The cultural adjustment of Vietnamese students in the Philippines

• Main Author: Nguyen, Lucy Thanh Tuy Thi
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2003
• Subjects: Vietnamese students—Philippines; Student adjustment; Cultural appropriation; Counseling; Educational Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3162; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10000&context=etd_masteral
• Institution: De La Salle University

The major purpose of this study was to describe the cultural adjustment of Vietnamese students in the Philippines. More specifically, it examined the effects of coping styles, strategies of acculturation, perceived social support, cultural similarity, language skills, and length of stay in the Philippines on their cultural adjustment. The descriptive correlational method and the purposive sampling technique were employed in the study. The subjects were 120 graduate and undergraduate Vietnamese students enrolled in the school year 2003-2004 in Metro Manila and Laguna City. They were chosen regardless of marital status, age, gender, or vocation. Data were collected from demographic information and four standardized instruments namely: Cultural Adjustment Survey, Cope, Acculturation Orientation, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The statistical tools used were Pearson's Product Moment Correlation, with the significance level set at .01. Results revealed that most of the respondents applied integration strategies and a few respondents used assimilation as the predominant strategy when put in contact with a new culture; none of the respondents was seen to be adopting separation and marginalization as predominant strategies. To handle their problems, the respondents acknowledged that they usually used the approach styles, followed by seeking social support, acceptance, and the last was avoidance style. The majority of the respondents attained a high level of adjustment in three areas: general living conditions, interaction, and school demands regarding adjusting to a new culture and environment. The respondents who applied integration strategies and / or approach styles classified themselves at the level of being well adjusted; those who used assimilation strategies and / or seeking social support and acceptance styles reported themselves at the level of being moderately adjusted; and those who utilized avoidance as a coping style were only at the slightly adjusted level. It was also found that language proficiency, cultural similarity, length of stay in the host country, and social support from friends are associated with cultural adjustment. Based on the findings of this study and the review of literature, implications for counseling programs and some recommendations were proposed.