Faculty of Foreign Languages | English Language Major | Subject: Research Method | NEW CULTURAL STANDARDS AND THEIR INFLUENCES ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

A complete work on the subject Research Method for university students majoring in English Language.As we all know, there has been a rapid development in several sectors in Dalat City in the last decade. It is undeniable that the tremendous economic growths have opened a great variety of opportunities for promoting cultural integration and developing the cultural identity. Admittedly, Dalat people and mostly the young generations have good chances at getting accesses to different cultures and lifestyles, which definitely is an important breakthrough for future developments. In fact, with selective approaches towards new cultural standards, Vietnam will be a component part of the world community, especially in the AsiaPacific region. On the other hand, we will gradually lose the distinctive traditional values if we hold casual attitudes. The country people plays an important role in the process of forming a new lifestyle but still able to maintain and preserve the traditional values. Dr. Nguyễn Văn Kim said in the book Tiếp biến và hội nhập văn hoá ở Việt Nam (2016): “The core of the Vietnamese cultural value system is the human and the core of Vietnamese human values is cultural personality”. In addition, there are several different studies made about the topic namely How Cultural Integration Has Changed Vietnam (2016), Vấn đề tiếp nhận văn hóa nước ngoài của sinh viên hiện nay (2016), Nghiên cứu văn hóa học và văn hóa Việt Nam (2014), and Changing tendency in culture and lifestyle of Vietnam (2010). Hence, this research aims to clarify the reality and the opinions of Dalat University students about the new cultural occurrence in Dalat City.

UNIVERSITY OF DALAT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NEW CULTURAL STANDARDS IN DALAT CITY AND ITS INFLUENCES ON DALAT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Dalat, September 2017

UNIVERSITY OF DALAT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GROUP: SKY – AVKXY

NEW CULTURAL STANDARDS IN DALAT CITY AND ITS INFLUENCES ON DALAT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Name of supervisor: Vu Minh Ngoc

Dalat, September 2017

Above all, we would like to express our profound gratitude to our course instructor – Mr VuMinh Ngoc for his helpful guidelines, endless effort, and joyful encouragement Besides, histeaching helped us to successfully complete this research

This research report would not be accomplished without the generous contributions of anyindividuals in the group Thank you so much for the unlimited help and strong support!

Additionally, we want to show our heartfelt appreciation to the students of Faculty of ForeignLanguages from the first year to the fourth year for their endless patience and detailed answers inthe process of collecting the data for this research

Last but not least, to our classmates and friends, thank you for your help and support during theresearch period

During the last few decades, the phenomenon of culture and the issues relating to culturalpreservation, cultural development, cultural integration and assimilation have been becoming aheated controversy in Vietnam In this occurrence, the young generation play the leading rolesand are always considered as the future and the essence of the nation Thus, they must beequipped with proper knowledge and positive attitudes to avoid the scenario of destroyingVietnam’s cultural identities Particularly, this research aims to definite the practical reality inDalat City and analyze the effects on certain group of students in Dalat University as well astheir attitudes towards the occurrence for deeper understandings This research is done with theassistance of two main methodologies: questionnaire and observation Simultaneously, the reality

of foreign cultural standards in Dalat City is beneficial for extended research in the future, as theexperimental findings are indicated to a city which has recently developed at such a brisk pace.The different viewpoints of Dalat University students also coupled with the fact that culturalchanges are necessary for the development of individual and the country or not Hence, specificsolutions and strategies are requisitefor solving the underlying problems of the occurrence

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3

ABSTRACT 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

1 Introduction: 7

1.1 Rationale 7

1.2 Aims of the Research 7

1.3 Research Questions 8

1.4 Significance of the research 8

1.5 Limitation of the research 8

2 Background: 8

2.1 Literature Review 8

2.2 Definition of terms: 11

3 Methodology 12

3.1 Collection of secondary information 12

3.2 Collection of primary information 12

4 Findings and Discussions 13

4.1 The reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City 13

4.2 The impacts of foreign cultural standards on Dalat University students 16

4.2.1 The positive impacts 17

4.2.2 The negative impacts 19

4.3 The opinions of Dalat University students towards new foreign cultural standards 20

4.4 Comparisons to other studies 21

5 Conclusion and Recommendations 22

5.1 Recapitulation 22

5.2 Suggested solutions 22

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 23

REFERENCES 24

APPENDIX 26

1 Introduction:

1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, the constant modernization and industrialization process has led to the gradualdevelopment of several sectors worldwide Simultaneously, the culture of every developedcountry has become globalize through several means, especially through the Internet Indeed, wecan easily find a great variety of prevailing trends and all kinds of entertainment from differentcountries, namely Western and South Korean, while surfing the Internet or just walking down thestreet The young generations have heartily welcomed every new cultural phenomenon; however,they hold a laid-back attitude, as they have not known how the long-term outcomes affect theirtraditional culture and shape their future lifestyle Thus, it is crucial to identify the two sides of aproblem currently existing in everyday life In spite of the fact that there are various researchesmentioning the phenomenon, the purpose of this research is to definite the practical reality inDalat City and analyze the effects on a certain group of students as well as their attitudes towardsthe occurrence for deeper understandings So what do Dalat University students really thinkabout foreign cultural standards other than their traditional ones? For going deeply into this state,

we do this study

1.2 Aims of the Research

As we all know, there has been a rapid development in several sectors in Dalat City in the lastdecade It is undeniable that the tremendous economic growths have opened a great variety ofopportunities for promoting cultural integration and developing the cultural identity Admittedly,Dalat people and mostly the young generations have good chances at getting accesses to differentcultures and lifestyles, which definitely is an important breakthrough for future developments Infact, with selective approaches towards new cultural standards, Vietnam will be a componentpart of the world community, especially in the Asia-Pacific region On the other hand, we willgradually lose the distinctive traditional values if we hold casual attitudes The country peopleplays an important role in the process of forming a new lifestyle but still able to maintain and

preserve the traditional values Dr Nguyễn Văn Kim said in the book Tiếp biến và hội nhập văn

hoá ở Việt Nam (2016): “The core of the Vietnamese cultural value system is the human and the

core of Vietnamese human values is cultural personality” In addition, there are several different

studies made about the topic namely How Cultural Integration Has Changed Vietnam (2016),

Vấn đề tiếp nhận văn hóa nước ngoài của sinh viên hiện nay (2016), Nghiên cứu văn hóa học và văn hóa Việt Nam (2014), and Changing tendency in culture and lifestyle of Vietnam (2010).

Hence, this research aims to clarify the reality and the opinions of Dalat University studentsabout the new cultural occurrence in Dalat City.

1.3 Research Questions

What are the influences of new cultural standards on Dalat University students?

What do Dalat University students think about cultures other than Vietnamese culture?

1.4 Significance of the research

The finding of this study will redound to the benefit of the society considering that culture andthe issues relating to cultural preservation and development have been becoming a nationalconcern Besides, the greater demand for international integration has led to a lack of awareness

in the young generations Therefore, this study would also be beneficial to Vietnamese students,

as it would provide the necessary information on the practical reality and help students toachieve appropriate recognition towards cultural phenomenon and its effects For the researchers,the study will help them uncover the occurrence in a specific city that will assist them in theirown research in the future

1.5 Limitation of the research

Due to the short duration of doing the research, the results only represent a part of students ofDalat University and Dalat City To be more specific, the results are based on 100 DalatUniversity students majored in English department, ranging from the first year to the fourth year.Thus, it is not representative of the greater student population of Dalat University

2 Background:

2.1 Literature Review

According to the critic Williams, R (2016), “culture” has three divergent meanings: a process ofindividual enrichment, a group’s “particular way of life” and an activity Nevertheless, the threesenses of culture are actually quite different To some extent, culture is a strong tie of economic,political and social sectors Indeed, according to Do (2016, para 9), “Culture is the backbone of anation which differentiates itself from other countries, the disappearance of distinctive cultureexemplifies its doomsday” Culture exchange and economic integration should be equal inimportance and neither should be given preference Notably, culture plays a dominant role ininternational integration and substantially contributes to the country’s development However,people need to be careful when it comes to cultural exchange to avoid a tragic scenario where

Vietnamese culture could be assimilated by other foreign countries Admittedly, anunderdeveloped country may not necessarily have a less civilized culture Although we cannotisolate every global cultural connection, we should be cautious when it comes to foreign culturalessences that we choose to integrate with Besides, the preservation of our own distinctiveculture is vitally important in the process of developing our cultural identities.

Moreover, the study by Mai and Pham (2010, para 3), regarding the changing trends in culture

and lifestyles in Vietnam, shows the diversity in cultural changes, and at the same time clarifythe causes and factors affecting those changes Vietnam is in a deep and great changing process,the dramatic changes in the economy, politics, society, science and technology have acceleratedthe process of integration Besides, based on analyzing the relationship between culturaladvances for international development, the study analyzed and clarified the perception andreaction of the youngsters towards cultural elements relating to foreign values, especially theirmajor changes in behavior Overall, this study demonstrates changes in cultural and lifestylewhich is the transition from traditional culture to modern culture, from single-style culture tomulti-style culture

The study of Pham (2013, para 6) theorized that globalization is an objective tendency that has a

strong impact on every nation and individual, especially the young generations who arepreparing to join working environment The article also reveals the positive impacts and negativeimpacts of the occurrence Undoubtedly, due to the impacts of globalization and open-doorpolicy, students are able to broaden their comprehensive knowledge Additionally, theirawareness of domestic and international issues has increased thanks to the globalization process

As a result, students take the lead in receiving new foreign cultural values A great number ofstudents from many rural areas have rapidly changed their habits and personalities as they enterthe urban life with a higher level of globalization On the other hand, globalization has beenplacing foreign cultural values on our country However, foreign cultures are created in differenteconomic, political, social and traditional scenario, so the interaction between two distinctcultural flows leads to significant changes It goes without saying that this impact changes theperception and lifestyles of many students in a positive way Nevertheless, the power of foreignculture often associated with the power of the economy, this has led to the dominance of foreignculture in students’ perception

Duong (2014, III, para 1) pointed out that the culture of student life must first be seen as an

integral part of the national culture Therefore, the cultural life of students reflects the cultural

identity of the nation with the common characteristics of the national culture Simultaneously,the cultural life of students has inherited the traditional culture of old generations and combinedmodern culture to form distinctive lifestyle with a sense of purpose Changes in culture reflecthow a group adapts to such phenomena, whether they are of political, economic orenvironmental issues

On the contrary, there are also some concerns in the cultural lifestyle of some young people andstudents First of all, they adopt an extravagant and unhealthy lifestyle with no sense of purpose.The above limitations are the result of many causes, in which the root cause should bementioned Family not only contributes to the formation of personality but also the culturallifestyle of the young generations Thus, more than anyone else, parents need to be aware of theirresponsibilities to preserve family well-being and build a cultural family with prosperity,equality, progress, and happiness

In brief, it is crucial to build a prosperous country for the purpose of country people - a civilizedsociety in the period of industrialization and modernization Governments should focus ondeveloping intellectual potentials and cultural creativity potential of each and every citizen aswell as an ethnic community The study of Vietnamese culture and issues relating to culturaldevelopment and preservation will help to provide cultural knowledge to every Vietnamese,especially youngsters - the future generation of the country, contributing to the success of theconstruction and to develop a developed Vietnamese culture that closely linked to traditionalidentity

Culture is a topic that has been thoroughly studied However, further study of the practical reality

in a city and the cultural impacts on a certain group of students will lead to better understanding.Specifically, the prevailing opinions of Dalat University students can help people realize theimportance of the research As Dalat has gradually developed in the last decades, the city plays

an important role in the growth of Vietnam, and Dalat youngsters’ opinions should help to clarifythe necessity for uncovering new cultural phenomenon Moreover, this research’s results cansupport further studies on the phenomenon of culture and the related issues The vital data on thecommonsense reality and help understudies to accomplish proper acknowledgment towardssocial marvel and its belongings For the analysts, the examination will enable them to reveal theevent in a particular city that will help them in their own particular research later on

2.2 Definition of terms:

According to Wikipedia, “Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies.Culture is a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that aretransmitted through social learning in human societies”

Culture has become the object of culturology, culture studies, and science of culture The firstdefinition of culture of Tylor E.B in Primitive Culture (1871), but there are now so manydifferent definitions Two American anthropologists, Kroeber A and Kluckhohn C (1952),wrote a book devoted to cultural definitions, culture is a critical review of concepts anddefinitions, in which 164 definitions of culture were derived and analyzed In the second edition

of this book, the number of cultural definitions has risen to more than 200 The number ofcultural definitions is hardly known at present: some say 400, some say is 500, there are peopleasserting that they number up to thousands

Culture is rather a complex definition in today societies In a broad sense, culture consists of aset of social behaviors and viewpoints that express shared meaning encompassing symbolism,language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts According to the critic RaymondWilliams (1976), “culture” has three divergent meanings: a process of individual enrichment, agroup’s “particular way of life” and an activity Nevertheless, the three senses of culture areactually quite different In this research, culture is defined as the meaning in Oxford Learner’sDictionaries: “The customs and beliefs, art, the way of life and social organization as well as thecommon beliefs and attitudes about something that people in a particular group or organization.”

“Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person's or group's culture come to resemblethose of another group” (Wikipedia) It is expected that immigrants and members of an ethnicgroup should submit to the majority group in terms of norms, values, and behavior Besides,assimilation leads to the in the controversy in societies where the majority group does nottolerate different ethnic or racial identities

On the contrary, “multiculturalism or cultural pluralism is a term describing the coexistence ofmany cultures in a locality, without any one culture dominating the region By making thebroadest range of human differences acceptable to the largest number of people, multiculturalismseeks to overcome racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination” (The ColumbiaEncyclopedia, 2000)

For the purpose of this research, “Culture standards can be seen as the socially shared andaccepted norms and values that are used by the individuals living within a particular culture to

evaluate the behavior of each other.” (Thomas, 1999) In addition, it is considered as the centralcharacteristics that define a culture.

“Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group It is part of a person's conception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class,generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture In this way,cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also of the culturally identical group

self-of members sharing the same cultural identity” (Wikipedia)

3.1 Collection of secondary information

To find out the necessary information about the reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City,

we have found some materials relating to the research topic in some books namely Bản sắc văn

hóa Việt Nam (Phan, 2004); Một số vấn đề văn hóa của giới trẻ (Le, T.H & Le, D.T, 2013); Tương phản và di chuyển văn hóa truyền thống vào đời sống Internet Việt Nam (Pham, 2013);

Đa văn hóa – một tiến trình tất yếu của đô thị (Ngo, 2013); Sức hấp dẫn nữ tính của Hàn Lưu,

(Phan, 2009) and Khái Luận về Văn hóa (Tran, 2013)

3.2 Collection of primary information

Questionnaire

Based on the purpose and content of the research, we created the questionnaire which was given

to 100 students (both male and female) ranging from the first year to the fourth year fromEnglish department of Dalat University The questionnaire includes 17 main questions orderedlogically so that we can get reliable respondents Participants were asked to complete differentkinds of questions including multiple choice questions, scale questions, open-ended questions Aquestionnaire is a good method to clearly identify the reality of new foreign cultural standards aswell as the liberal attitudes of a certain group of students However, a questionnaire cannot give

us in-depth data

Observation method

We observed people, mostly youngsters in a coffee shop and around campus for 2 hours, to seehow they communicated with each other and with foreign visitors, how they dressed and howthey acted

Method of information analysis

All quantitative data that we got from questionnaires and from observation are listed andarranged logically which served as a base of support to help us identify the favorable outcomes

of this research Besides, all of the necessary information is collected by reading, interview, andobservation that help to complete the research findings answering the two research questions:

“What are the influences of new cultural standards on Dalat University students?” and “What doDalat University students think about cultures other than Vietnamese culture?”

4 Findings and Discussions

4.1 The reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City

It goes without saying that the open-door policy has paved the way for the Western culture topenetrate Vietnamese society Additionally, with the active support of the integration trend,globalization and the dramatic advances in science and technology, the influences of foreignculture spread far and wide to every sector of Vietnamese society Dalat City, for instance, is one

of many cities in Vietnam that is clearly affected by new foreign cultural standards It isundeniable that the positive effects including urban and industrial development, advancedmaterial life, personal role’s enhancement and critical freedom’s appreciation The broadinternational coherence is evident through the prevalence of new styles in music, movies, food,language, and lifestyle

In 100 samples that we have surveyed, students showed different ideas about new foreigncultural standards This consists of the most popular culture among the student community, howthey approach new culture, why Vietnamese people are so fascinated in other culture, theimpacts of foreign movies and the possible threats to Vietnam traditional cultural identity

Figure 1: Percentage of countries’ culture that Dalat University students want to import to

Vietnam.

Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of some countries’ popularity among Dalat Universitystudents In general, America and Korea are the two countries that have considerable impacts onstudents and have attracted their interest To be more specific, USA tops at 47% whichpredominates the total number Besides, Korea is the second popular country swelling to 29%prior to the growing trend of the Hallyu or Korean wave worldwide

This finding also is considered as a crucial data to develop further recognition Especially, in theprocess of exchanging and integrating cultures with developed countries, we have acquired manynew values and creative experiences Foreign cultural artworks are the bridge to spread the worldculture to the Vietnamese In the process of integrating with global culture, we need to selectnew value norms that are consistent with Vietnam's cultural and personal development goals.From our standpoints, the acquisition of cultural values of humanity must be selective, based onthe foundations of our national culture For Vietnam, that foundation is the traditional culturalvalues that have been formed and developed throughout 4000 years

Figure 2: Percentage of entertainment trend from 8 countries

Additionally, referring to Figure 2, we can see that Dalat University students have a greattendency of imposing foreign standards in their hobbies for movies, music, and food.Simultaneously, regarding the aspect of entertainment, America has the statistic of 73.2% out of

a systematic survey of 8 various countries This is a not very surprising result considering theimpacts of the explosion of urbanization in the last decades of XX century and early XXIcentury The development of the USA in several sectors has led to the multiculturalism as well asthe spread of the country own culture worldwide Thus, Vietnamese people now tend to impose

US standards in every field of daily life, from entertainment, food to lifestyle and language Moreover, the percentages of three sectors mentioned of Korea reach an average plateau of 20%.This is quite high in comparison to the total statistics Admittedly, it can be seen that Koreanrestaurants are flourished in Dalat City namely QnC, Fungi Chingu and Monster Chef, etc.Expectedly, regarding food sector, Dalat youngsters hold favorable opinions with Vietnamesefood, as it is undeniable that Vietnam has a colorful food culture Along with this instance,Japan’s movies and food are also popular in Dalat City This derived from the considerable stand

of Japan in the world, and there are now a great variety of Japanese restaurants namely Tokyo,Yakuta, and Ganeya, etc in Dalat City Plus, China’s music and movies also gain wide interests

of Dalat students Other countries like Thai, India, and French, etc are not really popular in