Copyright by Tatiana Borisovna Segura 2008 - The University of ...

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Defining Self: Negotiating Cultural, Gender, and Ethnic Identity in a Short-term Study Abroad Program in Russia Publication No._____________ Tatiana Borisovna Segura, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2008 Supervisor: Thomas J. Garza Study abroad programs are a common component of many foreign language programs across the United States. Of these university-based study abroad programs, short-term language-focused programs are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Despite the growing popularity of short-term study abroad programs, there is little research on students’ sociocultural experiences under these short, intensive language- immersion conditions. Relatively few studies have addressed the issue of gender in the study abroad context. Brecht et al. in their longitudinal study on the effects of a study abroad stay on language proficiency gains in Russian found that gender was one of the significant predictors of language learning. The impact of gender on the process of second language and culture acquisition becomes particularly important in countries like Russia where perception and construction of gender roles is very different from that in the United States. These gender-related differences may cause students to have negative attitudes towards the Russian language and culture. vi
Students belonging to ethnic minorities have different study abroad experiences from students who belong to the ethnic majority or mainstream culture. In the rise of terrorist attacks administered by Chechen separatists on the territory of Russia in the past several years, native Russians are becoming less tolerant with representatives of ethnic minorities and therefore, more suspicious and hostile towards individuals with non- Caucasian features. Being constantly racially-profiled can turn an otherwise pleasant language and culture learning experience into a nightmare. A better understanding of how race and ethnicity affect learning processes in a study abroad setting will result in rethinking of how learners’ differences (and the outcomes of those differences) enter the formal language teaching curriculum. The present study investigates how American college students visiting Russia on a five-week-long study abroad program perceive and describe their cultural, gender, and ethnic experiences. The results of this ethnographic case study are analyzed through the lens of critical theory that argues that human society is essentially oppressive and that societal inequality is reproduced through the dominant ideology. vii
Page 1 and 2: Copyright by Tatiana Borisovna Segu
Page 3 and 4: Defining Self: Negotiating Cultural
Page 5: Acknowledgements I would like to ex
Page 9 and 10: Overview of gender-related research
Page 11 and 12: Recommendations for study abroad pr
Page 13 and 14: environment I found myself in, and
Page 15 and 16: eproduced through the dominant ideo
Page 17 and 18: Acculturation is the process of ada
Page 19 and 20: their knowledge of the Russian cult
Page 21 and 22: STUDY ABROAD Chapter II: The Review
Page 23 and 24: learning more about self. Instituti
Page 25 and 26: abroad for a short time only, they
Page 27 and 28: proficiency as long-term programs,
Page 29 and 30: Identity and language learning Acco
Page 31 and 32: identities similar, however, is the
Page 33 and 34: Variables that affect acculturation
Page 35 and 36: information on the following topics
Page 37 and 38: In the study abroad context, howeve
Page 39 and 40: gender and, consequently, to the av
Page 41 and 42: called “gender-effect” is no lo
Page 43 and 44: eport in 1980, women do two thirds
Page 45 and 46: literature of the pre-communist per
Page 47 and 48: sex-role identity and women’s des
Page 49 and 50: of glasnost promoted by Gorbachev r
Page 51 and 52: everyday life of Russian women into
Page 53 and 54: influential change in perceiving th
Page 55 and 56: analysis of the experiences of a fe
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e arrived at, including the level o
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and following Hello’s et al. conc
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negative attitude towards Islam in
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against Russia exists. Brym and Deg
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Arminio 20). Since the subject of t
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It is important to keep in mind, ho
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DATA COLLECTING TECHNIQUES This stu
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At the conclusion of the pilot stud
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in abundance, it is the theoretical
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spell out things that are “sensit
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Acculturation Culture shock Cultura
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CULTURE SHOCK Chapter IV: Accultura
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to a new cultural environment, and
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American countries tend towards the
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It just seemed really weird to be b
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cross-cultural adjustment implies t
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stay in the dormitory and living wi
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could be also that women are more w
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eing interested in fashionable clot
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I saw that the Russians took their
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in Moscow: the Independent Women’
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my fate depends on me, and not on t
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Vsekh Form Diskriminatsii v Otnoshe
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socio-cultural context, including t
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sexual freedom or promiscuity of Ru
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As for catcalling situations, two f
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Moscow. The suburbs of Moscow that
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In terms of inter-gender behavior,
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domestic duties. This real inequali
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esearch on Russian women’s attitu
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policemen pulls you over, it’s pr
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favoritism or, on the contrary, bia
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Chapter VI: Ethnicity Analysis ETHN
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among those arrested, prosecuted, i
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Azerbaidzhan are not that rare in R
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Russians were literally segregated
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As an American you stand out… eve
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Azerbaijani, Georgians, Tajiki, etc
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usage; and 2) the confusion non-nat
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hypothesize that Russians use it pr
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purpose of the training of the inha
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The incident described by the parti
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incidents of ethnic intolerance hap
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and cultural background influence h
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She believed that Russians and Amer
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Rita expressed an opinion that Russ
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same way: familial and hospitable.
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I had Russian people telling me thi
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viewed her as “chernaya” [black
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eflecting on physical appearance an
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The results of the study reveal tha
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Another unexpected finding of the r
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going abroad is gradually increasin
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their trip goals more realistic; an
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5. Were you ever denied access to c
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Carlson, J., et al. Study Abroad: T
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Johnson, Ericka. Dreaming of a Mail
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Olson, David H., and Mikhail S. Mat
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Vondrova, Kristine. "The Value of S
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