Kristin Dowrey
Gary Bleedorn II

Introduction
/ What is Culture shock?
/ Why is it a problem for educators?
/ 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
High Anxiety
Low Motivation
Low Self-confidence
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

Cultural Awareness of
Communication
Everything that occurs with in school involves
communication
Communication through oral and written symbols
Communication through non verbal symbols

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
Don’t give up on a student

Bibliography
Berry, J W. (1970) Marginality, stress and ethnic identification in an acculturated
aboriginal community. Journal of cross Cultural Psychology, 1. 239-252
DeCapua, Andrea and Wintergerst Ann. 2004 Crossing Cultures in the Language
Classroom. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press,.
Furnham, Adrian and Bochner, Stephen.(1986) Culture Shock: Psychological reactions to
Unfamiliar Environments University Press Cambridge London, New York
Guanipa, Carmen. "CULTURE SHOCK". Dept. of Counseling and School Psychology.
11/24/2008 <http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/cGuanipa/cultshok.htm>.
Lynch, Elanor and Hanson, Marci. Developing Cross-Cultural Competence. Baltimore:
Paul Brookes Publishing Co., 1998.
Lysgaard, S. (1955). Adjustment in a foreign society: Norwegian fullbrite grantees visiting
the united states. International Social Science Bulletin 7, 45-51.
The U-Curve of Adjustment. Retrieved November 29, 2008, from Culture Shock: 2 Web
site: http://www.international.umd.edu/studyabroad/990