What are some strategies for minimizing the effects of culture shock?
Culture Shock is:
The term, culture shock, was introduced for the first time in 1958 by Kalervo Oberg. Today we understand culture shock as a reaction people experience when faced with cultural realities that differ from their own personal expectations and norms.
Oberg’s Stages
1. Honeymoon/Tourist Stage.
2.Culture shock/rejection
3. Recovery
4. Adjustment/Acculturation
Contributing factors
Ethnocentrism
Tendency to stereotype
Low levels of similarities in beliefs, values, norms, and attitudes
Misinterpretations of behaviors and intentions of the other cultural group
Motivations for/ traumas associated with traveling to the new culture
Causes:
Unfamiliarity with the new culture and surroundings
Inability to effectively use or understand new language and cultural symbols
Discrepancies between the demands of new situations and the resources for dealing with them
Cognitive fatigue
Culture Shock is Manifested:
Mentally
Emotionally
Physically
Symptoms
Difficulty in focusing and processing/retaining new information
Small aches, pains, and new allergies.
Sleeping too much or too little.
Feeling sad, depressed, vulnerable, powerless.
Decreased confidence, increased apathy
Developing stereotypes of the dominant culture
Potential Problems for Educators
Raising Krashen’s affective filter
Misinterpretation of culture shock side effects as products of learning disabilities
Physical effects that result in frequent absences
More problems
Housing problems
Economic problems
Nutrition problems
Health problems
Transportation
How to Combat Culture Shock As a Teacher
Create a comfortable and accepting environment in the classroom
Don’t make assumptions
Get to know your students and their unique situations
