Study on Adaptation to the Korean Culture of International...
Transcript of Study on Adaptation to the Korean Culture of International...
Study on Adaptation to the Korean Culture of
International Students from Mongolia
Su-Jeong Han1, Kyung-Hoon Han2
1 16995 Dept. Westminster Graduate School of Theology,
Jukjeon Dongbaek, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Corresponding Author: [email protected]
2 446-701 Dept. Kyunghee University Global Campus,
Seocheon-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Abstract. The research targeted 108 male and female students in the Korean
language course of the education institutes and graduate school courses of the
universities in the capital area of South Korea. The data analysis included
frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, correlation analysis, hierarchical
regression analysis using the SPSS program. According to the research, First,
This research showed a higher adaptation of the international students from
Mongolia with close Korean friends to the Korean culture. Second, The
international students from Mongolia had higher adaptation to the Korean
culture was indicated when the students from Mongolia had close Korean
friends and lower stress of cultural adaptation. Third, The international students
from Mongolia had higher adaptation to the Korean culture as the stress of
cultural adaptation is lower when they had close Korean friends, and the
moderating effect from the social support in the relationship between the stress
of cultural adaptation and adaptation to the Korean culture had statistically
significant impacts.
Keywords: Students from Mongolia, stress of cultural adaptation, social
support, adaptation to the Korean culture, hierarchical regression analysis
1 Introduction
The international students may face conflicts with or confusion over cultural
adaptation to the new environment due to the difference in customs, values and native
cultures between their mother countries and Korea. They also may have difficulties
adapting to the Korean life because of language barrier, discrimination, sense of
alienation, financial burden, academic and interpersonal difficulties. Tenacity that may
show up in the process of adaptation to the mainstream culture is the factor to
overcome the stress so that strong will and effort of the individuals are important [1].
Sandhu and Asrabadi [2] categorized the stress of cultural adaptation into 7 sub-
factors of perceived discrimination, fear, homesickness, perceived hatred, culture
shock, sense of guilt and others (distrust, sense of inferiority, social isolation and
communication issue) by the psychological attributes, and argued that discrimination
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has worse impacts on health than normal stress since it is basically insulting and
personal [3].
In addition, since social support helps the individuals maintain their health and
welfare and improve adaptability to the everyday events [4], it is necessary to figure
out the internal factors and characteristics of the individuals and establish a smooth
social network to respect personality of the international students and reduce their
experiences of discrimination. Under the stressful situation, social support helps the
foreign students to cope with and adapt to the situation; reduces the possibility of
stress in their daily life and contributes to psychological stabilization [5]. An
advanced research on satisfaction for life of the multicultural families [6] explained
that people are more satisfied for their life as they have friendly family relations and
receive more social supports from surrounding people.
Therefore, this study intends to identify the aspect of cultural adaptation of the
increasing number of students from Mongolia to the Korean society. Based on the
information, this study aims to understand the students from Mongolia and find out
their difficulties and problem-solving experiences as they adapt to the life in Korea.
2 Method
2.1 Research Design
This research explored the impacts of the individual background characteristics and
the stress of cultural adaptation of the international students from Mongolia living in
Korea on their adaptation to the Korean culture, and the effects of the factors focusing
on the moderating effect from the social support of the relationship between the stress
of cultural adaptation and adaptation to the Korean culture.
2.2 Research Subject
It targeted 160 students from Mongolia, who are studying in the Korean language
course of the language education institutes and graduate school courses of the
universities in Capital area, and selected 108 male and female students as the final
research.
2.3 Research Tools
The research used the restructured standard of the stress of cultural adaptation with 33
questions in 6 sub-factors by Kim [7], and reversely coded all negative sentences. The
reliability coefficient of the total questions of .946, which was regarded as satisfactory
in this research. It used 12 questions in 4 sub-factors used by Kim [7] and Gao [8], as
the standard of social support. The reliability coefficient of the total questions of .920,
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which was regarded as appropriate in this research. It used 20 questions used by
Sainjargal[9] on adaptation to the Korean culture and reversely operated the questions
with negative sentences. The reliability coefficient of the total questions of .794,
which was mostly appropriate in this research.
2.4 Data Analysis Method
The research conducted the collected data analysis of frequency analysis, descriptive
statistics, t-test, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis using the
SPSS program and suggested the values.
3 Research Findings
The frequency of the characteristics of the general background of the research
subjects are presented as follows: Among 108 male and female students from
Mongolia, the number of female students was 75, accounting for the highest
proportion of 69.4%, in terms of gender, and the number of the students aged 20-29
was 65, making up the highest proportion of 60.2%, in terms of age. In terms of
academic background, the number of the students graduated from four-year-course
colleges was 50, accounting for 46.3%, and the number of the students with monthly
income under 1 million won was 71, making up 65.7%. The number of the Buddhists
was 50, taking up the highest proportion of 46.3%, followed by 20 Christians, who
accounted for 18.5%, in terms of religion. In terms of whether to have close Korean
friends, the number of the students without close Korean friends was 72, accounting
for 66.7%, which was higher than 36 students with close Korea friends, who
accounted for 33.3%. The number of the students who can read and speak Korean a
little bit was 68, accounting for 63.0%, in terms of the Korean language skill.
As Tolerance was over .1 at .21-.89 and the VIF value was not over 10 at 1.12-4.74, it
was identified that there were no problems with multicollinearity. The correlation
analysis between the measured variables in this research identified that there is a
significant positive relationship between the stress of cultural adaptation, social
support and Korean cultural adaptation at the level of p<.01. There was a significant
difference in adaptation to the Korean culture with average 3.42 of 36 students who
answered ‘yes’ to the question on having close Korean friends, which was higher than
average 3.01 of 72 students who said ‘no’ to the question on having close Korean
friends (t=4.23, p<.001), indicating that the students from Mongolia had higher
adaptation to the Korean culture when they had close Korean friends. The following is a result of the analysis on influence of the stress of cultural
adaptation on adaptation to the Korean culture. As a result of the analysis, the
significance of Model 1 was appropriate at the level of F=3.813, p<.01 and the
explanation on adaptation to the Korean culture was 18.5% as R2=.185. Among the
demographic background characteristics, the variable of having close Korean friends
was significant at the level of p<.001 as t=3.867, among adaptation to the Korean
culture. In addition, Model 2 analyzed the impacts on adaptation to the Korean culture
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by additionally putting in the variable of the stress of cultural adaptation to the
regression equation. The Model 2 had an appropriate significance at the level of
F=5.703, p<.001 and explanation on adaptation to the Korean culture of 28.5% as
R2=.285. The variable of having close Korean friends was significant at the level of
p<.01 as t=3.464 in adaptation to the Korean culture and the variable of the stress of
cultural adaptation was significant at the level of p<.001 as t=3.753.
The next is the result of the hierarchical regression analysis to identify the
moderating effect from the social support in the relationship of influence of the stress
of cultural adaptation on adaptation to the Korean culture. Model 3 used the variable
of the interaction between the stress of cultural adaptation and social support to
identify the moderating effect from social support. As a result of the analysis, the
significance of Model 3 was appropriate at the level of F=5.013, p<.001 and
explanation on adaptation of the Korean culture was 31.5% as R2=0.315. In terms of
adaptation to the Korean culture, the variable of having close Korean friends was
significant at the level of t=3.429, p<.01 for adaptation to the Korean culture, while
the variable of the stress of cultural adaptation appeared significantly at the level of
t=2.517, p<.05. In addition, the variable of interaction between the stress of cultural
adaptation and social support appeared statistically significant in adaptation to the
Korean culture, having a positive moderating effect at the level of t=2.061, p<.05.
4 Conclusion
This research aimed to identify the impacts of the individual background
characteristics and the stress of cultural adaptation of the students from Mongolia
living in Korea on adaptation to the Korean culture, and analyze the moderating effect
from the social support in the relationship between the variables of the stress of
cultural adaptation and adaptation to the Korean culture.
As a result of the analysis, First, This research showed a higher adaptation of the
students from Mongolia with close Korean friends to the Korean culture. Therefore,
the relevant educational institutes should provide language clubs and learning activity
support programs besides the regular language and degree courses to maintain their
smooth relationship and communication.
Second, the international students from Mongolia had higher adaptation to the
Korean culture was indicated when the students from Mongolia had close Korean
friends and lower stress of cultural adaptation. Therefore, the teachers and academic
managers of the educational institutes need to implement counseling with continued
attention, provide the opportunities and environments of regular meetings including
study and friendly cultural activities with Korean friends and run and manage the
activities.
Third, the international students from Mongolia had higher adaptation to the Korean
culture as the stress of cultural adaptation is lower when they had close Korean
friends, and the moderating effect from the social support in the relationship between
the stress of cultural adaptation and adaptation to the Korean culture had statistically
significant impacts. Therefore, various integrated level of multicultural education
should be researched in a direct connection with the religious and civic group,
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educational and social welfare institutes and delivered and expanded to the Mongolian
students
It is necessary to conduct additional researches by expanding the subjects and
regions with differences in adaptation to the Korean culture depending on the
residential area of the international students from Mongolia, since the research
subjects were collected through convenience sampling mainly in Seoul and Gyeonggi
Province.
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