Elisabeth L. ChanTESOL 2013 Dallas, TX

Linguistic and Cultural Discrimination of

International Students: Working Towards

Harmony

Agenda

• Motivation• Definitions

Background

• 2008• 2013

Studies

• Discussion & Implications• Limitations & Future Research

Results

Acculturative Stress

“Sources of acculturative stress often include • English language difficulties, • academic struggles, • cultural adaptation, • problematic perfectionism, • lack of social supports, • homesickness, • and perceived discrimination”

(Tung, 2011)

“Perceived discrimination is a unique source of stress that is different from general stress”

(Harrell, 2000; Meyer, 2003; as cited in Wei et

al., 2008)

Effects on Success

(Grant & Zwier, 2011)

Socially-constructed categories of

difference(such as gender, race, ability)

MERIT

students’ experiences, outcomes for success, and future life opportunities

Student Retention

• “The most important influence leading a student to recommend the host university to others was the perception of receiving fair and equal treatment.” (Lee, 2010)

“Compared with U.S. counterparts, international students are at greater risk of perceiving or

experiencing discrimination” (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007)

Define: Linguicism

“ideologies, structures and practices which are used to legitimate, effectuate, and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources (both material and immaterial) between groups which are defined on the basis of language”

(Phillipson, 1992; as cited in Bleichenbacher, 2012)

particular language

varieties and accents, speech dysfluency, and

nonstandard grammar

Linguicism

(Clement & Gardner, 2001, and Lippi-Green, 1996; as cited in Ng, 2007)

indicators of low intelligence

relational disharmony

and social unacceptability

Define: Neo-racism

“Rationalizes the subordination of people of color on the basis of culture, which is of course acquired through acculturation within an ethnic group, while traditional racism rationalizes it fundamentally in terms of biology. Neo-racism is still racism in that it functions to maintain racial hierarchies of oppression.”

(Spears, 1999; as cited in Lee & Rice, 2007)

2008 STUDY

2008 Study

• 5 participants• 4 males, 1 female• Ages 18 - 32• Japanese• International students at a mid-south university • Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Ph.D. students• Biology, Sports Management, Business, Music• Studied in the US for 1 – 3 years

2008 Study

56%36%

3% 3%

Student Enrollment byEthnicity

WhiteBlackForeignAsianHispanicUnknownAmerican IndianAlaskan

20,214 Total Students

Mid-south cityPopulation 676,646:

Black 62.2%White 31.7%Hispanic 5%

Asian 1.7%Mix 1.2%

American Indian 0.2%Other 2.7%

Pacific Islander 0.1%

Primary Questions 2008

BEFORE STUDYING IN THE U.S.1. What did they know or were they worried about

racism?

WHILE STUDYING IN THE U.S.2. What racism had they experienced or seen?3. How were they treated differently based on language

and culture?4. What were their perceptions of Americans’ opinions

about their language and culture?

The majority worried, while others did not know of racism or

thought it no longer existed in the U.S.

Prior to Studying Abroad“I was not aware of racial discrimination because I thought it turned into a thing of the past. I did not clearly understand what it is like, especially because there was no such thing in Japan.” [S2]

“I didn’t really worry… we learned that the US is based on equality and I thought the racial issues were already past histories… Additionally, American TV programs… give us impression that people are equal.” [S1]

100% of participants experienced some form of discrimination based

on race or language.

Experiencing Discrimination“…when I went to the gym to play basketball, black people did not like to play with me. I thought they rejected me because I was Asian.” [S4]

“I felt [discrimination]… in the first semester as a graduate student when a white professor treated me wrong like I was a baby… maybe because I was Asian and could not speak English well.” [S2]

“people treat me better than before because I speak English and know how to act right. So people might have treated me differently not because of my race, but because of my English.” [S1]

All reported that Americans knew very little or nothing about their culture.

What Americans (Don’t) Know

“most people in [mid-south city] really don’t know Japanese cultures and language” [S1]

“[people] think Chinese, Korean, and Japanese are all the same and understand Chinese and Korean culture as Japanese culture.” [S3]

2013 STUDY

2013 Study

• 56 participants• 24 males, 32 females• Ages 17-30+• African, Asian, Middle Eastern, European, Central &

South American, Caribbean• International students at a southern university • 18 Bachelor’s, 17 Master’s, and 21 Ph.D. students• 40 different majors: arts, sciences, business, etc.• Studied in the US for 1 – 11 years (exc. 21 years)

Student Enrollment Southern University: Ethnicity

55%

16%

13%

8%6%

1% 1%White

Hispanic

African-American

Non-resident Alien

Asian/Pacific Islander

American Indian

Other

35,778 Students Total

Southern cityPopulation 707,304:

White 81.0%Hispanic 18.7%

Black 8.9%Asian/Pacific 6.9%

Mix 2.3%American Indian 0.9%

Other 2.7%

Top 5

Top 5 Countries

% of Int’l Pop.

Top 5 Participants

% of Participants

China 11.2% India 14%India 8.9% China 11%Korea 5.8% Mexico 9%Saudi Arabia 4.6% Taiwan 5%Nepal 3.5% Malaysia 5%

3020 Students Total 56 Participants

Primary Questions 2013

BEFORE COMING TO THE U.S.• What perceptions of racism and America did students

have?WHILE STUDYING IN THE U.S.• What types of differential treatment (positive or

negative) do students encounter because of racial, linguistic, and/or cultural differences?

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE• What can we learn from these encounters to improve

students’ experiences?

THEMES

1

•Significant change in students’ perceptions of Americans’ knowledge and opinions of their countries

2

•Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and awareness of discrimination

3

•Challenges to students’ acceptance & intelligence

4

•On campus discrimination

11%

66%

13%4% 7%

Before coming to the U.S. I thought Amer-icans…

Know nothing/little

Have a negative view

Have a positive view

Have a positive & nega-tive view

Other/unclear

1What Americans Know About Your Country,

Language, and Culture

“I thought that they feel contempt to people from my country. It made feel fear, because I would have

to study with them.” (Mexican Male)

“I thought that they think Arabs are terrorist and very conservative. I was afraid that I not gonna be

accepted by [this] culture.” (Saudi female)

166% of students believed that Americans had a

negative view of their country, language, and/or culture

“[Ghana is] just one of the poor countries in Africa” (Ghanian Male)

“I thought Americans would say that we ride elephants to go to school, and do farming all day

long” (Malian female)

“we… never take shower, we are very selfish… and disapprove war… Indeed, I came to the US with particular thoughts about

the American way of life.” (French Female)

“people think we are still poor” (Korean female)

1What Americans Know About Your Country,

Language, and Culture

How did their perceptions change?

BEFORE STUDYING IN THE U.S.How many?

No Change

Mind Changed

How did it change?

0 - + +/- ?

Americans know nothing/little about my country 6 0 6 3 2 1

Americans have a negative view 37 10 27 7 8 9 3Americans have a positive view 7 2 5 4 1Americans have positive & negative views 2 1 1 1

Other/unclear 4 1 3 1 2TOTAL 56 14 42 8 1 13 15 5

75% of participants changed their views on

Americans’ knowledge of their country, language, and culture once they

began studying in America

21 (50%) added a positive view

7 (17%) added a negative view

8 (19%) now think

Americans know nothing or very little

1

“People seem to be very polite and to follow all the "politically correctness" that the

system forces them to follow.” (Greek female)

“after I came, I feel that Americans are very sensitive about racism than I thought

before.” (Turkish female)

Americans have a "dark ages" impression of my country… Their thoughts on my language and culture showed how ignorant and uneducated they mostly were. People thought my language and

culture was barbaric and restrictive. (Nigerian female)

How did their perceptions change?1

19%

30%26%

16%

9%

International students…

Knew nothing/little of racismKnew some, didn't affectKnew some, affectedThought racism no longer existsOther/Unclear

2Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and

awareness of discrimination

“I obtain the information about racism in America from media that showed everything is "peace". However, some of my friends who

had ever studied in U.S. told me that this is not true.” (Taiwanese male)

“I knew about the whole history of slavery and racism in the U.S. but thought that things had completely

turned around. So, I was excited. It wasn't until I got my visa that a consulate officer told me that things

were still not 100% perfect in Mississippi, where I was headed and I freaked out a little.” (Cameroonian

female)

2Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and

awareness of discrimination

235% of students had no/little knowledge of

discrimination before studying abroad or believed it to be a thing of the past.

“I didn't know anything about racism in America. I was too young and naive.”

(Mexican male)

“It was before in the 19th Century but it has been removed after 1960. Eradication of racism makes

comfortable for us to study in peace environment.” (Nepalese male)

“I didn't know what level it could reach and most of all,i didn't know it was still present.”

(Italian female)

“[acts of discrimination are] often invisible to the casual

observer, and they are sometimes not even

articulated as forms of oppression” (Eriksen, 1992)

Those who reported not experiencing discrimination were unaware of racism or

knew little and did not worry about it prior to studying

abroad.

“One can be oppressed unknowingly but offense requires (logically or conceptually) the

awareness and acknowledgment of its victim” (Gay, 1998)

2Students’ lack of accurate knowledge and

awareness of discrimination

Looking at the NumbersDiscrimination By race By Language By Culture

YES 32 37 22

NO 18 10 18

Other 3 7 13

Did not answer 3 2 3

Race reported as racism

Linguicism reported as racism

Neo-racism reported as racism

Unclear

16 8 10 8

47% reported linguistic

and/or culturaldiscrimination as racism

2

Discrimination By race By Language By Culture

YES 32 37 22

NO 18 10 18

Other 3 7 13

Did not answer 3 2 3

NO RACISM NO RACE, LANGUAGE, CULTURE

LANGUAGE ONLY

CULTURE ONLY LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

18 4 5 2 7

14 (78%) experienced

differential treatment based on language

and/or culture

Only 4 (7%)reported

experiencing no differential

treatment

Looking at the Numbers2

Racism is used as an umbrella term for any type of discrimination2

“some fewer others took advantage of my initial inability of speaking and

understanding English well enough to make fun of me and my home country with stereotypical jokes.” (Italian female)

“I had a few guys who kept distant after learning I was gay. I have also

been asked about killing Jesus Christ. (I'm Jewish)” (Israeli male)

R

Challenges to Acceptance & Intelligence3

“But the rest are not that understanding at all and look at us when we are talking in our own language like we are so strange

and unacceptable.” (Iranian male)

“Every time I was placed in a group project, I always had to prove my intelligence to the other

Americans. Even as a graduate student. Many other international students or my friends had

the same experience.” (Barbadian female)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

% Reported Discrimination by Race

Racial Linguistic Cultural Any

Looking at the Numbers3

Non-white students were less accepted and faced more racial and overall discrimination3

“I have heard and witnessed many situations, which relate or somehow relate with the

racism matter. Most of them are about the black people, Hispanic, and Asians. But most

of cases are black people.” (Vietnamese female)

“Luckily for me I'm white (not meant in a racist way, but I think it makes life easier here), so people don't

really see I'm foreign and even when they know they don't really mind… Even though it's convenient for me I think it's bad for people I'm friends with.”

(Dutch male)

“Jokes about being asian.” (Thai female)

“Name callings, hiring process on campus, being scolded at the supermarket”

(Malaysian male)

“People calling me racist names a few times or people like me (from Hispanic/Latino

origin).” (Mexican female)

Non-acceptance by Race3

People would not talk to me as often as with other local people. They might not understand what I said

sometimes. (Hong Kongese male)

“I have experienced a hidden racism… they have shown intolerance to my difficulties with the language even when they knew that I was coming to study English.

(Chilean male)

“A few people sometimes ask very rudely for me to repeat what I say like I'm speaking some alien language. Others seem to like my accent… Either way, I feel like an animal on display”

(Cameroonian female)

Non-acceptance by Language3

“In Russia women are not very emancipated, it makes me look like immature and [dependent] person in the US. Some people like it and think that it is charming, other

think that it is ridiculous.” (Russian female)

“And they use to make fun of me because I use knife and fork to eat that. Sometimes one person or

another would talk about my clothes” (Brazilian female)

“People not wanting to shake your hand. People not wanting to sit next to you. And people condemning

our meals/foods.” (Nigerian female)

Non-acceptance by Culture3

“when… they know I am not an native speaker, they don’t take my talking seriously… they… think like "oh they

would not do anything good". They do not say that, but I am sensitive enough to understand. (Vietnamese female)

“I had a lady in the Student Accounting Department treat me like an idiot once I started talking and she

heard the accent. I was mad walked away…”(Barbadian female)

I've been treated as if I was mentally incapacitated, I was made fun of both in a bad and in a good way.

(Italian female)

Challenges to Intelligence3

When I go to the class, it is really hard… Especially the group discuss, the member might think I am an international

student so I might not have a great answer to contribute the assignment . (Taiwanese female)

In my English class we formed small groups to work… my group pretty much ignored me and any

comments I had to make. I could see they thought my input was valueless. (Mexican female)

“people [in class] show surprise at my knowledge and experience with technology because they did not expect that we have ‘such things’. Americans really think that life in my

country is like living in hell.” (Nigerian female)

On Campus Discrimination: Students4

“once (here, [Southern University]) a professor thought my Asian education didn't work with her taste.” (Taiwanese

female)

“Also, some people have been impolite when I have reached their office with an appointment: I was not invited to have a

sit, but I had to talk from the door.” (Chilean male)

I got all As with one C, then I don't need to explain why I got that C in that class. Racism is real…” (Chinese female)

Professors like those who talk fluently.... and they easily pass viva exams just because of that... But though we are good in

subject... we fail... This is not fair (Indian male)

On Campus Discrimination: Professors4

“I only had one bad experience that was when I got a job at school and the person… asked my boss: "are you sure you

want to hire an international student?". (Brazilian female)

I attended a university in Mississippi and I believe that I wasn't given an assistantship because of my

nationality. (Cameroonian female)

“…the racism which is here is mainly from the white Americans and I couldn't get a proper on campus job due to this. It's a cliched mind that they have got thinking we don't speak proper English and we are not so very good in getting

things done.” (Indian male)

On Campus Discrimination: Jobs4

Implications

• Unmet expectations = poorer adaptation and increased depression levels (Smith & Khawaja, 2011)

• Present realistic expectations regarding jobs (Khawaja & Stallman, 2011)

• “Stress the importance of appropriate preparation, both at the stages of pre-departure and on arrival” (Ramburuth & Tani, 2009)

Reform pre-orientation and cultural orientation

• Often don’t trust professional avenues or only in emergencies (Lee & Rice, 2007; Ly, 2008)

• Implement buddy programs tailored to specific cultural backgrounds, which won’t work unless ELLs are “considered active members of the classroom community” (Lee & Rice, 2007; Curran, 2003)

• Include “coping skills, aiding adjustment to USA culture, offering culturally sensitive counseling, addressing acculturative stressors, and normalising students’ experiences” (Smith & Khawaja, 2011)

Provide special designated support systems and student led systems

• Overemphasis on communicative competence causes a “lack of comprehension of language as a collection of meanings that plays an important role in how people interpret themselves and the world in which they live.” (Pennycook, 1990; as cited in Pessoa & Freitas, 2012)

• Don’t expect the students to “adapt” alone; faculty, staff, and students have to reflect and be aware (Lee, 2007)

• Target the fears that American students have and educate faculty in intercultural awareness” (Charles-Toussaint & Crowson, 2010; Hung & Hyun, 2010)

Educate faculty and staff on critical language teaching & intercultural communication

• Campus-organized diversity discussions, interact with… diverse cultural backgrounds, take courses with materials on race and ethnicity = greater levels of learning and development (Glass, 2012)

• Implement anti-racist pedagogy. Changes in attitudes, behaviors and achievement occur only when the entire school environment changes to demonstrate a multicultural atmosphere (Curran, 2003)

• Another study suggests that sharing counter narratives of strategies for navigating the educational system = educational success through the graduate level (Briscoe, 2003; as cited in Grant & Zwier, 2011)

Incorporate diversity and intercultural issues into curriculum

Limitations

Number of Participants

Follow-up Needed

Proportion of Country

Participation

Summary

Majority Experience

Discrimination

A Lack of Knowledge and

AwarenessPerceived Negative

Perceptions Change

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Contact Info: References & Handout available at:ElisabethLChan@gmail.com http://www.slideshare.net/ElisabethChanUniversity of Hawai’i at Manoa – Second Language Studies DepartmentUniversity of North Texas – UNT-International

That not all states are equally progressive when it comes to matters of race. I

would have liked to know this before

applying to schools

US is good, US is fun, but US can

also be very lonely. And I mean very,

very lonely.

I should have known that all the opportunities on

campus are given to Americans and there is no equal opportunity in

real. If I want some hands on experience by working

on campus it is very difficult.

I tried to read books about US culture before coming here, but to be

honest, I couldn't understand it until I

experienced it. I wish I just didn't take a lot of

things too personal.

I am poor. I didn't realize it would be so

expensive to live here. And professors are

generally not nice and the system is not as

flawless as we seem to think it would be.

I would like to have known that I can apply General Academic Scholarships immediately after I am

accepted… but I have not reached the US, yet.

Consequently, I would like to have been oriented to know how to get… a scholarship to

my first semester.

I would like to have orientation from Chilean

people that know the Chilean educational system

and that can provide accurate information to apply. Actually, I want to help to create something

like that here before I graduate from my MBA.

Either [Americans] have to adapt to it or I have to adapt to their likings, after all, this

is not my country. I understand a lot of

international students have trouble of surviving in

America because they are reluctant to change.

I wish I had applied for scholarships before coming here. But the experiences

made me grow up, hardened my heart a little, and gave

me more confidence in myself and to be proud of my

country. I do not regret coming here. It was a hard and lonely road for 8 years.

Since I am already here, so I would like to say to the future

comers that "improving your

English is very very important".

Thank you for this chance to share my own thoughts!!!!