We
make a grave mistake when we assume jumping into American culture is easy for
an immigrant or refugee. For many of us, this country is home and its cultures
are quite familiar. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard peers and
colleagues say in exasperation, “This is America! Why can’t they just speak
English?!” The truth is that unless we venture into a foreign culture and face
our own language barriers, it’s impossible for us to imagine migrants’
struggles with cultural adaptation.
The
Journal Star article about Suu Bweh
and her children brought to mind the concept of cultural adaptation, and more
specifically, the Transition model for adaptation. Martin and Nakayama define
cultural adaptation as a “process by which individuals learn the rules and
customs of new cultural contexts” (330). Adaptation may depend on how welcoming
the host environment is and what types of language barriers exist in the given culture. The
Transition model focuses on the fight or flight approaches taken in order to
adapt or resist change. Fight approaches are more aggressive toward cultural participation, while flight approaches are more hesitant or withdrawn (334).
Suu Bweh’s story shed light on one
family’s intense struggle to grasp English as a foreign language. English
competency affects the kids’ homework, communication with their parents, and
their overall ability to integrate Lincoln’s culture with their own
backgrounds. By partaking in extracurricular activities such as soccer, Suu
Bweh’s children are actively transitioning into the new culture. The transition
model posits “taking time out from the stresses of intercultural interaction
(by speaking [one’s] native language) may be appropriate” (Martin and Nakayama 334).
Similarly,
Idex Kusukika (Lincoln Journal Star)
and Moe Free (Net Nebraska) are
working to integrate their individual cultures with their new Lincoln
environment. Cultural adaptation is, by no means, a simple process for these
refugees, but it is a necessary component to successful life abroad.
As
students of intercultural communication, we understand exactly why ‘just
speaking English’ isn’t an easy answer for migrants. The interpretive approach
to intercultural communication maintains that cultural contexts influence our
communication (92). If communication itself is a problem because of a language
barrier, we ought to encourage members of the host community, Lincolnites, to
better embrace cultural differences so as to facilitate better communication.
Moe Free’s world, for instance, is rather isolated at the moment due to an inability
to speak English. To combat such communication struggles, we should continue to
promote education in foreign languages while embracing cultural diversity, which is a topic we discussed in the previous CAPS blog. Foreign language, for me, has provided an outlet to understand cultural differences and enjoy communication. Here's an awesome photo of my Spanish family and me. Without English as a reference language, we communicated solely through Spanish, which ultimately improved my language capacity monumentally.
The
video I’m attaching today is indirectly related to the topics above. I’m
advocating the persistence of language education, so I thought it’d be fun to
watch some public figures showing off their foreign language skills. The names
on the list might surprise you!
Works Cited:
Image: http://csmp.ucop.edu/files/sites/icons/17.jpg
NEBLINE. (2004, June). Lincoln's refugees. Lincoln, NE: Yelena Mitrofanova.
Myers, E. (2011, December 05). Lincoln community home for refugees from around the world. Retrieved from http://www.newsnetnebraska.org/
Stefankiewicz, R. (2012, May 13). Lincoln's refugee students find language barriers when doing homework. Retrieved from http://journalstar.com/
I completely agree with you that it is hard to understand why they can't speak English when you have only ever lived in Nebraska. However, it is hypocritical when many people expect that when they go to other countries they should be able to get by with only knowing English.
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