Mass media's role in acculturation of Taiwanese adult English learners

Mass Media Facilitates Acculturation of Taiwanese Adult English Learners

The central purpose of this review of the literature is to provide an overview of a sample of the most pertinent studies relating to the topic under discussion. The articles have been selected to provide cogent insight into the issue of acculturation in the context of the demographic group under discussion. While the focus in these articles is on the theme of media acculturation, care was taken to ensure that the relevance of other influencing factors in the process of acculturation were also included. Another issue that was investigated in the literature was the process of acculturation in terms of the unique perceptions among different groups and individuals. Specific types of media and their influence and role in acculturation were also researched.

General views and theories on Acculturation

The interaction between media and acculturation is addressed in an article entitled A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Children's Television Use by Zohoori (1988). This article explores the issue of media exposure, particularly television, with regard to foreign children residing in the United States. The article takes account of various theories of acculturation in this study and finds that this demographic, "…. used television more for learning purposes, were relatively more interested in television programs, spent more time watching television, identified more frequently with television characters, and expressed stronger beliefs in the social reality portrayed by television (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105).

These findings are important in terms of the deeper understanding of the way that acculturation affects the non-English language learner. The term acculturation refers to the process of absorbing and imbibing the culture to which the individual is exposed. More specifically, Zahoori ( 1988) refers to acculturation as a "… process by which individuals from different cultures come into continuous firsthand contact with each other and, as a result, alter their original cultural patterns" (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105).

The author clearly states the central theoretical premise underlying the connection between acculturation and the media.

One salient need of immigrants is to adapt to the host culture…Such adaptation requires communication skills to establish meaningful social interaction with the inhabitants of the new culture and to acquire information about norms and behavioral patterns of the host culture. The mass media are major components of communication for adaptation and main sources of information about the host culture. (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105)

As the article indicates, foreign children tend to spend more time watching television and identify with characters and stereotypes more strongly than their American counterparts. This implies that there is a greater degree of involvement with the media in this demographic. This is supported by the finding that there was a tendency and need to be more emotionally and intellectually involved in the social reality that was shown on the television.

What the above clearly implies is that greater involvement in the social and cultural mores and norms via the media can be translated into a more intense degree of acculturation. As the author states, …the acculturation function of the mass media may be significant during the social isolation stage. Newcomers might depend heavily on the media of their host culture (particularly television due to its accessibility and comprehensibility) for information about language, norms, behaviors, and expectations associated with life in the host country. (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105)

A very important aspect of this study was that differences in background and cultural origins lead to significant differences in viewing motivation, as well as in aspects such as program preference, exposure time and the degree to which identification with television characters occurs. In other words, the way that television is used by foreign viewers was found to be different when compared to American viewers; for example the emphasis on the informative and educative aspects among foreign viewers (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105).

This is also an aspect that relates to the view that acculturation via the media is unique with regard to different cultural backgrounds and not simply as matter of copying or imbibing the media. Rather, it was found that cultural norms and views determined the way in which the media and television were imbibed and functionally used by the foreign viewer.

The author goes on to suggest the following hypothesis. In a comparison with American viewers, foreign viewers will "… use U.S. television more as a source of information about and interaction with others and as a means of diversion from social isolation" (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105). They will also tend to "…believe in the reality of television characters and events" (Zohoori A. 1988, p.105). While this hypothesis was only partially verified, what was conclusively shown however was that foreign children tended to make use of television for education and instructional purposes than their counterparts and "The results also suggest that the cultivation effects of television should be stronger among children with shorter periods of residency in the U.S. than among those with longer periods" (Zohoori A. 1988, p.111).

The methodology used in this study was fairly comprehensive and used a select sample base to extract data via interviews and questionnaires. However, one criticism of the methodology is that the sample size precludes to a certain extent any definitive interpretations of the data. In other words, it was not large enough to include various permutations and variables that might apply. Nevertheless it does provide a very useful insight into the acculturation process and the uniqueness of acculturation. The author also notes certain limitations to the study that should be taken into account. These include "…rapid changes in children's perceptual abilities, lack of stability in their response patterns, and children's language limitations" which can have an effect on results (Zohoori A. 1988, p.112).

An article that provides in-depth analysis of the acculturation process among immigrants is A Causal Model of Communications Patterns of Foreign Immigration in the Process of Acculturation by Kim (1976). This study refers to the theoretical stance which asserts that "…the use of American mass media is positively related to the immigrant's acculturation" (Kim, 1976, p.2). However, one of the central problems in this research is that there has not, in the view of the author of this study, been enough investigation of the communication aspects of acculturation.

While there have been some studies undertaken on the variances in patterns of communication among groups and demographics, the findings are "…limited to the descriptions of the overt communications behaviors" (Kim, 1976, p.2). This excludes question such as the reasons why individuals display different degrees of participation in the communications channels of the host society and "…how such participation affects the general acculturation process," especially in a cognitive sense. (Kim, 1976, p.2). These have not been extensively investigated.

Taking the above paucities into account, the article develops a causal theory of acculturation that includes the following questions.

1. Why do certain immigrants interact with members of the host society to a greater extent than others?

2. Why do certain immigrants use the host mass media to a greater extent than others?

This is related to two more questions and variables, including; why do certain immigrants perceive the host society more accurately and realistically than others? (Kim, 1976, p.4).

An important theoretical dimension to this research is the issue of perceptual change as a result of the process of acculturation. This has particular bearing on the topic of the present study as it provides insight into the way that acculturation functions and how it can alter perceptual qualities in the individual. In this regard acculturation is defined as "…a matter of range of presentation and/or perceptual reality" (Kim, 1976, p.5). This also refers to the way that the immigrant will move from generalizations and stereotypes in a new culture to the recognition of more complex and intricate perceptual realities of his or her new environment. As proposition two of the study states, 'The more an immigrant uses mass media of the host society, the more complex will be his perception of the host society" (Kim, 1976, p.5). This insight can also be applied to the present inquiry in that the acculturation process in second-language learners shows the same process of perceptual change; and this in turn also raises the issue of uniqueness in acculturation.

One of the central conclusions of this study was that, among others, mass media availability is major determinants of intercultural communication behavior. Extremely important in the context of the present study was the finding that media consumption does not fully explain the differential levels of perceptual complexity in acculturation. Furthermore, the uniqueness of the individual's acculturation process as a result of exposure to media, among others, is supported by the finding that individual complexity in the process of acculturation is dependent on various developmental conditions, which include but are not limited to exposure to the media.

An article by Ryu ( 1977) entitled, Some Characteristics of Korean Immigrants In the Los Angeles Area: Initial Perceptions and Mass Media Perceptions also underlines the importance of the media, especially television, in the acculturation process.

In terms of demographics the survey in this study made use of questionnaires in two languages. The variables were in some instances, however, a bit too general and limited -- for example, in terms of social activity assessment both external and internal factors were measured, but this was too general to bring about any truly definitive results. The measurement of acculturation was also felt to be too general and did not include enough criteria and variables to be very effective. Nevertheless, the results of this survey in terms of the findings of the relationship between the media and acculturation were significant and noteworthy. It is also noteworthy that the measurement fro acculturation and the use of media was comprehensive and included a wide range of aspects, including exposure and media-related needs.

One of the significant findings from this survey was that the level of social knowledge was relatively low. The means score out a possible 10 ten points was 4.99 (Ryu, 1977, p. 9). Females were found to be generally lower than males in terms of cultural knowledge. Another finding that affects acculturation rates was that the results showed poor levels of relationships with American people. Less than three percent of respondents visited American people. This is also supported by the finding that there was a general ambivalence in terms of acculturation among the respondents. "…31.2 to 57.8% of expressed a neutral position" (Ryu, 1977, p. 9).

The above findings therefore place a great degree of onus on the media as an important part of the acculturation process. The study found that, " Most of the respondents indicated that they watched television when they had spare time" (Ryu, 1977, p. 14) It was also found that the media was used for information, education and entertainment (Ryu, 1977, p. 15). Television was found to be the most effective of the media in the needs list. In this regard one of the central conclusions of the study was that "…the mass media like television and newspapers serve surrogate function where immigrants tend to avoid direct contact with American people and culture" (Ryu, 1977, p. 16). Significantly, the study ends with a suggestion that there should be further research into the relationship between the media and the perception of the host people and environment.

An article that deals with the various media effects on both ethnic identity and acculturation is Media Effects on Ethnic Identity Among Linguistic Majorities

and Minorities (2005). This is a useful study in terms of some of the central findings that it makes. The research deals with media effects in the acculturation process. In terms of methodology the study make use of a longitudinal design. The respondents were from minority and majority groups who attended a bilingual university.

A fundamental issue that is addressed in the study is the view that "…the kind of information received from the media has implications for how we view our own culture, as well as other cultures" (Clement R. et al. 2005, p. 399). The study also notes that there is paucity in research into the effects of long-term intercultural media usage on group identification (Clement R. et al. 2005, p. 399).

The complex interaction between acculturation, ethnic and social polarity and confluence, and language, are explored on this study. The results of the study provide some interesting and valuable views and data. A central finding was that the minority Francophile students were not affected in terms of their ethnic identity by the predominantly English media exposure. An interesting result that affects the present study is that, while books and television were found to play a significant role in the acculturation process of foreign students, radio and music media were not seen to play the same role. This is a facet of this subject that can be compared to the study of music and acculturation that will be explored in the next section of this literary review.

One conclusion from the findings is that the media is responsible for both cultural and ethnic assimilation and polarity. More importantly in terms of the present study, it was found that media exposure and usage over time showed that the media, by influencing identity profiles and language confidence, "…promotes societal level changes in the ethnic composition of the population" (Clement R. et al. 2005, p. 418).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the above review of the literature opens up a wide array of views and findings relating to the issue of acculturation. These findings all have a bearing on the issue at stake in the present study. While there are many divergent views on this subject, the overall consensus in most of the studies is that there is, in the first instance, a clear relationship between exposure to the media and acculturation among foreign and second language learners.

However, this relationship between media and acculturation is extremely complex. As has been discussed above, different media types can have very different effects and influences on second-language learners. Music for example is seen in many studies to have less of an acculturation effect than television. Coupled with this is the view evident in many of the articles discussed above that language and cultural assimilation is not a matter of simply representing or copying that which has been experienced in the media. Different cultures and individuals react in different ways to media stimulus and exposure. Therefore, a central facet of this study of acculturation should be that the process of acculturation is unique in terms of the response of different cultural and ethnic groups and cannot be seen to be uniform across all cultured.