Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2002
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
EdD
College
College of Education and Human Services
Department
Learning Sciences and Human Development
Committee Chair
John G. Wells.
Abstract
Culture shock is a serious problem for spouses of international students. This recollection study looked at use of telephone, web phone, email, chat, and online newspapers as predictors for culture shock. Fifteen spouses of international students at a mid-Atlantic university were interviewed with the same rated questions asking them to recall how they felt: When they first arrived in the United States, during their first six months here, during their second six months here, during their third six months here, and at the time of the interview. For the same time periods, they were also asked how many times a week they used telephone, web phone, email, chat, and online newspapers from back home. In addition, three open-ended questions were asked for each time period to provide explanations of the quantitative data.;Analyses of variance were conducted to determine whether participants' feelings related to culture shock (loneliness and isolation, missing family and people of national origin, not belonging here, sadness because ways of doing things here are not familiar) changed over time. Tukey tests were then used to determine where the significant changes occurred. Pearson Correlations and Chi-squares were computed to determine relationships between the modes of electronic communication and feelings related to culture shock. Multiple stepwise regressions were conducted to determine if any of the communication modes was a predictor for culture shock.;Data were reported in tables and figures. Feelings related to culture shock did improve over time. There were significant findings for phone, web phone, chat, and email. Recommendations included orienting new students and their spouses to electronic communication modes available, providing access to electronic communication for spouses, and providing a web board with information for spouses of international students. Suggestions for further research included a controlled study with spouses using various modes of communication, comparison of levels of culture shock among various groups---sex, age, country of origin, for example---and an investigation as to why usage of various modes of electronic communication decreased.
Recommended Citation
Bennett, Diana, "Effects of electronic communication on culture shock of spouses of international students" (2002). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 2408.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/2408