1. 1.5.2 Acculturation OBJECTIVES You will understand:
Different models of acculturation, including the cultural melting pot and the cultural mosaic.
You will be able to:
Integrate the knowledge of acculturation issues into your perspective on your profession and on your students’ language learning challenges.

2. 1.5.2 Acculturation ACCULTURATION
Second language learners, who live in a community whose members speak the target language as their native language and practice the corresponding customs, will likely ‘pick up’ some of the cultural customs or features of that group. The adoption of the customs and behaviours of the host society is called acculturation.
Acculturation is second culture learning (enculturation is the term used for first culture learning). It is important to note that acculturation is not synonymous with assimilation.
Acculturation refers to the changes and consequences for individuals when they live in another culture.

3. 1.5.2 Acculturation ACCULTURATION
Researchers have presented different models to aid in the understanding of the acculturation process. American Sociologist Milton Gordon’s Assimlilation Model describes seven “variables” or types of assimilation which provide us with an understanding of the extent to which groups of immigrants, refugees and newcomers adapt to the host society.

4. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Cultural or behavioural assimilation - “the adoption of cultural patterns characteristic of the ‘core group’.
Structural assimilation - entails entrance into certain social groups such as clubs and institutions.
Identificational assimilation - an individual takes his or her sense of identity or ‘peoplehood’ from the collective identity of the host society.
Marital assimilation, also known as amalgamation, which refers to intermarriage.
Attitude receptional assimilation - the absence of prejudice
Behaviour receptional assimilation - the absence of discrimination
Civic assimilation - the absence of value and power conflict between groups
According to Gordon’s theory, cultural/behavioural assimilation occurs first, followed by structural assimilation which is likely to induce the other forms of assimilation.

5. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Canadian Psychologist John Berry criticizes Gordon’s theory for being “unicultural” and for assuming a “linear process of assimilation” with the aim being the absorption of the various groups into the dominant group.
Berry, among others, provides a “multiple option” perspective which allows second language and culture learners to choose to what extent they want to maintain their heritage culture and assume their secondary one.

6. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Berry’s Cross-Cultural Model of Acculturation conceptualizes second language and culture learners’ attitudes about acculturation as being based upon how they answer two questions.
“Is it considered to be of value to maintain one’s identity and characteristics?” If a learner answers yes to this question, then they are likely to put effort into keeping their cultural identity, or what Berry terms cultural maintenance. If the learner takes this approach too strongly, they can end up segregated or marginalized in the new culture.
“Is it considered to be of value to maintain relationships with larger society?” If a learner answers yes to this question, then they are likely to put effort into participating in the new culture. The end result is that this learner is assimilated or integrated into the new culture.
Berry’s model is useful in assisting learners in identifying the strategy they are currently using and deciding if that is the strategy they want to continue with.

7. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Acculturation is a multifaceted area of study. Immigrants tend to maintain their first culture and language more so than their children. First generation children tend to be bi-cultural, employing one culture at school and with peers and another at home and with relations. Second generation children tend to be more of the dominant culture.
Some immigrants carve out a niche for themselves within the host society. They gather with others from their country of origin or with those who share a mother tongue. China town in Toronto is an example of this phenomenon, which may be viewed as a mode of acculturation.

8. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Stress is associated with the process of acculturation. Within the Canadian context, often the children or grandchildren of immigrants go to school in English or French but speak their family’s heritage language at home. They learn the customs of both cultures and sometimes feel conflicted between the pressures of family and friends or between family and other societal pulls such as the media or an employer. These children or adults may also feel conflicted in terms of identity. They may not feel that they fully belong to either culture.

9. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Berry contributes the term acculturative stress to the field of sociolinguistics. Acculturative stress refers to the different stresses that immigrants or refugees may encounter during their relocation process. This term also applies to Aboriginal groups and certain ethnic groups who experience stress within a society.
According to Berry, acculturative stress includes economic stresses such as difficulty finding a job and adequate housing, social stresses such as encountering negative attitudes toward a minority group and coping with a different value system, psychological stresses such as loneliness, depression and dealing with past or present trauma and even physical stresses such as being the victim of crime or physical attack.

10. 1.5.2 Acculturation
Culture shock is common experience for people who are learning a second language and living in a second culture. Of course, one can experience culture shock even if they speak the same language as the host culture, however, the shock in this case is not likely to be as severe.
Culture shock occurs in a variety of symptoms ranging from mild irritability to deep psychological issues including panic and crisis. A person who is experiencing culture shock may feel estranged, angry, hostile, indecisive, frustrated, sad, lonely, homesick, and could suffer from psychological illness. Often people who are experiencing culture shock feel a strong sense of resentment toward their new culture. They may also feel angry with other members of the society for not being able to understand them, as well as self-pity.

11. 1.5.2 Acculturation Complete Question 1 or 2 in the Task Journal.
Task Journals can be submitted via to (preferred) or printed and handed in.