Justin Côté

First thing first,

I need to choose a topic idea on which I will elaborate my project.

Social Interactions

To communicate with native individuals, learning the basics of the country’s main language may be indispensable. As many studies have revealed, social interactions are essential to cross-cultural experiences. As demonstrated by the answers I received from five interviews I undertook with young adults, knowledge of the English language can be sufficient to fly to a foreign country and to have an overview of the culture associated with it. However, from an English-speaker’s perspective, this experience will only offer a global picture of the lifestyle. No in-depth understanding of it will be achieved (Côté). As explained by Yasmina Defouf, a student from the faculty of science, travelling with the knowledge of English, the language of globalization[1], is possible. This tongue will often be comprehensible by the inhabitants. However, speaking the native tongue of the country would be essential to have a local-like experience. Ms. Defouf mentioned the example of a stopover she and her family made in Madrid, Spain, where the knowledge of English wasn’t sufficient to generate mighty interactions with residents. They needed to find their plane, and the only reason they were able to locate it was because someone travelling with her spoke Spanish. The information we can retain from this interview is that communicating in foreign countries is essential.

Another point of view regarding social interaction is shared by Catherine Gomes, an assistant professor in Media and Communication. This professional worker explained, through an article titled “Outside the Classroom: The Language of English and Its Impact on International Student Mental Wellbeing in Australia”, that cross-cultural experiences affect the well-being of international students. Even though many benefits can be extracted from these types of apprenticeship, immersion erodes some advantages because of the loneliness created within some foreigners:

This lack of sense of belonging can sometimes have more detrimental effects on the social and mental wellbeing of international students where students not only cut themselves off from local Australian communities but also from other international students resulting in loneliness and isolation precisely because they are transient transnationals. (Gomes, 936)

Admittedly, intercultural experiences are not without challenges. But it is by surpassing these obstacles that one will be immersed in the culture. Since most travellers connect to a society for a certain purpose, whether it is to learn its language, to visit its country, to study its lifestyle or to connect with the culture, these individuals will have to overcome the obstacle of loneliness in order to observe the power of immersion. In other words, loneliness will most probably occur at a certain moment during the trip. Although, one must eradicate this feeling by interacting with natives. It is by doing so that one will successfully complete an intercultural journey.

In addition, we must not ignore the significance of globalization[2] when it comes to immersion. As Ryuko Kubota, a writer interested in applied linguistics, explained in the first chapter of the book Globalization and Language Teaching; “Globalization implies local diversity influenced by human contact across cultural boundaries as well as speedy exchange of commodities and information.” (Kubota, 13). As elucidated by the previous citation, since globalization is a significant process, communication is the key to intercultural knowledge. A contact between the travellers and the inhabitants of a foreign country allows the spread of a culture and helps the expansion of globalization. While some people argue that interacting in the Lingua Franca is sufficient to understand a culture, it is not even close to being enough. Even though cultural immersion can be completed in various ways, this experience is always more successful when it is done in the language associated with the targeted society.

There are other theories about the importance of non-verbal language in immersion, including one that is particularly interesting, brought by Dalia Staponkuté, a researcher in the field of translation. Ms. Staponkuté believes the facial expressions and gestures of a person to be enough to create a well-built connection between two individuals who do not speak the same language (Staponkuté, 50). This hypothesis is undeniably true, although, it is not because communication is possible that the information will be understood by both parties of the conversation. Behaviours and mores differ from a society to another one, which makes the information shared open to interpretation. The finest communication will always be in a common language. This connection with inhabitants is created for various purposes, as to explore local areas and to explore the cities. Thus, in the case of an immersion, knowledge of the foreign country’s mother tongue is needed to truly connect with residents.

Adaptation to mores

Learning about the culture of a country helps travellers acquire knowledge about the behaviours to adopt, and the ones to avoid. This phenomenon is also referred to as the adaptation to mores. Charles B. Chang, the director of public relations in the department of linguistics at the university of Boston, demonstrates, through a text titled “Situated Learning – Foreign Sites as Learning Contexts”, that insight on a culture can be obtained with the acquisition of its official tongue:

Luo and Jamieson-Drake's (2015) study indicates that a practical context, such as a foreign context, can provide a valuable opportunity for individuals to learn a foreign language or reinforce foreign language skills, to gain exposure to and an understanding of a new culture, and to return with empirical knowledge, fresh insights, and perspective-taking skills that can hardly be obtained without leaving the campus and stepping out of the familiar environment and comfort zones. (Chang, 7)

The previous excerpt reveals the importance of the linguistic perspective on culture. Furthermore, this insight will help the traveller understand the mores, the norms, the sanctions, the beliefs and the values associated with this society. This outlook will also differ, according to the context of the intercultural experiment.

A professor of second language acquisition at the University of McGill, named Roy Lyster, demonstrates, within the first chapter of the book Studies in French Applied Linguistics, that the sphere in which a traveller completes his immersion has an influence on the vocabulary he will learn. For example, a person travelling to study the history of a certain culture will learn terms related to history, while a scholar participating in a student exchange will learn academic terms of the same language. Also, through this same chapter, the efficacity of immersion regarding language learning is clearly demonstrated. The author indicates that French immersion students develop high proficiency in this language, while non-immersion students studying French can discern slower results (Lyster, 6). The preceding case supports the idea that immersion assists a traveller in language learning. As I formerly explained, this assistance will vary accordingly to the context of the cross-cultural experiment. Thus, the appropriate and the inappropriate conducts will be determined by the specific type of immersion experienced.

As Tara Williams Fortunes, a professor in the subject of immersion, clarified through the text titled “What the Research says about Immersion”, adapting to the lifestyle of the foreign country is essential to understand its culture. An interesting example developed in Ms. Fortunes’ essay is the following: “Chinese teachers whose educational experiences took place in more traditional teacher-centered classrooms are aware of significant cultural differences and participant expectations.” (Fortune, 13). This citation elucidates that the more one’s learning environment corresponds to a specific culture, the more this person’s understanding of mores is elevated. Comprehending the right behaviours to adopt in a foreign country is important since, from the perspective of foreign cultures, many expressions and gestures that we commonly use can be seen as offensive. Also, some people believe that a simple outlook on a culture will immerse them, but in fact, it takes more than that. The interaction must be assisted by the intention to learn about the targeted culture, in order to prepare the submersion of the learner into this lifestyle. Thus, the right attitude will be maintained during the immersion and a deeper connection will be made between the traveller and the culture. Therefore, language learning is the key to the adaptation to mores.

Impact of Intercultural Communication on Adaptation to mores

Even if adaptation to mores is a subject on its own, social interactions have a significant impact on it. Indeed, when it comes to cultural immersion, one should connect both topics previously mentioned. Yuhan Deng, a professor of Chinese language, made a study about the impact of cross-cultural experiences on pre-service language teachers. The following extract is, in my opinion, a particularly interesting an important result of his experiment.

Chinese language learning plays a significant role in the participants’ reciprocal learning in China. Learning Chinese as a foreign language helps pre-service teachers develop their interpersonal skills […] It enhanced the participants’ intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, which allowed them to have deeper and more meaningful interactions with the local communities. (Deng, 38)

M. Deng observed that reciprocal learning was created when the Canadian and the Chinese students were interacting. The assembly of these people, from two different culture, instantly created a connection due to their interest into each other’s heritage. Also, as explained in Deng’s article, “A Narrative Inquiry of the Influence of Canadian Pre-Service Teachers’ Chinese Language Learning on Cross-Cultural Learning Through Reciprocal Learning”, social interactions are made when the desire of studying another lifestyle is present. It is through the article titled “Research and Studying Abroad: Research and Practice” that I could find the information that completes this argument. Both authors, Michael Byram and Anwei Feng, professors and researchers in the field of linguistic, argue that personal, intercultural and professional learning are improved through cross-cultural experiences. The authors mention that cultural immersion is often forgotten but that this type of activity will surely increase the educational experience on the culture and the language of the country (Byram, 1).

I believe that writing about immersion without referring to cultural interaction is almost impossible. Mary Hermes, a researcher in the field of psychology, developed an essay, titled “Ma’iingan Is Just a Misspelling of the Word Wolf’: A Case for Teaching Culture through Language”, that demonstrates the importance of language in learning about a culture. She doesn’t only mention the influence of language learning, but also refers to the power of communicating in this tongue. This author develops the idea that cross-cultural experiments should be further encouraged because of the benefits they offer. Studies made by Marinel Gerritsen, a professor in intercultural business communication, neglect the language aspect of immersion. Her opinion is opposed to that of Ms. Hermes, who considers that language is essential. “Language is the culture; there is no culture without the language because culture is living. The culture is not separate from language.” (Hermes, 50). On the other hand, Ms. Gerritsen managed to develop an entire article entitled “The role of culture in communication: How knowledge of differences in communication between cultures may be the key to intercultural communication”, which concerns the importance of cultural interaction, but doesn’t develop on any information regarding language. This author does not share the perspective of other researchers and linguists about the significance of language in culture. She believes this way of communicating to correspond to a symbol more than a component of culture (Gerritsen, 29). The right way of behaving, and the one to stay away from, is certainly known when a person is experiencing a culture and communicating with inhabitants. Although, this journey also takes into consideration the aspect of language, contrarily to what this professor explains.

We can also observe that the opposite theory is believed by Jonty Yamisha, the founder of a language learning application. M. Yamisha demonstrates that immersion is not a satisfactory way to learn a language. He argues that the culture shock experienced is substantial . He develops this thesis through some of his articles, including one entitled “Is Immersion Necessary for Language Learning?”. This language lover mentions that “It’s easy to get lost in the pictures of people adventuring to distant countries, ready to immerse themselves, but that’s often not an accurate picture of the experience” (Yamisha). In other words, this author argues that social interactions aren’t always as connected to culture as one would believe. According to his theory, many people will find themselves conversing with individuals to whom they can relate, instead of with habitants of a country. Travellers will often unite, and social as well as cultural interactions won’t be significant in the adjustment to the culture. Although, as the research of other linguists and professors have previously demonstrated, the best way to adapt to mores of foreign cultures is to create social exchange with the natives, conversing in their language. Many studies showed the vigorous correlation between both elements, the adaptation and the interaction. Therefore, cultural immersion needs a connection between the visitor and the natives to facilitate the adaptation to cultural behaviours and to avoid making cultural mistakes. A culture shock will probably occur, but it won’t keep the learner from adapting to this foreign culture.

Yuhan Deng is a professor who teaches Chinese language. He organized a student exchange between a University in China and one in Canada. This narrative, published by the University of Windsor, analyses the impact of this exchange on students. The author asserts that learning about and appreciating a culture helps humans improve their perceptions and attitudes towards other cultures. In other words, M. Deng's study found that pre-service teachers not only learned more about Chinese culture, but were also more receptive to other cultures in Canada. In his narrative, the author argues that having a cross-cultural experience allows us to have a better appreciation and to be fascinated by other cultures.

This source has mainly been created for educational purposes. It has been reviewed and published by the University of Windsor. He wants to share the results of his experiment to other pre-service teachers. He wants to promote reciprocal learning. This type of learning is present when two or more students help each other out. In this case, during the student exchange, the Canadian pre-service teachers learned about the Chinese culture with the help of local students. But, the local students also learned about the Canadian culture, thanks to the Canadians. This book is perfect for future teachers, since it recounts the impact of the exchange on their way of teaching. I agree with the author that cross-cultural experiences help pre-service teachers to be more receptive and to understand other cultures. However, I also believe that M. Deng neglects the importance of these types of experiences on the personal growth of humans, which is a concept that I'd like to develop through my essay.

The editor of this book is Dalila Ayoun, however, the chapter I’m interested in has been written by Roy Lyster. As a professor of Second language Education at McGill University, Roy Lyster studied the impact of immersion on language acquisition. He conducted research concerning the best way for a second language learner to acquire this new tongue. Through the first chapter, titled “Evolving perspectives on learning French as a second language through immersion”, Sir Lyster defines the terms related to immersion and articulates his own interpretation of immersion.

This source has been published by “John Benjamins Publishing”, which is an academic publisher in the fields of social sciences and humanities. This article is reliable because it has been reviewed by many professors who studied linguistics. These professors are from various universities throughout America, which improves the credibility of the information expressed. The chapter written by M. Lyster points out the importance immersion has on language learning. A study he made was conducted in the University of McGill, where he was able to perceive the prompt improvement in the French language that many students have made. Since McGill is a universal university situated in a French province, students who come from other language speaking countries often try to learn this language.