Culture-shock

in
Cross-Cultural
Communication
 How culture shock?
If you are going abroad, you may find…
 The climate: grey and wet, especially during the
winter months and difficult to get used to.
 The food: strange, may taste different, or be
cooked differently, or it may seem bland or heavy
compared to what you are used to.
 The language: you miss your familiar language
which at home would have been part of your
everyday environment.
 Social behaviors: people appear cold and
distant or always in a hurry…
…….
You are getting culture shock!!!
 What culture shock?
#… Culture shock is thought to be a form of
anxiety that results from the loss of
commonly perceived and understood signs
and symbols of social intercourse. The
individual undergoing culture shock
reflects his anxiety and nervousness with
cultural differences through any number of
defense mechanism: repression,
regression, isolation and reflection…
(Peter Adler, 1972:8)
# George,M. Foster (1962):
 “Culture shock is a mental illness…

…”

# “ Strong feelings of discomfort,

fear, or insecurity which a person
may have when they enter
another culture”
Longman dictionary of Applied Linguistics
# Yule, G. (1996:195):
“ Culture shock occurs as a result
of total immersion in a new
culture. It happens to people
who have been transplanted
abroad. Newcomers may be
anxious because they don’t
speak the language, know the
customs, or understand people’s
behavior in daily life”
 Barriers caused
by cultural differences
 Sociolinguistics
inappropriateness

 Stereotyping or
overgeneralisation

 Conflict of different value

systems
 Two main factors
creating culture shock
 Unawareness of cross-cultural
differences different values,
perceptions, cultural thought
patterns, beliefs etc.

 Unawareness of different roles of the

S and H: age, social distance, work
power and relationship, marital
status, education, etc.
 Symptoms
 1. Feeling very angry
over
minor inconveniences
 2. Irritability
 3. Withdrawal from
people
who are different from
you
 4. Extreme homesickness
 5. Sudden intense feeling
of loyalty to own culture
 6. Overeating or loss of
appetite
 7. Boredom
 8. A need for excessive
sleep
 9. Headaches
 10. Upset stomach
 11. Small pains really
hurt
 12. Depression
 13. Loss of ability to work
or study effectively
 14. Unexplainable crying
 15. Marital or relationship
stress
 16. Exaggerated
cleanliness
 17. Feeling sick much of
the time
 How does it happen?
Honeymoon Acceptance
and
Integration

Initial Adjustment

Culture Mental Isolation

shock (or Depression)
(Levine and Adelman. 1993)
 Situation 1
Bob returns from a meeting and his secretary, Trinh, bursts
into tears. Her voice is hoarse and he can not understand
what she is saying. Something has happened in her family.
He reaches for a box of tissues and hands it to her, putting
his arm around her in a comforting manner. Trinh freezes
and races for the door. She brushes past Huong, whose
face resembles a wooden mask.
Bob races out to Huong and asks her to go and comfort Trinh
because she is crying and he does not know what is
wrong.They are gone for some time and he returns to his
work. When Huong returns, Bob goes to check. She will not
look him in the eyes but mumbles that it has something to
do with Trinh’s brother. Bob explains his concern and his
actions – why he put his arm around her. Huong relaxes
and says “yes”, she understands. Trinh returns the next
day. Bob does not make a fuss about her absence and work
continues as usual.
Three days later, an official from the Ministry of Labour visits
and tells Bob that he has been accused of seriously
mistreating his employees, taking advantage of his
position as supervisor and making sexual advances
towards his staff. Bob is horrified. What does he do?
 Possible solutions to Situation 1

• Talk to the official in the presence of Trinh and

Huong and tell what really happened.
• Pull a bottle of whisky out of his bottom drawer
and explain what had happened, hoping that
the official will realise the mistake.
• Tell the official he has a wife and two lovely
sons at home and how dare he come into the
office and make accusations about Bob’s fidelity
– as if he would try it on a Vietnamese
secretary.
• Send out a memo explaining his actions,
apologising for his behaviour and for any
misunderstanding that has occurred.
 Comments on the solutions

 Option A would be good but is highly

unlikely to work.
 Option B will be seen for the direct
bribe that it is.
 Option C will not work and will make
the official even more suspicious.
 Option D may be the best bet
 Managing
cross-cultural conflicts
 Building relationships of trust takes top
priority
 Observing, asking nonjudgmental
questions, learning, and seeking
understanding when entering another
cultural context
 Being particularly careful about making
evaluative statements, blame
statements when with people different
from another culture
 Being gracious, courteous, calm, and
 First-hand experience
in culture shock
 Situation 1: Culture shock related to
belief.
Causes:
- Ignorance of the interlocutor’s culture.
- Lack of concern with the interlocutor’s
belief.
Solutions:
- Often exchange information to get to know
the interlocutors’ culture.
- Respect people’s interests and choices
when inviting them to eat out.
 How to cope with
culture shock?

 Implication for CCC

 Implication for ELT

 Implications for CCC
 Be aware of one’s own cultural
behavior
 Be aware of the cultural behavior
of others
 Be able to explain one’s cultural
standpoint
 Avoid negative attitudes:
Misinterpretations;
Ethnocentrism;
Stereotypes/overgeneralization;
 Implications for ELT
 Teachers should notice the
importance of incorporating
cultural factors in ELT lessons

 Provide students with both

linguistic as well as culture
awareness. Attach importance to
both target language and culture
teaching equally.
 Implications for ELT
 Develop students’ communicative
competence
 Provide students with knowledge of
different target cultures
 Sensitise learners to expect cross-
cultural differences in the linguistics
realisations of politeness and
truthfulness
 Take the teaching of language
beyond the realms of mere training
and make it truly educational
 More specifically,
 Teach students to be more
aware of conventional behaviour
in common situations in the
target culture
 Integrate cultural awareness
with language materials and
methodology
 Syllabus design should focus on
culture- related topics
Thank you for
listening!