Mini research proposal
Running head: INTERCULTURAL CLASSROOM INTERACTION
INTERCULTURAL CLASSROOM INTERACTION 2
Intercultural Classroom Interaction: Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Abstract
Intercultural communication is an important issue for the world today. It even occurs in the classroom. Are students in the classroom motivated to reduce uncertainty? Do Korean students at CSULB feel uncertainty and/or anxiety in the classroom? How do they manage these feelings? International students (students studying in a country other than their homeland) may feel more uncertainty in the classroom. This uncertainty may take form in “lack of participation” or silence, which is seen negatively in Western culture. However, this may be due to the differences in culture. High-context culture (Asia) rely heavily on nonverbal cues and take in the overall context of a situation to interpret interactions. Low-context culture (Western cultures) rely on verbal communication and direct conversations. Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) explains how people communicate when placed in new environments or situations and the strategies used to overcome these feelings.
Keywords: Intercultural communication, Uncertainty Reduction Theory, Anxiety-Uncertainty reduction Theory, High-context culture, Low-context culture
Intercultural Classroom Interaction: Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Have you ever lived or studied in another country where you did not speak or barely understood the language? The language is different; the environment is new, making the uncertainty and anxiety you feel increase. Uncertainty Reduction Theory created by Charles Berger attempts to explain how individuals communicate when placed in new environments (Littlejohn & Foss, 2009, para. 1). Uncertainty Reduction Theory explains how individuals have a difficult time predicting their own behavior and the behaviors of others in situations and/or environments that are unfamiliar to them. According to Littlejohn and Foss,
The theory identifies two types of uncertainty that are prominent in social situations. Cognitive uncertainty arises when individuals are unsure about their own beliefs or the beliefs of others. Behavioral uncertainty occurs when people are unsure about their own actions or the actions of others. In sum, uncertainty exists when individuals lack information about their surroundings. (2009, para. 2)
Are people motivated to reduce uncertainty? According to Littlejohn and Foss (2009), there are three conditions that motivate individuals to reduce uncertainty: incentives, deviation, and anticipation of future interaction. People are more curious about those that show respect, loyalty and/or are a source of social support. People are also more curious about those that are not predictable. Lastly, if continuous contact with each other is in your future, then individuals will try to reduce their uncertainty of the other person.
Potential topics
International students studying abroad in a country different from their homeland may experience uncertainty and anxiety in the classroom. According to Neuliep, “Anxiety affects the way people feel about interacting with someone else, and includes a sense of uneasiness, apprehensiveness, worrying, etc. Uncertainty and anxiety are related such that as uncertainty increases, people experience anxiety” (Neuliep, 2012, p. 3 para. 3). Do international students (Korean students at CSULB) experience uncertainty in the classroom? Is their “lack of participation” or their decision to not speak in class due to uncertainty? To explain this possible topic further; is the silence from international students come from uncertainty/anxiety that the student feels? Some students might feel anxious or uncertain about course concepts, whether it is acceptable for them to voice their opinions. This topic would focus on the international students and the uncertainty they might feel during course sessions.
Another possible topic that could be discussed is intercultural interaction in the classroom. This could be between students (international and national students); however, this could as include instructors (teachers/professor and international students). Is there uncertainty involved in these situations? What strategies are used to reduce their uncertainty? This research study would focus on everyone in the classroom (students [national and international] and instructors/professors). During intercultural interactions everyone in the classroom could feel uncertainty/anxiety. How do national students interact with international students? Do the parties from either side feel uncertainty while interacting with the other? Professors may also have a difficult time interacting with international students. Professors may not know the best method of teaching international students or how to properly speak with these students. In these cases, is there uncertainty felt? What methods do the students and professor use to reduce their anxiety and uncertainty?
Competing Theory
A competing theory for these topics could be the Anxiety-Uncertainty Management Theory (AUMT). According to Neuliep, “during initial intracultural and initial intercultural encounters, the primary motive is to reduce uncertainty. Once a certain amount of uncertainty has been reduced, interactants then move to manage uncertainty within boundaries” (2012, p. 3 para 1). There are different thresholds for AUMT. The upper threshold is where individuals feel unconfident and might decide to avoid communication; while in the lower threshold individuals do not feel motivated to communicate to others. The desire to communicate is highest when a person’s uncertainty and anxiety is in the middle of the two thresholds. AUTM also takes culture into account. Uncertainty and anxiety might arise when a person from a high context culture and low context culture interact with each other. If interaction with individuals from an opposite context culture has been liminal, then uncertainty and anxiety while interacting might be higher than normal. This can explain the silence from International students in the classroom. Cultural difference must be taken into account. Their silence might be due to a reason of culture and not anxiety or uncertainty.
Research Question
The proposed research topic for this paper is the uncertainty/anxiety that international (Korean) students at CSUSB might feel while taking courses, specifically while in the classroom during course lessons. The research question would be:
RQ1: Does the uncertainty/anxiety international (Korean) students at CSUSB feel while taking courses lead to silence?
RQ2: Does the uncertainty/anxiety that international (Korean) students feel in the classroom at CSUSB come from cultural difference and/or language barriers?
RQ3: How do international (Korean) students at CSUSB reduce their uncertainty/anxiety in the classroom?
These research questions are important because today’s society is a global community, meaning that individuals around the world are continuously interacting and communicating with people
from different cultures. These research questions would help Westerners better understand the actions of international students, specifically Korean students. These research questions are also relevant to the theory explained earlier in the paper because we are asking if these students feel uncertainty. If they do feel uncertainty/anxiety, does it come from language or culture differences, which can cause difficulties in predictions of the environment/situation. Also, the theory mentions motivations to reduce uncertainty, which would tie into what methods do international students use to reduce their uncertainty at CSULB.
Core Concepts
There might be a few core concepts that individuals may not be informed about. Let us define some key concepts so no confusion will occur later. First, according to Kramer, Meisenbach and Hansen,
Uncertainty is particularly high as individuals join organizations, when it is comparable to meeting strangers in social settings, uncertainty exists throughout the process as individuals manage different types of uncertainty as they negotiate their roles. They must manage task uncertainty of what to do, role uncertainty on how to perform their roles, and relationship uncertainty of how to relate to others, including the uncertainty created when others join or leave the organization (2013, p. 3 para. 3).
This definition of how we are going to use uncertainty is not about students, but it can relate to students in a classroom. School is another type of organization. This definition demonstrates that uncertainty can be felt through tasks, performance and interacting with others. Second, anxiety in communication is seen as communication apprehension. According to Hanley White, Howard, Zhong, Soto, Perez, Lee, and Minnick communication apprehension is defined as, “communication-bound anxiety as ‘communication apprehension,’ referring to an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons,” (2015, p. 3 para 2). Third, silence is defined as, “a global refraining from speaking, a lack of communication contact with others. There are two types: intentional and unintentional,” (Choi, 2015, p. 3). Silence can occur due to language barriers. Language barriers are when individuals from different cultures are unable to communicate with each other due to the lack of a common language. Language barriers (lack of knowing the language, heavy accents, etc.) can cause issues for international students. According to Park, Klieve, Tsurutani, and Harte, “Many studies have found that accentedness itself can result in the students’ academic performance and social networks being adversely affected,” (2017, p. 2, para. 2). However, silence can also come from cultural differences. Cultural differences are apparent in what cultures believe to be true, good, efficient, dress wear, etc.
Hypothesis
Based off the research questions and previous research, a couple hypothesis can be predicted.
H1: The higher the uncertainty/anxiety levels international (Korean) students at CSULB feel, the greater the silence they exhibit in the classroom.
H3: With motivation, international (Korean) students at CSULB can reduce their uncertainty/anxiety levels while inside the classroom.
Method
The method that would be used for this paper would be the survey design. At first, I was considering using the interview/focus group design, but there are a limited number of people outside of the international students at CSULB the know how to speak Korean. This would make it difficult to find a proficient mediator because the mediator would not be able to properly communicate with the international students. The second-best option to use would be the survey design because researchers would still be able to ask international students about the uncertainty they feel inside the classroom while using the students’ native language. Surveys are composed of a series of questions to collect information on a specific topic. According to Alwin and Beattie while creating a survey, the creator is supposed to keep this KISS principle in mind. The KISS principle is defined as,
The KISS principle (in which KISS is an acronym for “keep it simple, stupid”) emphasizes simplicity of design. Other variants of this principle can be found in the vernacular of the day: “keep it short and simple” and “keep it short and sweet,” and we are sure there are others. The key goal of the KISS principle is that unnecessary redundancy and complexity should be avoided, and the achievement of perfection depends on parsimony (Alwin & Beattie, 2016, p. 123 [3 of 32]).
Basically, surveys need to be kept simple and short because if it is too complicated the public would have difficulties understanding the questions and if it is too long individuals can lose focus, especially if the questions are complicated.
Surveys use multiple types of questions. Nominal-level questions ask whether the participant is male or female, their religion, etc. ordinal-level questions ask about income and education level. Interval-level questions use a Likert scale, which asks participants if they: strongly disagree, disagree, somewhat agree and somewhat disagree, agree or strongly agree. Surveys also ask open-ended questions where the participant can supply their own answer. Lun, Fischer and Ward (2010) wrote a research paper that used questions that seemed like they were apart of a survey and/or interview,
The scale was constructed using a 7-point format with higher score indicating higher level of dialectical self-concept. Sample items included “When I hear two sides of an argument, I often agree with both”, “I often find that my beliefs and attitudes will change under different contexts”. The participants were asked to rate their proficiency in English on a 7-point scale on “How proficient are you in reading in English” and “How proficient are you in writing in English” (Lun, Fischer & Ward, 2010, p. 607 [4 of 13]).
It seemed like these questions could be used on surveys using semantic differential scales. Semantic differential scales measure individual’s thoughts, feelings or perceptions. The scale use number values. In this case, 7 would be common/happens all the time and 1 would be not common/never happens.
There can be advantages and disadvantages to using the survey design method for this research paper. Advantages would include: 1) cost and 2) convenience. Surveys use little to no money. It is up to the researcher to add the incentive of paying students for their time. Also, surveys are a form of convenience because they can be emailed to students, which can lead to more international students receiving the survey. Disadvantages would be: 1) inflexibility, 2) validness, and 3) possible participant confusion. Surveys are inflexible because the questions cannot be altered after the participants had received it. Also, researchers do not know the whether the answers are valid. Participants could lie during the survey, marking answers they believe the research wants to hear. Lastly, surveys can also lead to the confusion of participants, especially to international students whose native language is not English. In an attempt to reduce confusion, the questions can be asked in English and their native language (Korean). For this research paper, possible survey questions can include:
Are you male or female? (여성이 신가요? 남성이 신가요)
What is your education level? Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior (당신의 교육
수준은 무엇입니까? 일 학년, 이 학년, 삼 학년, 사 학년)
Do you feel uncertainty or anxiety in the classroom? Yes or No (당신은 수업안에서
불확실함이나 걱정을 느낍니까? 예, 아니요)
Does your level of English proficiency contribute to your uncertainty in the classroom?
Yes or no (당신의 능숙한 영어 수준이 수업안에서 불확실성을 느끼는데
영향을 줍니까? 예, 아니요)
Do cultural differences contribute to the level of uncertainty you feel in the classroom?
Yes or no (문화적 차이가 교실에서 느끼는 불확실성의 수준에 기여합니까? 네, 아니)
Do language barriers contribute to the level of uncertainty you feel in the classroom?
Yes or no (언어 장벽이 교실에서 느끼는 불확실성의 수준에 기여합니까?
네, 아니)
Are there any methods you use to reduce the uncertainty you feel in the classroom?
Please list those methods
(교실에서 느끼는 불확실성을 줄일 수 있는 방법이 있습니까? 그 방법들을 적어주세요.)
To reduce uncertainty in answering the questions, the survey was translated into Korean. It is benefitable to use the participants native language to connect with them and to reduce confusion.
Conclusion
While using the Uncertainty Reduction Theory researchers would be able to determine whether international (Korean) students at CSULB feel uncertainty inside the classroom during course lessons. Since there is a limited number of individuals (outside of the international students) that are fluent in Korean the best method to use to carry out the research would be the survey design instead of the interview/focus group method. With the survey design method, researchers would be able to determine whether international (Korean) students feel uncertainty in the classroom, the cause of this uncertainty and any methods the students use to reduce their uncertainty. With time, the survey could be conducted on other campuses to obtain more concise results.
Reference
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