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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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International and Intercultural Communication

Western Michigan University

Masters Theses

2012

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

"Nevermericans?": How Communication Issues Shape The Perceptions Of Self And The Perceptions Of American Identity Among The International Students, Lyudmyla Pustelnyk Jun 2012

"Nevermericans?": How Communication Issues Shape The Perceptions Of Self And The Perceptions Of American Identity Among The International Students, Lyudmyla Pustelnyk

Masters Theses

This study of Intercultural communication and identity uses Cultural Contracts theory and Narrative theory to explore how international students communicate about their understanding of self (identity) and how this understanding is influenced and changes during their studies in the United States. Research participants who have, or are currently studying in the U.S., from Eastern and Central European countries were interviewed about their communication experiences while in the U.S., resulting in different expressions of identity - in-between identity, feeling Americanized, global citizen, and crystallization of native identity - which developed as the result of their U.S. university studies. Their narratives also …


Experiencing "Both/And-Ness": Dialectics Of Interactions Of International Students, Yoko Kubo Jun 2012

Experiencing "Both/And-Ness": Dialectics Of Interactions Of International Students, Yoko Kubo

Masters Theses

This research focuses on international students in the United States by examining their experiences and interactions as sojourners. Specifically, I explore international students' dialectics within their experiences and interactions in the host culture. Referring to existing concepts from relational dialectics theory (e.g., Baxter & Braithwaite, 2008; Baxter &Montgomery, 1996) and the six cultural dialectics (Martin & Nakayama, 1999, 2011), dialectics are the opposing, competing, but co existing notions or tensions. Eleven international students from 10 different countries participated in face-to-face interviews and follow up e-mail responses. By conducting a thorough thematic analysis (Aronson, 1994), six cultural dialectics, one relational dialectic, …