8.2 What is Acculturation数字时代的商务英语写作.pdf

Intercultural Adaptation 8.2 What is Acculturation Hi, there ! Welcome back to our course! In today’s section, I would like to talk about acculturation. When people from one culture enter a new culture, they are faced with a different set of values, different behavioral patterns, and a different verbal and nonverbal communication system. In most cases, they are affected by the new surroundings. They get to learn and adopt the norms and values of the new culture. They must find a new source of livelihood and build a new life. This adaptation to the new host culture is called acculturation. It describes what happens when people from one culture enter a different culture. And there are different levels of acculturation based on two independent dimensions. The first dimension concerns one’s adoption or rejection of the host culture. The second dimension concerns the retention or rejection of one’s home culture. Along these two dimensions, acculturation can be categorized into four degrees: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization. Assimilation is a process in which individuals are absorbed into the dominant culture, adopting the cultural norms of the host culture over their original culture. In this case, individuals lose their original cultural identity as they acquire a new identity in the host culture. During the process of assimilation, they not only adopt the language of the host culture but also adapt to the customs and attitude, the basic rules and norms of the host culture. There is an ongoing effort to approach the dominant culture while discontinuing the values, beliefs, and behavior patterns associated with their native culture. Different from assimilation, which usually leads to the loss of in