayer & Maree 2018), defining himself in a creative and original way that simultaneously provides a feeling of safety. Establishing these creative identity parts is based on the interplay of his identity with the CCZ (Csikszentmihalyi 2014). It provides a high-quality solution for his identity development within the CCZ (Sternberg & Lubart 1995). 25
A. enjoys the CCZ complexity in terms of translanguaging (Canagarajah 2013) and multifold cultural perspectives. What I like about the school is also that you get to know people from all over. They come from different places, have different knowledge and experiences. Speak different languages. I can even say some Russian words. People are different and still share common interests. Sometimes I join in the table tennis team, although I cannot play well. They show me how to do it right.
A. enjoys the hybridity of the CCZ and uses the translanguaging (Canagarajah 2013) to learn words in Russian, thereby contributing to the exchange of ideas, knowledge, identity and lived experience (as in Soja 2010) and the practice of changing (cultural) perspectives (Glăveanu 2015, Runco 2015). He is willing to take risks and is motivated to tackle tasks and manage challenges creatively (Sternberg & Lubart 1995) through participation, new memberships and improvement. He expands his responses to the question “who am I?” (Mayer 2005) by developing a sporty identity element. Besides that, A. enjoys theatre and becomes part of the theatre group: I like to play theatre and they appointed me as one of the main characters in the school end theatre play. That was cool, I really loved it and after the play, lots of people and parents came to me to congratulate me….
Through the theatre, A. develops his identity as “the actor”, which gives him the opportunity to take on a different role and play it according to his interpretation. That provides A. influence, self-efficacy, power and a change in perspective to act out different parts of his hybrid identity and use his abilities and knowledge in a new way than during school time (Glăveanu 2015; Runco 2015). Playing the main character helps A. create a self -defined and well-controlled safe zone on stage: an exposed role within the hybridity of the CCZ (Dewilde & Skrefsrud, 2016). He becomes known for his acting abilities which then become a stable part of his interest and identity at school. Discourses on race, citizenship, language ability, biculturality, and racial and gender segregation as often described in South Africa (Cloete, Bunting & Maassen 2015; Mayer & Barnard 2015) are hardly recognisable in the CCZ, where super-diversity is accepted and social justice and equity not reached through homogenization (as in European contexts) but rather through acceptance and respect of the super-diversity, which is viewed as a resource and not a threat.
3.1 Creative identity development in German contact zones In this CCZ, A. experiences role and identity ascriptions relating particularly to race, national and continental belonging and his African origin. He finds himself marginalized through exclusive educational concepts and by his peers (Meier & Hartell 2009; Werning, Löser & Urban 2008). He does not enjoy attending the German school in Grade 9, because he feels stigmatized and reduced to being “the African” (Longerbeam 2016): I feel a bit different in this school. Although I speak German fluently and although I am German, people see me more as African…. I resist, because I am German and South African at the same time – and more – and I… I actually just wanna be me.
By ascribing A. a continental identity of “African”, the peers monoculturalize him and limit him to choose his African identity (Longerbeam 2016). A. is irritated that, within this rather monocultural, mainstream-orientated CCZ, he is reduced to a racialized, negatively connotated continental identity. He is not accepted as part of the German in-group. As in the 26
South African context, A. keeps defining himself as “I just wanna be me…”: i.e., as an individual, as himself. He thereby keeps his safe zone (Dewilde & Skrefsrud 2016) that he successfully built in the South African CCZ and started to call the “I-zone”. This strict I- relatedness is a creative act to overcome the racial and continental identity ascriptions. A. then establishes himself with a second identity part: before he entered the humanistic school, he had learned Latin, so he is accepted into the Latin class. A gifted learner, he is already well-advanced and surprises his peers. A. comments: I learned Latin because… I like languages. People are usually surprised I know Latin. Sometimes it can be fun… but, in school, most of the time I hate it, like most of the people in my class….
Through his ability to speak and write Latin, A. develops a safe space within the CCZ of the Latin class. He describes himself as the “Latin humanist”, which is accepted and respected by his peers and teachers. He becomes part of the Latin-speaking community and establishes himself in the elite and relatively monocultural CCZ of the Latin speakers at the school. By being accepted in this in-group, A. starts to create a safe zone, not in terms of protecting himself from diversity, but rather from the school's monoculturalism and monolingualism. This safe zone becomes his super-diversity (Vertovec 2007). The Latin competence provides him a new and creative identity aspect, a kind of “third culture”: his own space of translanguaging (Canagarajah 2013) in English, German and Latin within himself. This “third culture” provides access to the Latin in-group. However, this does not mean that A. feels more accepted as a human being. He feels marginalized, since he does not share similar experiences, thoughts, values, practices or even transcultural knowledge (Mahalingam, 2008). The space is clearly marked by power asymmetries: A. holds the power of transcultural knowledge and experience and translanguaging, while the majority of his classmates are anchored in a monoculture and their first language: German. A. recreates his “reader” identity, spending as much time as he can in the school library. He makes friends with the librarian and students from Grade 12, who are impressed by A.’s perseverance in spending all of his spare time in the library. Soon, they find out that he speaks English fluently and is highly knowledgeable. A. explains: I made friends in the library. The Grade 12s… they come to me to discuss stuff and they ask me to help them with their work… which I do. They hardy speak English. So I help them.
Through his perseverance in reading, his language ability, and his general knowledgeability, A. creates another safe zone: he becomes the “English-speaking reader” and is soon known in the higher grades for his knowledge and his language abilities. This new identity provides him an image beyond “the African” and the “Latin-speaker”, giving him access to more members of the CCZ. However, all three identities seem disconnected, fragmented and not acknowledged as part of a complex individual entity who wishes to be seen as a whole human being. For A., it is obvious that the CCZ as dominated by the German-speaking monoculture talks about multiculturalism (Hage 2012) but does not display a multicultural mindset: “they speak about culture and globalization, but they do not know what it means; they just want to speak to the ones who are the same”. In the context of globalization, such a mindset needs to change (Schönwälder 2009) for future generations to be successful in complex super-diverse societies.
27
4. Conclusions and recommendations The findings show that the CCZs in the two countries differ greatly in terms of diversity, school structure and approach to diversity and inclusion with respect to the school's clientele. Therefore, A.’s identity development and his creative ideas on how to place himself within the diversity of the CCZ differ greatly and creatively. The South African school provided support for hybridity, the conscious negotiation of (trans-)culture and identity aspects, and discourses on power and agency. Through its strong culture of respecting diversity and its open approach for finding creative solutions to deal with differences in thinking, behavior and perspective, the school provides a perfect base for the creative development of healthy hybrid identities and inclusion. Within this CCZ, A. was able to develop creatively and establish a stable identity with safe zones as: • the reader, • the actor, • a sporty learner, • a translanguager, and • a human being.
He managed to create a balance for himself as a self-defined individual within the stimulating, multifold, hybrid school context (“the reader”, “the actor”), but also as part of social interaction (as a human being and a sports player), sharing parts of the CCZ subgroups. He was able to define by himself when he wanted to see himself in his individual safe zones (reader, actor) and when he wanted to be part of the discourse on difference, similarity and translanguaging. This freedom of moving in and out of complexities, establishing himself as an individual and also part of social interaction, made A. able to develop himself creatively and healthily. The German school did not explicitly care for or otherwise support bicultural or bilingual identity nor cater for inclusive education, but rather stayed within the monocultural tradition of the dominant culture and language group (Meier & Hartell 2009; Werning, Löser & Urban 2008). Marginalization, discrimination and stereotyping are still vivid (Baker 2011) when it comes to experience of diversity and foreignness. Cultural and linguistic plurality (Freire 1970) were not yet implemented; agency was only provided to minority group members when they assimilated to the context: in A.'s case speaking Latin, being an English- speaker and acting for the monoculturalists as the English-as-a-second-language teacher. Tensions and insecurities arise when monocultural contexts (Mattei & Aguilar 2016) experience plurality and people's world views get threatened by choice of cultural perspective. Diversity aspects keep on being fragmented and reduced – in A.'s case, African, Latin speaker, English speaker, knowledgeable helper – to reduce the complexity and diversity and reinstall the questioned “sense of belonging” (Mattei & Aguilar 2016). In the German CCZ, A. established safe zones for himself – not to feel safe from the complex CCZ, but rather to protect his intra-psychological cultural complexity, which was reduced, maginalized, discriminated against, and stigmatised in the monocultural CCZ. Creatively, he managed to develop selected identity parts to connect and be (partly) accepted in the dominant mainstream culture as: 28
• the African (ascribed by peers), • the Latin speaker (within the Latin community at the school), • the reader and the English speaker (in the library), • the knowledgeable person and English speaker (to the twelfth graders), and • the I-zone inhabiter (limited to himself: a space for super-diversity and hybridity).
A. was creative first to establish his own, consciously self-aware hyper-diverse safe I-zone, in which he could protect his multiple identity parts and keep them alive with his integrated bicultural and bilingual identity. In this I-zone, he did not let external ascriptions reduce him as an individual or as a human being. He was further creative in establishing himself as a linguist who speaks a “dead” language (Latin) and a “world” language (English), thereby creating new spaces in the CCZ for sociocultural interaction: safe spaces in which he could stimulate himself through bringing in fragmented diversity aspects that others in the system could make use of (functionalized diversity). Critical reflection and truly inclusive school contexts are needed to start creating transcultural consciousness within the German governmental school system -- not only to use the potential of bicultural, bilingual, hyper- diverse and gifted individuals, but otherwise to appreciate the richness and stimulation coming from the diverse backgrounds and potential translanguaging (Canagarajah 2013). Identity ascriptions in the contexts described refer to (un-)conscious discourses on race, power and accessibility to resources and social interaction. While racial identity ascriptions play a predominant role in the negotiation of power, agency, and marginalization in the German context, the South Africa CCZ managed to implement a space for super-diversity (Vertovec 2007) within a larger societal CCZ that is still racially divided (Mayer & Barnard 2015). In both contexts, A. developed creative new ideas to develop himself and cope: on the one hand with the super-diversity, on the other with the super-monoculturalism. In both cases, he developed safe identity spaces to keep his identity stable. The study shows that individuals who have grown up in a super-diverse CCZ might not feel threatened by multiplicity and translanguaging as described in Western discourses, but might rather suffer from the limitations of the monolingual monoculture. Safe spaces and safe moments need to be created not only to reduce complexity for the monoculturalists, but also to establish living complexity for the super-diverse individuals. The South African CCZ with its openness to and respect for diversity and creativity impacted on A.’s identity development in a healthy way, making him engaged, motivated and successful, while the German school culture with its focus on monocultural homogenization and non-acceptance of diversity (through decreased ambiguity tolerance) meant reducing himself to safe spaces of fragmented identity parts. He managed that creatively but did not feel well in this context. It can be concluded that: • Even where super-diversity in educational systems is the norm, safe moments might be needed to create stable and continuous identities. However, this might not be necessary for individuals who have grown up in super-diverse contexts. • When school is conducted with a fundamental acceptance of super-diversity, diversity is not experienced as a threat but as a way to freedom, stimulation, respectful humanity and task-oriented motivation. • Ways to equality and power distribution in super-diverse contexts can be created through basic mutual respect of heterogeneity, not through homogenization. • Translanguaging can be used in schools as a natural learning field and motivational space to develop cultural competences, multilingualism and multi-perspectivity. 29
• Ambiguity tolerance is developed when growing up in inclusive, transcultural CCZs and can help individuals to deal with complexity less anxiously. • Conscious recognition of cultural complexity in super-diverse educational contexts is part of normality and nothing that leads to feelings of unsafety, particularly when clear guidance with clear boundaries is given. • This case study provides insights into perspectives on super-diversity experienced as stimulating and motivational in the South African context -- perspectives that can serve as a successful example for creating constructive hypercomplex CCZs in a society that is, due to its history, still torn by racial divides.
Further research should focus on CCZs in terms of exploring various individuals' perspectives (e.g., leaders, teachers, learners of various backgrounds, parents) within different country contexts. Both culturally specific and universal best practices should be developed. Intersectionalities such as gender, age, language competencies, and cultural background need to be taken into account. The contribution of school structures toward creating safe CCZs and fostering creative identity development need to be explored. Future practice should build on these findings. Schools need to create awareness regarding CCZs; become knowledgeable on hyper-diversity concepts and how complex systems work; and learn to understand, manage and create meaningful, healthy identities in contexts of varying cultural complexities. Culture-context specific trainings should be developed for staff and students. Creativity trainings and counselling prepare individuals to develop strategies for dealing with CCZ challenges. Well-working, peaceful, sustainable CCZs in schools can serve as models for the broader society, for workplaces, and for virtual CCZs online.
About the author Claude-Hélène Mayer is professor in industrial and organisational psychology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa; adjunct professor at the Europa Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt am Oder, Germany; and senior research associate at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. She has published monographs, collections, and journal articles; she has edited special journal issues on transcultural mental health, shame in cultural contexts, sense of coherence, transcultural conflict management and mediation, women in leadership, transcultural identities and psychobiography.
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Intercultural Topics in the Indonesian English Language Teaching Classroom: Contextualizing Local and Neutral Cultures to Target and Global Cultures
Marwa Marwa1, Bambang Yudi Cahyono, Mohammad Adnan Latief & Johannes Ananto Prayogo Universitas Lancang Kuning and Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia
Abstract: Recently, there has been a phenomenon of reclaiming cultures other than those of the target language in English language teaching (ELT). This qualitative research explores intercultural topics in Indonesian ELT classrooms that are shown along with the target and global cultures. The research involves four English teachers from two Indonesian universities who have intercultural experience studying in universities overseas. Data were collected through observational fieldnotes, interview guides, audio recordings, and compilation of documents. The study reveals that local and neutral culture topics have functioned as templates to contextualize target and global cultures in Indonesian ELT classrooms in order to develop students’ intercultural awareness of local, target, and global cultures. Keywords: ELT classrooms, local culture, target culture, global culture, intercultural experience, intercultural topics.
1. Introduction A globalized world has geared many scholars to explore intercultural competence (ICC) and its expression in intercultural communication. ICC acknowledges the ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from other cultures (Byram 1997, Bennett 2008, Lustig & Koester 2006). Byram’s ICC definition comprises five elements: attitudes, knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical awareness. These dimensions support appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts. Lustig and Koester describe ICC as requiring knowledge, motivation, skills in verbal and non- verbal communication, and appropriate and effective behaviors. Arasaratnam and Doerfel (2005) claim there are five qualities of being interculturally competent speakers: empathy, intercultural experience/training, motivation, global attitude, and ability to listen well in conversation. To cope with the crucial demand to be successful in intercultural communication, language education must take teaching culture into account. Teaching culture has been an inseparable part of second language teaching/learning and has remained the important issue in language education (Kramsh 2013). In English language teaching (ELT), cultural representations are grounded in textbooks and related references. The cultural content of ELT textbooks becomes one of the cornerstones for introducing learners to other cultures. Baker (2011) argues that exploration of language-learning materials functions to evaluate cultural images and descriptions in local textbooks and images of other cultures both in local and imported ELT textbooks. Regarding teaching cultural content in ELT, whose culture should be predominantly taught: the culture of target language (L2), the language learners’ home the culture, or a global culture? Should these cultures be taught equally? English teachers are often not aware that most ELT materials are not presented in any neutral or value-free way. As Cunningsworth writes (1995: 90), “course books will directly or
1 Universitas Lancang Kuning, Jalan Yos Sudarso, KM. 8, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia. Email: [email protected]. 35 indirectly communicate sets of social and cultural values which are inherent in their make- up". Most current English-as-foreign-language (EFL) or English-as-second-language (ESL) textbooks expose features of native-speakers’ Anglo-American cultures, since they do not offer equally representative contents of cultural values from myriad cultures (Tseng 2002, Yuen 2011). Shin, Eslami, and Chen (2011) argue that different voices and cultural perspectives need to be accommodated in ELT textbooks to enable language learners to figure out the diversity of cultural values and perspectives. Such ideas have previously been proposed by Widdowson (1998), who asserts that instructional materials and activities should provide examples of appropriate native and non-native speaker discourse/interactions. Discourses with exclusively Anglo-American content are irrelevant for many language learners for use in authentic settings. To adopt a globalizing perspective, English teachers should rethink their teaching methods to place equal value on non-native and native speakers’ cultural dimensions. There is a particular challenge given the status of English as an international language: a lingua franca. Language teachers must pay serious concern to the main goals of second language cultural learning: global cultural consciousness and intercultural citizenship (Byram 2011, Kumaravadivelu 2008). The strategy that has been used to reduce the dominance of US and British culture in English-teaching materials is to shift the focus away from an Anglo- American perspective to local and global cultures: “reclaiming the local and global” (Garcia 2005, Nault 2006, Rubdy 2009, Shin Eslami & Chen 2011, Ali & Walker 2014, Mambu 2014, Raquitico 2014, Rai & Deng 2014, Su 2014, Forman 2014, Tajeddin & Teimournezhad 2014). ELT materials should contain local and international contexts both familiar and relevant to language learners’ lives to help them develop intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Many researchers advocate reclaiming local and global cultures. Rai and Deng (2014) explore the “glocalisation” of ELT in the Chinese context by relating local situations with global awareness and analyzing sample learning materials. Su (2014) evaluates linguistic and cultural issues around the status of English as a lingua franca and the wider issue of intercultural understanding in Taiwan’s high-school-level EFL textbooks. Su reports that the textbooks generally legitimate the hegemony of American and British English as the standard or only acceptable varieties of the language. Forman’s (2014) study of an EFL textbook in use at a Thai university reveals that the textbook proved misleading in its cultural assumptions and discourses. It was chosen due to local teachers’ assumptions about the prestige of foreign publications written by native speakers that present authoritative and attractive cultural information. Tajeddin and Teimournezhad (2014) explore the hidden agenda behind the representation of culture in international and localized ELT textbooks. Their content analysis shows that most of the cultural content represented in the localized ELT textbooks was neutral: i.e., not dominated by a particular culture. Similar studies advocating the idea of reclaiming the local have been conducted. Shin and colleagues (2011) analyze the cultural content of seven series of internationally distributed ELT textbooks and find that even though cultural aspects are diverse in each series, still inner-circle cultural content dominates most of them. Raquitico (2014) conducted a study in the Philippines to aid in the ongoing writing of new K-12 English textbooks and showed that inclusion of non-native English literary texts in high-school English textbooks can address essential goals. Ali and Walker (2014) argue that in the context of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), the target language (TL) culture cannot be ignored; ideally, both TL culture and the language learners’ home culture should be included so that the learners’ ICC can develop. Mambu’s (2014) study problematizes the cultural hegemony associated with ELT materials in Indonesian EFL settings and attempts to encourage locally published materials based on current practices gleaned from the ELT 36 literature and the researchers’ own observations. Garcia (2005) analyzes intercultural issues in ELT textbooks in which the English-speaking communities described in the textbooks are a constituent element in their design. Textbooks that aim to promote intercultural analysis and reflection benefit from an explicit focus on that and not exclusively on the culture of primarily English-speaking communities. To fill the gaps in reclaiming local, global and neutral culture topics in ELT materials, the present study examines (1) how local culture topics are contextualized into target and global cultures in Indonesian ELT classrooms and (2) how neutral culture topics are contextualized into local, target, and global cultures in those classrooms. Investigation of intercultural topics in these classrooms shows how such juxtaposition of local and neutral culture topics to target and global cultures provides more intercultural topics for discussion.
2. Research method 2.1 Research design This research has been approached from a predominantly qualitative perspective as a phenomenological study with a lot of fieldwork activities. The study focused on investigation of intercultural topics covered by English teachers in their ELT classrooms. It explored how teachers identified as interculturally competent English teachers contextualized various culture layers – local, target, and global cultures – into their ELT materials. Research consisted of fieldwork carried out in two stages: (1) a pilot study identifying interculturally competent English teachers by (a) distributing the Intercultural Competence Profile (ICP) questionnaire to teachers and the Evaluation of Teaching Competencies questionnaire to their students, (b) profiling interculturally competent English teachers, and (c) conducting preliminary examination of the ELT materials; (2) the primary fieldwork including observing, audio-recording English teachers’ teaching, interviewing English teachers, and collecting relevant documentation.
2.2 Research settings and participants This research explored intercultural topics presented by English teachers in ELT classrooms. The research was conducted in two public universities in Indonesia over approximately five months. The four teachers who were involved in this study were selected based on results of completing the ICP questionnaire designed particularly for English teachers. The questionnaire was used to assess the teachers’ ICC revealing personal choices made when resolving intercultural issues in the ELT classroom. The selected teachers had very high levels of ICC. They were likewise identified as having good teaching competence in their classrooms. Their students completed the ETC questionnaire. The final selection criterion proceeded from profiling the teachers in terms of length of teaching experience, educational time spent abroad, participation in international academic forums or other activities supporting their ICC development, such as local, national or international seminars or short courses (Baker 2011; Trede, Bowles & Bridges 2013; Dervin 2014). The preliminary classroom observations made in the pilot study can be taken as justification that the teachers properly contextualized ELT topics and materials along intercultural dimensions. Teachers' intercultural experience is of critical importance for ensuring the content quality of intercultural lessons (Göbel & Helmke 2010; Hismanoglu 2011; Paika et al. 2015). Teachers' intercultural experience influences their teaching performance and this impacts students’ intercultural learning outcomes. Hismanoglu (2011) writes that the language teacher can foster students’ intercultural communicative awareness by having them watch videos of authentic interaction as well as feature films. Alptekin writes (2002:63) that “successful bilinguals with intercultural insights and knowledge should serve as pedagogic models in English as an International Language (EIL) rather than the 37 monolingual native speaker”. The presence of teachers with intercultural experience fosters intercultural teaching which then helps develop students’ intercultural competence.
2.3 Data collection and analysis As said, this study used observational field notes, structured interviews, audio transcripts, and other documentation. For a summary of data see Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of data. Teacher 1 eight sets of observational field notes, one structured interview, four audio transcripts, one summary of ELT materials and topics from eight meetings Teacher 2 eight sets of observational field notes, one structured interview, three audio transcripts, one summary of ELT materials and topics from eight meetings Teacher 3 eight sets of observational field notes, one structured interview, four audio transcripts, one summary of ELT materials and topics from eight meetings Teacher 4 seven sets of observational field notes, one structured interview, two audio transcripts, one summary of ELT materials and topics from seven meetings
The collected data were organized and analyzed, starting from the details and working up to a general picture of the cultural layers in the surveyed classrooms. Data analysis focused on identification of the layers of intercultural topics in ELT. The target framework of ELT topics covered both local culture topics and neutral culture topics not predominantly referring to a specific culture. The two cultural layers were contextualized into native speakers’ culture and global culture, as presented by the Indonesian teachers in their EFL context. The aim of using multiple sources and levels of data from micro to macro led to a “thick description” (Geertz, 1973) of phenomena to consider the data's trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), as required in conducting qualitative research. To do this, two approaches typically used in qualitative research were employed: triangulation and member checking. Triangulation is the process of corroborating evidence from multiple individuals (in this case, the English teachers and their students), types of data (observational field notes, audio tapes of lessons and interviews with the participants), and methods of data collection (interviews vs. other forms of documentation). Member checking means taking the findings back to participants (in this case, the English teachers) and asking them (in writing or via interview) about the findings’ accuracy.
3. Results There has been a paradigm shift in ELT teaching and a new orientation toward teaching English. The English teachers in this study realized the importance of placing equal value on local, target and global cultural knowledge. Figure 1 shows some of the cultural layers identified. It shows how the teachers developed and explored ELT topics within these layers.
Figure 1: Layers of ELT cultural topics uncovered. 38
T1: In case of globalized world, I agree that the materials should not be dominated by the Western cultures like American, Australian or British culture only. Teacher T1 considered that ELT materials should not be given or dominated by the English- speaking countries. He signaled that the globalized world required English teachers to rethink the materials they used in the ELT classroom. Teacher T4 gave a more elaborate justification for his attempt to present many cultures in his ELT context.
T4: What I try, what I have done so far is you know exposing them to different kinds of culture. I think, I never... well... I do not know if people see me... what I do is actually... I do not advocate certain kind of values, or certain kind of culture. So, what I have done so far is to expose them to different cultural aspects, Indonesian culture aspects, American culture aspects, Western culture aspects and I am not trying to give some kinds of judgment of this particular cultural aspect is better than the other one. What we seek is actually you know finding the common thing between two different cultures. The teacher stated that he had exposed the students to different cultural topics. That said, he did not advocate any particular values or cultures. He just considered that it was very important to present and discuss cultural aspects: Indonesian, American, Western. Most importantly, he felt that he held no stereotypical views of or passed judgment on any particular aspects of culture. He intended to guide students to seek the common elements between cultures; obviously, this is the core idea of intercultural teaching. All the teachers discussed their students’ home (local) cultures as part of their ELT teaching. Table 2 shows how cultural dimensions of local, target and global cultures relate and can be incorporated into one particular ELT topic.
Table 2: One ELT topic as it relates to local, target and global cultures. ELT topic ELT subtopic Home culture Target culture Global culture unregistered discussing highlighting the correcting use of citing Qu’ran marriage unregistered issue of Kawin the words verses and hadith marriage and Siri (unregistered “marry”, passages on related issues marriage) in “married” and marriage Indonesia “marriage” discussing discussing the discussing the Indonesia as a appropriate terms “Islamic Muslim country English country” and equivalent of “Muslim Kawin Siri country”; comparing marriage procedures between Muslims and non-Muslims
The ELT topic “unregistered marriage” belongs to the students’ Indonesian culture. An unregistered marriage is an informal marriage type since it is not registered in the department of religious affairs. The student presenters discussed issues related to the topic by presenting descriptive and supportive ideas: why people commit to such marriages and what are their advantages and downsides, including problems related to issue of birth certificates, marriage certificates, and family registration forms. In the end, the presenters concluded that couples must seek legal marriage status through a religious court or the department of religious affairs. 39
The teacher then problematized the topic by citing the Qur’an verse that men may marry up to four women under certain conditions. He questioned the students why the government nevertheless restricts the number of women that men can marry. He wanted to see the students’ insights pertaining to the Indonesian government's regulation of marriage. Discussion then proceeded to the terms “Islamic country” and “Muslim country” in relation to practice of polygamy.
T2: Okay now! What is the different between an Islamic country and a Muslim country? What is our country? Is it an Islamic country or a Muslim country? Why? S1: A Muslim country because most Indonesian people are Muslims. T2: That’s right! Islamic country? An Islamic country is a country that the constitution is based on Islam…. A Muslim country is a country where most of the populations are Muslims, that’s it! Having discussed the terms “Islamic country” and “Muslim country”, the students finally knew that since Indonesia is not an Islamic country, so polygamy is not endorsed by the government. The teacher highlighted the issue of marriage legacy in Islamic religion by citing the hadith, where it says laa nikaaha illa bi waaliyyin: “no marriage legacy without an authoritative man who represents the bride in pronouncing the wedding declaration” (Husaini, 1990: 48). Discussion proceeded further to difference between Muslim and non-Muslim marriage procedures. The teacher asked Muslim and non-Muslim students in his class to give more information about marriage procedures in Muslim and Christian cultures that represent shared common practices in Indonesia and around the world. The students enthusiastically exchanged information about their own marriage systems and questioned each other. In conclusion, an aspect of the students’ local culture was first discussed in the Indonesian context then contextualized into other cultural contexts. The teacher jotted down words from the discussion: in particular, errors that they made. He wrote the words “marriage”, “marry”, “married” on the board and explained the different use of the words by giving correct English sentences. He corrected students’ mispronounced words and helped them to pronounce the words well. He translated the phrase kawin siri to “unregistered marriage” instead of what the students had used: “hidden marriage”. Overall, the four teachers shared common practices in contextualizing ELT topics by starting from the local culture and proceeding to target and global cultures. Either implicitly or explicitly, they expressed opinions in the interviews why they did this. By introducing local cultural topics, the teachers helped their students be aware of their own culture. Local cultural topics could then function to bridge students’ understanding of target and global cultures, since the students had established knowledge of “self” before turning to “others” (Byram 1997). Dalib and colleagues (2019) write that enhancement of “self” and “other” awareness in combination with interlingual communication strategies is crucial to fostering intercultural communication. The teachers also presented neutral cultural topics not predominantly referring to or advocating a specific culture. The neutral topics were developed and contextualized into other, related topics of the students’ home culture, target culture and global culture. An ELT neutral topic and its development can be seen in Table 3.
40
Table 3: Neutral cultural knowledge as ELT topic. ELT topic ELT subtopic Home culture Target culture Global culture foods food vs. cuisine discussion of Western foods in relation Sajen in Javanese businesses: to ancient culture McDonald’s, civilizations KFC (Egypt, Hindustan, Euphrates) human Indonesian foods fast food as a foods and the civilization and multi-billion- caste system in hunter-gatherers dollar industry India fasting glocalization in food: Burger Butho edible vs. inedible halal vs. haram food vs. symbols
The teacher assigned the neutral topic “foods”. The first subtopic covered “food” vs. “cuisine” in relation to human civilizations (from hunters-gatherers to present) and ancient civilizations. The terms “food” and “cuisine” were defined: food as as a matter of human need and cuisine as a product of culture. The student presenters mentioned other subtopics like fasting, edible vs inedible food, and halal (permissible food) vs. haram (impermissible food). These were discussed along with examples from different cultures and such things as table manners. Comparison was made of Western, African, Indonesian, and Chinese food events, with examples. Fast food was discussed as a multi-billion-dollar industry. The teacher shared from his own experience.
T3: …Let’s see the phenomenon of McDonald. We can see it from two different perspectives like... at least there are two things we can talk about McDonald. The first is the ideology of McDonald. I think... McDonald might be seen as a pioneer in a fast-food business. You know... fast food restaurant. You see it was started in 1940s. It was just a small restaurant... somewhere in California in 1949. It was started by somebody namely McDonald... and in 1955... there was a guy “Crook” I do not know... Mr. Crook. Mr. Crook persuaded McDonald to make a franchise. And from their franchise “McDonald” then it has spread out everywhere. Of course, the widespread of McDonald was actually in line with what was happening in 1950. You know the huge culture became booming and then many youngsters started to enjoy the fast food, to gather and to socialize one another and... you see and it has become a mark for... a modernization. And it becomes a mark of industrialization... because in industrialization, the ideology implies that everything should be efficient. So, everything should be fast! Right! So, Mcdonalization should provide that ideology. The English teacher said that American business food such as McDonald's varied according to local culture. He extended the topic “foods” by tracing a line to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Hindustan, and Euphrates. He explained one of the fundamental reasons why Western countries colonized the East: because of food.
T3: I think I have explained why?... European countries colonized Eastern countries in order to get foods. They could not actually produce the food themselves... spices! 41
Spices! Dutch came to Indonesia to get some spices, right! Spices became very rare, expansive and expected commodity at that time. And they came to our country…. The teacher talked about how food symbolizes the culture of societies: for example, Sajen (a food sacrifice) in Indonesian Javanese culture. He recalled his knowledge about how food in Indian culture relates to the caste system: each caste eats its own kinds of food and the Brahmans do not eat meat. The teacher talked about globalization vs. localization of food. He talked about Malang and Jogjakarta foods. He talked about how groups of people get stereotyped for what they eat. He discussed so-called glocalization in the case of the Burger Butho found in Malang City. The teachers realized that neutral cultural topics could be developed and contextualized into their ELT materials. Cultural aspects from the students’ home culture, the target culture and the global culture could be grounded in cultural facts that enriched students’ horizons on cultural diversity and contributed to their ICC development. Such competence is crucial for students to understand more complex and wider communication issues and achieve successful interactions in the globalized world.
4. Discussion The teachers all incorporated the students’ home Indonesian culture into their ELT classrooms. In the interviews, the teachers agreed that, by introducing local cultural topics, they facilitated their students’ awareness of their own culture the better to contextualize aspects of their culture toward understanding other cultures. The students discussed the assigned topics from a grounding in their local culture. This is in accordance with the idea of “reclaiming the local” as a strategy to reduce the dominance of US and British culture in ELT materials by shifting the focus to local cultures (Nault 2006, Rubdy 2009, Ali & Walker 2014). That said, such a local-content approach poses challenges. McKay (2004) investigated ELT texts from Morocco, Chile and Japan; they found that many publications fail to reduce Western cultural dominance even as they link English to the local culture. Another challenge is that students may have little chance to learn about other countries’ cultures. Still, focusing on local cultural issues gives students excitement to learn in relation to already familiar topics. When students meet people from other countries and talk about culture, they can more easily promote their home culture. From the interviews, it was clear that the reasons the teachers agreed on such a new teaching orientation was due to their understanding of global imperatives, the need of defining students’ own cultural identity, and the role of their own intercultural awareness. This aligns with Kirkpatrick’s (2006) line of argumentation. Teachers must possess pedagogical knowledge and skills, have the ability to evaluate teaching methods, and be able to adapt their teaching styles and methods to suit the needs of different contexts and cultures. Teachers must be able to evaluate whether teaching materials promote a certain culture or not. Cheng (2012) writes that contemporary pedagogical practice has two responsibilities: it should reflect the interconnected world, and it should reflect local contexts and needs, of students and teachers. An argument can be made for including non-native-English literature in the EFL/ESL classroom by pointing out that English-language literature does not only come from Britain or America; obviously, there are works in English by South Asian authors. Kachru (1999) argues that such texts are resources for providing cross-cultural explanations of how English can be and is redefined in non-Western contexts and how language and culture are interrelated. The Indonesian English teachers also presented culturally neutral topics in their classrooms. The neutral topics were developed and contextualized into related topics of the students’ culture, the target culture and global culture. The teachers in this study presented 42 such neutral topics as “cloth”, “foods”, “advertisements”, “social media”, “friendship” and “scholarship”. Such findings can be compared to Ke’s (2012) conclusion that intercultural lessons have increased steadily through the years and appear likely to become the main focus of English lessons in the future. The topics covered in textbook lessons changed from literature and morality to things like scientific texts. The subtext "idealized model of society" subtext hidden in Taiwan’s high-school English textbooks gradually shifted from that of American society to that of the world. Byram and colleagues (2002) suggest that choice of topics should be partly determined by learners’ existing perceptions of other countries and cultures, not by some predetermined syllabus that is supposed to represent the "correct" view of another country. In addition to supporting the promotion of neutral cultural topics as highlighted in this study, Byram and colleagues argue that there is no language curriculum that could or should be transposed directly from one national curriculum system to another. Ideally, the curriculum should be set from within the local educational system; in particular, it should not reflect the intentions of one or more of the target cultures. Ke (2012) argues that if English is also used to teach social studies and other humanity subjects, especially world history and geography, students can learn about other cultures through English; meanwhile, English textbooks can put more emphasis on intercultural competence and awareness, which are not about any one or another specific culture. Su (2014) writes that, because English is used globally to communicate across ethnic groups, religions, and linguistic and cultural backgrounds, EFL curriculum should not promote Anglo- American or British norms and life experiences to the exclusion of others. Nault (2006: 314) writes that “ELT professionals should do more to design and... select teaching materials that are international and inclusive in scope”. ICC-based learning helps students understand more complex communications so as to be successful in the globalized world. To cope with such demands, teachers must select textbooks containing the appropriate intercultural and international cultural topics. Carlson (1989) writes that students’ development and their attainment of learning goals in their ELT classrooms can gradually increase their analytical skills and understanding of cultural or ethnic diversity. Weninger and Kiss (2013: 696) claim that ELT textbooks have a pivotal role to play as facilitator with a chief responsibility to “promote the development of a reflexive, open, and globally aware language learner”.
5. Conclusions This study identified intercultural topics in Indonesian ELT classrooms whereby local (Indonesian) and neutral cultural topics have functioned as templates to contextualize target and global cultures. The presentation of local cultural topics helps build students’ intercultural awareness, which in turn helps them understand the target and global cultures; neutral topics can be used to develop students’ understanding of local, target and global cultures. The presentation of intercultural topics in Indonesian ELT classrooms obviously comes with variations. The cultural layers revealed in the ELT topics surveyed in our study were in accordance with the required ICC teaching focus in global English teaching nowadays. Reclaiming local and neutral cultural topics in ELT results in challenges and recommendations for future researchers and English teachers. For future research, the pivotal question that needs to be addressed is how to treat these culture layers appropriately; which should have more emphasis in taking a global English-teaching perspective. This study suggests that English teachers should explore what topics are crucial to present in their ELT classrooms to accelerate students’ intercultural awareness and ICC development. 43
About the authors Marwa Marwa is a doctoral candidate in ELT at Universitas Negeri Malang, East Java. She is a lecturer in the Department of English Education at Universitas Lancang Kuning in Riau. Her research focuses on interculturally competent English teachers’ teaching practices in Indonesian EFL higher-education institutions. Bambang Yudi Cahyono is a professor in the doctoral program in ELT of Universitas Negeri Malang. His research interests focus on applied linguistics, TEFL, CALL, contrastive rhetoric, teaching of English writing and plagiarism. Mohammad Adnan Latief is a senior professor in the doctoral program in ELT of Universitas Negeri Malang. He has done much research in the areas of teaching and learning, research methodology, academic writing, assessment, pedagogy, curriculum and instruction. Johannes Ananto Prayogo is a lecturer in the doctoral program in ELT of Universitas Negeri Malang. His scholarly efforts include language-skill courses, literary appreciation, TEFL and the teaching of poetry.
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Revisiting Hofstede’s Uncertainty-Avoidance Dimension: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Organizational Employees in Four Countries
Jung-Soo Yi1 Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA
Abstract: The present study was designed to explore the validity and applicability of the uncertainty-avoidance dimension in the contemporary world. Because social, cultural, and commercial interrelationships among countries have significantly increased since the introduction of this dimension, it would be advisable to revisit and investigate the substantiality of this dimension before making beneficial suggestions to people who engage in cultural encounters. A questionnaire was constructed, tested, edited, and distributed to 2,000 organizational members in Japan, France, Great Britain, and Singapore. Among the 1,258 questionnaires returned, 1,215 were included in the analysis. Not surprisingly, cultural differences among countries still exist. The findings of the present study suggest that cultural characteristics have become more complicated since the uncertainty-avoidance dimension was introduced four decades ago. To yield more detailed guidelines on cultural variabilities, future studies should examine factors such as education, generation gaps, occupations, religions, and degrees of intercultural contacts, along with how these factors influence variability among cultures. Keywords: uncertainty avoidance, cultural comparison.
1. Introduction Geert Hofstede (1980) introduced several systematic dimensions of cultural values. His original four dimensions include individualism/collectivism, power distance, masculinity/femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. After the application of these dimensions to various cultural and social issues, scholars have broadly agreed that Hofstede’s comparative cross-cultural approach has shaped the basic themes and structure of the field (e.g., Peterson 2003, Lustig & Koester 2006). Among those dimensions, the individualism/collectivism dimension has been the most popularly used in cultural studies followed by power distance (Erez 2011). In contrast, uncertainty avoidance has been one of the least used dimensions in studying cultural phenomena. As the fourth dimension of the original four, uncertainty avoidance, like the other three, was designed to distinguish work-related values of people in multi-national organizations. Since its introduction, however, the uncertainty avoidance dimension has been used to study various facets in intracultural and cross-cultural encounters such as negotiation interactions (Giebels, Oostinga, Taylor & Curtis 2017), product perceptions (Lee, Garbarino & Lerman, 2007), Internet shopping (Lim, Leung, Sia & Lee, 2004), international marketing (Mooij & Hofstede 2002), medical curricula (Jippes & Majoor 2011) and other topics in business, social sciences, and the medical field. While Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have been generally well accepted as an effective tool to study cultural values, some scholars have questioned their validity (Kirkman, Lowe & Gibson 2006), usefulness (Ashkanasy, Gupta & Mayfield 2004), generalizability (Robinson
1 Wright State University, Dept. of Communication, 415 Millett Hall, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435 USA. Email: [email protected]. 47
1983), and method of study (McSweeney 2002). To explore whether the uncertainty- avoidance dimension is still valid, scholars have replicated (Merritt 2000; Minkow & Hofstede 2014), re-conceptualized (Sully de Luque & Javidan 2004) and even made a recommendation not to use this dimension -- at least not for international marketing decisions (Messner 2016). Regardless of the questions and criticism, scholars largely agree that intercultural conflicts often take place due to differences in value orientations (Martin & Nakayama 2010; Gunkel, Schlaegel & Taras 2016). To enhance the quality and comprehensibility of this dimension for people who are involved in intercultural environments, it is necessary to reassure its effectiveness. Therefore, this study discusses the characteristics of uncertainty avoidance and the importance of revisiting the uncertainty- avoidance dimension, presents the method (respondents, procedure, and statistical analysis), and finally provides results and a discussion of the current research.
1.1 Uncertainty avoidance From the earlier introduction of “tolerance for ambiguity” (Martin & Westie, 1959), the uncertainty-avoidance dimension has been used to understand people’s behavioral patterns regarding their value orientations in various social settings. For example, this dimension has been used to understand how strangers are treated (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003), how individuals behave and what they should expect in intercultural encounters (Neuliep, 2015) that could produce unforeseen consequences (Beamer & Varner, 2001), and how one should analyze the quality of interactions after cultural meetings are completed (Klopf, 1998). Hofstede (1980) describes uncertainty avoidance as the extent to which people in different cultures perceive unstructured, unclear, or otherwise unpredictable situations with various degrees of nervousness for possible future consequences. People in high-uncertainty avoidance cultures (e.g., Greece, Portugal, and Japan) try to seek stability through formal rules and regulations (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel & Roy 2017) and avoid deviant or ambiguous situations at all costs (Klyukanov 2005). They prefer clearly interpretable and predictable structure in their organizations, institutions, and relationships (Hofstede 2001) as motivated by job (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010) and life (Chen & Starosta 1998) security. Because people see uncertainty as a hazard that must be fought (Hofstede 1980), overcome (Lustig & Koester 2006) or avoided (Neuliep 2015), it is linked to a level of anxiety and stress (Samovar & Porter 2001) that directly correlates with communication apprehension (Neuliep & Ryan 1998). On the other hand, people in low uncertainty-avoidance cultures (e.g., Singapore, Denmark, and Sweden) can more easily accept uncertainty as a normal part of life (Neuliep 2015), are not as threatened by deviant people or situations (Samovar & Porter 2001), and are motivated by their achievements and personal esteem (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010). Because people show a high tolerance level for innovative ideas that may conflict with the social norm (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010), they often show tendencies that welcome ambiguity (Klyukanov 2005) and see unclear situations as many shades of gray in life (Andersen 2000). Consequently, people tend to “take more initiative, show greater flexibility, and feel more relaxed in interactions” (Chen & Starosta 1998: 52), while accepting dissent (Martin & Nakayama 2010) and taking risks (Samovar & Porter 2001) that would cause less stress. These cultural tendencies perhaps stem from early childhood education when students feel comfortable in unstructured learning environments where they are rewarded for innovative approaches to problem solving (Hofstede 1986). In terms of geographical location, southern Europeans and South Americans have historically dominated the list of high uncertainty-avoidance cultures (Andersen 2000), possibly due to their Roman Catholic religious backgrounds (Hofstede 1982) in which they tend to have an extensive system of rules and laws that govern social conduct (Lustig & 48
Koester 2006). More frequently, people in northern European and south Asian cultures display low uncertainty-avoidance predispositions (Andersen 2000): anywhere that Protestant Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists dominate national populations (Hofstede 1982).
1.2 Importance of revisiting the uncertainty-avoidance dimension When Hofstede’s value dimensions were first introduced, some critics argued that culture has received more than its proportionate share of attention (Bhagat & McQuaid 1982). However, in this modern time when global interconnectedness continues to expand vigorously to new cultural, social, political, commercial, and educational fields, it is evident that culture-focused studies are becoming more in demand, both in terms of topics and depth. At the same time, because intercultural-communication mistakes can be costly (Sorrells, 2013), it is necessary to revisit findings that provide meaningful information about past human behavior. Many cultures possess a high or low uncertainty-avoidance orientation. Other cultures may show mixed characteristics that place them along a continuum. On the individual level, people associate uncertainty with concern for loss or desire to win (Demaree, DeDonno, Burns & Everhart 2008), fear of failure or hope for success (Cheung & Chan 2007), a sense that what is different is dangerous (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov 2010) or a sense that what is different is curious (Neuliep 2015). When people interact with those from different cultures, it is important to know expectations and how to judge cultural behaviors expressed by one's counterparts. People’s level of tolerance for uncertain and unpredictable situations varies across cultures (Neuliep 2015), and communication strategies and ability to adapt to ambiguous situations are different (Gudykunst & Kim 2003). Factual understanding of other people’s behavioral tendencies based on their value system should prepare one for more successful outcomes in cultural interactions. To find practical ways to increase predictability and manage uncertainty in multicultural settings, scholars have generated theories that can be used in intercultural communication settings. Those attempts include the uncertainty-management theory, which suggests that effective interpersonal, intergroup, and intercultural communication is a function of how individuals manage the anxiety and uncertainty they experience when interacting with others (Gudykunst 1995); the theory of motivated information management, which links the uncertainty and interpretation phase (Afifi & Weiner 2004); and uncertainty reduction theory (Berger & Calabrese 1975, Douglas 1991), which offers principles and derived assumptions that describe communicative and noncommunicative causes and consequences of uncertainty (Bradac 2001). While referencing these efforts that strive to clarify scholarly avenues and enhance the quality of cultural instructions, the aim of the present study is to address two research questions:
RQ1: Do organizational members in Japan and France (high uncertainty-avoidance countries) present a higher degree of uncertainty avoidance compared to organizational members in Great Britain and Singapore (low uncertainty-avoidance countries)? RQ2: Do organizational members in Japan and France present a higher degree of uncertainty-avoidance characteristics in four subcategories: degree of ambiguity judgment, level of risk taking, acceptance of rules and regulations, and tolerance level for uncertain situations?
2. Method To explore the current validity of the uncertainty-avoidance dimension for organizational members in four countries, a questionnaire was used. To measure the reliability of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted with 142 participants (Japanese, n = 36; French, n = 39; English, n = 35; Singaporean, n = 32) using English, Japanese, and French versions of 49 the questionnaire, which led to the adjustment of length, improvement of equivalent word choices, and modification of question arrangement. Even though 74.3% of the Singaporean population consisted of people with Chinese background (Xie & Cavallaro 2016), English is the first language of Singapore for education and business (Rubdy & Tupas 2009). Therefore, the English version of the questionnaire was used for Singaporean participants. The questionnaire for the main study consisted of 40 items divided into four subcategories to explore issues relating to uncertainty avoidance such as degree of ambiguity judgment, level of risk taking, acceptance of rules and regulations, and tolerance level for uncertain situations.
2.1 Respondents Forty-two international members of the National Communication Association (USA), a professional membership-based academic society that advances communication as a discipline, were contacted for participation. However, not enough members were recruited to distribute the survey to respondents from the top three high uncertainty-avoidance countries (Greece, Portugal, Belgium) from Hofstede’s original ranking of forty countries; see Appendix A. In the end, Japan (#4) and France (#7) were included to represent high uncertainty-avoidance countries. Scholars from Great Britain (#35) and Singapore (#40), representing low uncertainty-avoidance countries, agreed to help collect data. Finally, two scholars from each of the four countries agreed to conduct, collect, and return the questionnaires. Because the degree of urbanization (Hofstede 2001) and location within a country (Yi 2004) could affect people’s value orientations and behavioral patterns, two cities with a varying population size were selected in each of the four countries for data collection. Table 1 indicates the number of participants representing each country (n = 1,215; males: n = 736; females: n = 479) with employment in private (n = 984; males: n = 654; females: n = 330), and government-related organizations (n = 231; males: n = 48; females: n = 183). For purposes of the present study, a large city is defined as having more than one million residents and a small city as having fewer than 500,000. In Japan, there were 179 participants from Yokohama, a large city (males: n = 111; females: n = 68) and 141 from Matsudo, a small city (males: n = 82; females: n = 59). In France, there were 172 participants from Paris (males: n = 96; females: n = 76) and 163 from Toulouse, a small city (males: n =98; females: n = 65). In the UK, there were 133 participants from Birmingham, a large city (males: n = 82; females: n = 51) and 145 from Liverpool, a small city (males: n = 93; females: n = 52). In Singapore, 145 participants were from metropolitan areas (males: n = 90; females: n = 55) and 137 from suburban areas (males: n = 84; females: n = 53). Sixty-four percent of participants (n = 778; males: n = 479; females: n = 299) said that they grew up or studied in cities comparable to the size of the city in which they were employed.
Table 1: Summary of respondents. Small city Large city Male Female Total Japan Matsudo 141 Yokohama 179 193 127 320 France Toulouse 163 Paris 172 194 141 335 Great Britain Liverpool 145 Birmingham 133 175 103 278 Singapore suburban 137 metropolitan 145 174 108 282
The Singaporeans were the oldest group (M = 38.6 years) followed by the Japanese (M = 36.2 years), the British (M = 31.3 years) and the French (M = 30.6 years). The oldest participant was a Singaporean female who works at the government health department (59.8 years). The youngest participant was a female college student interning at a bank in Toulouse (20.6 years).
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2.2 Procedure After being constructed in English, the questionnaire was translated into French and Japanese for both the pilot and main study. Proper translation was imperative to ensure that the same meanings of words and phrases were presented; see Appendix B. After the translations were done, back translations (Brislin, 1980) were performed by native speakers of French and Japanese who did not see the original text. Even though this method is controversial (Behr 2017), has no clear scientific basis (McKenna & Doward 2005), and does not address issues of conceptual equivalence (Douglas & Craig 2007), it is still believed to be an effective technique for cross-cultural studies (Gudykunst et al. 1992) and a practical way to improve translation fidelity (Ting-Toomey et al. 1991) if carefully executed. It has been widely used in cross-cultural research and produced meaningful suggestions (Ayyash-Abdo 2001; Choi, Kushner, Mill & Lai 2012). Two hundred and fifty copies of the questionnaire were sent to each location. Because Singapore is a city state of 5.8 million people, it was divided into a metropolitan and suburban area for purposes of this study. Among 1,258 copies returned, 1,215 were included in the statistical analysis. Forty-three were excluded for various reasons: e.g., twelve participants did not sign the consent form and thirteen did not answer demographic questions about age, gender, and nationality. Eighteen were excluded because the participants' nationalities differed from the location of employment. To reduce the possibility of participants interacting with one another while completing the questionnaire, participants were advised not to discuss questions with other participants or take the questionnaire home to discuss with friends or family. This was done to improve the accuracy of thoughts and values without risk of contamination.
3. Statistical analysis After the data were collected, a simple analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means for factor scores concurrently. The dependent variable was uncertainty-avoidance level, and the independent variable was location. The unit of analysis was the total mean score of forty items for each respondent followed by the mean score for four subitems as a separate unit of analysis. Nationality, age, and type of organizations were used to describe the participants; gender was the only demographic information included in the statistical analysis. A factor analysis was conducted to see how items were grouped and if consistent groupings were produced when compared with previous studies. This was done to assure that the findings could be interpreted as the indicators of the dimension that this study aimed to explore. The questionnaire was constructed by using Likert scales with 5 for “strongly agree”, 4 for “agree”, 3 for “neutral”, 2 for “disagree”, and 1 for “strongly disagree”. Reliability for each item was computed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for inter-item consistency. The Duncan Multiple Range test was performed to compare pairs of means followed by significant F-ratios to calculate the variation among group means. The reliability was α = 0.63 for the pilot-study questionnaire items and a = 0.89 for the main study. After modification and rearrangement of items into four subgroups, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability was α =0.89 for degree-of-ambiguity judgment items, with inter-item correlations ranging from -0.01 to 0.41; α = 0.87 for level-of-risk-taking items, with inter-item correlations ranging from -0.01 to 0.39; α = 0.90 for acceptance-of- rules-and-regulations items, with inter-item correlations ranging from -0.02 to 0.34; and α = 0.91 for tolerance-level-for-uncertain-situation items, with inter-item correlations ranging from -0.03 to 0.32. Research Question 1 was supported by the data. Research Question 2 yielded interesting interpretations. The Japanese participants presented the highest overall uncertainty avoidance (n = 320; M = 132.24; SD = 9.87) followed by the French (n = 335; M = 120.68; SD = 9.88), 51 the English (n = 278; M = 117.73; SD = 8.67), and the Singaporeans (n = 282; M = 107. 55; SD = 7.39). As indicated in Table 2, the findings are consistent with Hofstede’s original ranking of countries on uncertainty avoidance, except that the British females scored slightly higher (n = 103; M = 125.34; SD = 7.65) than the French females (n = 141; M = 124.11; SD = 8.24) albeit without a significant difference (F = 3.67; df = 1; p = 0.059). Significant differences were found between the Japanese and British participants (F = 1.36; df = 1; p = 0.005), Japanese and Singaporean participants (F = 1.12; df = 1; p = 0.005), and British and Singaporean participants (F = 1.24; df = 1; p = 0.005). Even though France is historically categorized as high uncertainty avoidance and Great Britain as low uncertainty avoidance, the findings indicate that the gap between them was narrower than expected and without statistical significance (F = 3.45; df = 1; p = 0.059).
Table 2: Uncertainty avoidance differences by country. # of items / Overall mean Male mean score Female mean possible score score (ranking) (ranking) score (ranking) Japan 40/200 132.24 (1) 128.69 (1) 136.29 (1) France 40/200 120.68 (2) 117.18 (2) 124.11 (3) Great Britain 40/200 117.73 (3) 114.27 (3) 125.34 (2) Singapore 40/200 107.55 (4) 106.45 (4) 115.80 (4)
As indicated in Table 3, the small-city Japanese showed the highest uncertainty avoidance among all eight groups (n =141; M = 141. 79; SD = 15.02), followed by the large-city Japanese (n = 179; M = 137. 67; SD = 14.45), the large-city French (n = 172; M = 122.69; SD = 14.42) the small-city French (n = 163; M = 118.94; SD = 12.22), the small-city British (n = 133; M = 118.37; SD = 11.89), the large-city British (n = 145; M = 116.35; SD = 12.98), the suburban Singaporeans (n = 137; M = 109.89), and the metropolitan Singaporeans (n = 145; M = 105.48; SD = 11.39).
Table 3: Uncertainty avoidance differences by in-country location. # of items / Overall mean Male mean score Female mean possible score score (ranking) (ranking) score (ranking) Matsudo* 40/200 135.11 (1) 129.72 (1) 137.24 (1) Yokohama** 40/200 130.89 (2) 127.23 (2) 136.77 (2) Paris** 40/200 122.69 (3) 116.88 (3) 124.89 (4) Toulouse* 40/200 118.94 (4) 114.64 (5) 123.39 (6) Birmingham** 40/200 118.37 (5) 116.24 (4) 124.68 (5) Liverpool* 40/200 116.35 (6) 112.04 (6) 126.77 (3) sub. Singapore* 40/200 109.89 (7) 107.64 (7) 116.38 (7) met. Singapore** 40/200 105.48 (8) 102.89 (8) 115.08 (8) *city with less than 500,000 people; **city with more than 1,000,000 people.
Females of all eight groups showed higher uncertainty avoidance compared with males of the same city. Previous research has found that females are less likely to take risks than males (Pawlowski, Atwal & Dunbar 2008), three times less likely to break the law (Tsirigotis 2018), and generally more likely to make safe choices (van Geen 2013). Cultures place importance on gender differences (Yeganeh & May 2011) that can be seen as manifestations of societal norms and values (Neculaesei 2015). The findings in this study are overall consistent with previous research. However, as indicated in Table 2, the Singaporean females showed lower uncertainty avoidance than Japanese or French males. As employees in Japanese organizations have bene shown to exhibit the lowest level of risk taking in cross-cultural analysis (John, Litov & Yeung 2008) while the French are well-known for precise schedule planning to avoid surprises (Browaeys & Price 2008), it would be plausible to argue that 52 certain overwhelming cultural values might be a stronger influence on cultural-value formation than gender. Table 4 shows uncertainty-avoidance scores divided into four subcategories: degree of ambiguity judgment, level of risk taking, acceptance of rules and regulations, and tolerance level for uncertain situations. For degree of ambiguity judgment, the Japanese females from Matsudo (n = 59; M = 34.02; SD =4.32) scored highest followed by the British females from Liverpool (n = 52; M = 31.99; SD =4.64). The two groups with the lowest score were the metropolitan Singaporean males (n = 90; M = 24.53; SD = 3.45) and the suburban Singaporean males (n = 84; M = 25.73; SD = 3.79). The item that yielded the highest mean- score difference was “I do not like ambiguous situations that I cannot predict outcomes”. For this item, the Japanese females from Yokohama had the highest scores (n = 68; M = 4.11; SD =0.67) and the suburban Singaporean males the lowest (n =84; M =2.14; SD =0.78) that produced a significant statistical difference (F = 1.09; df = 1; p = 0.005).
Table 4: Uncertainty avoidance mean-score differences by subcategory. Ambiguity Risk taking Rules & Tolerance level judgment (m/f) (m/f) regulations (m/f) (m/f) Matsudo* 32.39/34.02 34.12/34.74 31.69/35.61 31.52/32.87 Yokohama** 30.68/31.97 32.14/35.81 33.02/33.12 31.39/35.87 Toulouse* 29.77/30.98 27.53/32.22 30.32/31.67 27.02/28.52 Paris** 29.60/30.94 30.84/34.01 28.60/27.20 27.84/32.74 Liverpool* 28.93/31.99 26.91/32.11 28.03/33.20 28.17/29.47 Birmingham** 27.26/31.96 31.11/29.83 28.45/32.82 29.42/30.07 sub. Singapore* 25.73/28.23 25.84/29.94 28.84/30.45 27.23/29.22 met. Singapore** 24.53/28.70 24.34/28.98 27.90/30.17 26.12/27.20 *city with less than 500,000 people; **city with more than 1,000,000 people. Each subcategory comprised ten questions for a total of 50 possible points.
For level of risk taking, the Japanese females from Yokohama scored highest (n = 68; M =35.81; SD = 5.99) and the metropolitan Singaporean males lowest (n = 90; M = 24.34; SD = 5.87). Chinese people (74.3% of Singaporeans have a Chinese background) view gambling as a way of life and an enjoyable form of recreation (Clark, King & Laylim 1990). Because of concern for the impact of gambling on family members and society outweighing the benefits of potential gains (Ozorio, Lam, & Hong 2010), the National Council on Problem Gambling in Singapore has been closely monitoring gambling among Singapore residents (NCPG 2015). Even though people in most cultures gamble, the tendency toward risk taking represented by gambling differ between cultures, as reflected in answers to one question that stated: “I do not enjoy gambling as it poses potential loss”. For this item, the Japanese females from Matsudo scored highest (n = 59; M = 4.08; SD =0.76) and the suburban Singaporean males lowest (n =84; M =2.25; SD =0.68) with a significant statistical difference (F = 1.10; df = 1; p = 0.005). This finding is consistent with previous research that games of chance (e.g., the lottery) are more often played in countries with a low uncertainty-avoidance index (Hofstede 2001). Another item in this category yielded an intriguing result. Participants were asked to evaluate the statement “I do not enjoy dangerous sports activities such as bungee jumping or mount-biking.” For this item, the French females from Paris had the highest score (n = 76; M = 3.73; SD = 1.04) and the French males from Toulouse the lowest (n = 98; M = 2.52; SD = 1.34). This suggests that people in different cultures perceive gambling, sports activities, and purchasing expensive goods as different kinds of risk-taking behavior. This outcome calls for judicious exploration and analysis. For the acceptance-of-rules-and-regulations section of the questionnaire, the Japanese females from Matsudo had the highest score (n = 59; M = 35.61; SD = 5.35) followed by the 53
British females from Liverpool (n = 52; M = 33.20; SD = 5.68), slightly higher than the Japanese females from Yokohama (n = 68; M = 33.12; SD = 5.74). The metropolitan Singaporean males scored lowest (n = 90; M = 27.90; SD = 4.37): significantly lower than both the Japanese females from Matsudo (F = 1.10; df = 1; p = 0.005) and the Japanese males from Yokohama, who had the highest score among all eight male groups (n = 111; M = 33.02; SD = 6.01; F = 1.64; df = 1; p = 0.005). The Japanese females from Matsudo appeared to be the most sensitive to rules and regulations, scoring the highest on Question 3, which stated: “I prefer specific instructions to broad guidelines” (n = 59; M = 4.12; SD = 0.57); and Question 7, which stated: “With possible penalties existing, I would not break rules for mere pragmatic reasons” (n = 59; M = 4.18; SD = 0.78). The British males from Birmingham scored the lowest on Question 3 (n = 82; M = 2.77; SD = 0.68) and the metropolitan Singaporean males the lowest on Question 7 (n = 90; M = 2.65; SD = 0.78). The last subcategory – tolerance level for uncertain situations – yielded similar results to the other three subcategories. The Japanese females in Yokohama scored the highest (n = 68; M = 35.87; SD = 7.29) and the metropolitan Singaporean males the lowest (n = 90; M = 26.12; SD = 6.45). Interestingly, the French females in Paris (n = 76; M = 32.74; SD = 7.35) and Toulouse (n = 65; M = 28.52; SD = 6.79) had mean scores that were significantly different (F = 1.68; df = 1; p = 0.005), which was unexpected, since they represent the same country. The question with the highest mean-score difference in this category was “I feel stressful when I cannot predict consequences”. For this item, the French females from Paris scored the highest (n = 76; M = 4.12; SD = 0.76) and the suburban Singaporean males the lowest (n = 84; M = 2.46; SD = 0.68). For Research Question 1, the findings were consistent with Hofstede’s national rankings of uncertainty avoidance, whereby people in Japan and France tend to be more inclined to high uncertainty avoidance, while people in Great Britain and Singapore show low uncertainty avoidance. The results for Research Question 2 – where the uncertainty-avoidance dimension was divided into four sub-categories – were, as noted, mixed. The findings indicate that gender and location within a country can be compelling factors in judging national values on uncertainty avoidance.
4. Discussion and implications Since the introduction of Hofstede’s landmark book on cultural values, considerable advancement has been made in studying the relationship between cultural composition and human behavior. Knowing that this advancement continues, the present study did not attempt to produce conclusive evidence on uncertainty avoidance nor does it criticize this dimension by finding flaws in terms of its usefulness or authenticity. Instead, this research inquires about the validity and applicability of past interpretations of this dimension in the context of the contemporary cultural environment. It emphasizes the importance of sensitivity and adaptation to cultural changes. Culture is extremely complex (Harvey 1997), fluid (Matsumoto, Kudoh & Takeuchi, 1996), and vague (Morris 2013). For people who operate in unfamiliar communicative settings, effective preparation and accurate comprehension of cultural factors increases their chance for successful international encounters.
4.1 Limitations of the research All participants in this study were organizational employees and as such do not constitute a representative sample of the population of the four countries surveyed. With that limitation in mind, this study attempted to find possible variations in cultural values by including gender and location for sub-analysis. 54
Scholars have suggested that, in addition to these factors, generation gap is an important aspect for cultural studies (Yu & Miller 2003, Parry & Urwin 2017). To yield more generalizable findings, future studies should include factors such as generational differences, education, religion, and occupation. To measure the degree of people’s uncertainty avoidance, this study employed a questionnaire. Although a survey is useful to “obtain information describing characteristics of a large sample of individuals” (Ponto, 2015: 168) tending to yield high reliability (Babbie 2001), it could lack depth on the topic being investigated (Kelley, Clark, Brown & Sitzia 2003) and cannot, in any case, evaluate the actual behavior of participants (Monette, Sullivan & DeJong 1986). To improve accuracy, future studies should consider other methods such as participant observation that would allow the opportunity to document people’s behavior in real-life situations (Nation 1997) rather than relying upon participants’ statements (Persell 1984).
4.2 Implications Despite these limitations and unanswered questions about the relationship between value formation and human behavior, the present study conveys two important messages. First, although cultural interrelationships among countries display a steadily increasing curve in various aspects, cultural differences still exist in diverse facets including perception of uncertainty avoidance. People could benefit from cultural studies if more precise approaches were made in terms of participants and methods. Second, because of increased frequency of cultural encounters, cultural gaps between countries might be narrower than people presume. To assure more successful and promising outcomes in cultural activities, careful descriptions of cultural changes should be provided. Most cross-cultural studies focusing on value differences offer practical and theoretical guidelines about the way people from different cultures interact with others. However, not many studies demonstrate why people exhibit values that are different from those of people in other regions or nations. Some scholars speculate that value differences might stem from cultural traits (Boyd & Richerson 2005), cultural environment (Nisbett 2003), religion/spirituality (Schwartz 1992), or national wealth (Cox, Friedman, & Tribunella, 2011). Because values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a cultural group must have reasons, in-depth exploration in future studies would provide valuable instruction on understanding cultural value development and practices.
5. Conclusions People live in a world that is significantly different from the one Hofstede surveyed four decades ago. Economic advancement, transportation, technology, and social media have helped to speed globalization; the shift of culture has influenced the way people think and behave. In this study, cultural differences were found, but it would be a mistake to confine individuals from other cultures to boundaries suggested by scholars and researchers. Findings from cross-cultural studies offer guidelines for people to equip themselves better in cross- cultural situations so long as they do not apply these findings as hard-and-fast rules when they participate in cultural activities. In an effort to include more countries, factors, and variation in future studies, highly explicit and generalizable outcomes and guidance for people can be offered.
About the author Jung-Soo Yi is professor in the Department of Communication at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He received his PhD in speech communication from Pennsylvania State 55
University. He teaches courses in public speaking, organizational communication, intercultural communication, and negotiation and bargaining communication.
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Appendix A: Ranking of countries on uncertainty avoidance
Ranking Country 1 Greece 2 Portugal 3 Belgium 4 Japan 5 Yugoslavia 6 Chile 7 France (tie) 7 Peru (tie) 9 Spain 10 Argentina 11 Turkey 12 Mexico 13 Israel 14 Colombia 15 Venezuela 16 Brazil 17 Italy 18 Pakistan 19 Austria 20 Taiwan 21 Germany 22 Thailand 23 Iran 24 Finland 25 Switzerland 26 the Netherlands 27 Australia 28 Norway 29 South Africa 30 New Zealand 31 Canada 32 USA 33 Philippines 34 India 35 Great Britain 36 Ireland 37 Hong Kong 38 Sweden 39 Denmark 40 Singapore A low ranking means that the country can be considered one that is comfortable with uncertainty and vice versa. The four countries participating in the study are in italics.
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Appendix B: Sample questions (English/French/Japanese)
I do not like ambiguous situations that I cannot predict outcomes. Je n’aime pas les situations ambiguës dont je ne peux pas prédire les résultats. 予測のつかないあいまいな状況が好きではない。
I do not enjoy dangerous sports activities such as bungee jumping or mount-biking. Je ne prends aucun plaisir dans les activités sportives dangereuses, comme le saut à l’élastique ou le vélo de montagne. バンジージャンプやマウンテンバイクのような危険なスポーツは楽しめない。
I feel stressful when I cannot predict consequences. Je me sens stressé(e) quand je ne peux pas prédire les conséquences. 結果が予想できないとストレスを感じる。
I do not like to choose risky alternatives when making decisions. Je n’aime pas choisir des alternatives risquées quand je prends des décisions. 何かを決めるときにリスクのある選択肢は選ぶのは好きではない。
I prefer to be sure of something before purchasing. Je préfère être sûr(e) de quelque chose avant de l’acheter. 何なのかしっかり分かってから購入したい。
I take precautions for the unexpected before starting a task. Je prends en compte les choses imprévisibles avant de commencer quelque chose. 何かを始める前に不測の事態に警戒する。
It is important for me to have long term security of employment. Il est important pour moi d’avoir une sécurité d’emploi à long terme. 安定した長期雇用につけることが大事だ。 Journal of Intercultural Communication, 21(1): 62-79
Predicting Intercultural Communication in Malaysian Public Universities from the Perspective of Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) Theory
Pragash Muthu Rajan1, Sultana Alam, Khor Kheng Kia & Charles Ramendran SPR Subramaniam Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
Abstract: The mission to promote national unity has become more strenuous with the decline of intercultural engagement among multicultural students in Malaysian public universities. Underpinned by Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) theory, this article examines barriers to intercultural communication by integrating ethnocentrism as an additional barrier. Based on a quantitative approach, 449 valid responses were collected from undergraduates from five public universities in Malaysia. Partial-least-squares software (SmartPLS3) was used to test the proposed relationships. The findings reveal that anxiety, uncertainty, and ethnocentrism have a significant negative relationship with intercultural communication. Keywords: Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) theory, ethnocentrism, intercultural communication, undergraduates.
1. Introduction Malaysia is one of the most multicultural countries in Southeast Asia (Azlan, Kee & Abdullah 2018) with three major ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indian (Chang & Kho 2017). Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia has always been struggling to introduce concepts able to promote “unity in diversity” to form a national identity (Yusof & Esmaeil 2017). Although education policies are expected to play the key role in fostering national integration, existing studies indicate that intercultural communication in higher education institutions is still limited and not up to satisfactory level (Tamam 2013; Tamam et al. 2013) To worsen the situation, most university students prefer socializing with their friends and peers from the same ethnic group (Hashmi et al. 2017). Instead of being an avenue for uniting students, Malaysian public universities are in danger of being breeding grounds for intolerance, ethnocentrism, and segregated communities (Mustapha et al. 2009). There is considerable evidence that intercultural communication often creates chaos among higher-learning-institution students coming from diverse cultural backgrounds (Holmes 2005). Uncertainty is considered to be the primary factor that affects intercultural communication (Novinger 2001). Neuliep (2015) explains that communication with someone from a different cultural background can be frightening and can be worsened by uncertainty. A concept that is strongly associated with uncertainty is anxiety. Interaction with people from a different culture often leads to anxiety, which sometimes causes individuals to avoid initiating interaction (Logan, Steel & Hunt 2015). Underlying the present research is Bill Gudykunst’s (1995) Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) theory. AUM theory identifies uncertainty and anxiety towards other cultures as playing a major role in intercultural communication. According to Gudykunst, to communicate effectively, people from different cultural backgrounds try to lessen anxiety and, at the same time, improve certainty about themselves and the other person.
1 Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Kampar Campus), Jalan Universiti, Bandar Barat, Kampar 31900. Perak, Malaysia. Email: [email protected]. 63
Several studies have tested AUM theory with respondents from various countries. Recent studies have revealed that, besides anxiety and uncertainty, another factor is strongly a barrier to intercultural communication: ethnocentrism (Logan, Steel & Hunt 2016, 2017; Neuliep 2012). Ethnocentrism has been tested separately and found to jeopardize intercultural communication among university students (Hosseini Fatemi, Khajavy & Choi, 2016). These studies reveal that a high level of ethnocentrism increases the level of anxiety; to avoid such anxiety, individuals with a high level of ethnocentrism might choose to avoid such interaction completely. Ethnocentrism and anxiety have been found to be obstacles toward reducing uncertainty in intercultural communication. The close link between these three factors has drawn the interest of researchers wanting to validate AUM theory by integrating ethnocentrism into the theory. Although studies in Western countries have declared these three factors as barriers to intercultural communication (Logan, Steel & Hunt 2016, 2017; Neuliep 2012, 2015), it is crucial to investigate the impact of these barriers in the Malaysian context. In Western studies, these barriers were studied in terms of intercultural communication between local and international students. In the Malaysian context, multicultural students have been raised and are living in the same society and country. Despite the importance of the ability to manage barriers to communicate effectively and produce a positive outcome for intercultural communication, the lack of studies on barriers to intercultural communication, particularly among Malaysian undergraduates, is extremely evident (Tamam & Hashmi 2015, Tamam & Waheed 2017). It is essential to investigate the factors that hinder intercultural communication among multicultural university students. However, Malaysian researchers seem more interested in studying the impact of ethnocentrism alone on students’ intercultural communication (Ridzuan, Bolong & Said 2017; Ketab, Tamam & Bolong 2015). Researchers tend to focus on barriers to intercultural communication between local Malaysian and international students (Khojastehrad & Sattarova 2015, Moulita 2015), barriers to general communication (Al-Naggar, Bobryshev & Alabsi 2013; Azrizal 2014; Tom et al. 2013), and barriers to second-language acquisition (Manan & Shamsudin 2017, Miskam & Saidalavi 2019). As a result, little is known about the relationship between the three barriers and intercultural communication among multicultural students in Malaysian public universities. The present study is conducted to better understand the effects of uncertainty, anxiety, and ethnocentrism on intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates. Past studies have tested AUM theory with respondents from different cultures in different countries. Only a few have applied AUM theory to investigate intercultural communication among people from different cultures within the same country.
2. Literature review 2.1 Intercultural communication Over the years, intercultural communication has gained noticeable attention within the communication field. It has evolved as a hypernym for all aspects of communication that involve cultural differences. Jackson (2017) defines intercultural communication as interpersonal communication between individuals or groups who are associated with different cultural groups or have been socialized in different cultural ways by age, class, gender, ethnicity, language, race, nationality or physical or mental ability. In Malaysia, although Malay, Chinese, and Indian people are addressed as ethnic, the interactions between them have generally been referred to as intercultural communication (Tamam & Waheed, 2017; Ismail, 2015). The relevance of intercultural communication to intercultural relations is well supported in the literature. According to Agil (2017), intercultural communication is important in 64 establishing integration in a nation whereby local and neighbourhood settings are the starting point for integration processes. Intercultural communication is essential in strengthening the bonding among people from different cultural backgrounds and helping them to take part in the global community. Life, culture, communication and national integration are ongoing, evolving processes without precise beginnings or endings (Dada & Babatunde 2015). A country relies heavily on intercultural communication for its development given the consequent ability to share ideas internationally and also between people of varied cultural backgrounds within the same country. For Singh (2016), intercultural communication is an important component establishing social harmony; it plays a significant role establishing the link between two or more persons or ethnicities of one culture and another, or of one society and a nation. Singh writes that, by promoting intercultural relationships through intercultural communication, world views of diverse cultural communities are enhanced. As a leading institution for socialization, higher educational shapes each new generation’s world perspectives through its role as a platform for establishing new contacts and networks among the students (Ananina & Danilov 2015). Yusupova, Podgorecki & Markova (2015) believe that such an environment provides students the foundation for flexible adaptation, intercultural tolerance, substantial personality development, and both willingness and ability to live in a multicultural society. Goria, Speicher and Stollhans (2016) consider it important to provide adequate intercultural awareness and time for multicultural students to acquire the skills to work as a team instead of pushing them to master intercultural communication within a short time frame. A lack of cross-cultural awareness or sensitivity can be a severe hindrance to participation in intercultural communication (Mahmud & Wong 2016). Shwed, Kalish, and Shavit (2018) write that, regardless of the form of interaction among multicultural students, such interaction reduces prejudice and establishes more favorable intercultural attitudes in the long run.
2.2 Barriers to intercultural communication Acioly-Regnier, Koroleva, and Mikhaleva (2014) claim that conflicts and misunderstandings in intercultural communication are not caused by inadequate knowledge in language, but rather insufficient cultural knowledge. Lack of awareness and insufficient cultural knowledge create a tendency to intercultural miscommunication, anxiety, and uncertainty due to the differing cultural frames of reference (Awang-Rozaimie, Sahari & Ali 2017). Hartwig (2016) states that contact with new cultures is often accompanied by misunderstanding, uncertainty, and anxiety. Anxiety and uncertainty have been particularly labelled as obstacles to intercultural communication that eventually cause avoidance of such communication (Jackson 2017, Kim 2017, Neuliep 2017). Neuliep (2019) sees the effects of uncertainty and anxiety as closely linked to intercultural communication along with the initiation and development of intercultural relationships. Although anxiety and uncertainty are predominantly considered to affect intercultural communication, scholars suspect that ethnocentrism is another factor closely linked with anxiety and uncertainty that likewise influences intercultural communications. Several studies have incorporated ethnocentrism into AUM theory to examine intercultural communication. Logan and colleagues (2015, 2016, 2017) reveal that anxiety, uncertainty, and ethnocentrism are major influences on and negatively associated with intercultural communication. Neuliep (2012, 2015) confirms that these three factors play a significant role in intercultural communication in university settings. Ethnocentric students approach others less often, thereby reducing uncertainty and anxiety (Neuliep 2017). The paper takes this into consideration to explore the impact of uncertainty, anxiety, and ethnocentrism on intercultural communication among multicultural undergraduates in Malaysian public universities. 65
3. Hypothesis development 3.1 Relationship of uncertainty to intercultural communication Uncertainty refers to a lack of information as to how one should act to expect certain outcomes (Aspers 2018). Communication with someone from an unknown culture can be terrifying and worsened by uncertainty (Neuliep 2015), causing inability to predict or explain the events that transpire in and around social communication (Whitt 2015). Neuliep (2015) states that, due to the difficulty predicting a stranger’s responses, it is common to experience a higher degree of uncertainty while communicating with an individual from a different culture. Intercultural encounters seek to lower the degree of uncertainty to improve the ability to predict and understand a stranger from a different culture (Redmond 2015) by gaining more information about the person (Ihtiyar 2018). When people fail to gather more information, it becomes more difficult for them to predict or explain the other’s behavior. This leads to uneasy feelings, and intercultural communication becomes ineffective or avoided (Presbiteroa & Attar 2018). A limited number of studies have been conducted in Malaysia regarding uncertainty. Ismail’s (2015) study on intercultural communication among multicultural university staff reveals that 92% of the respondents felt uncertain during interactions with colleagues from differing cultural backgrounds. Tamam and colleagues (2013) state that doubts among students over whether or not another cultural group is interested in intercultural engagement is taken as uncertainty. They reason that there is need to investigate the influence of uncertainty in intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates. We suggested that:
H1: There is a relationship between uncertainty and intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates. 3.2 Relationship of anxiety to intercultural communication A high degree of uncertainty triggers high anxiety among communicators (Neuliep 2015). Anxiety often presents with complex behaviors that impede effective communication (Ilie 2019). In an unfamiliar situation, people feel anxious because of not knowing what they should say or do. Especially when people are in a new environment, language barriers and insufficient knowledge about the new culture cause difficulty adapting (Khatimah 2019), which make people feel that they are losing all their familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse (Wu, Garza & Guzman 2015). When people have more in common with others, they are more comfortable getting along (Ilie 2019). Bucker and colleagues (2014) observe that intercultural interactions can threaten people as they realize that assumptions they had during interactions with those from their own culture are not applicable when communicating with those from a different culture. A feeling of losing ground often leads to anxiety. Studies in Malaysia have focused on anxiety in intercultural communication between local and international university students (Ahmad et al. 2017, Khojastehrad & Sattarova, 2015), second-language anxiety (Manan & Shamsudin 2017, Miskam & Saidalavi 2019), and anxiety in intercultural communication between university staff and international students (Mandayar 2011, Misni 2014). There is only one study, conducted by Jaganathan and Kaur (2003), which investigates the impact of anxiety on intercultural communication among multiracial high-school students aged 19-20 years. To the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical study investigating anxiety among multiracial undergraduates in intercultural communication settings. The current study is intended to bridge the gap. We suggest that:
H2: There is a relationship between anxiety and intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates.
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3.3 Relationship of ethnocentrism to intercultural communication High levels of anxiety and uncertainty lead to an ethnocentric attitude (Liu, Volcic & Gallois 2014). Sumner (1906: 13) coined the term “ethnocentrism” defined as “the technical name for this view of things in which one’s own group is the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it”. Although a certain level of ethnocentrism is necessary to establish solidarity within a group, an excessive level leads to prejudice and discrimination (Neuliep 2012). Neuliep (2012) examined the relationship between anxiety, uncertainty, and communication satisfaction during initial intercultural interaction. The results demonstrate that uncertainty reduction becomes difficult due to ethnocentrism and anxiety. Tegelaar (2012) investigated the relationship of anxiety and ethnocentrism to willingness to communicate with homeless people. Their findings show the European respondents to be more ethnocentric than the American or Mexican participants. The negative relationship between ethnocentrism and intercultural communication is supported in further studies (e.g., Arasaratnam & Banerjee 2011, Robinson 2017). Although many studies related to ethnocentrism are available in Western countries, only very limited studies are available in Malaysia. This study aims to examine the relationship of ethnocentrism to intercultural communication. We theorize that:
H3: There is a relationship between ethnocentrism and intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates. The framework for this study is based on Gudykunst’s (1995) Anxiety/Uncertainty Management theory with its two barriers on intercultural communication: anxiety and uncertainty. Ethnocentrism, a concept introduced by Sumner (1906), is incorporated as another determinant, for a total of three independent variables. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Proposed research framework.
4. Methods 4.1 Participants and sampling For this study, respondents comprise Malay, Chinese, and Indian undergraduates studying at one of five research universities in Malaysia: Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Putra Malaya (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The main reason for selecting public universities rather than private is the access to a high number of multicultural students.
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4.2 Survey procedure Respondents were selected by proportionate stratified sampling. The number of questionnaires distributed to each university was proportionate to each university’s undergraduate population. Sampling was determined based on the sample-size table from Krejcie and Morgan (1970: 608). Sekaran and Bougie (2016) cite that table as a guideline to deciding sample size. Since the total undergraduate population in the five universities was 89,310 at the time of data collection, the minimum sample size for the present study was determined to be 382. This paper intended to achieve a minimum response rate of 80% based on response rates obtained in past studies (Awang-Rozaimie et al. 2017, Yunus et al. 2017). Therefore, to obtain 382 responses, 477 questionnaires were distributed. Due to privacy laws and regulations as well as the universities' own policies, the universities refused to disclose information related to ethnicity, gender or age. That made it impractical if not impossible to recruit respondents according to ethnic proportion of the university population. Therefore, this study used the overall ethnic breakdown of the Malaysian population, which is approximately 6:3:1 (Malay, Chinese, Indian). This meant that 286 questionnaires were distributed to Malay respondents (60%), 143 to Chinese respondents (30%), and 48 to Indian respondents (10%). Respondents were selected using probabilistic systematic sampling: every third student who entered each university’s main library was approached and asked to answer the questionnaire. Questionnaires were collected immediately once completed. We received 449 usable questionnaires, yielding a success rate of 94.1%.
4.3 Measures Intercultural communication was measured with a seven-item scale proposed by Ketab and colleagues (2015) extracted from the Your First College Year YFCY survey. Uncertainty was measured with Clatterbuck’s (1979) Attributional Confidence Scale, which consists of seven items. The original scale required respondents to indicate their certainty level in percentage for each item, ranging from 0 (not confident at all) to 100% (fully confident). Following a suggestion from Baruh and Cemalcilar (2018), to maintain uniformity throughout the questionnaire, the present study changed the items from questions to statements and used a five-point Likert scale instead. For the purpose of measuring anxiety level among respondents, the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA) Scale developed by Neuliep and McCroskey (1997b) was adopted and modified. The original scale consists of 14 items measuring anxiety towards strangers, seven measuring relaxed feelings, and seven measuring anxiety. For the present study, only those seven measurement items related to anxiety were used. Ethnocentrism was assessed with five items from Neuliep and McCroskey’s (1997a) Generalized Ethnocentrism (GENE) Scale. The original scale consists of 22 items. For the present study, only five items were used, based on suggestions from a previous study conducted in Malaysia (Ketab et al. 2015). All 26 items were measured on a five-point Likert scale from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 5 (“strongly agree”); see the appendix for the full list of questions. SmartPLS2 v.3.2.8 was used to evaluate the results.
2 https://www.smartpls.com/ 68
5. Findings 5.1 Descriptive analysis The respondents comprised 271 (60.4%) Malay, 134 (29.8%) Chinese, and 44 (9.8%) Indian undergraduate students, of whom 76.6% were female and 23.4% male. They represented all years of study: 186 (41.4%) first-year students, 105 (23.4%) second-year, 149 (33.2%) third- year, and nine (2%) fourth-year. Frequency analysis revealed that the majority of respondents (62.4%) reported having intercultural communication on a daily basis. Of the remaining, 21.6% indicated a frequency of three to five days per week, 8.7% one to two days, and 7.3% “rarely”. No one reported “never”. This implies that students in the university setting are unable to escape from participating in intercultural communication. Khumsikiew, Donsamak, and Saeteaw (2015) write that, for a five-point Likert scale, mean scores can be interpreted as very low, low, moderate, high, and very high for scores ranging 1.00 to 1.80, 1.81 to 2.60, 2.61 to 3.40, 3.41 to 4.20, and 4.21 to 5.00, respectively. Table 1 summarizes how respondents showed low anxiety (mean = 2.40, SD = .78), moderate uncertainty (mean = 2.73, SD = .52), low ethnocentrism (mean = 1.87, SD = .79), and high intercultural communication (mean = 3.54, SD = .65). Table 2 shows mean values based on ethnicity.
Table 1: Means and standard deviations (n = 449). Variable Mean Interpretation SD anxiety 2.40 low .78 uncertainty 2.73 moderate .52 ethnocentrism 1.87 low .79 intercultural 3.54 high .65 communication
Table 2: Means and standard deviations by ethnicity. Ethnicity Intercultural Anxiety Uncertainty Ethnocentrism communication Malay mean 3.55 2.41 2.73 1.76 SD 0.67 0.79 0.52 0.74 Chinese mean 3.50 2.45 2.72 2.15 SD 0.61 0.72 0.52 0.83 Indian mean 3.62 2.15 2.76 1.72 SD 0.63 0.83 0.56 0.71
The Indian sample had the highest mean value for intercultural communication (3.62, SD = 0.63), followed by the Malay sample (3.55, SD = 0.67), and the Chinese sample (3.50, SD = 0.61). These means tracked the mean values for each barrier. The Malay respondents had medium mean values for all three barriers (and consequently for intercultural communication overall); the Chinese respondents had the highest mean value for anxiety and ethnocentrism but the lowest mean value for uncertainty; while the Indian respondents had the highest mean value for uncertainty but the lowest mean values for anxiety and ethnocentrism. As the Indian respondents were mainly affected by one barrier (uncertainty), they had the highest mean value for intercultural communication, while the Chinese had the lowest (3.50, SD = 0.61), being significantly affected by two barriers: anxiety and ethnocentrism. Female students constituted the highest number of respondents. This reflects the true composition of students in the chosen public universities. As Tienxhi (2017) notes, most public universities in Malaysia fall within the extreme-disparity classification with a Gender Parity Index (GPI) above 1.5, which means that females outnumber males by a ratio of more 69 than 1.5. Given the gender disparity, a T-test was used to find out if there was any significant difference in the mean values scored by male and female respondents. No such difference was found, either for intercultural communication overall or for any of the three barriers.
5.2 Assessment of the measurement model Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to examine discriminant validity, convergent validity and reliability to assess the measurement model. Based on the rule of thumb from Hair and colleagues (2017), three items were omitted from the measurement model due to low factor loading less than 0.5 (UNCT1, UNCT2, and IC1). Table 3 shows the remainder of the item loadings. All the composite reliability (CR) values exceed 0.7, indicating adequate acceptable reliability per Hair and colleagues. For average variance extracted (AVE), Hair and colleagues suggest that values must be 0.50 or higher, to show that the variable explains more than half the variance of its indicators. All our AVE values are above 0.5.
Table 3: Results of assessment model. Construct Measurement Loading AVEa CRb CAc item anxiety ANX1 0.741 0.630 0.922 0.901 ANX2 0.802 ANX3 0.876 ANX4 0.888 ANX5 0.826 ANX6 0.743 ANX7 0.655 uncertainty UNCT2 0.705 0.503 0.834 0.726 UNCT3 0.755 UNCT4 0.705 UNCT5 0.650 ethnocentrism ETHN1 0.725 0.574 0.871 0.816 ETHN2 0.779 ETHN3 0.804 ETHN4 0.742 ETHN5 0.735 intercultural IC2 0.684 0.514 0.863 0.809 communication IC3 0.790 IC4 0.775 IC5 0.771 IC6 0.618 IC7 0.644
Table 4: Discriminant validity of concepts. Construct ANXa ETHNb ICc UNCTd ANX 0.794 ETHN 0.348 0.758 IC -0.312 -0.235 0.715 UNCT 0.113 -0.098 -0.355 0.709 ANXa = anxiety, ETHNb = ethnocentrism, ICc = intercultural communication, UNCTd = uncertainty, p < 0.05.
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5.3 Assessment of the structural model
Figure 2: The structural model.
To use SmartPLS3 in hypothesis testing, two compulsory analyses should be carried out: the coefficient of determination (R2) to quantify the endogenous constructs and the path coefficients (Hair et al., 2017). It is important for the path coefficients to be significant, whereas R2 can vary depending on the research area. Chin (1998) describes the R2 values of 0.19, 0.33 and 0.67 in the path model as weak, moderate and substantial, respectively. As shown in Figure 2, we found an R2 for intercultural communication of 0.235, which is moderate. This means that the influence of uncertainty, anxiety, and ethnocentrism towards intercultural communication is 23.5% only, with the remaining 76.5% determined by other variables.
5.4 Hypothesis testing As shown in Table 5, all independent variables -- uncertainty, anxiety, and ethnocentrism -- were found to have a significant influence on and negative relationship with intercultural communication. Uncertainty has a significant negative effect on intercultural communication (β = - 0.352, t = 8.744, p = 0.000), supporting H1: uncertainty is negatively associated with intercultural communication among undergraduates in Malaysian public universities. It impedes interaction with peers from different cultures. Similar to uncertainty, anxiety has a significant negative effect on intercultural communication (β = -0.202, t = 3.071, p = 0.002), supporting H2: anxiety is negatively correlated with intercultural communication among undergraduates in Malaysian public universities. When students face higher anxiety, it results in low intercultural communication among peers from different cultures. Ethnocentrism has a significant negative effect on intercultural communication (β = - 0.199, t = 4.233, p = 0.000), supporting H3: ethnocentrism hinders intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates.
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Table 5: Results of hypothesis testing. Hypothesis Path Standard T value p value Decision path coefficient error H1 uncertainty -0.352 0.051 8.744 0.000 supported → IC H2 anxiety → IC -0.202 0.061 3.071 0.002 supported H3 ethnocentrism -0.199 0.060 4.233 0.000 supported → IC
6. Discussion This study was carried out to determine the nature of relationships between anxiety, uncertainty, and ethnocentrism and their effect on intercultural communication among Malay, Chinese, and Indian undergraduate students at five Malaysian universities. This study is the first of its kind to do so. The results for the first hypothesis show a significant negative relationship between uncertainty and intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates. This finding supports previous studies that revealed uncertainty as a barrier to intercultural communication (Gudykunst 1995; Logan et al. 2015, 2016, 2017; Neuliep 2012; Whitt 2015). Presbiteroa and Attar (2018) explain that, when people fail to gather more information about an individual who comes from a different cultural background, it becomes more difficult for them to predict and explain the individual’s behavior. This leads to uneasy feelings, and intercultural communication becomes ineffective. The results for the second hypothesis show a significant negative relationship between anxiety and intercultural communication among Malaysian undergraduates. This finding supports previous studies that revealed anxiety as a barrier to intercultural communication (Gudykunst 1995, Ilie 2019). Individuals experience anxiety due to insufficient knowledge about an environment and its culture, making them feel like they are losing all their familiar ground (Khatimah 2019; Wu, Garza & Guzman 2015). This feeling can be controlled if sufficient information related to the intercultural setting is available (Chen & Yang 2015). Finally, the results for the third hypothesis show a significant negative association between ethnocentrism and intercultural communication. Again, past studies have reported similar results, agreeing that ethnocentrism impedes intercultural engagement (Cargile & Bolkan 2013, Hooghe & Quintelier 2013, Jandt 2013, Ketab et al. 2015). Due to uncertainty and anxiety, students may choose not to interact at all, which may eventually make them ethnocentric (Campbell 2016).
7. Conclusion The findings of this study directly support the AUM theory, which claims that both anxiety and uncertainty are barriers to intercultural communication (Gudykunst 1998, Gudykunst & Nishida 2001), while indicating the relevance of AUM theory in the Malaysian context. Ethnocentrism was found to be another factor influencing intercultural communication. Although all the independent variables were found to have a significant negative relationship with intercultural communication, uncertainty has a stronger influence compared to anxiety and ethnocentrism. As indicated by Neuliep (2015), a higher degree of unfamiliarity and uncertainty triggers high levels of anxiety among communicators. To avoid that anxiety, individuals may choose not to interact with people from differing cultural backgrounds. Our findings show that uncertainty is the root cause of unsatisfactory intercultural engagement among Malaysian undergraduates. This aligns with Neuliep (2015), who views uncertainty as the primary factor affecting intercultural communication. By lowering uncertainty, anxiety and ethnocentrism should also be lowered and intercultural communication fostered. This 72 study delivers clear insight for the management of Malaysian universities to enhance intercultural communication among undergraduates, leading to a better and more harmonious living environment for all. The findings suggest several practical implications for educators and university management. Institutions of higher education should provide more opportunities for multicultural students to get involved in intercultural activities. The Ministry of Higher Education should consider introducing more Malaysian culture-related courses for undergraduates on top of the existing ethnic-relations course. This will equip students with more knowledge about and better understanding of the other cultures and peoples of Malaysia. Students will be aided in experiencing positive intercultural communication, which should eventually help them to manage their anxiety, uncertainty, and ethnocentrism at an appropriate level. When students encounter different ideas, views and cultures, they can get a better exposure to the other culture(s), which should assist them in establishing more effective intercultural relations later on.
About the authors Pragash Muthu Rajan is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Sultana Alam is assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Khor Kheng Kia is assistant professor and deputy dean for academic development and undergraduate program in the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). Charles Ramendran SPR Subramaniam is assistant professor in the Faculty of Business and Finance, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
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Appendix: Survey questions
Intercultural communication 1. I dined with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus in a semester. 2. I had meaningful and honest discussions about ethnic relations with peers and friends of different ethnics. 3. I had satisfied communication with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 4. I had friendly communication with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 5. I had intellectual discussions with peers and friends of different ethnics outside the class. 6. I felt secure during communication with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 7. I studied or prepared for class with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus.
Anxiety 1. I’m tense and nervous while interacting with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 2. Engaging in a group discussion with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus makes me nervous. 3. While participating in a conversation with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus, I get nervous. 4. Generally, I’m very tense and nervous in a conversation with a peer or friend of different ethnic in this campus. 5. I’m afraid to speak up in conversations with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 6. My thoughts become confused and jumbled when interacting with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 7. Communicating with peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus makes me feel uncomfortable.
Uncertainty 1. I’m confident in my ability to predict the behavior of my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 2. I’m confident that my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus like me. 3. I can predict accurately the values hold by my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 4. I can predict accurately the attitude of my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 79
5. I can predict accurately the feelings and emotions of my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus. 6. I can empathize very well the way my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus feel about themselves. 7. I know very well about my peers and friends of different ethnics in this campus.
Ethnocentrism 1. I do not cooperate with people who are from different ethnics. 2. I do not trust people who are from different ethnics. 3. I dislike interacting with people from different ethnics. 4. I have little respect for the values of other ethnics. 5. I have little respect for the customs of other ethnics. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 21(1): 80-91
Thriving in Indonesian Academia: French Students’ Intercultural Communication Competence in Studying Abroad
Dadang Sunendar1, Dante Darmawangsa2 & Vidi Sukmayadi3 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia and Universiti Teknologi Mara
Abstract: To gain international recognition, many universities in Indonesia offer international student exchange programs, one of which is the credit transfer program. Participants in that program have differences in communicative competence. That holds for Indonesian students studying abroad and vice versa. This study analyzes the intercultural communication skills of international students and aims to acquire comprehensive information on intercultural competencies based on the students’ intercultural sensitivity, awareness and adroitness. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted among international students at one university in Indonesia, involving six French students from the student exchange program who studied for one semester. The data was obtained via focused group discussion and interviews. Chen and Starosta's intercultural competence model was used as an analytical tool. The findings indicate that the students have proper intercultural communication competence, which helps them in implementing their communication strategies, adjusting to and thriving in a new cultural and academic environment. Keywords: cross-cultural communication, French students, intercultural communication competence, international students.
1. Introduction Internationalization has been regarded as the main agenda for higher education institutions across the world in meeting the challenges and needs of globalization. Globalization has significantly influenced higher education in recent decades, and internationalization has become an essential part of universities' strategic plans (Codina et al., 2013). Student mobility can serve as an answer to the challenges posed by globalization. It is one of the most visible and vital elements of university internationalization (Weibl 2014). Mobility has taken a prominent role due to new circumstances and a demand for 21st Century life to prepare human resources suitable for the era. Mobility is considered not only as a challenge, but also as a potential resource, since it allows opportunities to strengthen the higher education system and give universities a better chance to compete internationally (Codina et al. 2013). International mobility provides students an opportunity to compete with each other and expand their knowledge globally. Students involved in the mobility program should be prepared to face new cultures. Intercultural communication is considered as essential to development, internationalization and global education for sustainable development (Evani C.A. et al. 2016). Penbek, Yurdakul and Guldem Cerit (2009) state that mobility students are required to have decent cultural awareness, communicative competence, good personal attitudes such as empathy and flexibility, self-awareness and understanding of the values, norms and beliefs of others. In
1 Dept. of French Language Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung, Indonesia. Email: [email protected]. 2 Dept. of French Language Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229 Bandung, Indonesia. Email: [email protected]. 3 Universiti Teknologi Mara, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Email: [email protected]. 81 other words, to thrive in a new academic and cultural environment, students should be competent in their intercultural communication. Previous studies have shown that obstacles remain regarding international students’ intercultural communication competence. Yun (2013) found problems in intercultural communication among Chinese students studying in France. During their adaptation stage, the Chinese students experienced numerous problems, mainly because of their low linguistic competence, insufficient cultural knowledge and lack of decentering capacity. Another study (Ahmad & Weerakkody 2011) found that international students face challenges such as culture-specific knowledge prior to their arrival in the new country. Emotional factors such as fear and insecurity are part of the cross-cultural challenge. Ngwira and Mapoma (2015) found that international students from Asian countries staying in China do not have good intercultural communication skills. The authors suggest that these students need to be encouraged to be open to active modes of interaction and willing to engage in conversation. They must come out of their circles and immerse themselves in the other students and host community. They must be flexible and more willing to interact with others outside their communities to enjoy the benefit of being in a multicultural university. Other studies have revealed that international students who are immersed in the host country achieve good intercultural-communication skills when they have a reasonable proficiency in the language of the country (Kovalainen & Keisala 2012; Günçavdı & Polat 2016; Suwatno & Sukmayadi 2016; Aksoy, Uzunoğlu & Akyar 2017). This paper analyzes international students’ intercultural communication competence: mainly that of French students studying in southeast Asian countries. Samovar and Porter (1998) describe how, due to cultural differences, misunderstandings and disagreements often occur when communicating with people of different cultures. To reduce the risk of cross-cultural misunderstanding, people who travel abroad need to have an appropriate intercultural communication competence. The main advantage of intercultural communication is to avoid conflicts caused by cultural misunderstandings. Intercultural communication is not only a necessity, but also the primary requirement for living successfully in a pluralistic environment (Ya-Wen Teng 2009). Intercultural communication can provide us the ability to communicate across cultures. Understanding is increasingly important as the world gets smaller. This does not mean that the world is becoming homogeneous. What it does mean is that people interact more and more with those who are culturally diverse. Being able to deal with this cultural difference properly and peacefully is becoming a survival requirement to live and grow in a global world as a global citizen. For the present study, we analyze the intercultural communication skills of French students who enrolled in an international students’ mobility program in Indonesia. It is interesting to study how students from a different cultural dimension like France can thrive in a new environment like Indonesia. Our case analysis is shaped by Chen and Starosta’s (2005) model of intercultural communication competence. We investigate the strategies engaged in by the French students as a reflection of their intercultural communication competence. We expect this study to benefit the fields of intercultural communication and education.
2. Intercultural communication and competence The current study is shaped by three main concepts: intercultural communication, intercultural competence and intercultural communication competence. As defined by Devito (2013), intercultural communication occurs whenever a message is produced by a member of one culture and relayed to a member of another culture. Due to cultural differences in the nature of 82 these interactions, misunderstandings and anxieties often prevail. In reducing this risk, it is important to understand the dynamics of intercultural communication. The main benefit of intercultural communication is to improve understanding of culturally mediated communication. Having a good knowledge of intercultural communication is not merely a life skill but a requirement of surviving and thriving in a pluralistic environment. The second concept is intercultural competence. Competence indicates an adequacy of knowledge and skills that enables someone to react appropriately to a wide variety of situations. Intercultural competence can be defined as one’s awareness about the targeted knowledge, skills and behaviors that are effective and appropriate in multicultural settings (Hofstede 2011). As Chen and Starosta (2005) write, the underlying assumption of intercultural competence is active awareness on the part of a person who is culturally complex, influenced by culture in thought and action. This competence presents as an ability to look at culture and behavior with an open perspective. Chen and Starosta designed a model of intercultural communication competence, which consists of three aspects: intercultural sensitivity (affective aspect), intercultural awareness (cognitive aspect) and intercultural adroitness (behavioral aspect). See Figure 1, based on Chen and Starosta (1996). Intercultural communication competence is a fundamental concept relating to a person's cognitive, affective and behavioral engagement in a cross-cultural communication process.
Figure 1: Model of intercultural communication competence.
3. Method 3.1 Research design The study analyzes the intercultural competence of French students trying to survive and thrive in the Indonesian academic world: a multicultural experience. We use a qualitative approach based on case study. Case studies make a thorough investigation of a single individual, group or event to explore causes and underlying principles (Yin 2006). We used this method to understand the reasons, opinions and motivations of French students during the course of their studies. Such an approach is essential whenever the subject has never been addressed in a certain context before or when existing theories do not apply to the sample being studied (Creswell, 2013). The case-study method can be applied to discover a new perspective or build on existing theory: in this case, that of intercultural competence.
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3.2 Setting and participants The study was conducted at a public university in Indonesia: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). Six French students studied there during the second semester 2018/2019, and all volunteered to participate in the study. All were from the university’s international student exchange program. One student was studying at the postgraduate level, the others were at the undergraduate level. Participants were assured of the confidentiality of their identities.
3.3 Data collection We interviewed the six students both in a group and individually. We began with a focus- group discussion (31 January 2018) lasting 60-90 minutes. Then we conducted 45-minute individual follow-up interviews to confirm the findings from the group meeting. All interviews were recorded. Some parts were conversational and unstructured, particularly when we requested that the students describe their experiences living and studying in Indonesia. Other parts, where we discussed the context and presented cases of cross-cultural experiences, were semi-structured. The interviews were transcribed and checked for accuracy. We assigned each participant a code number and identified transcripts by number only. Next, the transcripts were analyzed and categorized. Additional interviews, known as member checks (Creswell 2003), were used to reconfirm the responses.
3.4 Data analysis The sequence data was categorized and organized into patterns or categories. According to Patton (cited in Moleong 2006), the categorization of data must distinguish that interpretation that gives most significant meaning to the analysis; one must explain the pattern description and look for a relationship between the dimensions. The data was categorized and interpreted using a data-analysis technique proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994): a qualitative approach interactively and continuously conducted over time until the data is considered saturated or, as in this case, one stops gathering data. We stopped when the information given by the French students yielded no new discoveries. We reduced the data by classifying some things as fundamental and focusing on those we considered importantly related. Finally, the data was condensed into a narrative description.
4. Findings and discussion The presentation in this section is organized according to the three primary components of Chen and Storosta's (1996, 2005) model: intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness and intercultural adroitness.
4.1 Intercultural sensitivity Intercultural sensitivity relates to a person's ability to send and receive positive emotional responses when interacting with others in a multicultural context, to gain recognition or respect from those individuals. The cross-cultural component of sensitivity in this study comprises four dimensions: positive concept (“self-concept”; see Figure 1), prejudice (“unprejudice”), mindfulness and social relaxation. See Table 1.
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Table 1: French students’ intercultural sensitivity. Component Description positive • Indonesia is considered a beautiful nation with a friendly people and a total concept difference in culture. • Being adaptive and open to any changes in the situation is key to thriving in Indonesia academia. • Students acknowledged the differences between Indonesia’s collectivist tradition and France’s individualist tradition. • Difference in culture is not considered a source of problems. prejudice • Students’ pre-arrival impressions toward Indonesia were of a center for natural disasters, tropical weather and Muslim extremists. • Students’ impressions of Indonesia took on a more positive vibe after studying there. mindfulness • Students learned about Indonesia language and culture back in their home country. • Indonesian cultural manners, religious values and bureaucracy provide the most striking intercultural experiences. • Students were surprised by differences but could accept them. social • Active listening avoids misunderstandings. relaxation • Don’t directly engage with the source of anxiety. (Stay quiet when facing a particularly anxious moment then ask a close Indonesian friend for explanation.) • Ask questions as needed. • Be tolerant and go with the flow (avoid trouble).
The students described various strategies to deal with cross-cultural situations by using their intercultural sensitivity. Cultural sensitivity is a set of skills allowing international students to learn about people whose cultural background is not similar to theirs. Someone with a positive self-concept is more readily accepted and trusted by culturally diverse parties than someone who has a poor self-concept (Kourova & Modianos 2013). The interview results indicate that each student had a positive concept of Indonesia before they arrived and grew more supportive by the time they returned to their home country. They knew they would find vast cultural differences between France and Indonesia. They tended to accept the differences and considered them an exciting lesson. Although they had prejudices about Indonesia due to the media, eventually they understood that what they had heard on the media was not wholly accurate or not accurate at all.
Prior to my arrival in Indonesia, I was afraid because of much news about the natural disasters in Indonesia. However, now I realize that disasters happened only in particular places and this city is not one of them (SFA, interviewed 29 January 2018). I have seen news about Indonesia, most of the news about the disasters, and I also heard about numerous demonstrations. I was quite anxious, but I ask my seniors who visited the country in the previous year, and they said that the news is not fully true. There are many things to see here in Indonesia, more than the bad news published by the media (LF, interviewed 29 January 2018). The French students' intercultural sensitivity can be considered culturally qualified. They learned the Indonesian language and culture before they came. They had Indonesian friends and had set their minds open to new things, regardless of whether they should be engaging or disturbing. 85
Studying abroad is exciting and rewarding in many ways. Nevertheless, it takes a great deal of preparation and patience. Preparation includes learning how to communicate in the language of the host country (Ponce & Fierro 2017). The decision of the students to learn the local culture and language is part of their mindful act towards diversity. Mindfulness is a state of mind in which a person is open to new information, continually creating new categories and open to new perspectives so as to adjust well in a new environment (Chen & Starosta 1996, Yi 2018). In the focus-group discussion, the students stated that, in order to cope with a wide variety of cultural differences, they used active listening and tried to be receptive, trying to understand before responding or reaching conclusions. Using the cross-cultural sensitivity scale developed by Bennet (1986, 1993, 2017), we use these findings to conclude that the students had successfully passed beyond the denial phase and were between the minimization and acceptance phases. The minimization phase is when one has realized that one must focus more on cultural similarities than differences. The acceptance phase is when one realizes that every country has its own demography, culture(s) and values. Given the level of the students’ cultural sensitivity, they were able to adapt faster and minimize anxieties interacting with others from different cultural backgrounds. In studying abroad, a decent level of cultural sensitivity level is essential because it allows one to function effectively function in another cultures (Gonzales & Dame 2017). Intercultural sensitivity and a positive mindset allow one to value other cultures. By having a suitable sensitivity, students can reduce cultural barriers between themselves and their Indonesian counterparts. 4.2 Intercultural awareness Byram (1997) states that intercultural awareness is the ability to empathize with and decenter in another culture. More specifically, in communication, it is the ability to take on the perspective of communicators from another culture or nationality in light of their cultural background. In the present study, we considered the two main elements of intercultural awareness: awareness of one's own culture (“self-awareness”; see Figure 1) and awareness of other cultures (“cultural awareness”). Awareness of one's own culture is related to the capacity to identify one's cultural background and avoid ethnocentrism: i.e., judging another culture solely by the standards of one's own culture. Awareness of other cultures is the ability to identify and respect diversity while communicating in a multicultural environment.
Table 2: French students’ intercultural awareness. Component Description awareness of one’s own culture • There is no such thing as a superior culture. • Cultures are unique. awareness of other cultures • Students have a “do as the Romans do” mindset. • Mental preparation to face uncertainty is needed before traveling abroad. • Interacting with others is a strategy to understand their cultural identity.
Having awareness both of one’s home culture and other cultures plays a decisive role in cross- cultural communication, as it did here between the French students and their Indonesian counterparts. The students prepared themselves mentally by learning about Indonesian culture and language prior to their arrival. When they arrived, they not only learned the language but also attempted to develop as a learner and as a member of a larger community. The students 86 tried to interact with and experience the local culture by practicing the local customs. Such interaction can develop cultural awareness and appreciation (Antony 2016). Having proper intercultural awareness in learning abroad promotes awareness of students’ cultural identity and personal development. Personal growth is a product of enabling students to align their own beliefs with ideas from the culture of the “other” that may strike them as unconventional and challenging (Kourova & Modianos, 2013). By traveling abroad, students can enhance their educational and cultural experience while broadening their awareness of this diverse world. In the focus-group discussion, all of the students said that having traveled to numerous countries before gave them preparation for interacting with the Indonesian community and culture.
4.3 Intercultural adroitness For Chen and Starosta (2004), intercultural adroitness is a behavioral competence that includes messaging skills, knowledge of appropriate self-disclosure, behavioral flexibility, interaction management and social skills. Using this definition, we interviewed the French students concerning their communication behavior in Indonesian academia; see Table 3.
Table 3: French students’ intercultural adroitness. Component Description message skills • Learning colloquial Indonesian added to students’ skill socializing with Indonesian students and friends. • Some students learned the Sundanese language. behavioral • Students had a “try it all while you can” mentality to experience Indonesian flexibility culture to the fullest (e.g., eating with one's hands). • Adapting to Indonesian academic life: e.g., wearing batik shirt on Fridays, adjusting to the high number of students in a class, dealing with tentative appointments and sudden schedule changes. • Adapting attitudes toward others, such as how to respect elders and extend common courtesies. self-disclosure • Discreet self-presentation is the key to avoiding conflict. • One must understand the local dos and don’ts. • One must restrain oneself when facing cultural uncertainties. interaction • Weight words in Bahasa Indonesia (the official language) are used to start and management end a communication. • Applying a bit of the Sundanese language works as a social lubricant. • Smiling is always key to functional interaction. social skills • Students learned to spend nonkrong time more with Indonesian friends than friends from one’s home country. • Students persisted with using Bahasa Indonesia as well as possible. • Students found that being active on social media improved their language learning.
Table 3 shows how the students had their individual communicative strategies in dealing with cross-cultural interaction. Based on message-management skills, the students were willing to learn colloquial Indonesian to ease communication with the locals and add value to relationships. Their willingness to learn not only the standard formal Indonesian language but also the informal language made their adaptation easier. 87
I realized that in Indonesia, most locals do not speak formal Indonesian, so I need to learn the informal language and a little native language [Sundanese]. It seems that the locals are very appreciative to my effort and they keep helping me in learning the informal language (LF, interviewed 29 January 2018). The students spent their time mostly in West Java where the Sundanese language is the lingua franca. They were eager to engage with the local communities to learn both colloquial Indonesian and common Sundanese expressions. Learning colloquial Indonesian and the local native language became essential tools. Kim and Kim (2004) write that, by having a specialized knowledge for mastering other languages, as well as a general ability to use one's message appropriately, people can communicate more effectively in a new cultural environment. In maintaining a smooth relationship with the Indonesian people, the students used various strategies relating to behavioral flexibility, self-disclosure, and interaction management. Being discreet and flexible was key. In the focus-group discussion, the students said that being discreet can avoid unnecessary conflict. Even if there was a conflict, the students chose to restrain themselves. They tried consciously to be flexible, behaving according to common custom in Indonesia so as to blend with the community. Generally in high-context communication, people use indirect messages to convey their opinions. Low-context communication is more likely to reflect direct exchange and explicit messages (Patel, Mingsheng & Prahalad 2011). Indonesia is considered a high-context country, France low-context (Hofstede 2011). Due to the cultural differences, the way of communicating is likewise different. Indonesians use indirect ways to communicate; French people are more direct. In Indonesia, people consider others’ feelings and the risk of losing face, influenced by Indonesian collectivism that focuses on group coordination and diplomatic means to express messages (Hofstede 1991, Susana 2005). To avoid cultural conflict while studying in Indonesia, the French students learned to be more flexible. The final components of intercultural adroitness are interaction management and social skills. Interaction management refers to the ability to engage comfortably in interaction by maintaining good management of the conversation. The French students used various strategies, weighing their words in Bahasa Indonesia to start or end their conversations. Weight words are an essential tool for understanding what kinds of speech can be uttered when and where to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings (Antony 2016). The students engaged with locals frequently and learned the local language to support their daily social life. Recall that the world is becoming smaller and more and more people are traveling for business purposes or personal reasons; the learning of other languages is becoming increasingly critical (Nurdin, Syam & Harahap 2015, Vitali 2018). We defined social skills in this study as the students’ ability to manage interpersonal relationships outside their academic activities. In the focus-group discussion, all of the students shared the same experience: they developed interpersonal relations by making a lot of local friends off-campus and engaging in social media. For the students, social media served both as social lubricant and learning medium for enhancing their language learning. By having friends off-campus, the students were able to blend well and felt that they were part of the Indonesian academic community. To blend in socially, a person needs to express himself within the accepted range of social-cultural attitudes and be conversant with the local social norms, trends, history, colloquialisms, etc. (Gonzales & Dame 2017). The students behaved discreetly, were culturally flexible and actively engaged with the local community, thereby avoiding conflict and reducing their cultural anxieties. The French students were competent regarding their intercultural adroitness, able to communicate in Bahasa Indonesia in an appropriate way. That helped them blend in with the 88 local community and their university counterparts. Their strategies helped them adjust and thrive within the social-cultural life of Indonesia. In general, the findings show that having excellent cross-cultural competence is necessary for international learners. They can know the difference between their own culture and the target culture, thereby developing strategies to be more tolerant of the dynamics of other cultures (Smith & Khawaja 2011, Takeshita 2016). Such an ability can prevent cross- cultural misunderstandings, eliminate adaptation difficulties, and support social interaction with the local community. The students’ intercultural competence gave them the opportunity to gain more knowledge of society and excel with their foreign-language competence. Intercultural ability regarding transnational communication shapes a person to have a more communicative, open, tolerant, and sensitive attitude toward other cultures. In a globalized, multicultural, competitive era, it seems that one of the ways to promote intercultural communication is by embedding it in the education process. This will inevitably result in better-prepared, better-trained students who are truly global citizens.
5. Conclusion Competence in intercultural sensitivity, awareness and adroitness are needed for any student who would like to study abroad. Our French students had the adaptive social skills they needed to thrive in Indonesian academia. The students’ initial experiences learning the Indonesian language and culture undoubtedly helped them in building their cultural understanding and confidence interacting socially and settling down in a new academic environment. The students generally felt anxious before their arrival in Indonesia. However, they came up with strategies to cope with their anxieties, swiftly handling them by not only learning the Indonesian language and culture, but also exploring the culture of their Indonesian counterparts. The students were fully competent regarding their intercultural communication skills. All of the French students were able to communicate in an appropriate way in the local community, with the flexibility to live with cultural uncertainties. They were able to blend their new academic and social lives into one happy unity. Our study did not test the effectiveness of the students' intercultural communication strategies quantitatively. We would recommend subsequent studies to investigate intercultural communication quantitatively. By having both qualitative and quantitative results, these studies can contribute to international student mobility and the study of intercultural communication as a whole.
About the authors Dadang Sunendar is professor in the Department of French Language Education of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. His research interests include language education, foreign-language acquisition, and cultural study.
Dante Darmawangsa is assistant professor in the Department of French Language Education of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. His research interests include second-language acquisition, French methodologies, and intercultural studies. 89
Vidi Sukmayadi is a graduate student at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia. His research interests include media literacy, intercultural communication and mass media.
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A Qualitative Study of Intercultural Friendship through New Social Media
Yanrong (Yvonne) Chang1 University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, USA
Abstract: Applying Casmir’s Third Culture Model (TCM) of intercultural communication (Casmir 1993, 1999), the current study examines the ongoing interaction between two international participants mediated by one social medium: WeChat. It describes the dialogic communication patterns between the participants that enabled them collaboratively to construct a shared and mutually beneficial third culture that brought about a productive intercultural friendship. It demonstrates ways WeChat helped transform their interactions and facilitated their friendship development. Keywords: new social media, WeChat, intercultural friendship, third culture, self-disclosure, dialogic communication.
1. Introduction The 21st Century has witnessed the rapid and constant development of new social media technologies. New social media are transforming intercultural communication that was mainly conceptualized and studied in face-to-face contexts in the 20th Century. With the help of new social media, intercultural communication is no longer restricted by geopolitical boundaries, time, or space, and people have been brought into contact with different parts of the world in virtual communities that dwell in cyber space. Under these circumstances, it is imperative that intercultural scholars pay more attention to the impact of new social media on intercultural communication. Research in this area challenges “more than 50 years of intercultural communication knowledge and theory rooted in twentieth-century paradigm of face-to-face interaction” (Shuter 2012: 220). The current study endeavors to explore the impact of one new social medium (WeChat) on intercultural friendship development through analyzing the ongoing interactions between one pair of international partners over a three-month period in the fall of 2017. Applying Casmir’s (1993, 1999) Third Culture Model (TCM) of intercultural communication, it demonstrates ways WeChat helped transform the interaction between the two partners, allowing them to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to create a shared and mutually beneficial third culture that brought about a productive intercultural friendship.
2. Third Culture Model of intercultural communication Casmir (1993, 1999) proposed what he termed a post-modern chaotic theory of culture: the Third Culture Model of intercultural interaction. “Third culture” refers to “the construction of a mutually beneficial interactive environment in which individuals from two different cultures can function in a way beneficial to all involved” (Casmir 1999:92). Using Geertz’s metaphor of music for culture (1973, quoted in Casmir 1999:93), Casmir stressed the importance of mutual construction to harmonious performance in intercultural interaction. To use Casmir’s (1999:108) own words, “my third culture building model is an attempt to explain an ongoing
1 Dept. of Communication, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1201 W. University Dr., Edinburg, TX 78539 USA. Email: [email protected]. 93 process in a chaotic systems environment, which does not seek total closure or one endstate, but rather makes it necessary that we ‘keep the dialogue going’”. According to Casmir, intercultural contacts are full of challenges due to cultural differences and gaps. “Transformation by means of interactive, mutually beneficial communication” is considered the means for handling these challenges. Third-Culture building is the solution to intercultural communication problems. A third culture co-created by people from different cultural backgrounds is the survival kit for intercultural- communication chaos. It is the intercultural-communication scholars’ responsibility to determine how and why third cultures are constructed, by considering the communication processes between people attempting to construct “new foundations and practices for their mutually beneficial efforts in an attempt to organize their chaotic environment” (Casmir 1999: 101). Highlighting the ongoing communication process of intercultural interaction, the TCM stipulates that participants go through four phases in constructing a third culture between them: contact, need, interact, and third culture. It is at Phase II that participants sense the mutual dependence on one another to achieve mutually beneficial ends, and that motivates them to keep the interaction going. Rules for interaction, mutually acceptable obligations and outcomes, as well as individual roles, are established that enable a third culture to be created within the framework of the emerging intercultural relationship. Development of dialogic communication skills is a significant prerequisite for building and successfully maintaining third cultures and thus intercultural relationships. In sum, the TCM sees intercultural interaction predominantly as an ongoing process of negotiating two cultural meaning systems. According to this model, successful intercultural friendships are possible if participants communicate effectively and appropriately to create a shared third culture between them.
3. Intercultural friendship: Literature review Research on intercultural friendships is limited in terms of research interests, topics, methodology, and scope. Generally speaking, studies have been interested in discovering phases of intercultural friendship development (Lee 2008) and variables for intercultural- friendship development (Chen 2006; Gareis 2000; Gareis 2012; Gareis, Merkin & Goldman 2011; Gareis 2012; Gudykunst & Kim 1997; Kim 1991; Kudo & Simkin 2003; Lee 2006; Mas'udah 2017; Shiau 2016; Sias et al. 2008). All the existing studies under review used either interviews or surveys for data collection, relying upon participants’ recollections and narrative reconstructions of their experiences. All the studies except for Shiau (2016) and Mas'udah (2017) examined intercultural friendships in face-to-face situations. Lee (2008) identifies three stages of intercultural friendship formation: initial encounter, interaction, and involvement, which parallel the three phases (trial, enmeshment, and involvement) of the Identity Management Theory (Cupach & Imahori 1993, Imahori & Cupach 2005). Lee’s study confirms Casmir’s (1999) claim that needs or interests are what motivate intercultural partners to continue their interaction. Some important factors have been found to influence intercultural friendships. One is self-disclosure (Chen 2006, Lee 2006, Kudo & Simkin 2010, Gareis, et al. 2011, Sias et al. 2008). Chen (2006) found two levels of self-disclosure used to reduce uncertainty between intercultural friends: superficial (e.g., attitudes, opinions, tastes, interests, studies, work, personality) and intimate (e.g., money or financial matters, body, appearances). Another important factor is “providing assistance” (Kudo & Simkin 2010, Lee 2006). This includes giving help, doing favors, providing support, and offering advice. Culture learning is another factor that influences intercultural friendships (Lee 2006, Sias et al. 2008). Partners teach each other their home languages and share differing cultural 94 beliefs and values. Most respondents in Lee’s (2006) study reported that cultural learning was the best part of an intercultural friendship. Managing conflicts caused by cultural differences was yet another significant factor. “If members in an intercultural friendship can manage their conflicts in a productive fashion, the friendship tends to sustain” (Lee 2006: 55). Stressing cultural similarities while respecting different viewpoints is essential for intercultural friendship. Perceived similarity and personality attraction have been found to be important for intercultural-friendship development. So is the development of a language consisting of vocabulary, grammar, and jargon unique to the friendship (Sias et al. 2008). Personality attraction can be a triggering factor for intercultural friendships, while shared interests and needs help move intercultural friendships to a next level (Lee 2008). Some personal variables have been found to influence intercultural-friendship development. People with certain personalities are better at developing intercultural friendships: for example, those who are receptive to other nationalities (Kudo & Simkin 2010), possess greater communicative adaptability, or are outgoing (Gareis, Merkin & Goldman 2011). Gareis and colleagues define “communicative adaptability” as a mixture of communication skills and personal attributes such as being witty, supportive, and relaxed; enjoying meeting and engaging with others; having self-awareness concerning appropriate self-disclosure; and possessing excellent verbal skills. Lee (2008) found that events such as meeting a partner’s family or loved ones (see also Lee 2006), taking a road trip together, or experiencing together significant moments such as a wedding function to bring participants closer. Finally, geographical regions have been found to affect intercultural-friendship development. Gareis (2012) found that students from English-speaking countries and from northern and central Europe had more close American friendships, while students from East Asia had no American friends. Southern US culture was seen as beneficial for intercultural friendships, being perceived as more amiable and polite (Reed 1993), representing the most collectivist region in the US, and favoring a slower pace of life. While all the above studies address face-to-face intercultural friendships, two studies have examined intercultural-friendship development on social media (Mas'udah 2017, Shiau 2016). In Shiau’s study, 18 Taiwanese ESL students recounted their use of social media in English learning and intercultural relationships. They reported that social media enabled them to use stickers and photos (selfies, places visited or personally meaningful, meals or other food) to introduce their home culture and express their cultural transition experiences. Participants shared their helplessness not being able to develop friendships either face to face, due to lack of language skills, or on social media, as they perceived stickers and photos as “superficial” or “unprofessional” communication. In contrast with the negative experiences of the Taiwanese ESL students in the US, in Mas'udah's study, six Asian, Arab, African, and European college students studying in Kocaeli University, Turkey, shared predominantly positive experiences using social media to develop intercultural friendships with other foreign students. These students used Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp: the first two for more general information sharing such as news, articles, photos of personal moments, WhatsApp for more personal and private information sharing with close friends. Mas'udah concludes that the use of social media helps enhance intercultural-friendship development through 1) supplying topics for face-to-face communication, 2) providing a better perception of others, 3) identifying similarities, 4) reducing misunderstanding, 5) sharing mostly positive responses, 6) enabling participants to express themselves more confidently, and 7) facilitating closer bonding with friends. Mas'udah found that the enhanced features of social media enabled richer self-disclosure: users could freely disclose themselves by sharing any kind of information, from general to 95 personal, while receiving responses to their self-disclosure or giving responses to others' self- disclosures. To sum up, a review of the literature reveals two gaps in the existing literature on intercultural friendships. One is the predominant attention that has been given to face-to-face interaction. The field is in need of research on the impact of new social media on intercultural friendship formation. The other gap arises from the predominant use of survey questionnaires or interviews for data collection. Participants’ recollections of their past or current experiences of intercultural friendship have been overly relied upon for understanding the subject matter. Though valuable, these types of data do not allow researchers to examine the actual ongoing interaction sequences, especially if one wants to investigate how participants engage in dialogues to help them build a shared third culture (Casmir 1993, 1999). This study attempts to fill the gaps by providing a case study of intercultural interaction mediated by WeChat. Through close analysis of the actual ongoing interaction over a period of three months, the study explores the following research questions:
RQ 1. What communication patterns characterized the interaction? RQ 2. How did these communication patterns help develop a third culture between the communicators? RQ 3. How did the new social medium WeChat facilitate the building of a third culture?
4. Methods 4.1 Data collection The case study draws on a large corpus of data collected during a term project for an undergraduate intercultural-communication course in the fall semester of 2017. Informed consent was obtained from students who were informed that these files would be used for possible research studies, and they were guaranteed complete confidentiality. Students enrolled in my class (n = 33) at a university in southwest Texas were paired with college students enrolled in an intercultural-communication course for English majors at a comprehensive university in northwest China. I designed the project guidelines and shared them with the Chinese professor who assisted by pairing students from her class. The project asked students to have ongoing interactions with their international partner through email over a period of three months. Students were to produce ten to twenty journal entries in which they would reflect upon their interaction and tie in relevant course concepts. Another element was an essay in which students were to discuss three things they learned about intercultural communication through their interaction. A final assignment was an oral presentation at the end of the semester in which students were to share their intercultural experiences with their international partners. While the US students completed all these parts, the Chinese students were asked to do only the reflective essay and oral presentation. Shortly after the interactions started, many students switched from email to WeChat as the medium for interaction. WeChat (微信: literally, “micro-message”) is a Chinese multipurpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, WeChat provides a wide range of functions on a wide range of platforms. Like WhatsApp, WeChat enables users to send messages in multiple formats (voice, text, or pictures) to either a single person or group of individuals (through WeChat Group Chat or “tagging”). Users can also make audio or video calls (Keating 2016). Unlike WhatsApp, WeChat allows users to post text messages, photos, stickers (e.g., emoji), and short videos to Moments: a social platform similar to Facebook's newsfeed. As with Facebook, they can “like” or comment on others’ posts (Keating 2016, Kuo 2014, Sandel & Ju 2015). WeChat 96 serves as a platform for entertainment, shopping, and transactions (Kuo 2014). According to Zeng and colleagues (2016), WeChat is currently recognized as the best social networking site used by people of all ages and professions in China – including, of course, college students. The material for the current study was selected because this particular pair of students demonstrated successful and productive intercultural friendship. By “successful and productive”, I mean what Hunter and Elias call (1999: 558-559) “a favorable contact” that exhibits such characteristics as “intimacy, equal status, and cooperative interdependence”. I wanted to show that, through dialogue-based communication with the help of new social media, meaningful intercultural friendships are possible despite cultural differences and other challenges. Data for analysis in this study consists of 1) email and WeChat interactions between “Dalia” (a pseudonym), a junior college student in the US, and “Yan”, a junior college student in China, over a three-month period from September to December 2017; 2) Dalia’s twenty journal entries; 3) Dalia’s and Yan’s reflective essays; and 4) Dalia’s oral presentation.
4.2 Data analysis The qualitative data-analysis software ATLAS ti 82 was used to aid analysis. My analysis follows a grounded approach (Strauss & Corbin 1998) characterized by openness and freedom from assumptions about the phenomenon under investigation. I started with the data and did open coding of the email and WeChat exchanges, followed by Dalia’s journal entries, followed by Dalia and Yan’s reflective essays. This allowed me to triangulate (Flick 2004) datasets for comparative (and, arguably, more valid) analysis. These datasets are comparable in that they all relate to the same interaction, though taken from different perspectives and produced at different times. The triangulation of datasets allowed me to have a more balanced and holistic understanding of the participants' intercultural experiences, particularly Dalia’s. I checked Dalia’s reflective essay against Yan’s, examined Dalia's and Yan's WeChat exchanges, recalled Dalia’s oral presentation in class, and read Dalia’s journal entries. These various perspectives provided me a more accurate picture of the process of interaction and the relationship's development. Yan’s voice was heard only through the email and WeChat exchanges and her reflective essay. Without access to her personal journal or her oral presentation at the end of the semester – the data that would be more likely to reveal her personal thoughts or feelings – I was unable to understand fully her feelings about the interaction and her relationship with Dalia. Even her essay did not allow me to know her true feelings. Unlike Dalia, whose essay described her feelings, challenges, learning experience, and positive outcomes – how this intercultural experience affected her personally – Yan was academic and professional in tone with her essay, analyzing the communicative differences between her culture and American culture. However, she did indicate in the beginning of her essay that her interaction with Dalia was successful and enjoyable, and she confirmed that they formed a fun and lasting friendship as a result. My analysis can be divided into two parts: textual analysis of what Dalia and Yan communicated and structural or sequential analysis of how they communicated. I wrote memos throughout the analysis process.
4.2.1 Textual analysis I did open coding of each dataset independent of the others. I then compared the codes across datasets to identify commonalities and differences (axial coding). Some codes were named based on my interpretation of a sentence or passage (free coding); some were taken from the
2 https://atlasti.com 97 data (in vivo coding). No contradictory codes were found. Dalia expressed her liking of Yan in the WeChat messaging, and she shared the same feeling in her journal entries, reflective essay, and oral presentation. After finishing coding all the text, I categorized the codes into groups based on their semantic relationships (Spradley 1980). Three categories emerged: “equal relationship”, “fun relationship”, and “trusting relationship”. Table 1 provides a summary.
4.2.2 Structural or sequential analysis The textual analysis reveals a successful, mutually enjoyable, mutually beneficial friendship between Dalia and Yan. The structural/sequential analysis directs attention to the influence of WeChat on their interaction. I focused on the functions and features and identified the ways it helped transform the interactions and facilitated the creation of a third culture.
4.2.3 Memos Memos are based on the coding and “on broad interrelations that are gradually revealed by the investigator” (Bohm 2004). When writing memos, researchers are basically asked to remove themselves from the data and go beyond any purely descriptive work: hence the motto “stop and memo!” (Bohm 2004: 271). Writing memos proved crucial to my analysis because it allowed me constantly to find ways to make sense of the data by comparing what I was finding against what I thought before. In the course of writing the memos, my analysis paper started to take shape.
Table 1: Summary of coding. Categories Frequency Properties Examples equal relationship (ER) 18 characterized by lack of judgment, perceived nonjudgmental similarities, learner stance, attitude, perceived humble attitude, willingness to similarities, and learn, respect for the other's learner stance perspective, learning, resemblance, equality fun relationship (FR) 20 associated with liking feeling, nonserious light and interesting conversation, small talk, jokes, conversations, kind kind humor, laughter, fun, finding humor or joking, things interesting, staying positive energy, positive, making a positive and liking of each influence, seeing in a positive other light trusting relationship (TR) 28 characterized by hearing each other out, sense of mutual caring, mutual freedom, advice giving, freedom to express caring relationship, bonding, oneself, sense of having an “amazing” “cherished” security, sense of friend, connecting, leaving fear support, and behind, sense of person not personal attention culture, being open, offering support, talking about weight, personal knowledge
5. Findings As with any other intercultural interactions that are chaotic (Casmir 1993, 1999), Dalia and Yan had to deal with various barriers and challenges. These include their initial uncertainties and fears, the time difference between China and the US (14 hours), language barriers (English is Yan’s second language), difference in religions (Dalia is Christian, Yan atheist), 98 differences in cultural norms (e.g., expected ways to show care or concern), and different social media practices regarding e.g. the use of stickers or emojis. That said, both enjoyed their three-month project interaction (11 September - 4 December 2017) and have maintained contact ever since: as of this writing, their friendship is still ongoing. Dalia asked me how to mail Yan a birthday present the semester following the course and sent her a gift. Dalia and Yan developed a lasting intercultural friendship during a three-month interaction. How did they accomplish this? Close analysis of the data reveals dialogic communication patterns that enabled them collaboratively to construct a “mutually beneficial interactive environment” in which both of them could “function in a way beneficial to all involved” (Casmir 1999: 92), along with the significant role WeChat played in facilitating the building of that “interactive environment”.
5.1 Dialogic communication Dialogue is a collaborative process of co-constructing meanings between communicators (Stewart, Zediker & Witteborn 2009: 235). One significant feature of the interaction between Dalia and Yan was how they treated each other with equality and mutual respect. As Table 1 shows, “equal relationships (ER)” constituted one major category of my codes. From the onset of their interaction, they were both respectful, showed sensitivity, and demonstrated understanding and tolerance toward each other. While conscious of each other’s cultural identities, they treated each other as individuals. In her initial email, Yan expressed her excitement about communicating with Dalia. Her message highlighted her purposes in interacting with Dalia: namely, to learn about life in America and allow Dalia to learn about life in China. She indicated her awareness of the time difference as well as her poor English-writing skills. She apologized for writing to Dalia at an hour that might be inconvenient. She stated, “if you see this letter, please write back”, which was rather blunt, probably due to her lack of English proficiency. Within a few hours of receiving Yan's email, Dalia replied. She expressed her excitement learning about a culture far away. After introducing herself in equal quantity and quality to Yan (noting gender, nationality, college status, major, university), she responded to each of Yan's questions, showing her attentiveness and responsiveness. Dalia was very cautious with her word choices and expressions so as not to hurt Yan's feelings. Correcting a typo in Yan’s letter (Yan typed “Deer” instead of “Dear”), with the assumption that Yan indeed lacked English skills as she claimed in her email, Dalia explained the difference between the two words, adding “but it's okay. we're all here to learn”. Dalia followed all the rules for constructing an email message perfectly, which implicitly taught Yan the proper way of starting and ending an email. Dalia's English writing was much smoother and more proper than Yan's since English is her first language. Their exchanges demonstrated perfect symmetrical self-disclosure as they continued to share in equal quantity and quality. Their self-disclosure was candid and personal from the beginning. Yan shared one defect with her appearance; Dalia shared one of her own in response. Each complimented and encouraged the other, turning the defects into something positive. As they went on, they expanded the scope of their sharing into such topics as boys, study habits, politics, religion, family, and marriage. Their responses to each other were honest, candid, and positive. Through such symmetrical self-disclosure, they were able to learn about each other and identify many similarities between them. They were attracted to each other’s personalities (Lee 2008). Dalia reflected in her journal entries that she found Yan positive, uplifting, and outgoing. Yan disclosed in her messages that she was impressed by Dalia’s gentleness and patience when Dalia did not attempt to impose her religious faith on her. They learned about 99 each other's family lives and discussed (among many other things) the marriage and educational systems of the two countries. They likewise displayed “mutual humble attitudes”. Sometimes Yan used words that puzzled Dalia. In her email response to Dalia who had asked about her campus, Yan used “canteen” to refer to the cafeteria. Dalia was confused but was able to figure out the meaning by reading the rest of Yan’s message carefully. In her response to Yan, Dalia candidly told Yan her thoughts and gently gave her the more common expressions. Yan thankfully accepted Dalia’s correction and apologized for her inappropriate use of words. In this interaction, both showed patience, humility, acceptance, and mutual respect. Another feature of their communication was the establishment of “mutual trust and good will”. “Trusting relationship (TR)” was another major category of my codes. Yan and Dalia never judged or thought badly of each other; instead, they allowed each other to prove who she was and otherwise treated each other kindly, which proved particularly beneficial when conflicts arose. I observed one conflict between Dalia and Yan while triangulating the various datasets. Dalia mentioned it in her oral presentation and her journal entries but not in her WeChat interaction with Yan. It occurred during the early stages of their interaction. One night, they were interacting through WeChat. Because of the time difference, when it was still daytime on Yan’s side, it was already past midnight on Dalia’s end. Yan texted Dalia, “it’s so late. You should go to bed now. Finish your homework tomorrow.” Dalia used this as an example of intercultural conflict in her oral presentation. She confessed that she was somewhat annoyed by Yan’s directly telling her what to do with her time when they were merely acquaintances. Dalia said that her interpretation of Yan’s behavior changed as their interaction continued and their friendship evolved. She initially took it as intrusion into her personal space and was somewhat offended. Later, as recorded in her journal, she took that same behavior as a sign of care and concern (Yan being influenced by her Chinese cultural norms) and started to treasure it. In this conflict situation, Dalia used patience, open-mindedness, trust, and kindness, maintaining contact and (when appropriate) opting for proper silence. Instead of impulsively expressing anger or projecting a negative perception of Yan based on one single act, she kept an open mind, allowing Yan to show who she was through continued contact. A final feature of their communication to note was the use of humor to form a fun relationship. “Fun relationship (FR)” was a third major category of my codes. Dalia and Yan's interactions were filled with laughter, light humor, and jokes, for example when they chatted about boys or their opinions on presidents. Dalia was impressed with Yan’s humorous and sunny spirit. Their interactions consisted of small talk with short and witty exchanges intermingled with funny pictures, stickers, or emojis. In sum, Dalia and Yan engaged in dialogic communication that enabled them to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to deal with conflicts effectively, all of which helped them construct a shared and mutually beneficial, interactive environment that contributed to their successful friendship. My analysis shows that WeChat played an indispensable role in this process.
5.2 WeChat In her journal entry of 17 November 2017, Dalia wrote that she and Yan were “appreciative of the modern technology” for letting them “go through this journey”. If they had not switched from email to WeChat, they probably would not have been able to form a lasting friendship within such a short period of time. WeChat enhanced their self-disclosure (Mas'udah 2017) and helped transform their interaction in a number of ways: 1) making it highly informal and 100 personal, 2) making it spontaneous and immediate, 3) facilitating expressions of liking and affinity, and 4) enriching mutual cultural learning.
5.2.1 Informality and personalness Dalia and Yan's initial exchanges through email were relatively formal because they were still strangers and email as a social medium is somewhat formal in structure. When they switched to WeChat, the tone immediately became light and personal even though it was only the second day they had been interacting. The multiple functions and features of WeChat such as instant text and picture messaging, hold-to-talk, and video chat enabled them to share more personal aspects of life such as living environment (pictures of their dorm or room), daily routines (school, bedtime, foods, clothes, etc.), viewpoints on sensitive issues (gender, politics, religion), and – gradually – other aspects of their lives (travel, family, weight control, appearance). Audio messages enabled them to hear each other's voice. Video chat allowed them to see each other in everyday life. In sum, WeChat enabled them to have highly informal and personal interactions from the beginning. It enhanced mutual self-disclosure known to be important for intercultural-friendship formation in face-to-face contexts (Chen 2006, Kudo & Simkin 2010, Gareis et al. 2011, Sias et al. 2008).
5.2.2 Spontaneity and immediacy WeChat added spontaneity to Dalia and Yan’s interactions. With its help, they could let each other know their whereabouts and feelings. They could share their everyday lives with each other instantly and richly. Once when Yan was in class, she shot a brief video of her foreign teacher teaching and sent it to Dalia. WeChat also rendered their interaction more immediate, reducing their distance both geographically and emotionally. When Yan sent Dalia videos of what she was experiencing, she basically invited Dalia into her life for the moment and allowed her to share her experiences. On one occasion, Yan told Dalia that she was traveling to a major city during a national holiday that lasted over a week’s time. Yan shot pictures of the train station, streets, and people around her. She made short videos of the scenery and interesting places she was visiting and sent them to Dalia immediately. Yan took Dalia along on her journey virtually, sharing, to a great extent, her emotional and physical experiences. Dalia was able to chat synchronously with Yan throughout the journey, which made her virtual experience more real and alive. Later, when Dalia traveled to Mexico, she acted like a tour guide. All the pictures and videos she took on the go, coupled with short instant-text messaging, created a virtual space for Dalia and Yan's co-presence. By creating spontaneous and immediate interactions and virtual co-presence, WeChat helped Dalia and Yan overlook many factors that might have been challenging for face-to- face intercultural exchanges. WeChat's diverse tools for interaction helped distract the communicators from focusing on the chaotic aspects (Casmir 1999) of their relationship such as geographical boundaries, language barriers, cultural differences, and stereotypes. Instead, they were absorbed into a virtual reality created between them with the help of WeChat. That virtue reality pulled them closer together by temporarily freeing them from all the limitations of physical presence and allowing them to meet in cyberspace.
5.2.3 Facilitating expression of liking and affinity Dalia defined small talk as nonserious conversation in contrast with deep conversation. In her journal entry of 12 October 2017, she wrote:
Yan and I have really grown in our relationship. There's time when we talk about each other's homes, culture and views, but there's other times we participate in small talk. Since we are so busy, we don't really have time to go into a deep conversation, so we do 101
a bit of small talk. We talk about homework, our planners, our desks and our rooms, but there's one small talk that became my favorite; the boy talk. At the end of that entry, Dalia commented:
I enjoy small talk; it brings our relationship closer. I get to learn more about who Yan really is, rather than how her culture defines her. Which I think is a great way for us to keep our friendship going because in times it's best to put the serious conversations aside and just have a small talk. WeChat as a new social medium facilitated that small talk. They sent each other funny images, emojis, and photographs. Through the combined use of video, image, and text, they joked and shared, in a humorous way, their viewpoints on US presidents and boys – since both were single, female college students. When they were both awake and online, they engaged in synchronous interaction, sharing light and fun conversation. WeChat facilitated their expression of liking or affinity. Dalia's and Yan's friendship proved that love is the keystone to ethical intercultural relationships (Hall 2005). Through their mutual respect and understanding, they developed great bonds through loving acts. Dalia wrote in her journal 27 October 2017:
Yan has become an amazing, great friend. She has a big heart and is always caring for me. I mentioned how I was going to be traveling to a very dangerous part of Mexico, she gave me advice and told me not to go out alone and that being with family would be safer. Soon I came to see that she and I have developed a caring relationship where I can be free to express my problems and she will be there to hear me out. When being sick she makes sure to care for me by telling me and advising me on ways to get better. She has become a very positive light in my life and I have been able to trust her more. As our relationship grows, we form a bond of trust and I know that if any of us is going through something we will be there with loving arms to support each other. Due to our experiences I have noticed that the nature of love is important in every relationship. 5.2.4 Enriched cultural learning Dalia and Yan were able to learn about each other’s native languages, cultural beliefs and values. Like the participants in Lee’s (2006) study, Dalia appreciated cultural learning as one important part of their friendship. WeChat functioned as a useful tool for Yan to introduce aspects of Chinese culture to Dalia. Yan gave Dalia a taste of Chinese customs during the National Day holiday by sending pictures and videos along the way as she was traveling. Whatever Yan was experiencing culturally, Dalia got to share in it. In her journal entries, Dalia confirmed WeChat's role in her learning aspects of Chinese culture: cooking, arts, music, history, language, and so on. She was able to see, hear, touch, smell, and sense how Chinese people lived their everyday lives virtually, in a rich and fascinating way. She wrote in her journal 13 October 2017:
When she was celebrating the festival, she went to a city called Chengdu, where she sent me pictures of the places she went to. Everything looked so interesting and pretty; there were people dancing and many sightseeing. She gave me a glimpse of her culture and I enjoyed it very much. I hope one day I can go visit and learn a bit more…. I hope I can show her our culture and many of the customs we have, the way she has shown me about hers. She has brought her culture in to my life and I am glad I can become a part of it through her.
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6. Discussion This study investigated the communication patterns that characterized the interaction between Dalia and Yan: how these patterns helped them develop a third culture, and what role WeChat played in the process. The results show that Dalia and Yan engaged in dialogic communication patterns characterized by equality, fun, good will, and trust. These patterns enabled them to construct a third culture collaboratively as a shared and mutually beneficial interactive environment (Casmir 1993, 1999), one in which they could negotiate cultural differences, deal with challenges and develop a productive and lasting intercultural friendship. Dalia and Yan’s interactions provide a real-life illustration of the TCM. Through dialogic communication, they collaboratively transformed a chaotic environment caused by linguistic, cultural, geographical, and other challenges into a new, interactive environment. They both benefited from the new environment as manifest in their enjoyment of the interaction, expression of other positive feelings, and indication of a productive friendship. As the TCM suggests, Dalia and Yan went through phases in their interactions: what the model terms contact, need, interact, and third culture. Initially, they were thrown into an encounter involuntarily, as they were paired as partners for a course project. Their contact phase started when Yan sent an email to Dalia and Dalia replied. In the beginning, their need to interact was probably purely academic, though one cannot eliminate the possibility of personal interest in learning about another culture. Gradually, that external need was replaced by an internal one whereby they developed a routine of sending and receiving greetings and updates on a regular basis. They started to feel a dependence on each other. Relational or identity needs arose as their relationship evolved. They reinforced each other’s self-value and importance to each other through complimenting and showing support and encouragement to each other. Whenever an issue arose, they resorted to each other for advice or comfort. Such psychological needs became strong and reliable motivators for bonding that carried their friendship beyond the project. As they continued to interact, they formed their own rules for interaction: frequency, types of greetings, when and what to share, how to respond to each other’s messages, etc. A third culture evolved between them within the framework of an emerging intercultural friendship. They developed valued interactions, shared perceptions of obligations and responsibilities in relation to each other, and arrived at rules for interpreting each other’s acts. The shared culture enabled them to overcome emerging challenges and benefit mutually. My analysis confirms that the development of dialogic communication skills is a significant prerequisite for developing and maintaining successful intercultural friendships. The essence of dialogic communication is what Buber (2009) terms “interhuman” or “person- to-person” interaction. Stewart (2009:65) summarizes three characteristics of genuine dialogue: each person must turn toward and be open to the other; each much make the other present; each confirms the other’s being without necessarily approving. Dalia and Yan demonstrated these characteristics by treating each other with genuineness, candidness, trust, equality, non-imposition, support, and confirmation. My analysis further shows that the new social medium WeChat played an indispensable role in the process of third-culture building by rendering the interactions highly informal and personal, adding spontaneity and immediacy, enhancing expressions of affinity and liking, and otherwise enriching the cultural learning. The various tools WeChat provides enabled them to do at least three things: 1) diversify the types of information they shared (instant messaging, images, photos, audio messaging, video calls, emojis, etc.; see also Mas'udah 2017); 2) increase their interactivity by allowing them to greet each other with brief notes or stickers, send short messages of support or encouragement, and offer prompt advice or help; and 3) distract their attention from the 103 chaotic aspects of communication that often hinder face-to-face interaction, such as geographical boundaries, language barriers, cultural differences, and negative stereotypes.
7. Conclusions and limitations The current study has limitations. First, the data were limited. Not having access to Yan’s personal journal entries or oral presentation means that my analysis reflects more of Dalia’s experiences than Yan’s. As a case study, the findings probably lack applicability to other such interactions. I only studied one type of new social media, so the generalizability of my findings concerning the functions of new social media may likewise be limited. Despite these limitations, my study makes a significant contribution to the field. It shows the significance of dialogic communication in intercultural interaction. It provides a case study applying the TCM to intercultural friendship. More significantly, it shows the ways that new social media affect intercultural interaction. It offers an excellent example of successful intercultural-friendship development over a short period of time with the help of new social media. It suggests rich ground for research into the interconnections between new social media and intercultural interaction.
About the author Yanrong (Yvonne) Chang, PhD (University of Iowa) is professor of communication at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the USA. She was the recipient of the 2003 dissertation award of the Language and Social Interaction Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). Her research interests are culture and communication, language and social interaction, cultural identity, persuasion, and ethnography of communication. Her works have appeared in the Chinese Journal of Communication, China Media Research, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Narrative Inquiry, Discourse & Society, Multicultural Discourses, and so on.
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