Yvonne's Tips For Teacher Blog

Yvonne's Tips For Teacher Blog

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Post 216: Reverse Culture Shock

Post 216: Reverse Culture Shock upon returning home




W-Curve Model When migrants return home to their original cultural con- 
texts, the same process of adaptation occurs and may again involve culture, or 
reentry, shock depicted by the W-curve model (Gullahorn & Gullahorn, 1963). 
Sometimes this adaptation is even more difficult because it is so unexpected. 
Coming home, we might think, should be easy. However, students who return 
home from college, businesspeople who return to corporate headquarters after 
working abroad, and Native Americans who return to their nations all notice the 
difficulty of readjusting (Martin & Harrell, 2004). 

Scholars refer to this process as the W-curve theory of adaptation because 
sojourners seem to experience another U curve: the anticipation of returning 
home, culture shock in finding that it’s not exactly as expected, and then gradual 
adaptation (Storti, 2001). (Nakayama, 368)


While I was studying in France, I became accustomed to watching French news. French news focused more on international news. Whatever was happening in Germany took first place in French news since Germany was the largest country on the continent and since WWII, all the other European nations would pay attention to Germany as I was told by a French person, to make sure Germany never descends into Nazism again.  However, French news also focused on the United States. Whatever the US President said as policy would also get broadcast on French news. And French news would give a summary of what was happening worldwide and how worldwide events would impact French people and France.

I watched French news mainly to become fluent in French. It was harder to understand the news because they spoke so fast and used such hard words whereas my French teacher spoke slowly to us just like I do to my ESL students so the French teacher's French was easier to understand. I also understood what my fellow American students said if they spoke French because they had such a heavy American accent although we cheated and spoke English to each other.

When I went to France, of course I experienced culture shock. However, what I didn't expect was that upon returning to the United States, I would suffer reverse culture shock of having to readjust to American society after spending two years abroad studying French language and literature.  I remember turning on the American news channel and I was shocked at how local the news was. The newscasters spent very little time on international news and spent most of the time talking about American politics or local crime.  I missed the international news I used to get in Europe. So for a while when I returned to the US, I watched BBC (British Broadcasting Communication) news until I readjusted to the US. Who knew you could experience culture shock coming back to one's home country!

Nakayama, Intercultural Communication in Context  5th Edition



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