Culture Shock and Pre-K–5 English Learners

Today I am writing this blog with my co-author and friend Debbie Zacarian, author and professional development provider. (See her bio at the end of this blog.)  In our experience, identifying culture shock at the beginning of the year is crucial to an English learner’s adjustment to school in the United States.

Moving to a new school can be difficult for any student, but for those who have to learn a new culture and language, the change can be devastating. If your English learners are coming to a U.S. school for the first time, they will experience culture shock. In fact, culture shock can dramatically affect a student’s first year in a U.S. school.

As ESL teachers, we must help classroom teachers of ELs in our schools to understand culture shock. The more we do to help our students cope with the challenges that they face, including the anxiety that they might feel as they enter a new learning environment, the more positive their experience will be. While anxiety can manifest itself in a myriad of ways, it leads to insecurity and is a barrier to learning. The more positive the school experience during the first year of school, the more open ELs will be to learning.

Case Study: Aditya

Let’s look at Aditya, who is a new 3rd-grade student that recently arrived from India to a small suburban school in New Jersey. Aditya was very frustrated about his inability to communicate and lashed out  when he didn’t understand what was being said. He was aggressive toward his classmates on the school playground. One day, the only other Hindi-speaking student in the school was absent and Aditya couldn’t communicate with his classmates and teacher at all. He became very upset and ran from the classroom. Aditya’s orientation to school in the United States was especially hard. The school principal placed him in a classroom where there were no other speakers of Hindi. Aditya’s parents felt he would learn English much more quickly if he didn’t  speak Hindi in school. As a result, he did not have any native language support. What might have happened if Aditya had been placed in a classroom where there were more Hindi-speaking students? We might surmise that his culture shock would not have been so severe.

Teachers, administrators, and other school personnel must realize that not all beginning ELs will suffer from culture shock in the same way. The spectrum varies from withdrawn and passive to aggressive. The greater the difference between the new culture and the students’ primary culture, the greater the shock. For example, a student moving from Mexico to Arizona, where there are many Spanish speakers, may not experience culture shock in the same way as a student moving from Sudan to Minnesota. In addition, parents of ELs may be unable to help them because they are also suffering from culture shock.

Four Stages of Culture Shock

In educational settings, researchers and practitioners recognize four of stages of culture shock. As ESL educators, we need to make classroom teachers aware of these stages and how they can influence the behavior of newly arrived ELs.

1) Honeymoon or euphoric stage. ELs s at this beginning stage may feel euphoric about their new adventure and this euphoric stage can last from one day to several months.

2) Rejection or culture shock stage.  ELs may reject the new when they begin to see the differences between the American school culture and their home culture. They do not yet have the language to participate in school and may feel overwhelmed by what they need to learn. They are bombarded with “unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals, and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds” (Haynes, 2005). They may also seem sleepy, irritable, disinterested and/or depressed. Some students may become aggressive and act out their frustration.

3) Integration stage. ELs start to deal with differences between the old and new cultures. Students begin to learn to integrate their own beliefs with those of the new culture. Some ELs will start to replace their old values with new ones and may begin to reject their home culture and language. Others will begin to find ways to exist with both cultures.

4) Assimilation or adaption stage. ELs will enter and thrive in the general education classroom. They will either accept and assimilate American culture with their home culture or they will adapt to the new culture and reject their home culture. Ideally, students will be successful negotiating the culture of school and value their home culture.

Once school personnel learn to recognize culture shock and develop methods to support students, ELs will be more able to participate in their classrooms. It is our job as ESL teachers to help this happen. We invite you to share your stories about students suffering from culture shock and tell how your school handled them.

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Debbie Zacarian is owner of Debbie Zacarian, EdD & Associates, a woman-owned consulting business specializing in policy and practice, strategic planning, coaching, innovation, and professional development for educators and professionals working with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Debbie is the author of Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (with Judie Haynes), Transforming Schools for English Learners, a Comprehensive Framework for School Leaders, The Essential Guide to Educating Beginning English Learners (with Judie Haynes),  and Mastering Academic Language: a Framework for Supporting Student Achievement. Her fifth and forthcoming book,  In It Together: Advancing Equity, Access and Engagement for Students, Families and the Community, cowritten with Michael Silverstone, will be published in 2015.