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Culture Shock Among International Students

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Culture Shock Among International Students
Culture Shock among International Students

by

Lyuba Makarova

Group A-52

Instructor Olga Chuprakova

1 October 2013

Makarova i
Culture Shock among International Students

I. Introduction
II. Culture Shock
1. Definition
2. Stages
3. Main aspects
III. Culture Shock among international students
1. Reasons for fast overcoming Culture Shock
2. Different extent of effects of Culture Shock
3. International students are well-prepared for Culture Shock
IV. Conclusion

Makarova 1
Culture Shock among International Students

There are certain individuals that cannot adopt the environment in an instant. One good example is when an individual entered a new environment, thinking that he can cope with someone’s culture immediately. Methods of handling Culture Shock vary cross-culturally, all people make up with the situation and build their identity differently. Factors such as general behaviour, motivation to acclimatize, skills in language, fellow and host nationals support, the distance in cultural facet of two cultures involved and mainly familiarity made during the encounter are factors of degree of this acculturation of Culture Shock. Various people, such as tourists, international students, businessmen who have partners abroad and so on, can suffer from Culture Shock. In spite of the fact that international students face Culture Shock and have to overcome it fast, they are ready for it because they go abroad deliberately and know what they want.
Nowadays Culture Shock has been interpreted in many ways by the people who already experienced it and by anthropologists studying it. In general, “Culture Shock can be defined as the process of initial adjustment to an unfamiliar environment” (Pedersen 34). Mostly, people who travel a lot in other country experience Culture Shock, whether it’s a temporary vacation or become a new resident for a certain place. All of a sudden the person is on the state of shock. Life becomes



Cited: Adler, P. “The Transitional Experience: An Alternative View of Culture Shock.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 1975: 13-23. Hofstede, G. H. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: N.P., 1997. Marx, E. Breaking through Culture Shock: What You Need to Succeed in International Business. London: N.P., 1999. Oberg, K. “Cultural Shock: Adjustment to New Cultural Environments.” Practical Anthropologist 1960, 175-182. Pedersen, P. The Five Stages of Culture Shock: Critical Incidents around the World. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995. Scupin, R. Cultural Anthropology: A Global Perspective. New York: Pearson, 2011.

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