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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUP AS AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY Author(s): Tai Shick Kang Source: International Review of Modern Sociology, Vol. 2, No. 1 (MARCH, 1972), pp. 72-82 Published by: International Journals Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41420428 . Accessed: 23/09/2014 11:17

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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUPAS AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY*

Tai Shigk Kano State University of New Tork at Buffalo , U.S.A.

This study uses a sociological concept of ethnic community to analyze the social life of Chinese students at the University of Minnesota . These Chinese students are set apart in the host society by their physical characteristics , language , symbols and unique culture. They experience severe problems of making psychological and behavioral adjustments in the host society . The hypothesis is that Chinese students form a highly in-group oriented ethnic enclave to provide an array of institutionalized solutions to the common problems which face a plurality of aliens residing in a wider host community. Results of this survey of 118 randomly selected Chinese students at the University of Minnesota in 1967 indicated that the Chinese students formed their own associations , largely maintained primary relations among themselves , and sustained rather limited associations with the members of the host society. Further- more, , they mainly adhered to their own food habits , kept strong emotional ties with their homeland , and supported their own church. These students formed , in short , an ethnic enclave of their own and operated very much like a first generation immigrant group.

Several European studies

students have

adjust asserted

more easily that

Several European students adjust more easily

to . American life and have more extensive interactions with Americans than do non-European students. For example, Selltiz and others (1963) examin- ed social relations of foreign students on American campuses and found that students from European countries ex- perience less difficulty in adjusting to everyday life than non-European students. Fewer Europeans than non-Europeans had trouble in getting used to American food or to the pace of living; fewer hesi- tated to talk with Americans or felt that Americans sometimes misunderstood their actions ; a larger proportion of Europeans than non-Europeans reported that they had extensive interactions with the mem- bers of the host society.

Similar findings were reported in smaller scale studies that focused on students from a single country. Lysgaard (1954) and Sewell and Davidsen (1961) claimed that Scandinavian students had little difficulty in adjusting, while Lambert and Bressler (1956) and Bennett, Passin, and McKnight (1958) noticed consider-

* Appreciation is expressed to Professor Don Martindale for his continued guidance and sugges- tions.

able adjustment difficulty among students from India and Japan. In most of these studies, the researchers were mainly in- terested in examining relationships bet- ween length of stay and attitudes of foreign students toward the host society and their own countries, relationships between length of stay and development of social relations with the members of the host society, or social determinants of adjust- ment patterns of foreign students on American campuses.

From a sociological viewpoint, an in- teresting aspect of social life of foreign students on American campuses is the formation of strong in-group oriented ethnic communities among some foreign student groups, particularly among those from non-European countries. The phe- nomenon of student community formation and its characteristics has been a much neglected area of study of foreign students on American campuses.1

1 The community is defined here as a set of social groups sufficiently comprehensive to solve a plu- rality of individual major problems of collective life falling in the compass of a normal everyday social life. Any social interaction processes developing in this social unit tend to produce more intensive or more extensive attitudes and practices of inter- dependence, cooperation, collaboration and uni- fication. See, Lindeman (1934) and Martidnale (1960:131-133).

72

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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUP AS AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY 73

In a study based on interviews with 19 Indian students at the University of Pennsylvania, Lambert and Bressler (1956) observed that the Indian students established a subcultural group of their own on the university campus. Further- more, Lambert and Bressler suggested that the social life of an Indian student group has the characteristics of an ethnic community. Even here, their focus was not primarily on ethnic community aspects of social life of the students.

Our observation (Kang, 1967) of the social life of Chinese students at the University of Minnesota in 1967, revealed that the Chinese students established an ethnic subcultural group of their own on the campus. They had an extremely strong in-group oriented pattern of life among themselves. They formed a little ethnic enclave of their own and operated very much like a first generation immigrant group.

Noticing these intriguing characteris- tics, the present study mainly examines the phenomena of community formation among Chinese students at the University of Minnesota where they reproduced and transplanted a "Little China."

Unlike students from European coun- tries, Chinese students differ from Ameri- cans in their language culture and physical characteristics.2 These cultural differences and racial visibility pose severe problems of psychological and behavioral

* Students from southern or eastern Europe may well have language and cultural backgrounds that are different from the host society (America). However, the differences between the language and cultures of non-Europeans and those of the majority members of the host society are far more distinctive. Moreover, non-European students are more likely to be set apart from the host com- munity by their physical characteristics which, generally, evoke guarded reactions of social dis- tance from the majority members of the host society.

Aliens of distinctively different cultures and languages, frequently experience interaction con- fusion in their associations with the members of the host country. A typical reaction of aliens in an interaction confusion situaiton (or difficulty) is the formation of strong intra-group relations. See, Jacobson, Kumata, and Gullahorn (1960).

adjustments for Chinese students. They form a highly in-group oriented ethnic enclave to provide an array of institu- tionalized solutions for the common problems which many aliens residing within a wider host community must face.

Moving into a new, strange society often transforms the social situation of the aliens. This is a source of consider- able insecurity, for social situation of an individual furnishes and defines an estab- lished mode of interaction for that person and others. These people need a place to anchor their emotional attachments and to service the nerve-racking strain of adjustments in the majority community. The ethnic community provides a place where they can establish new primary relations, develop a sense of belonging, and cling to familiar traditional values and belief systems. These positive func- tions of the ethnic community create the motives for intragroup enclosure for the Chinese students.

To a Chinese student group with alien customs, habits, speech, ideas, and belief systems, the reaction of members of the host community is typically one of de- fense and exclusion.3 While members of the host community close off these aliens' access to cherished values of the host society, the aliens are received into the majority community because they possess valued talents, labor power, or knowledge.

An ethnic community emerges when a balance appears between inward en- closure of ethnic group (intragroup en-

3 On social distance measures, designed to in- dicate varying degrees of social acceptance, domin- ant respondents from America constantly have put the Chinese near the lower part of the list of ethnic groups. See Lee, (I960): 355-357) for a summary of the rank of the Chinese on various social distance tests.

For a discussion of the type and nature of exclu- sion and selective receptivity accorded to the Chinese by the members of the host society, see Marden and Meyer (1962: 178-179).

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74 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MODERN SOCIOLOGY

closure), and the forces of selective re- ceptivity in the host community.4

Method

The Sample A random sample of 170 students was

selected from 262 Chinese students regis- tered at the University of Minnesota for the fall of 1967. Of these 170 students, three students moved out of the univer- sity and four moved without leaving for- warding addresses either with the Foreign Student Advisors' Office or with the Chinese Student Association. Of 163 students eventually contacted, two did not keep the appointments which were made several times, and three refused to be included in the sample.

Contact was established with 158 stu- dents. A self-administered questionnaire survey was administered to them during the period of mid-October to the end of December 1967. By the first week of November, 82 students, or 52 per cent, of 158 students in the sample, returned their questionnaires. Three waves of follow-up letters were sent to non-res- pondents. By the fourth week of Decem- ber, 124 survey forms had been return- ed, of which six were hastily completed with too many vital items unanswered. These six were discarded. A total of 118 usable, completed questionnaires remain- ed. After repeated attempts to obtain appointments for interviews, six of 34 non-respondents were contacted for telephone interviews. The information on the selected demographic character- istic of these non-respondents was solicited. As far as could be deter- mined they did not differ in any syste- matic way from the respondents who completed the questionnaires.

4 A highly successful case of the inward-com- munity enclosure was examined by Weber (1952: 335-336) in his study of the Jewish community in the Babylonian exile. Martindale (1960:394-398) examines the function of forces of exclusion and selective receptivity in the formation of an ethnic community.

The Instrument The basic instrument of the study, a

self-administered questionnaire requiring about forty-five minutes to complete, was designed to elicit information about various phases of social life of the Chinese students such as basic demographic back- ground (age, education, sex, etc.), areas of difficulty in adjustment, patterns of interaction with members of in-group and out-group, attitudes toward the home country, accommodation to the value systems of the host society, source of income and employment, patterns of consumption, and participation in in- formal and formal organizations.

The questionnaire was designed in consultation with selected members of the Chinese student population. It was pre- tested and revised six times before the final forms was obtained.

Findings

Association with Other Chinese Students Most of the Chinese students at the

University resided within walking dist- ance of the campus. These houses were remodeled multiple dwelling units offering common kitchen privileges. Typically, several Chinese students lived together in the same house and took turns cooking Chinese meals. In several dwellings visited during the data gathering phase of the study, the entire house was occupied by Chinese students. Eighty-four per cent of the sample reported that they lived with other Chinese students. On the average, they had about three other house or roommates. Of those reporting house or roommates, two-thirds lived in places where the majority of students were Chinese.

Since the typical Chinese student lived in a rooming house or small apartment with several other students from China, he associated with fellow nationals for a major portion of his daily life. Chinese students tended to speak their own language with other Chinese students.

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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUP AS AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY 75

Table 1 - Nationalities of House-Mates

(In Percentage)

One-Third Chinese COMPOSITION OF Over Two-thirds One-half Chinese One-third Over Two-thirds NATIONALITIES: Chinese One-half American. American American

One- third Other Foreigner

60 6 6 28

Total . . 100 (N=118)

They cooked and shared their meals together. The following comment is typical :

On the average I speak Chinese more often than I do English.

In the morning I exchange greetings with my roommates in Chinese.

We usually leave the house together. More often than not, I have my lunch with other Chinese students in my de- partment. Over the dinner table, I and other house-mates share a Chinese meal that one of my house-mates cooked, and our conversations are in Chinese. If I go to see a movie, it is usually with one of my Chinese friends. Well, it is just like transplanting a small segment of my college life from back home.8

Another student reported: When I just came to the University,

I seldom spoke English. There were many days during which I spoke hardly a word of English. When I got here, I got into a rooming house where there were four other Chinese students. I was introduced to the university life through these fellow countrymen. My English was so bad that I used to get quite hesitant to speak to Americans.

An invasion-succession cycle operated in the residential aggregation of Chinese

6 Generally, roommates or house-mates were students from the same area of China so they conversed in their own dialects. Students from different areas of China communicated with each other in Mandarin.

students.6 Once a Chinese student moved to a rooming house near the campus, he was likely to help other Chinese students find vacant rooms when they became available. Since Chinese students had relatively closely knit channels of communication, information of room va- cancies was transmitted quickly to students of the in-group who needed rooms. If location, rent, or a variety of other faci- lities were favorable, other Chinese stu- dents would move into the house. When the majority of the occupants of the house became Chinese, non-Chinese stu- dents often quickly left. About a half dozen houses visited near the campus area had six to seven Chinese students living in them.

A study of foreign students in the United States by Selltiz and others (1963) revealed a significant relation- ship between living arrangement of foreign students and their social relations with Americans. A higher interaction potential of living arrangements of Asian students was related to more extensive social relations with Americans. The 4 'inter- action potential" of a living arrange- ment for a student was measured by the proportion of Americans living in the same house in relation to the total num-

• The process of intrusion of new types of land use or population is called invasion. When an invasion is completed and a new equilibrium is established, we say that a succession stage is culminated. See Hatt and Albert J. Reiss, Jr. (1959:225-226).

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76 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MODERN SOCIOLOGY

ber of people residing there. Significant differences were found among the inter- action scores of foreign students studying in three types of schools: small colleges in small towns, large colleges or univer- sities in non-metropolitan areas, and large universities in metropolitan areas. These three types of schools present distinctively different types of living arrangements for foreign students and different degrees of interaction potential with Americans. Small colleges in small local communities provide living arrangements for foreign students with high degrees of exposure to Americans ; large universities in metro- politan areas supply living arrangements to foreign students which present low interaction potential with Americans (Selltiz et al. y 1963: 60-122). The type of living arrangement in the Chinese student colony at the University studied here

is of the type least conducive to develop- ment of extensive social relations with Americans.

In naming five closest friends, about one quarter of the Chinese students re- ported that all five were Chinese. About two-thirds of the respondents had more Chinese than Americans as the five friends with whom they most frequently associated.

Characteristic in-group association pat- terns were demonstrated in the responses of Chinese students to the question about to whom they first would go for help in a situation where they needed $ 50.00 immediately. Three-fourths of the subjects indicated that they would go to their fellow Chinese students for the loan. Only five per cent named American friends and about one- tenth preferred commercial financing institutions.

Table 2 - The First Choice in asking for help in financial trouble

(In Percentage)

Fellow Foreign Bank or CHOICE Chinese Americans Student Loan Others

Advisors Companies

74 5 5 10 6

Total . . 100 (N = 118)

Primary group ties within the Chinese group were powerful. More active personal social interactions tended to take place within the group than with others. A small number of individuals restricted inter- personal relations almost completely to within the Chinese community; e.g., some of the older students and the elderly exchange-scholars from Taiwan. One res- pondent recounted a case of an elderly exchange professor :

Back home he is a professor at the Taiwan National University which is a first-rate university in Taiwan. As you know, the social prestige of a uni- versity professor in China is a highly

revered one. He came here as an exchange scholar. He sits in classes where some of his old students may be also enrolled. He finds it extremely difficult to follow lectures given in the classes. Being a revered professor, he finds it awkward to be returned to the status of a student. Besides, he finds himself incapable of communicating with others. When he cannot understand what people say to him, he is embarrassed. He weakly nods his head with a shy puzzled smile on his face. He dutifully goes to classes. He seldom talks to anybody in the class. He maintains a dignified distance from young Chinese students. He lives a

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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUP AS AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY 77

life of a hermit in a small rooming house.

The exclusive intensive interaction with others from one's own country has a dual effect on the Chinese student. It gives him a sense of security by providing a setting in which he feels at home. He does not have to worry about possible mis- understanding of his behavior or what he says. However, this impedes adjustment to the host society by reducing the pres- sure to come to terms with new situations. A force of intra-community enclosure is at work here, permitting the individual to live in the world without being an integral part of it.

Association with Members of the Host Society Close patterns of association with

Americans were limited. In addition to their living arrangements which were not conducive to developing social rela- tions with Americans, several other basic situations impeded such interaction. Des- pite the fact that these students had on the average at least six years of formal education in English, for many the Eng- lish language posed a serious problem. About two-thirds of the respondents re- vealed hesitation to talk to Americans for fear of not being understood or being misunderstood.

Table 3 - Hesitancy to talk to Americans for the fear OF NOT BEING UNDERSTOOD

(In Percentage) Once

FREQUENCIES: Never Seldom in a Sometimes Often While

17 20 15 24 24

Total . . 100 (N = 118)

Selltiz and others' (1963:249) study of foreign students in the United States indicated that students' self-evaluation of their own English proficiency rather than their actual English proficiency affected their willingness to associate with Americans. One respondent's ex- perience in his early student days explains this point quite well :

It used to be a real problem for me to communicate with Americans. It was difficult for them to understand me and I* had great trouble understanding them. It was embarrassing to ask them again and again to repeat what they have just said. So I tried to avoid meeting Americans. The strain of communication problems was such that I often went to the other side of the street if I saw an American friend of mine was walking toward me, in order to avoid the embarrassment of con- versing with him.

Mastering verbal and written English is a major obstacle for Chinese students. In addition, they must learn non-verbal symbols of the host society. The Chinese student, accustomed to formality and to shading both his language and his be- havior to suit his status relative to that of the person he is addressing, is likely to have much difficulty in identifying and carrying out behavior appropriate to social situations in the United States. Correspondingly, an American is likely to experience difficulty in mastering the appropriate forms of social behavior in the Chinese society. For example, while the Chinese may be bewildered or offended by the American's informality, the American is likely to be embarrassed by what he considers the excessive polite- ness of the Chinese. Consequently, Chinese students did not readily enter into social exchange with Americans and Americans found difficulty in develop-

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78 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MODERN SOCIOLOGY

ing close interpersonal relations with Chinese.

The interaction potential with Americans, available through extra-curri- cular activities, for these students was low. Few belonged to non-Chinese organiz- ations. They observed their own church services. Extra-Chinese social life and campus activities were regarded by them as being of minor importance in univer- sity life. When asked what they thought was the most important function of a college education, four-fifths of the students said the stimulation of new ideas was the most important; the remaining fifth re- garded preparation for making a living as the primary function of a college. None mentioned campus activities and social life as an important part of campus life.

Selltiz (1963:101) revealed that gra- duate students scored lower in the inter- action index than undergraduate students. Maturity, specialized interests, and serious- ness were mentioned as possible reasons for graduate students' lack of extensive interactions. About 85 per cent, of the respondents of the present study had their bachelor degrees, and they were working for their graduate degrees. They revealed patterns similar to those of Selltiz's study.

Thus, these students were living in living arrangements which were least conducive for developing relations with Americans. They attributed little significance to social life and campus activities, and had difficulties in communicating with Ameri- cans. The social relations they developed with the members of the host society were rather limited. In answer to the questions about kinds of things they did with Americans, the students indicated the limited extent of their interactions with members of the host society. About one- half never visited rooms or homes of Americans and two- thirds seldom ex- changed visits with Americans. Even in courses shared with American students

almost everyday, ten per cent of the respondents never talked about their courses with American students in the course.

An attempt was made to measure the amount of socialization of Chinese students into the culture of equivalent strata of the host society. We assumed that the college educated Americans were generally familiar with the following magazines : Time , Harpers , The Saturday Review , Atlantic Monthly , and The New Yorker . The Chinese students were asked whether they were familiar with those magazines. All were familiar with Time , which provides world- wide coverage of current affairs on many topics; the reports in Time are often quoted in Chinese newspapers and ma- gazines. Moreover, as many other students from developing areas, Chinese students are highly sensitive to current international affairs - particularly current affairs re- lated to their homeland. Since these stu- dents had little interest in local affairs of the host society, Time was an ideal media to keep them informed of current world affairs. The remainder of the magazines dealt with literary essays and general topics of cultural interests for the educated, middle-class Americans. Unless Chinese students were well acculturated into this strata of American life, they were not likely to be well acquainted with these magazines. As expected, almost four-fifths of the students were unfamiliar with the rest of the magazines which we assumed were familiar to most American college students. Except for professional journals of their own fields, few were exposed to non-professional journals or magazines of American society.

Patterns of student participation in various social organizations supplied fur- ther evidence of in-group orientation. The Chinese students had their own church services on Sundays at a church affiliated student center which was located just outside the campus. They also had Christian student Bible study meetings

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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUP AT AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY 79

every Saturday in a house owned by the Chinese Student Christian Fellow- ship group. Sunday services and Saturday Bible studies were conducted in Mandarin. However, when American ministers were invited as guest preachers, services or Bible studies arc conducted in English.

Social functions of these religious centers are summarized in one respondent's re- marks about both the Chinese Student Christian Fellowship House and the student center which is used by Chinese for their Sunday services.

Even though I am not a Christian, once in a while I go to the meetings of the Fellowship group and Sunday services. There, I know that I will meet a group of fellow Chinese students I do not see too often or I may meet someone I have not met before. Particularly, I think that these arc good places for girls and boys to get to know each other. I am not saying that these social functions at the place are primary things for attracting a student, but they do provide social functions for students. On the average, a Sunday service

lasted about an hour and attracted about thirty people. Car pools were arranged to pick up fellow churchgoers. After the service those attending stayed around about an hour to gossip. Saturday evening Bible meetings attracted about a dozen people. Chinese translation of the Bible and hymns in Chinese were available in the Chinese Studer/t Christian Fellowship House. One of the students usually pre- sided over the discussion which was carried on in Chinese and which, to- gether with prayers and hymn singing, lasted about an hour. After the formal sessions, people stayed around for some time - some around the piano singing Chinese songs in groups, some around the tea table for friendly conversations.

The social functions of these religious meetings played some part in attracting students. While two-sixths of the res-

pondents of the total sample claimed to be Christian, about one-half of the res- pondents attended the church services. Participation in Social Organizations

As a special type of ethnic colony, in-group orientation of the students was exhibited in formation of various social organizations of their own and in limited participation in non-Chinese organiza- tions. As already observed, the Chinese students had their own church services and Bible study groups. The tightly knit nature of the Chinese group was revealed in that the church building belonged to the student colony (The Chinese Student Christian Fellowship House). The primary formal organization for the students and their families was the Chinese Student Association, of which the Chinese Christian Fellowship group was the primary religious organization. The Chinese students also had their own soft-ball teams, a basketball team and an athletic organization.

The major function of the Chinese Student Association was to coordinate student activities in the community. It acted as an official representative of the students. The Association has several elected officials who planned and arranged various activities of the Association. The main events which the Association arrang- ed during an academic year were a wel- come party for new students, followed by a celebration party for the Double-Ten Day, a Chinese New Year's party, group participation in the International Student Festival during the spring, and a picnic during the summer.7 For the International

7 The Double-Ten Day is a national holiday for Chinese for the celebration of Sun Yet-sen's estab- lishment of the Republic of China in 1912. The Chinese New Year celebration attracted a large number of friends of the Chinese students. At the party Chinese food was served and various games were played. This party particularly provided an opportunity for the students to invite American friends to a Chinese student affair. These two days also were celebrated mainly by new immigrants living inside of Chinatowns. Lee (1960) maintained that this demonstrates the retention of old world traits for these people.

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80 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MODERN SOCIOLOGY

Student Festival, the Chinese student group usually presented dancing or folk singing which involved elaborate prepara- tions, mobilizing the time and energy of a large number of students.

The soft-ball and basketball activities attracted enough students to form several competing teams within the community. For example, the electrical engineering teams competed against the civil engineer- ing teams in soft-ball and basketball.

Four-fifths of the Chinese respondents reported no membership in non-Chinese organizations, even in professional ones. Eighty-four per cent reported that they did not participate in non-professional organizations. In short, except for a few professional organizations, Chinese students had membership in virtually no non-Chinese organizations of the host society.

Emotional Ties with the Homeland The in-group orientation of the com-

munity was manifested in the retention of strong emotional ties with the home- land. In response to the question, "How much effort do you make to be informed about what happens in China?" about two-fifths of the students indicated that they made a strong effort, while another

two-fifths made some effort to be up- to-date on current affairs of China. The main sources of information of current conditions at home were letters and publications sent from home. About half of the students surveyed read Chinese papers from home frequently, four-fifths read Chinese papers at least once in a while; 73 per cent read Chinese maga- zines from home at least once in a while; and 78 per cent read at least one Chinese book in the six months immediately preceding the survey.

Strong identification with fellow Chinese was revealed in the responses to the fol- lowing questions: "If a Chinese did some- thing outstanding, how would you feel about it?" and "If a Chinese did some- thing objectionable, how would you feel about it?" For the first item, 52 per cent of the students said they felt a great deal of personal pride, and an additional 35 per cent mentioned that they felt some personal pride. For the second item, 47 per cent of the students replied that they would feel personal shame, and another 34 per cent indicated that they would feel some personal shame. Only 7 per cent of the students were indifferent to both items.

Table 4 - (A) If a Chinese did something outstanding (In Percentage)

Feel a Great Deal Feel Some of Personal Pride Personal Pride Indifferent Don't know

52 35 7 6 Total 100

(N = 118)

(B) If a Chinese did Something Objectionable (In Percentage)

Feel a Great Deal Feel Some of Personal Shame Personal Shame Indifferent Don't Know

47 34 7 и Total 1 00

(N = 118)

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A FOREIGN STUDENT GROUP AS AN ETHNIC COMMUNITY 81

campuses than did students from non- European countries (Golsen, 1955, 1955; Lysgaard, 1955; Sewell and Davidsen, 1961; Selltiz et al.> 1963).

Many of the findings in this study may be generalized to Chinese students en- rolled on other large metropolitan campuses in the United States. The parallel ideas generated in the ethnic community concept could be extended to other non-European student groups who are set apart by their physical characteristics, language, and culture (e.g., Indians, Arabians, Japanese, Koreans).

Further case studies of student groups from different countries are needed to determine the extent to which the ethnic community concept is applicable in analyz- ing the social life of foreign students in the host society. These studies, in turn, would aid the development of compre- hensive understanding of the ways foreign student groups adjust to American campus life. Moreover, a series of case studies would enhance our knowledge of inter- group relations and of assimilation and acculturation processes of guest groups in a host society.

Summary and Discussion Sociological studies of ethnic community

and assimilation processes of ethnic groups into the host culture of America suggested the use of the sociological concept of ethnic community in analyzing the social life of foreign student groups, provided they differ markedly in culture and lan- guage from their American hosts and tend to form highly in-group oriented close- knit groups. The Chinese students at the university of Minnesota were an example of such a case.

In this project, we theorized that two conflicting sets of forces operated in the formation of Chinese students into an ethnic community. The forces of selective reception by the majority society provided for some tolerance and acceptance in the new country. However, the selective receptivity implies the existence of some force for rejection, and presented special problems to Chinese students seeking to make their way in an American university. Hence, they tended to seek out one another to work out common problems of adjustment and to find refuge in their own colony which functioned in part as a guardian of traditional values and ethnic culture.

In this study, we observed that the Chinese students displayed a conspi- cuously powerful in-group ethnic orienta- tion. Primary relations were maintained mainly with other members of the ethnic group; contacts with the members of the host society remained 'largely second- ary; only a small portion of the students participated in the activities of non- Chinese organizations, and their emotional ties with their homeland were extremely strong. They transplanted, in short, a "Little China" of their own to the campus.

The findings of this study strongly support the observations of other studies where researchers noted that European students encountered less difficulty in their adjustment of life on American

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