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Navigating A New Culture: Analyzing Variables That Influence Intensive English Program Students' Cultural Adjustment Process, Sherie Lyn Kwok

Theses and Dissertations

Research has documented cultural adjustment as an important issue influencing international students and other sojourners in their success abroad (Foster, 1962; Lysgaard, 1955; Oberg, 1960; Smalley, 1963). Few studies, however, have investigated particular variables influencing the cultural adjustment process of ESL learners enrolled in intensive English programs (IEPs). This mixed method study was designed to better understand the individual complexity of IEP learners' cultural adjustment by looking for patterns of variables that aid or hinder these students' experiences. Using the Culture Shock Questionnaire (CSQ), Index of Social Sojourners Support Survey (ISSS), and language-specific focus groups, this study investigated the individual …

Leonard Bagalwa, Leonard Bagalwa, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Leonard was forced to join the military at the age of 17 in his home country of the Congo. A Catholic priest smuggled me out of the country and I lived in refugee camps in several different countries until 2004 when he came to the United States.

In 2005, a couple came to Leonard when he was homeless in the Provo library. They found out that he needed help and offered to let me live with them. They ended up paying my tuition for my education and I went to college for five years.

Leonard uses his experiences to teach …