Adjustment of assistant English teachers in Japan
Abstract
A yearlong, 5 wave longitudinal study of 89 foreign English teachers in Japan was conducted to (1) investigate patterns of cross-cultural adjustment, including the popular U-curve hypothesis (Lysgaard, 1955), and (2) to test a model based on Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) (Gudykunst & Hammer, 1988). Adjustment patterns were analyzed for general well being, social anxiety, uncertainty, job satisfaction, and adjustment satisfaction. Graphical analyses on the longitudinal data revealed a steady decline in job satisfaction and uncertainty, and a slight drop in well being during the winter, but there was little support for the U-curve hypothesis. A pooled time series analysis was used to investigate the correlates of within individual changes, whereas regression was used to investigate the correlates of individual differences. In partial support of URT, uncertainty reduction and anxiety reduction were significant predictors of several adjustment outcomes, and language ability and social contact were significant predictors of adjustment satisfaction. However, proactive adjustment behaviors such as information seeking were not related to adjustment indices, or to uncertainty reduction.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Davis, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Occupational psychology|Educational psychology|Language arts|Bilingual education|Multicultural education
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