Literature Review

“Like we may find, American assimilation should essentially guide nonnative students in meeting both personal and academic success. Comparably, Sharideh et al. provides that “ the establishment of a network of strong ties within an ethnic community would serve to protect and buffer the international student from problems arising from lack of assimilation of American culture or an inability to establish social ties with Americans” (705). We too posit that an internationally student culturally grounded to their foreign roots in an American college environment might be less likely to assimilate.”

“This study defines acculturation as “the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures.” An effect of acculturation is adaptation, which refers to the psychological implications and wellbeing of an individual when confronted with a different culture. In this study, a distinction is made between assimilation and acculturation: assimilation being a phase in the acculturation process after groups or individuals have come into contact with changes or interactions with different cultural patterns. Similarly, the preference of using acculturation over assimilation is that it takes into account the reciprocity that individuals and groups have with one another during their interactions. They explicitly define acculturation as encompassing a variety of processes and outcomes.”

“More broadly, this study examines the conflicting views of students; how favoring integration, while attempting to assimilate, proves problematic in a high education setting. Specifically, there are two points of reference relevant to our research. First is the concept of ‘false consciousness,’ which, in essence, is the explanation for why students hold these contradicting opinions. They argue that “higher education contexts should intentionally offer critical multicultural and intercultural education learning experiences to support the integration of acculturating immigrant students” (30). Instead of focusing on asserting American culture onto students, these initiatives should encourage them to keep their heritage ties, whilst being exposed to foreign customs.”

“The bidimensional theory of acculturation hypothesizes that this process occurs over two dimensions, with individuals finding a balance between retention of heritage culture and, separately, adoption of dominant culture norms and values along a series of domains, with the dominant culture defined as those who hold the language, social, and cultural norms of the “receiving society.” (2)