Display Full Text | Download Full Text
320.05 kB PDF file

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, Communication, 2009.

Abstract

Submersing oneself in a foreign culture for an extended amount of time is a complex process, and students who study abroad experience varying degrees of anxiety while doing so. The present study uses Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory and Communication Accommodation Theory to identify certain factors related to this anxiety. Quantitative data in Phase One measured students’ uses of idiomatic expressions in the homestay, ability to tolerate ambiguity, time spent with the host family and proficiency levels to find them all significantly related to anxiety at moderate levels. Phase Two expanded to look at cultural factors associated with anxiety. Students from individualistic cultures experienced significantly lower levels of anxiety while studying a second language in a classroom than students who identify as more collectivistic. Finally, as more time passed, individualistic students displayed higher frequencies of upward convergence behaviors toward individuals from the collectivistic culture.

Subject Headings

Communication; Language

Keywords

study abroad; anxiety; homestay; communication accommodation; cultural identity; AUM Theory; L2 acquisition

Committee / Advisors

Teresa L. Thompson, PhD (Advisor)
James D. Robinson, PhD (Committee Member)
Jeffrey L. Griffin, PhD (Committee Member)

Pages

113p.

Document number: dayton1239981295
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1239981295

This ETD has been downloaded 1201 times (through March 2013)