Acculturation Theory
Adaptive learners become
John H. Schumann
He is a Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics and
former chair of the Department of Applied Linguistics
and TESL at UCLA.
His research includes language acquisition, the
neurobiology of language, the neurobiology of learning,
and language evolution.
He designed the Acculturation Model in 1978
Acculturation Theory
It is an exchange of cultural features when two or more
different cultures comes in contact continuous contact.
It is sharing of the differences in cultures, this may alter
or change a culture but still remains distinct from each
other.
Acculturation
When individuals or groups of people transition from
living a lifestyle of their own culture to moving into a
lifestyle of another culture, they must acculturate, or
come to adapt the new culture's behaviors, values,
customs, and language. The word 'acculturation' is the
act of that transition.
Some learners make rapid progress in second language
learning while others with the same initial ability and
language
instruction make little progress in the same amount of
time.
Schumann hypothesized that this difference could be
accounted
for by the characteristics of the social and psychological
factors
that influence the acculturation process and second
language
learning.
Social Factors
Social Dominance- considers the degree of equality
(subordination or domination) between the host and
guest cultures.
The greater the social distance between two cultures,
the greater the difficlty the learner will have in learning
the second language
The smaller the social distance, the better will be the
language learning situation
Integration Pattern
-acquisition is obtained through assimilation,
preservation, and adaptation.
Assimilative learners give up native language values and
lifestyles. Preservative learners keep native language
values and lifestyles.
bicultural and switch depending on the group.
Enclosure
degree of sharing cultural construction (school, church,
clubs, facilities, trades, profession, etc.)
the population of the learner group
Social Distance is more likely greater when the learner
group is big
Social Distance is reduced when the learner group is
smaller
High Enclosure-The two groups have their own social
constructs making the acquisition of the second
Low Enclosure-The two groups share the social
constructs, therefore, making the acquisition of the
second language easier
Cohesive-a strong intragroup contact in the native
language community with few contacts outside the
community impacts language learning. If the second
language learning group is firm or cohesive the
members tend to separate itself to the target language
group.
Size-size of the native language community may impact
L2 learning. A large population of the second-Language
learning group then it makes language acquisition more
difficult. Conflicts may emerge between
Cultural Congruence -similarity and harmony between
the cultures impact second language learning. If the two
groups are similar then second-language acquisition is
easier for the language-learning group to grasp the
target language.
Attitude-feelings of the reference groups toward each
other impact learning
If the Target Group and the Language-Learning group
have positive attitudes towards each other, there would
be less barriers between the two groups from learning
the target language.
Intended Length of Residency- -length of time a learner
plans to stay in the country and the permanency of
residency in the country impact motivation to learn a
new language.
If the Second-Language Learning group intends to stay
in the target language are for a longer time, it is likely
for them to learn the language intensively.
Psychological Factors
Language Shock -the degree to which speaking the new
language makes the learner feel foolish or comical
Feeling silly about trying to learn the language equates
to less likely to learn.
Culture Shock - -the extent to which the learner feels
disoriented and uncomfortable with extended residence
in a new culture
Being anxious or disoriented in the culture equates to
less likely to learn.
Motivation -the degree and type of desire experienced
by the learner to acquire the language
Level of motivation affects learning
Motivation involves the second language learner’s
reason to comprehend
Instrumental Motivation- The secondlanguage learner is
learning the language because he/ she needs/ is
required to learn it.
Integrative Motivation- The secondlanguage learner is
learning the language in order to meet with, talk to,
learn from or find out about the target language. It is
usually borne out of admiration for the target language.
Ego Permeability
-the ability of the learner to accept a new identity
associated with the belonging to a new speech
community
The degree to which second language learners consider
their native tongue to be inflexible and fixed will affect
how quickly they pick up the new language.
Criticisms on Acculturation Model
Kelley (1982) and Stauble (1981)
did not find any relationship between acculturation and
proficiency.
Schumann did not include important personal factors
such as age, family
separation, previous educational experiences, or the
traumatic experiences of
the learner. These additional stress factors determine
how well a learner
performs in a new social/school environment.
Mondy(2007) argues that cultural aspects are quite
often, not so readily identifiable, and that individuals
may succeed in SLA despite the social conditions.
Moreover, according to Mondy (2007), there are some
learners that
will be determined to succeed, irrespective of any of the
conditions that present
themselves, and those learners that will not be
successful, regardless of
favorable social circumstances. This implies that
individual learner differences,
such as learning style and affective state are more
distinguishable as attributing
factors to SLA, then the social conditions (Mondy,
2007).
Ellis(2008) received was that social factors are assumed
to have a direct impact on SLA while they are more
likely to have an indirect one
acculturation model fails to explain how the social
factors influence the quality
of contact the learners experience (Ellis, 2008).
Therefore, some people caution
against placing social factors so clearly in the forefront
as a separate entity.
According to Freeman & Long (1991), Schumann did not
specify the combinations and levels of
social and psychological factors to predict learner’s
language outcome.
Acculturation model also does not explain how social
and psychological factors affect the rate of
acquisition. This model does not give statement for the
change of the social or psychological
distance over time.
• Does not explain learners current social and
psychological distance and how it collarets to the
learner’s proficiency, while learning a L2.
• Does not show how social and psychological factors
vary from individual to individual.
Strengths of Acculturation Model
Stern (1983) believes this model has given
a “better insight into language learning, designing
research studies, and diagnoses
individual patterns of language learning.”
Spolsky (1988) believes that successful language
teaching requires not only the ability to
impart grammatical knowledge but also sensitivity to
the social realities faced by
students.
As a result, integrating cultural education to promote
learners' cultural tolerance, cultural literacy, and
understanding of native culture becomes a concern not
only for L2 teachers but also for syllabus designers and
legislators. Adopting a context-sensitive approach may
result in increased levels of willingness and motivation
among L2 learners.
Acculturation model is a conceptual framework that
permits the interpretation and understanding of success
or failure in SLA in various contact situations.