Functions of the common ingroup identity model and acculturation strategies in intercultural communication: American host nationals’ communication with Chinese international students

Abstract

nationals' perceptions of Chinese international students' cultural adaptation strategies and the effects of the strategies on American host nationals' willingness to communicate with the Chinese students. In addition, the current study also examined the indirect effects of the adaptation strategies through American host nationals' perceptions of anxiety in communicating with and social attractiveness of the Chinese students on willingness to communicate with the Chinese students.Four scenarios describing Chinese international students' cultural adaptation strategies (i.e., assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization) were developed based on CIIM and the acculturation framework. Prior to the main study, two pilot studies (N = 113 in pilot 1, N = 60 in pilot 2) were conducted to examine the validity of the manipulation of the four strategies along two conceptual dimensions: identification with home culture (i.e., Chinese culture) and identification with the host culture (i.e., American culture). In the main study, EuropeanAmerican participants (N = 284) were asked to report their demographic information, strength of identification with American culture, and attitudes toward Chinese people in general. Then, they were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions in which they read a scenario describing a Chinese international student's cultural adaptation strategy. After reading the scenario, participants answered questions measuring their perceptions of the cultural adaptation iv strategy used by the Chinese international student described in the scenario. Then, they reported their perceptions of willingness to communicate with, social attractiveness of, and interpersonal communication anxiety with the Chinese student.Hypothesis 1 predicted that participants' perceptions of willingness to communicate with the Chinese international student would vary with the experimental conditions. Partially supporting Hypothesis 1, univariate analysis of variance results revealed that participants were more willing to communicate with the assimilated and integrated Chinese students than with the separated and marginalized students. Hypothesis 2 predicted that participants' judgments of the Chinese international student would vary depending on the experimental conditions. Partially supporting Hypothesis 2, multivariate analysis of variance results revealed that the assimilated and integrated Chinese students were judged more positively than the separated or marginalized

Intergroup Anxiety and Willingness to Accommodate: Exploring the Effects of Accent Stereotyping and Social Attraction

“…Prior intergroup contact literature, (Imamura et al, 2012), indicates Americans in particular tend to hold negative perceptions of immigrants or sojourners who speak English poorly (e.g., incorrect use of grammar, poor pronunciation). However, Imamura and Zhang (2014) found willingness to communicate is heightened in instances of high-linguistic competence and when other communication norms are shared. To further explore this relationship, the current study seeks to understand the conditions in which willingness to communicate with the speaker and willingness to accommodate to the speaker's ethnic group are affected indirectly by accent stereotyping through other measures of intergroup perceptions (i.e., social attractiveness and intergroup communication anxiety).…”

Examining the Correlation between American Students’ Cultural Intelligence, Political Affiliations, and Their Social Distances from Their International Peers

“…Such challenges may limit the cross-cultural experiences between international and American-born students. Recent studies have shown that friendship formation and interactions among American and international students are mutually beneficial to both groups (Buzzelli, 2016;Imamura & Zhang, 2014;Tawagi & Mak, 2015). The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to examine the relationship between the CQ of American students and their self-reported SDs from their international peers, considering whether political party affiliation is also a predictor of American students' sense of distance from their international peers.…”

“…Researchers have revealed that students studying abroad face a variety of sociocultural and emotional problems (Bierwiaczonek, Waldzus, & Zee, 2017;Fahad, 2015;Gautam et al, 2016;Huhn et al, 2016). In a quantitative study, Imamura and Zhang (2014) found that domestic students were more willing to communicate with their Chinese counterparts, only if the latter group was assimilated into the American way of life (Imamura & Zhang, 2014). American students considered assimilation to American culture as speaking with a clear accent, being able to engage in group discussions, and being understood (Imamura & Zhang, 2014; E. J.…”

“…In a quantitative study, Imamura and Zhang (2014) found that domestic students were more willing to communicate with their Chinese counterparts, only if the latter group was assimilated into the American way of life (Imamura & Zhang, 2014). American students considered assimilation to American culture as speaking with a clear accent, being able to engage in group discussions, and being understood (Imamura & Zhang, 2014; E. J. Lee, 2016).…”

“…Sixty percent of international students come from countries where English is not the primary language (IIE, 2018). Ultimately, one of the obvious educational challenges for international students studying in the U.S. is how and to what extent they grasp the English language (Butz & Askim-Lovseth, 2015;Gautam et al, 2016;Geary, 2016;Imamura & Zhang, 2014). However, the use of technology and appropriate teaching strategies have proven useful in reducing language anxiety for international students (E. J.…”