The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

length of stay in a new cultural context. Lysgaard‘s (1955) investigation of over 200
Norwegian Fulbright scholars reported that the crisis phase lasted 6 - 18 months of
their stay in USA: those who stayed less than 6 months or more than 18 months
adjusted better than those who stayed for 6 to 18 months. The model is commonly
used but not all studies have confirmed the U-curve hypothesis (e.g. Anderson, 1994);
Church (1982, p.542) criticized the model as ‗weak, inconclusive and over
generalised.‘ Not all sojourners start their adjustment with a honeymoon phase. Ward
et al. (1998) suggest the rejection of the U-curve model of intercultural adjustment.
The U-curve model was extended to a W-curve model with incorporation of re-entry
culture shock when sojourners return home (Gullahorn & Gullahorn, 1963).
Brown (1980) identified four stages of acculturation which sojourners experience in
adapting to a new culture: 1) a period of excitement and euphoria with the newness of
the surroundings; 2) a period of culture shock as cultural differences from their own
increasingly emerge; 3) a period of culture stress when some problems of adaptation
are being solved while other problems are emerging; and 4) full recovery with the
integration into the new culture, and self-confidence in the new culture.
Oberg‘s (1960) four-stage model of culture shock consists of the honeymoon stage,
the crisis stage, the recovery stage, and finally the adjustment stage. Culture shock is a
widely used term to describe difficulties or unpleasant experiences sojourners
encounter in a new cultural environment. Furnham and Bochner (1986, p.48) citing
Oberg (1960) identified six negative characteristics of culture shock:
1. Strain due to the effort required to make th necessary psychological
adaptations;
2. A sense of loss and feelings of deprivation in regard to friends, status,
profession and possessions;
3. Being rejected by/and or rejecting members of the new culture;
4. Confusion in role, role expectations, values, feelings and self-identity;
5. Surprise, anxiety, even disgust and indignation after becoming aware of
cultural differences; and
6. Feelings of impotence due to not being able to cope with the new
environment.
It is natural that individuals experience culture shock in the process of adjusting to a
new culture. Culture shock occurs at the low point of the U-curve model, Brown‘s
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