Exploring the meaning of culture shock through the affective experiences of American teachers teaching in China.

摘要

Based on the premise that culture shock is largely an emotional matter occurring inevitably in the process of cross-cultural interaction and adjustment, this study explores the meaning of culture shock through the affective experiences of 15 American teachers teaching in China. The method of intensive interviewing was used to explore in depth the participants' emotional reactions to cultural differences and the strategies they learned and developed to balance their reactions as well as to deal with the differences. The participants were led to reconstruct their emotional experiences by means of "culture bump" analysis. The descriptions and interpretations of the culture bumps the participants encountered in their daily interactions with host members provided for the exploration of culture shock with maximal variations within a concrete context. A developmental process emerged through the participants' interpretations of culture bumps, which involved both the cognitive and affective processes of personal growth. During the two developmental processes, appropriate interaction strategies were learned and developed naturally to balance the initial emotional reactions or to accommodate the cultural differences. Drawing connections among the participants' reactions to various culture bumps and the process of cultural learning and personal growth, the conclusions explained in depth the meaning of culture shock as experienced by this group of American teachers whose purpose of sojourn was mainly to learn about another culture. This study implies that carefully using culture bump analysis in cross-cultural orientation and training can cover all aspects of modern orientation programs.