Acculturation

Acculturation

• Proposed by John Schumann

Schumann defined Acculturation as:

• An exchange of cultural features when two or more cultures comes in continuous contact.

• In addition, H. Douglas Brown defined acculturation as:

‘the process of becoming adapted to a new culture’

• The idea of Acculturation model was made when Schumann was studying six (6) non-English learners where one named Alberto, unlike the other five (5), had minimal progress in the acquisition process of English

• As Alberto’s lack of progress denied any satisfactory explanation in terms of cognitive development or age, Schumann prompted to attribute Alberto’s failure to his limited contact with native English speakers; that is, the social and psychological distances of Alberto, inhibited his achieving sufficient proficiency over his target language.

The central premise of Acculturation Model is:

…second language acquisition is just one aspect of acculturation and the degree to which a learner acculturates to the target language group will control the degree to which he acquires the second language (Schumann, 1978a, p.34).

• Acculturation and SLA is determined by the degree of:– Social Distance– Psychological Distance

• Social distance is the result of a number of factors which affect the learner as a member of a social group in contact with the target language group.

• Psychological distance is the result of various affective factors which concern the learner as an individual.

The social factors are primary. The psychological factors come into play in cases where the social distance is indeterminant,(i.e. where social factors constitute neither a clearly positive nor a clearly negative influence on acculturation)

Factors that influences social distance

• Social Dominance – one group exerts power over another

• The more power one group has, the greater the social distance• Equal power diminishes social distance

• Integration – the level of integration between the two groups

• Less integration means greater social distance• More integration lesser social distance

• Enclosure – self sufficiency increases social distance

• Social distance increases when the learner doesn’t interact with the members of the target culture• Same case of Alberto in Schumann’s study

• Cohesiveness – tight-knit groups are more distant

• When learners are less united, less social distance• It means that when the learners are willing to socialize

and make friends with native speakers

• Size – states that:

• Bigger group of learners, there is a greater chance of social distance• Smaller group of learners are less likely to experience

social distance

• Cultural Congruence – distance is dependent on cultural differences.– Less Social Distance

– More Social Distance

• Attitude (can also be psychological)

• Negative Attitude – more social distance• Positive Attitude – less social distance

• Length of stay

• Short time – more distant• Longer time – less distant

THE GREATER THE SOCIAL DISTANCE, THE HARDER FOR A PERSON TO ACQUIRE A LANGUAGE

Factors that can influence Psychological Distance

• Motivation- involves the second language learner’s reason to comprehend– Instrumental Motivation – needs to learn the

language because it is required– Integrative Motivation – to find more about the

language and you admire the language

• Higher motivation, less Psychological Distance

• Attitude

• If you hate the language, the greater your psychological distance is

• Culture Shock – increases distance

But there are disadvantages:

• Conflict between cultures can result in fighting and segregation

• A native may lost much of their culture and identity as a result of acculturation

Conclusion

• Schumann’s theory does not help teachers plan instruction. Rather, it points out social and psychological aspects we should acknowledge.

• In teaching, we should create a classroom that builds positive social relationships. We can encourage bilingualism and biculturalism.

Example situation:

Rikki has just moved to USA from the Philippines. She expects to stay in the US for a long time and she loves the English language and she is also very excited to learn the language and culture there.

Evaluating the situation• Rikki is motivated• Rikki has a positive attitude of the language• Rikki stays there for a long time– She is very excited to learn the language and

culture there.– She admires the language– She stays longer, so she has the luxury of time to

learn the language.– The social and psychological distance is lesser

So Rikki can learn the language easily

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acculturation_Model

• http://www.slideshare.net/megancas/acculturation-27851166

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES1DQ_j6BQM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A49MVuuBK-Y

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K99hLxNvDrY