CHIẾN LƯỢC THÍCH NGHI VĂN HÓA TRONG MÔI TRƯỜNG LÀM VIỆC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH NGOẠI QUỐC TẠI HÀ NỘI, VIỆT NAM: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỊNH TÍNH

NFL Project 2020 addressed Vietnam’s compelling need for improving communication in English that, as a consequence, has transformed the country as a destination for “self-initiated expatriate (SIE)” English teachers. They are the people who choose to set out to work in a foreign country without the assignment or the help of a home company. Analyzing the content of transcripts and field notes from six semi-structured individual interviews with six self-initiated expatriate teachers of English who have spent from about 9 months to 7 years in Hanoi about their process of adjusting to culture in the Vietnamese workplace, this study provides researchers, HRM practitioners, and policy makers an insight into the self-initiated expatriate work life in this South-East Asian country. Participants exhibited a passive approach to cultural adjustment, a lack of preparation, tendency to display ethnocentrism, and reported a critical need for better training, job descriptions and organizational support. The findings suggest that further research and certain HRM practices should be conducted to encourage integration between Vietnamese teachers and managers and this diverse group of foreign teachers, not only to foster a work environment that embraces support and diversity, but also to ensure the quality of the English training programs they are directly involved with as teachers. Key words: Self-initiated expatriate; expatriate adjustment; intercultural communication; Vietnam; NFL Project 2020; Human resource management.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

ADJUSTMENT STRATEGIES IN WORKING ENVIRONMENT OF SELF-INITIATED

EXPATRIATE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE IN HANOI: A QUALITATIVE

INVESTIGATION

Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Hạnh, PhD Student: Nguyễn Xuân Hạnh

Course: QH2010.F1.E2

HÀ NỘI - 2014

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

CHIẾN LƯỢC THÍCH NGHI VĂN HÓA TRONG MÔI TRƯỜNG LÀM VIỆC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TIẾNG ANH NGOẠI QUỐC TẠI HÀ NỘI, VIỆT NAM: MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỊNH TÍNH

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Hoàng Thị Hạnh, PhD Sinh viên: Nguyễn Xuân Hạnh

Khóa: QH2010.F1.E2

HÀ NỘI – 2014

ACCEPTANCE PAGE

I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Xuân Hạnh, being a candidate for the degree ofBachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to theretention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in thelibrary should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordancewith the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan orreproduction of the paper

Signature

Date

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the contributions ofmany people I would like to express my gratitude for:

 My supervisor, Dr Hoang Thi Hanh I have been and will always

be thankful for her unfailing support, professionally andpersonally Dr Hanh has been there constantly from thebeginning to provide me with knowledge, advice, andcomments with strict academic integrity and respect to myautonomy She is the person I feel indebted to the most, for herloving, positive, and responsible outlook on life has been myconstant inspiration to carry on with this thesis, even in theface of illness and desperation But for her supervision, I wouldnot have been able to successfully complete this study Ilearned so much from her, and owed so much to her

 The expatriate teachers who have devoted their precious time

to take part in this study

 The two anonymous expatriate teachers of English that inspiredthis study

 My lecturers at University of Languages and InternationalStudies, who have taught and inspired me in the last four years.Especially, I would like to thank Ms Dinh Hai Yen, my lecturer,for being the wonderful teacher who always showed greatpatience and perseverance that I strive to resemble

 My friends at class QH.2010.E2, my friend Nguyen Lan Phuongand Tran Ngoc Viet Hoai, for the emotional support andconstructive comments Phuong and Hoai inspired me the mostwith their care and encouragements

ii

 Michael “Aki” Atkinson, whose independence and integrity hasinspired me every step of the way.

 My family, including my Mother and Father, whose love I cannoteven describe, who have always encouraged and inspired me tomove forward and be the person I can be

iii

Key words: Self-initiated expatriate; expatriate adjustment; intercultural communication; Vietnam; NFL Project 2020; Human resource management.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE PAGE 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LISTS OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study 1

1.2 Research questions 2

1.3 Significance of the study 4

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Organization 5

Chapter 2: Literature Review 6

2.1 Expatriate Adjustment at individual level 6

2.2 Black et al (1991)’s model of expatriate adjustment 6

2.2.1 Degrees of adjustment 6

2.2.2 Modes of adjustment 7

iv

2.2.3 Facets of adjustment 9

2.2.4 Adtecedents of expatriate adjustment at work 10

2.3 Self-initiated expatriates 13

2.3.1 Definition and overview 13

2.3.2 Self-initiated expatriates versus international assignees 14

2.4 An overview of studies concerning self-initiated expatriates adjustment 16

Chapter 3: Methodology 18

3.1 Selection of participants 19

3.1.1 Method of sampling 19

3.1.2 Descriptions of the participants 20

3.2 Data Collection Instrument 22

3.3 Procedures of Data Collection 22

3.4 Procedures of Data Analysis 23

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 25

4.1 The self-initiated expatriate teachers of English’s perception of the importance of cultural adjustment at work 25

4.1.1 Lack of pre-arrival preparation 25

4.1.2 Lack of initiative to adjust to the culture 27

4.1.3 Existence of negative attitude towards adjustment 30

4.2 The problems faced by self-initiated expatriate teachers of English at work and their adjustment strategies 32

4.2.1 Problems regarding individual skills 37

4.2.2 Problems concerning job factors 38

4.2.3 Problems concerning organizational factors 50

v

4.3 Summary 55

4.4 Implications and applications 55

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 57

5.1 Summary of findings 57

5.2 Limitations and suggestion for future studies 59

5.2.1 Methodological limitations 59

5.2.2 The researcher’s own limitations 59

REFERENCES 61

APPENDIX A 71

APPENDIX B 72

vi

LISTS OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Berry (1997)’s model of acculturation strategies 8

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Modes of work adjustment 9

Table 2.2 Overview of differences between self-initiated expatriates and international assignees 15

Table 2.3 Overview of differences between self-initiated expatriates and international employees organisational culture 16

Table 1.1 Descriptions of the participants 21

Table 4.1 Modes of work adjustment adopted by participants 33

Table 4.2 List of job related and organization-related problems 34

Table 4.3 Frequency of negative emotions recorded from interviews 35

Table 4.4 Frequency of positive reactions recorded from interviews 36

Table 4.5 Type of support received by participants 41

Table 4.6 The paticipants’ values vs what they perceived to be their employers’ values 44

viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

Nowadays, the role of English in Vietnam is becoming more and more important Inorder to integrate with a global market economy after Doi Moi economic reform in

1986, the Vietnamese government adopted the socialist-oriented market economy,which allows the establishment of private businesses and foreign investment, includingforeign owned enterprises Since then, fluency in English has intriguingly become acompulsory requirement in almost every job description Along with the promotion ofthe free market economy came the development in tourism, leading to Vietnam’stransformation into an appealing tourist attraction According to the Vietnam Ministry

of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, in 2013, Ha Noi is on the eighth place ofTripAdvisor’s list of the top travel destinations on the rise, after only two other Asiancities, Kathmandu (Nepal) and Sapporo (Japan) The need to communicate in Englishhas become tremendous, resulting in the multitudinousness of English learners.Replacing Russian, English is now the main foreign language studied in Vietnameseschools and tertiary institutions

The need for native speakers of English who can teach the language, therefore, hasbecome compelling In January 2013, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education andTraining (MoET) signed an agreement with Australia’s English Language Company(ELC), under which thousands of native English speakers will come to teach theirlanguage in Vietnam in the coming years Those teachers, coming from the U.S., theU.K., Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa, will teach English in K-12schools, junior colleges, and universities, as a part of Project 2020, a national Englishimprovement project Within this year, up to 350 teachers will be sent to Vietnam on

this project Predictably, these teachers will be coming to the big cities, especiallyHanoi and Ho Chi Minh A study on their adjustment will be of value to the field ofhuman resource management and intercultural studies, especially when so far, verylittle has been done in the field of expatriate management in Vietnam in general and onEnglish language expatriate teachers in particular

However, unlike the Vietnamese teachers of English, who are accustomed to theculture of their own nation, the success of those expatriate teachers of English has beenoften not just dependent on their qualifications but also their expatriate adjustment.Failing to adjust to the Vietnamese way of working, interacting, and living can lead tounderperformance and lots of obstacles in remaining devoted to the profession, andeven abandoning it As cited in by Johnston (1997), in his article “Do EFL teachers

have careers?”, Maley (1992) described EFL/ESL teaching as permeable, meaning that

it is “an easy occupation to enter and to leave” (Johnston, 1997, p 686) In case ofexpatriate teachers, the pressure to cope with and accustom oneself to a foreign culturemakes it even more challenging for this occupation to be followed The demand forexpatriate teachers to stay in Vietnam as long as possible, therefore, puts a bigemphasis on assisting these teachers in the process of acculturation – “the process bywhich group members from one cultural background adapt to the culture of a differentgroup (Rieger & Wong-Rieger, 1991, as cited in Poole, p 176)

1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study focuses on an under-research group of expatriates, the self-initiatedexpatriates To date, research on international management has provided a body ofliterature focused on the perception, selection, training, in both home and host

countries, of international assignees, the people who are sent abroad on job

assignment However, there exists a group called self-initiated expatriates, for thesimple reason that they choose to become expatriates in a foreign country on their owninitiative Self-initiated expatriation does not only happen in neighboring countries, but

between different continents For example, the willingness of Europeans to migratewithin and beyond the continent for employment has become an identifiable trend(Strack et al., 2007) They have recently been recognized as an important element ofthe global workforce (Tung, 1988), but studies about them are severely lacking(Bozionelos, 2009; Al-waqfi, 2012) In the particular context of Vietnam and theparticular profession of teaching, there is a need for empirical research on self-initiatedexpatriate teachers’ cultural adjustment, as little has been done on the subject Thisinspired the researcher to do this study to investigate the way expatriate teachers viewand adapt to Vietnamese culture

It will be superficial to explore the way the expatriates deal with coping with andlearning about Vietnamese culture without knowing the way they perceive the process

of acculturation The more important they view adjustment, the more effort andwillingness they put into adjusting themselves In other words, the perception of anexpatriate about the adjustment can intensely affect the success of his adjustments.Tung (1998) highlighted the importance of the expatriates’ perception when sheaddressed the fact that “little is known about whether expatriates perceive internationalassignments as having a positive or negative effect on their subsequent careeradvancement” as a deficiency and advocated focusing on expatriates’ attitudes towardscareer development opportunities and cultural experience abroad

The study will focus on the adjustment strategies that self-initiated expatriate teachers

of English in Hanoi use to handle cultural challenges in the workplace The mainresearch questions are:

1 How do self-initiated expatriate teachers of English language in Hanoiperceive about the importance of expatriate adjustment to their occupation?

2 What are the main problems that self-initiated expatriate teachers of Englishlanguage encounter in the work place in Hanoi?

3 What are the adjustment strategies used by them in the face of theseproblems?

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The objectives of this empirical study are to:

(1) Explore incoming expatriate English teachers’ adjustment to teaching andliving etiquettes in Hanoi, Vietnam

(2) Help institutions and educational organizations, such as universities, schools,English training centers, develop more detailed job descriptions and trainingguidelines

(3) Help bridge the gap in self-initiated expatriate research in the context òVietnam

This study was done with hope to tighten the relationship between the Westernexpatriates and Vietnamese nationals and provide a background for further studies onexpatriate adjustments and acculturation in Vietnam, especially there is a lacking ofvalue studies in this field of research Later studies can draw from the findings of thisstudy to later build up a database serving the purpose of studying interculturalcommunication and human resource management

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This investigation was conducted to determine the importance of culturaladjustment as perceived by the group of self-initiated expatriate teachers living andteaching in Hanoi, Vietnam, as well as the strategies they used to solve conflicts andchallenges at the workplace The study looked into various aspects of their work life,such as intercultural interaction with host nationals, support and assistance,organizational culture, and problems of expectation and beliefs

1.5 ORGANIZATION

This study includes five chapters Chapter 1, Introduction, introduces the researchproblems and questions, significance and scope of the study Chapter 2 reviews theavailable literature about expatriation and self-initiated expatriation and provides aconceptual framework, and explains terminology used in the study Chapter 3 outlinesthe methodology, research instruments and procedures Chapter 4 is divided into 4sections, the first 3 of which answer the research questions, while the last draws out theimplications of the study Chapter 5, Conclusion, sums up the findings and reviews thestudy’s limitations, and makes suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2

2.1 EXPATRIATE ADJUSTMENT AT INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Expatriate adjustment is an important focus of expatriate research and acculturationresearch It is commonly perceived as the process in which an individual inducesnecessary changes to achieve a fit and reduced conflict between his/her owninclinations and the demands of an unfamiliar cultural environment (Black et al.,1991) This fit is important because it is a predictor of an expatriate‘s job performance(Parker & McEvoy, 1993) and turnover (Black & Stephens, 1989)

2.2 BLACK ET AL (1991)’S MODEL OF EXPATRIATE ADJUSTMENT

Different models have been developed to understand the process of expatriateadjustment (Gudykunst & Hammer, 1987; Aycan, 1997; Black et al., 1991), amongwhich, the most prominent is probably Black and colleagues (1991)’s framework inwhich expatriate adjustment is treated at three levels: Degrees, facets, and modes

2.2.1 DEGREES OF ADJUSTMENT

Black et al (1991) addressed the fact that degree of adjustment can be viewed as “both

a subjective and objective concept” Subjectively, it is the degree of comfort theexpatriate feels in the new role and how adjusted he or she is to the role requirements.Objectively, it can be used to measure the degree to which the person has mastered therole requirements through measurement his or her performance This study viewsadjustment as a subjective issue

Dawis & Lofquist (1984) pointed out that the degree of adjustment is determined by

satisfaction (the gap between the extent to which the work environment meets the

needs of the individual) and satisfactoriness (the gap between the extent to which the

individual's abilities meet the demands of the work role)

From the work of Lysgaand (1955); Oberg (1960); and Torbiorn (1982), the U-curve ofthe cross-cultural adjustment model was developed The model has four phases Thefirst is the “honeymoon phase”, when the expatriates just arrived at the new culture and

is fascinated by it (Gullahorn & Gullahorn, 1963) In stage two, culture shock, the curve goes through a dip when the expatriate is confronted with a new environment(Adler, 1986; Church, 1982) Over time as adjustments are made and they becomemore adjusted to the new culture, learn the appropriate behaviors, they undergo thethird phase (Harris & Moran, 1989), when the dip subsides and the curve starts to rise

U-In the fourth stage, the individual's adjustment is generally complete They now canproperly perform the necessary behaviors to function effectively and without anxietydue to cultural differences (Oberg, 1960) A correlation between degree of adjustmentwith the time the expatriate spends in the host country is found (Lu, 1990; Nash, 1991)

2.2.2 MODES OF ADJUSTMENT

The concept of mode stem from the work of Berry (1980, 2001) on theory ofacculturation, especially acculturation attitudes According to him, there are two

dimensions of acculturation: (1) Cultural maintenance, and (2) contact and

participation with the national/host group, which has become known as acculturation attitudes (Berry, 1980) The former deals with the question “To what extent do people

wish to maintain (or give up) their cultural attributes?”, the latter “To what extent dopeople wish to have contact with (or avoid) others outside their group?” Based onthese two dimentions, four acculturation strategies are distinguished by Black andcolleagues

 Assimilation (individuals do not wish to preserve their cultural norms andseek daily interaction with members of the other group);

 Separation (individuals wish to preserve their cultural norms and wish toavoid interaction with members of the other group);

 Integration (individuals wish to maintain original culture and interact dailywith other group);

 Marginalization (individuals show little interest in neither culturalmaintenance nor interaction with members of the other group)

Figure 2.1 Berry (1997)’s model of acculturation strategies

The modes of expatriate work adjustment were developed from the studies ofNicholson (1984) and Black (1991) Nicholson (1984) identifies the four modes ofexpatriate work adjustment based on two dimensions: (1) The alteration of one’s ownbehaviors and attitudes and (2) the alteration of the working environment (such as rolerequirements and expectations) Many other scholars (Dawis and Lofquist, 1984;Feldman and Brett, 1983; Van Maanen and Schein, 1979) also advocate the sameargument The modes of expatriate adjustment, are:

 Replication: individuals make few alterations in their identity or behaviors tofit the role and make a few alterations in the work role.

 Absorption: individuals change their behaviors and attitudes to fit the roleand make no or very few changes in the role

 Exploration: individuals change both their behaviors and attitudes and therole

 Determination: individuals remain relatively unaffected but the role isaltered

Table 2.1 summarizes the four modes of work adjustment

Three facets of adjustment are identified in Black et al (1991)’s work: adjustment

to work, adjusting to intercultural interaction with host country nationals, andadjustment to the general environment Work adjustment concerns job responsibilities,

supervision, and performance expectation It reflects the degree of psychologicalcomfort at work Intercultural interaction adjustment refers to the degree ofpsychological comfort regarding different communication with host nationals and theinterpersonal styles used in the host culture General adjustment refers to the degree ofpsychological comfort with regard to various aspects of the host culture conditions.The distinction of different facets is important because each of the facets is related todifferent sets of variables, some of which overlap whilst others are unique In thecontext of this study, only adjustment at work is examined; however, the examination

of work adjustment will also sometimes involve looking into the other facets, for theyand interconnected

2.2.4 ADTECEDENTS OF EXPATRIATE ADJUSTMENT AT WORK

Reviewing the theoretical literature on domestic adjustment and delineating theimportant variables influencing international adjustment found in previous studies,Black et al (1991)’s model viewed adjustment as an outcome contingent upon twoantecedents: pre-departure factors, and post-arrival factors Pre-departure factors, oranticipatory factors, including previous overseas experience, cross-cultural training,

and selection processes, are considered to be the determinants of ‘anticipatory

adjustment’, the degree to which a prospective expatriate is adjusted prior to arriving

on their assignment Post-arrival factors, or in-country factors include the expatriate’sindividual skills, job factors (e.g., role conflict), organization culture factors,organization socialization factors, and non-work factors

2.2.4.1 Pre-departure factors

Black et al (1991) stressed the importance of pre-departure factors, because ifthere are appropriate anticipatory adjustments, the process of post-arrival adjustmentwill be quicker and more effective Many other scholars (Tung, 1988; Church, 1982;Mendenhall, Dunbar, & Oddou, 1987; Nicholson & Imaizumi, 1993) agreed on the

positive influence of the pre-departure factors - previous oversea experience, cultural training, and selection processes – on expatriate adjustment Church (1982,p.549) claimed that “empirical findings support the importance of accurate priorcultural experience or prior exposure…for sojourner adjustment.” Among these factors,Black and colleagues put an emphasis on language ability (fluency in the host countrylanguage) Nicholson and Imaizumi (1993) also point out that a lack of language skillshas long been recognized as a major barrier to effective communications andperception.

of self-efficacy (Fan & Mak, 1998; Pinquart, Juang, & Silbereisen, 2003; Samers,1998)

Relational skills are a repertoire of tools and techniques that work in a similar way toreduce uncertainty in interpersonal communication and produce adjustment Black(1988) found a positive relationship between the percentage of time spent with hostnationals and general cross-cultural adjustment

2.2.4.2.2 Job factors

Within the context of work, job factors clearly play an important part Role clarity(exact understanding of position requirements, policy and procedures), role discretion(autonomy in adapting work role and setting), role novelty (differences between the oldand new work roles) and role conflict (incompatibility regarding expectation) are thefour factors proposed by Black et al (1991) from reviewing research done by severalscholars (Black, (1988); Nicholson (1984); Pinder & Schroeder (1987); Louis (1980);and Dawis & Lofquist (1984)) While role clarity and role discretion have facilitatingeffect on the adjustment process, enabling the expatriate to utilize previous behaviorpatterns, role novelty and role conflict have an inhibiting effect on adjustment

2.2.4.2.3 Organizational factors

Organizational factors are classified into two categories: cultural factors andsocializational factors In terms of organizational cultural factors, organization culturenovelty, social support and logistical help are stressed Especially in work adjustment,the organizational culture novelty can influence adjustment in the same mechanism thatrole novelty does The higher the novelty, the more uncertainty, the less adjustment.The social support of employers and co-workers can help improve adjustment, and socan logistical support (such as housing, schools) provided for the expatriate Becausemost of it deals with non-work issues, logistical support is expected to have a strongerrelationship with interaction, and especially general adjustment, rather than with workadjustment (Black et al 1991)

Organizational socialization factors, according to Van Maanen and Schein (1979,

p 211–212), refer “to the fashion in which an individual is taught and learns whatbehaviors and perspectives are customary and desirable within the work setting as well

as what ones are not.” In other words, they refer to the expatriate’s fitting in to a newrole in the context of an organization’s existing condition From an idea first argued byFisher (1986), Black et al (1991) addressed that socialization can be discussed both interms of tactics and content, and proposed that they will affect role innovation Theexpatriate may or may not be expected to make changes in the work setting This isfound to correlate with the modes of work adjustment

2.3 SELF-INITIATED EXPATRIATES

2.3.1 DEFINITION AND OVERVIEW

They are called self-initiated expatriates, for the simple reason that they choose tobecome expatriate workers in a foreign country on their own initiative They haverecently been recognized as an important element of the global workforce (Tung,1988)

The importance of expatriate adjustment in human resource management ofexpatriate workers has long been stressed and studied by scholars However, research

in the field of self-initiated expatriate adjustment in severely lacking (Bozionelos,2009; Al-waqfi, 2012) While the definition of expatriate adjustment might be the samefor both self-initiated expatriates and international assignees, their perception andstrategies may differ greatly (Tams & Arthur, 2007) This part of the study is dedicated

to shedding some lights into making clear the difference between self-initiatedexpatriates and expatriates on international assignment, and reviewing the literature onself-initiated expatriate adjustment

2.3.2 SELF-INITIATED EXPATRIATES VERSUS INTERNATIONAL

ASSIGNEES

As mentioned earlier, a large amount of the prior literature on expatriates hasfocused on employees undertaking international assignments These two groups aredifferent and can be put together in comparison and contrast Several distinctivecharacteristics of self- initiated foreign employees (SIEs) were identified (Arthur,Pringle, & Barry, 1998)

First, they differentiate from the basic reason for expatriation SIEs are notemployees of multinational organizations They themselves make the decision to goabroad to face the challenges of living and working in an unfamiliar environmentinstead of being sent there for a position

Second, SIEs tend to “see their international experience as a means of developingthemselves personally; achieving specific company goals is not a primary motivationalforce for becoming an international worker” (Al-waqfi, 2012, p 5)

Third, SIEs do not receive training prior to departure from their company likeinternational assignees do All of their preparation is based on experience and also self-initiated International assignees usually receive package of support including cultureand language training and other logistics support such as housing and health care(Peterson, Napier & Shim, 1996, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2005), whilst SIEs fundtheir own trip through personal savings and rely mainly on themselves in the foreignenvironment

Fourth, SIEs are willing to traverse the world and work in foreign countries fortheir self-development or for other personal agenda while international assignedexpatriate may not be willing to make the move to another country SIEs do not follow

a traditional career path within an organization; they have a certain higher degree in

freedom and openness in achieving and viewing their career developmentopportunities.

Fifth, while international assignment is often time-bound, the time limit for SIEs

to stay in a foreign country is often not clear and depends largely on their perspective.(Howe-Walsh & Schyns, 2010) They can always take a career break or short vacationfrom work

Hereunder is an adoption of Howe-Walsh & Schyns (2010)’s summary of thebasic differences between SIEs and international assignment expatriates

Table 2.2

Overview of differences between self-initiated expatriates and international assignees

self-initiatedexpatriates

internationalassignees

Predeparture preparation, training, etc Self Company

Job secured prior to expatriation Yes or No Yes

In terms of organizational factors, Howe-Walsh & Schyns (2010) also argue that thereare also differences between self-initiated expatriates and organizational newcomersfor the reason that the organizational newcomers will be trained and prepared for thejobs they are going to take prior to their assignment Table 2 (Adopted from Howe-Walsh & Schyns, 2010) provides an overview of the differences between self-initiatedexpatriates and organizational newcomers

Table 2.3

Overview of differences between self-initiated expatriates and international assignees

on organizational culture

self-initiatedexpatriates

internationalassignees

Job characteristics (country level) Unknown KnownJob characteristics (organization) Unknown Unknown

As clearly shown in the table, international assignees have many advantages compared

to self-initiated expatriates One example is their knowledge of the characteristics ofthe job from prior experience and the specific characteristics of the position on acountry level (e.g., the hours of work) provided by their home organization/company.Self-initiated expatriates may know the characteristics of the job from prior experiencebut are not likely to be able to see the holistic picture of where the position is in thewhole organization/company

2.4 AN OVERVIEW OF STUDIES CONCERNING SELF-INITIATED EXPATRIATES ADJUSTMENT

As mentioned above, although there has been a huge body of research onexpatriate adjustment in international assignment, the area of self-initiated expatriateadjustment is still under-researched Self-initiated expatriation is a newlyacknowledged social phenomena, so the majority of the studies in the field, thoughinsightful, has been mainly exploratory and descriptive Most studies are recent and arefocused on comparing the two groups of expatriates, self-initiated and internationalassignees (see McKenna & Richardson, 2007; Jokinen et al, 2008; Peltokorpi &Froese, 2009, Cerdin & Pargneux, 2010, Biemann & Andresen, 2010, Doherty et al,2011) Other studies focus on expatriation motivation and the antecedents ofadjustments, such as genders (see Thorn, 2009; Selmer & J Lauring, 2011; Froese

2012) but they are not necessarily focused on working professional expatriate Thisstudy does not seek to go as far as a deductive study of the correlation between factors

of adjustment It is an attempt to investigate, at the individual level, perception of theexpatriate about how important adjustment to his work place and how he manageswithin this foreign environment From the result, it is expected to help adressingdifficulty in the context of work culture, which can help organizations/companies thathire self-initiated expatriates better develop their Human resource managementstrategies

Concerning the perspective and strategies of self-initiated expatriates, Fitzgeraldand Howe-Walsh (2008) did a qualitative study on motivation and perception of femaleprofessionals in Cayman Islands through use of interpretative phenomenologicalanalysis (IPA) Findings suggest that the subjects of the study maintained positiveperceptions of the effects their overseas experience would bring to their careerprospects

Tharenou and Caulfield (2010) did a study offering an integrated framework,seeking to explain the reason and mechanisms self-initiated professionals adapted totheir host culture They measured host country “pull” and “push,” home country pull,

“shocks,” and the intention to adapt of 546 Australians and found that culture “shock”

is their main reason to adjust Linnebery (2012) did a qualitative study on one hundredU.S expatriates to find out the relationships between acculturation strategies anddegree of expatriate adjustment Results suggest that these strategies are not redundant

to the degree of expatriate adjustment

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains the research methodology used in the study including theprocedures for participant recruitment, details about participants, research instrumentsdata collection, and data analysis procedures In this study, a qualitative methodology

is used to investigate the adjustment strategies expatriate teachers of English languageuse in work environment in Hanoi, Vietnam as part of the acculturation process Thereason for choosing a qualitative research design lies in its interpretative, naturalistic,and inductive nature, which allows a researcher to study the subject in its naturalsettings, eschewing artificially constructed conditions through a process ofinterpretation that involves immersion in the data and draws on different perspectives(Denzin & Lincoln, 2000, p 4-5) Analysis and interpretation of the participants’

responses is made Data received will be marked with a series of codes, then grouped into concepts, from which categories are formed and analyzed Instead of beginning

with a hypothesis, the first step is data collection, from which answers for the researchquestions emerge

The following research design and analysis procedures are used in this study:

1 Recruiting participants and conducting a semi-structured interview withparticipants through semi-structured interviews (see Appendix A)

2 Conducting data analysis

3 Using the themes obtained using grounded theory to answer the researchquestions

Qualitative research, Patton (2005) also pointed out that it is important that the

researcher deploys his or her analytical skills to generate meaningful information fromthe participants’ responses The appropriate sample size, then, is the one that the datafrom which provide enough information for patterns to emerge There is limitedopportunity for the researcher to obtain contact with potential participants For theabove reason, snowball sampling, a non-probability sampling technique where existingstudy subjects recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances, was thereforeemployed Using this sampling method, there is an assumption that in the participants’network there are people who meet the criteria that make them eligible for inclusion

The first step in this process was to approach participants in the researchers’ network toinvite them to participate To ensure the number of participants advertisements alsowere put on the local online communities In this case, upon volunteering to participate

in the study, participants verified that they did meet the following inclusion criteria:

1) They must be currently living in Hanoi as self-initiated expatriates;

2) Their current occupation has to be English language teaching at any level ofeducation, including kindergarten education, k-12, and tertiary education;

3) They have to have at least six months of experience working in Hanoi

Participants then delegated others as the next study subjects for the research

3.1.2 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS

Table 3.1 shows the descriptions of the participants volunteered to take part in the study

Table 3.1

Descriptions of the participants

Pseudonym Gender Nationality/

Context

Length of teaching in Vietnam

Qualification(s)/Previous experience Type of organization/

Company

Reasons to go to Vietnam Jack M United Kingdom 27 months teaching in a lifelong learning sector

and theather in home country

Language Center,

(~84 months) TEFL, CELTA

High school, Language Center, self-employed extended holiday

(~48 months)

TESOL, CELTA, previous experience teaching grade 11 in China and Shakespearian literature in Argentina

Language Center, Corporation training, self-employed

extended holiday

Simon M Nigeria ~ 34 months a teaching 101 online course Language center

chose to stay after international assignment in a different field

Andrew M United States of

Language Center, employed

personal plan, good teaching opportunity,

to explore culture and history, and find out about others’

persective about his country,

lifestyle

3.2 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

Face-to-face semi-structured interview were chosen as the research instrument tocollect information from the expatriate teachers of English language living in Hanoiabout their experience and adjustment progress at work because of its advantagescompared to other research instruments Face-to-face, or personal, interviews, have

“the potential to overcome the poor response rates of a questionnaire survey”, andare “well suited to the exploration of attitudes, values, beliefs and motives (Barriball

& While, 1994, p 329) which is important in this study Barriball & While (1994) –drawing from the work of Hutchinson & Skodol-Wilson (1992), Nay-Brock (1984),Treece & Treece (1986); Gordon (1975); Austin (1981); Bailey (1987), and Smith(1992) – also claimed out that the semi-structure design benefits the researcher toensure reliability as it

1) allows the bringing up and clarification of interesting and relevant issuesduring the interview as a result of what the interviewee says;

2) Therefore allows information to be elicited completely;

3) Helps detect and clarify inconsistencies within respondents’ accounts;

4) Helps respondents recall information for questions involving memory

3.3 PROCEDURES OF DATA COLLECTION

A set of interview questions was conducted to answer the three research questions, onthe participants’ perception of the importance of expatriate adjustment to theiroccupation and the behaviors and attitudes they exhibit while working in Hanoi, amongVietnamese nationals This set of questions then was used in a pilot interview with one

of the participants – who has spent two years teaching and living in Vietnam – andagain studied, in order for the researcher to make any change in terms of content and

develop an interview protocol regarding the interview manners The result of thisinterview was also included as data for the study.

When all necessary changes were made, the final set of semi-structured interviewquestions was finalized for official data collection All the participants were contactedseveral days before the interview to set up a time and venue for interviewing

Before each interview was conducted, participants received an information sheetexplaining the purposes and confidentiality of the study They were also given a simpledefinition of “adjustment” and encouraged to mention points that are important tothem, as well as given examples for illustration purposes All further questions theparticipants had about the purpose of the use of the data were answered before theythen were introduced to the voice recorder Lastly, prior to the start of the interview,participants were asked to read carefully and sign the consent form (see APPENDIX B)which confirm their understanding of their rights, risks, and benefits of participating inthe study and that they had had the change to ask any questions answered to theirsatisfaction The entire process of interviewing were conducted in English, the nativelanguage of the participants

After the completion of the follow-up interviews, the interview data were transcribedusing the software InqScribed and data analysis began

3.4 PROCEDURES OF DATA ANALYSIS

All the conversations between the interviewer and interviewees will be recordedand transcribed, then subjected to content analysis Data received will be marked with a

series of codes A codebook will be set up including the categories from the literature

and the patterns emerged during the interview (e.g The participants’ key points of

views) The most important key points to each theme will be clustered concepts, the links among which will be identified and discussed Also from those concepts,

categories are formed Instead of beginning with a hypothesis, the first step is data

collection, from which answers for the research questions emerge

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 THE SELF-INITIATED EXPATRIATE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH’S PERCEPTION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT AT WORK

The self-initiated expatriates’ perception of the importance of cultural adjustment atwork can be inferred from the way they take initiative to prepare for the future workand life at the host country and the way they deal with the challenges It has beenrecognized that perceptions and interpretations of experiences impact how one comes

to understand his/her unique place in a new culture (Padilla & Perez, 2003) andinfluence their consideration of acculturation (Jones & Davis, 1965) Moreover, beingthe minority group, their acculturation perception has an influence on the majoritygroup (the host nationals)’s position of accepting or rejecting them (Van Oudenhoven,Prins, & Buunk, 1998; Zagefka & Brown, 2002)

Participants in this study showed a lack of pre-arrival preparation and of the adjustmentinitiative after arriving in Vietnam, accompanying by negative attitudes towardsadjustment, indicating an under-perception of cultural adjustment’s importance

4.1.1 LACK OF PRE-ARRIVAL PREPARATION

Most interviewees came to Vietnam by accident, either on an extended holiday or byrecommendation, only one had specific reasons to go to Vietnam (see Table 3.1Description of participants, p.21) Prior to the trip, they only focused on getting readyfor the possible role novelty by preparing themselves with the qualifications and skillsneeded, such as CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), TESOL(Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), TEFL (Teaching English as aForeign Language), and online teaching courses One participant, Mary (pseudonym)did not even have any teaching experience prior to working in Vietnam In general, theparticipants, if did, only prepared themselves for the culture in general (not going deep

into work culture) by reading and watching clips on the Internet, or did no preparation

at all

Actual classroom teaching I have like no experience with and I didn't really

know what the working conditions were going to be like here (Jack)

I'd be perfectly honest, I'm a pretty flexible person generally, so I did nothing to

prepare [ ] it's a complete surprise to me that I wanted to stay, so (Frank)

I, uh was online, I was bored in my hotel room in Nha Trang I was justlooking at some job opportunities and I saw an English center and I applied.And I was surprised that I got an interview and then I got equally surprised that

I got accepted for the position (Tim)

Andrew, who came to Vietnam with the strongest motivation, seeing the country asfitting to his personal plan and a good teaching opportunity, even stressed his interest

in Vietnamese food and history

There're three reasons I came to Vietnam Number one: Because there's goodteaching opportunity Two because Pho is my favorite food in the US [ ]Number three, because of the Vietnam war (Andrew)

But he only prepared himself “a bit, but not much” by “talking to some Vietnamese

people in the US” In reality, Andrew did make an genuine effort to get to know

Vietnamese culture once he was in Vietnam by getting his students to participate indiscussions involving various cultural patterns, such as relationship, Tet holiday,history, communication, business world, professionalism, personal goals, values, food,family, etc However, he himself encountered several serious problems and conflicts at

work that later led him to separate from Vietnamese work culture (quit his job with a

Vietnamese-run language center and go on working for an American-run one and focus

on private classes) after a long time maintaining the replication mode at work (not

changing the self to fit the role and not changing the role as well)

4.1.2 LACK OF INITIATIVE TO ADJUST TO THE CULTURE

During their time working in Vietnam, all interviewees were able to notice culturaldifferences in various aspects, between working in Vietnam and working in theircountry of origin and does make an effort to carry on working However, they have atendency to wait for conflicts to occur instead of actively exploring the work culture

Conflicts was viewed rather as challenges than opportunities, and adjustment is viewed as a coping process instead of a learning process.

Conflicts occurred very early after the participants arrived in Vietnam and they all werenot prepared; therefore, they underwent negative psychological reactions For example,

Jack found the first 3 or 4 months of his stay “very difficult” and was frustrated when

finding out that his first job which was arranged online prior to his arrival was in factgiven to another teacher Andrew broke his leg within his first two weeks and haddifficulty negotiating the locations of the classes he was going to teach with hiscompany Tim, despite having support in housing and having teaching assistants,struggled to manage four classes, with the aggregate number of students being 72.Moreover, none of the participants spoke Vietnamese, so language barrier was a hugedifficulty for them from the beginning

All of the participants, at some point later, realized that there are differences betweenthem and their company, bosses, co-workers and their students, sometimes students’parents, mainly in terms of expectation, work ethics and teaching principles In the face

of these cultural conflicts, all the participants was able to recognize that they have to dosomething deal with them in order to carry on with their job It is not the case,however, that they try to adopt Vietnamese cultures’ norms and values to do their jobbetter Five out of six participants’ adjustment strategies fell under the category of

“Ethnocentrism”, ruling out the option to change their own beliefs and actions to fit in.One participant, Andrew, mentioned giving Vietnamese people “the benefit of thedoubt”, meaning arrogating to himself that everything they do is right, but this wasdone in a somewhat contrived manner, without consideration of the values underlyingthe way Vietnamese people behave The result is disappointment and Andrew’sseparation from Vietnamese-run companies Another participant, Mary, mentioned

“putting herself in people’s shoes” in order to accept and move on in general; however,

at work, in place of teaching ideas conflict, she still chose to keep her way of doingthings and altered her role instead

Another example is coping with the language challenge, two of the participants, Timand Simon, gave evidence of failure in learning

I know I can learn Vietnamese, I'm sure, in under six months Literally I just

have no time I haven't figured out the time to do that (Tim)

Tim remained to have a high level of self-efficacy (the belief that one can do well inthe face of uncertainty and novelty (Black et al., 1991)) but he put the blame on lackingtime, an external factor, this also indicates that he does not perceive learning to benecessary Simon, on the contrary, said he was willing to learn, but in reality he neveractually did

It's a big problem to me and if I had a chance I'd love to learn I've not tried for

too long ‘cause I've been kinda lazy and it's a difficult language I wish

somehow a miracle just happened and I just started speaking Vietnamese andthat'll be nice (Simon)

It appears that because they can communicate in English to their co-workers most ofthe time, they would not bother learning Vietnamese In case of failure incommunication, the participants find it the problem of lacking English competence

from Vietnamese counterparts rather than their lack of competence in the languagespoken in the country Simon, who admitted being too lazy to study Vietnamese, said:

Sometimes I just want everyone to understand or speak English [ ] I work

every Monday, the secretary of the center, one of them, she doesn't understand

English When we talk sometimes it's very difficult to understand (Simon)

Another example is Mary’s case:

The directors of the center, they don't really speak English, so I must

communicate through the teachers Um sometimes, even the teachers, they don't

really speak English so like you need to try hard to find the common language totry to understand (Mary)

A responsibility shift is seen in both of these cases when the efforts of learning tospeak other languages lie in their business partners rather than these expatriate teachersthemselves This can be explained by the context of their occupation All of theparticipants are English teachers, so they are very likely to have the expectation thattheir employers, who are in the language training business, are able to speak English.When reality does not come up to expectation, they are likely to be frustrated as aresult of culture shock, and as a result, might struggle to carry on with their work This

is contradicting to an assertion made by Tharenou & Caulfield (2010) drawing from thework of Doherty et al.(2008); Napier & Taylor (2002) Suutari & Brewster (2000) that

“more often than company expatriates, self-expatriates expatriate for adventure, to seethe world, to live in the host country, to experience the host culture, and to learn thelanguage.”

The only positive and active approach to conflicts was taken by Frank, who has been inVietnam the longest – 7 years He tried to observe and avoid making others foreign

teachers’ mistakes This showed a certain degree of cultural integration and absorption

(changing the individual’s self and make no or very few changes to the role)

(Nicholson, 1984) to his work It should be noted that he reported only observing formistakes made by his fellow teachers – people who shared identity with him – to avoidmaking them, but not etiquettes used by the host nationals In other participants’ cases,

in place of conflicts, the common reaction is trying to communicate what they thoughtwas good to other people If that does not result in a positive way, they simply moved

on, accepting or ignoring the situation In no case (even Frank’s case) did theparticipants mention asking the question “why,” actively exploring the Vietnamesework culture, and adopting the Vietnamese way of doing business or teaching

4.1.3 EXISTENCE OF NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS ADJUSTMENT

Besides a lack of initiative to adjust to the work culture, the self-initiated expatriatesparticipated in this study also sometimes showed negative attitudes towards the process

of adjustment Being asked about what had helped them get better at interacting withpeople at work and carrying on with their work in Vietnam, five out of six participantsgave credits to “gaining experience.” “Gaining of experience” here should beunderstood as the development of (1) the participant’s systematic organization of thetechniques and materials which help them do their job (teaching) well; and (2) theparticipant’s sets of behaviors to react to cultural conflicts that they encountered orobserved, both of which were acquired over a period of time Obviously, theexpatriates have been adjusting, but sometimes not with a positive attitude

So yea I learned from [others’] mistakes, I guess You have to be easy going,

you have to be flexible I think if you're too rigid then, you know (Frank)

Same same fake it until you make it (Tim)

So that's why I'm working online, where I don't have to deal with those facets.

(Tim)