Sự hòa nhập của hai thế thệ trong một gia đình người việt đang sinh sống tại tiệp khắc

This study was set out to examine the adaptation strategies of two different generations in a Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic. In order to comply with the objective, a theoretical framework was adopted to measure four types of adaptation process. To be more specific, in order to gather necessary data for the research, different documents about adaptation process were collected for observation, and four semi structured interviews were hold to collect the audience’s data. The results from analysis revealed that ‘integration’ was the strategy chosen by both two generations in the Vietnamese family. There are many factors including individual influences and contextual influences which may affect the adaptation process and the selection of adaptation strategies of immigrants. Moreover, the successful adaptation of the first generation can also lead to the success of the second generation. This paper can be improved by inviting more participants to the research. The more audiences participate in the survey, the more various the collected data gets. Then, there might appear changes in the selection of the host society.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

THE INTEGRATION OF TWO GENERATIONS IN

A VIETNAMESE FAMILY LIVING IN THE

CZECH REPUBLIC

Supervisor: Phan Vân Quyên Student: Phạm Thị Phương Anh Course: QH2012.F1.E15

HANOI, 2016

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

SỰ HÒA NHẬP CỦA HAI THẾ THỆ TRONG MỘT GIA ĐÌNH NGƯỜI VIỆT ĐANG SINH SỐNG TẠI

TIỆP KHẮC

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Phan Vân Quyên Sinh viên: Phạm Thị Phương Anh Khóa: QH2012.F1.E15

HÀ NỘI, 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acceptance page ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aims and objectives 3

3 Research questions 3

4 Significance of the study 3

5 Scope of the study 4

6 Method of the study 4

7 Design of the study 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1 Immigration 6

2 Culture shock 7

a/ Definition 7

b/ Coping with Culture Shock 9

c/ Importance of Culture Shock for the adaptation process 9

3 Cultural adaptation .10

a/ Definition .10

b/ Stages of cultural adaptation process: .11

c/ Adaptation Strategies .13

4 Factors affecting cultural adaptation process 16

5 Related studies on adaptation .17

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 19

1 Research Question 19

2 Research methods 19

a/ Qualitative Research and Case study 19

b/ Data collection instrument 20

c/ Methods of data analysis 24

3 Selection of Subjects 24

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS 27

1 First generation’s adaptation 27

2 Second generation’s adaptation 34

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 41

1 Conclusion 41

5.2 Limits of the research 44

5.3 Recommendations for future research 44

REFERENCES 45

ACCEPTANCE PAGE

I hereby state that I: (Pham Thi Phuong Anh, class 12E15), being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English translation and interpreting accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention 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 the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Date

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I place on record my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs Phan Van Quyen for her dedication, and valuable guidance extended to me Had it not been for her help and encouragement, I might not have enough patience to accomplish my dissertation She gave me a lot of helpful advices, more importantly her encouragement is the biggest motivation for me to finish this research paper

Secondly, I sincerely thank the Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic for agreeing to participate in the interview for this research Without them, this study could not finish

I take this opportunity to express my thanks to Mai, Nga, Trang, Phuc, Tran Lan, Quynh, Oanh, Minh, Dinh Lan, Hoang, sister Huong and many of my other friends, who gave me their excellent ideas and support no matter how busy they were when I was implementing the dissertation

I would like to thank all of the respondents who spent their precious time and efforts on participating in the survey Their responses are of great importance to the completion of the research

I also extended my appreciation to my family, for their continuous support Although they do not have any knowledge and understanding on Intercultural Communication, their support has helped me a lot in completing the dissertation

ABSTRACT

This study was set out to examine the adaptation strategies of two different generations in a Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic In order to comply with the objective, a theoretical framework was adopted to measure four types of adaptation process To be more specific, in order to gather necessary data for the research, different documents about adaptation process were collected for observation, and four semi- structured interviews were hold to collect the audience‟s data The results from analysis revealed that „integration‟ was the strategy chosen by both two generations in the Vietnamese family There are many factors including individual influences and contextual influences which may affect the adaptation process and the selection of adaptation strategies of immigrants Moreover, the successful adaptation of the first generation can also lead to the success of the second generation

This paper can be improved by inviting more participants to the research The more audiences participate in the survey, the more various the collected data gets Then, there might appear changes in the selection of the host society

`CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter will provide overall information concerning the context of the research, the reasons for research, what goal it pursues, contributions it may make after accomplishment, and the scope of the research

1 Rationale for the study

There is a movement of people to live in a foreign country, which is also called

“immigration” Millions of people all over the world immigrate to pursue different goals Some people have dreams to become rich or to have good salary for secure future Some others want to escape from wars, famines or natural disasters Many

of them need a better education for their children Indeed, there are dozens of reasons for a person to migrate from their home country Vietnam‟s history has witnessed many great migration waves from Vietnam to different countries with such a large number of migrants Currently, there are about more than 3 million of Vietnamese immigrants living in nearly 90 countries and territories around the world, which are mainly in 21 countries of some regions such as: North America, Northwestern Europe, Russia, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and Australasia Vietnamese immigrants in developed Western countries account for the largest number, about 4/5 of the total number of Vietnamese immigrant worldwide Among those countries, the number of Vietnamese immigrating to Czech Republic is quite large (about 83 000 people in 2011) According to statistics by Jiřička (2011), the community of Vietnamese immigrants in Czech Republic is the third largest ethnic minority in Europe, after Slovaks and Romanies The number of Vietnam immigrants in the Czech Republic increases rapidly until 1989 when the Socialist Regime in this country collapsed The first generation of Vietnamese immigrants there mostly does business in small shops, the next generation which is born in the Czech Republic is well- known for very good academic performance The information above together with the fact that there are more and more Vietnamese people migrate urges me to investigate on the

issue of Vietnamese migration into foreign countries And by the reason that Czech Republic is on the top of Immigration destinations of the Vietnamese, the case study of this research will be taken from a Vietnamese family living in Czech Republic so that it may be concerned by as many Vietnamese immigrants or Vietnamese people who have intension to migrate as possible

Commonly, migrants will have to suffer from feelings of confusion and uncertainty when they come into contact with a new culture that is vastly different from their own Those feelings can be described as „culture shock‟ Culture shock happens in many life‟s aspects such as climate, food, language, dress, social roles, values or rules of behavior Each individual communicating with a different culture will have to struggle to overcome this problem in order to adapt to their new environment Due to differences in personality, educational level and awareness, different people will have different culture shock troubles and different strategies to deal with them, which can be divided into 4 main types called

„assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization‟ Among these methods,

„integration‟ can be regarded as the most useful and popular way for people to adapt well to a new culture because it considers both original culture and new society value as important factors However, the other strategies also have their own advantages and still work for many people Indeed, this research on the immigrants‟ adaptation process is aimed at accommodating people who are struggling with culture shock or who are looking for detailed information about adaptation process some useful data

Lastly, by integrating into a new culture, people can conserve their own identity while developing a good relationship with new culture at the same time However, the integration process doesn‟t happen equally with everyone Life always changes with a variety of aspects such as age, gender, psychology, work, social support, and so on which subsequently involves the variation in cultural adaptation process Apparently, even father and son in a family still can apply

different means of adaptation For that reason, this study will not only focus on the first generation of Vietnamese immigrants who left Vietnam to live in the Czech Republic, but also investigate the second generation_ the Vietnamese children who were born in that country with a view of a more comprehensive and exhaustive research

2 Aims and objectives

This research is conducted to investigate a specific case of a Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic with the aim to contribute to the wealth of knowledge about Intercultural Communication The results of this research can be used as a particular example for theories of Intercultural Communication in general and for Adaptation Process in particular

3 Research questions:

- How have the two generations in a Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic adapted to the host society?

4 Significance of the study

Due to globalization, the need for knowledge of Intercultural Communication

as well as Adaptation has been highly demanded After answering the research question above, this research is supposed to explore the difficulties, strategies and current adaptation status of four people from two different generations in a Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic One of the benefits this work can brings is to become a reference for other Vietnamese who intend to come to live permanently in a foreign country Moreover, this study is expected to provide some useful information for researchers who are studying Intercultural Communication issues

5 Scope of the study

Due to time constraints and the limited knowledge and experience of the researcher, this study will focus on two generations of one Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic To be more specific, they are: a father and a mother, who immigrated from Vietnam to Czech since they were young; a daughter and a son, who were born and raised in Czech

6 Method of the study

Descriptive method is used as the main method for this study It can bring detailed descriptions of specific situations using interviews, observations and document reviews More importantly, this method can produce more in-depth, comprehension information about the research subject, and a wide understanding

of the entire situation

7 Design of the study

The paper is organized into five chapters which are respectively named: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings & Discussions and Conclusion

Firstly, the Introduction Chapter presents the overview of this study including rationale, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the significance, the scope, the method and the design of this work

Secondly, the Literature Review Chapter provides definitions of key terms together with a critical analysis of theoretical literature and related studies

Thirdly, the Methodology Chapter reveals how the research is conducted and a detailed description of participants, data collection and analysis instruments Fourthly, the Findings and Discussions Chapter analyzes the collected data, discuss the findings and propose answers to the research questions

Finally, the Conclusion Chapter gives an overview of the main discussed issue and draws a conclusion; points out some limitations of the study and gives suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the researcher is going to provide information about specific key concepts discussed in the research along with analysis and assessment of different viewpoints presented in previous studies and expressed by the professionals in the industry Besides, a framework including various criteria adopted from certain sources to explore adaptation process is also going to be introduced in this chapter

1 Immigration

In the book “Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2015” by OECD/European

Union (2015), immigrants are defined as “the foreign-born population” There are

many factors which makes the outcomes of immigrants – particularly those who arrived as adults –differ from those of the native-born population It also claims that the immigrants called the first generation grow up and study in a different environment and language from that of their host society Some elements of their origin will stay forever with their identity while some others may be affected by the host culture and changed during their integration process (OECD/European Union, 2015, p 16)

When the first generation gives birth in the host country, their children become the second generation or the native-born offspring of immigrants Both their living and learning environment differ from their parents‟ condition which leads to dissimilar culturally impediments Somehow, the behavior of the second generation becomes the standard to evaluate the integration level for immigrants (Card, 2004, Vol 115)

Basing on several related surveys, some key cross-cutting findings on the integration of immigrants and their children are explained and listed in the book

“Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2015” Those are:

 Integration improves when immigrants stay longer

The integration process is affected by the time: the amount of friends or acquaintances that immigrants can make may increase during the time they live in

the host country Longer time also helps immigrants feel more familiar and comfortable with new cultural values and have more chances to learn host language, by that reason people who reside in the host country longer are able to adapt to the host environment better Immigrant-native people are born and raised

in the host country so they have the most similar life style, norms and beliefs with the host culture Basing on that, the integration level of immigrant-native people is reasonably set for the standard of immigrants‟ adaptation and the differences between the foreign-born and native-born tend to narrow as the duration of residence lengthens However, the exception still can happen because the impact

of the duration does not stay the same with all immigrants, and sometimes the dispersion of immigrant outcomes and how much differences narrow is variable (p.21)

● There is progress “across generations”

It is widely known that immigrant offsprings are raised and educated in the host country so their behaviors are more often similar to native citizens than their parents The differences occur in many aspects of adaptation such as education, the labor market, and economic well-being (p.24)

This information will be helpful to investigate and analyze the differences during the adaptation process and the integration level of two generations in an immigrant family In general, the previous studies have proved that the duration time and place to be born and raised are two basic differences between two generations of immigrants in a host country

then he/she immigrates or travels to a different country, at which there is a whole new social environments or different lifestyle that he/she is not familiar with The term “culture shock” was introduced in 1960 by an anthropologist named Oberg who mentions six aspects of culture shocks which are:

- “Strain” occurs when people try too hard to make necessary psychological adaptations

- “A sense of loss” and “feelings of deprivation” in the aspects of friends, status, profession and possessions

- “Being rejected” by the native people of the host culture

- “Confusion” in role, values, feelings, and even self- identities

- “Surprise, anxiety” after becoming fully aware of the cultural differences

- “Feelings of impotence” in coping with the new environment‟s problems (p 298)

Generally, culture shock is a phenomenon that almost all normal people will have to deal with when they enter a new culture, and by overcome it, they are able

to sympathize and recognize the full worth of other countries or cultures (Kohls, 1984)

As a kind of emotional response to stress, culture shock is also examined with regard to individual psychology Some researchers define culture shock as the psychological disorientation occurring to people who have to live and work in new cultural environments (Oberg, 1960; Eschbach et al, 2001) Culture shock is seen

by Winkelman (1994) as uncertainty that causes people to suffer anxiety, depression and isolation When people are affected by culture shock, they may also suffer from many by negative effects on mentality such as frustration, isolated and lonely feeling; homesickness, home country idealizing, sadness, depression, withdrawal, and so on (Heike, n.d) More serious, people, according to Manz (2003), may feel lonely and have to face with many different psychological and physical symptoms with diverse severance, ranging from homesickness to depression and serious illnesses

b/ Coping with Culture Shock

Living with different people in a whole new environment is a tough experience with anyone because culture shock brings a lot of difficulties for newcomers to adapt with the new culture By that reason, dealing with culture shock is the effective solution to pass through those hassles Levine and Adelman (1993) note that some newcomers may try to build up the social relationship with native people or other newcomers so that they are able to share their experience and express feelings more comfortably In this regard, Kohls (1984) also list out five basic steps to cope with culture shock, which are:

- Searching for any possible information related to the host country‟s culture

- Finding the rational explanations for each culture values of the host country

- Keeping away from making jokes in purpose to criticize the host culture

- Detecting host people who can understand and sympathize with newcomers

- Believing that these culture shock experiences also bring positive results and lessons

However, there is no firm solution for anyone experiencing culture shock Basing on many aspects such as personal condition, characteristic, original culture, age, gender and others, each person will have their own way to overcome this culture phenomenon

c/ Importance of Culture Shock for the adaptation process

All the symptoms and outcomes of culture shock are just normal physical and psychological reactions to a new environment "It is a myth that experiencing culture shock is a weakness or a negative indication of future international success Culture shock in all its diverse forms is completely normal and is part of a successful process of adaptation"(Marx, 1999, p 5) Wagner (1996) firmly claims that it is the best and possibly the only method to experience and understand foreign cultures The anxiety and stress emotions during the adaptation process are intrinsically not bad And the extent of adjustment mainly depends on how people cope with culture shock rather than how they experience negative symptoms of

culture shock (Guirdham, 1999) He also emphasizes that the positive outcomes may happens in the end for a reason that those feelings make newcomers realize

differences and then try to adjust themselves Moreover, “culture shock serves as

an indicator that there is something to explore about the foreign as well as the own culture” (Wagner, 1996, p 34) Indeed, culture shock is not only a normal

process that any newcomers may experience, but also an indispensable catalyst for effective acculturation (Guirdham, 1999) He proves this claim by a study among Canadian expatriates in Africa which shows that those who experience culture

shock are mostly effective in the end "Expatriates who were most aware of themselves and their emotions experienced the most intense culture shock, but it was exactly because of this intense awareness of differences that they were also able to adapt more effectively later on” (Marx, 1999, p 6)

In the end, culture shock should not be regarded as a negative and frustrating process which newcomers have to suffer; above all, it is an important part of

adaptation process and “a positive sign on the road to international adaptation"

(1997) explain that cross-cultural adaptation has two dimensions, including psychological adaptation and socio-cultural adaptation Psychological adaptation refers to internal psychological consequences consisting of elements such as personal and cultural identity, good mental health, and personal satisfaction in a new cultural context While socio-cultural adaptation refers to external

psychological aspects of connection between people with the new cultural context,

it includes the ability to operate personal work, study and daily life (Berry, 1997)

b/ Stages of cultural adaptation process:

There are many different studies about the stages of cultural adaptation process Among those, there are the two most well-known culture shock models are the classical U-curve (Lysgaard, 1955) and its extension to W-curve (Oberg, 1960) which presents intercultural adaptation process with several stages that lead

to adaptation

(The U-curve hypothesis)

In this phase, people will feel excited and fascinated with the new culture Some minor problems of cultural differences still not cause many difficulties, the new things

This is the time when cultural shock happens, the excitement turns to disappointment and the cultural differences become the main concerns People will be struggle with communicating with the new society, their psychological problems appear and dominate their thoughts and behaviors

At this point, people start learning more about the host culture, the previous negative attitude is gradually replaced by a more positive outlook

The aspects of different culture no longer affect people in a negative way At this phase, people start feeling more at home in the host culture, they can live and work normally and start to immerse themselves into the new culture

The process of adaptation still keeps going when people who can adapt to the new culture go back to their home culture The process of this is demonstrated in the W-curve by Oberg (1960) as the graph below:

(the W-curve hypothesis)

The W-curve model is expanded from the U-curve model, a stranger goes through the same adaptation process again as the original culture (Kim, 2005)

c/ Adaptation Strategies

There are various ways of adaptation because that different people have different personalities, different original cultural values, and different conditions

of adaptation Immigrants may differ in the speed of the process, but the outcome

is adaptation to the mainstream culture on every occasion (Van de Vijver & Phalet, 2004)

Basically, Berry (1974) proposes two independent dimensions underlying the adaptation process which concern to the individuals‟ links to their cultures of origin and to their societies of settlement There are numerous demonstrations for these links such as choices of involvement in the two cultures (acculturation attitudes), and in the behaviors that they engage in (language, knowledge, social relationships)

In multicultural countries, it is very important for newcomers to adopt suitable strategies which can allow them to achieve a successful adaptation to the host country‟s culture as well as its society According to Van de Vijver and Phalet (2004), ethnic minorities (including immigrants, refugees, and sojourners) may lean toward either the dominant culture, or their own minority culture, or both, or neither In this case, two issues are raised: the degree to which people desire to maintain their original culture and identity; and the degree to which people want to

be involved with the host society ( Van de Vijver & Phalet, 2004) On the other hand, Berry (1987) and his colleagues also develop a framework for the study of acculturation attitudes or adaptation strategies They propose two key issues that classify the type of adaptation: the degree to which people consider the importance

to maintain and identify with the cultural value of their own ethnic groups; and the importance to keep positive relationships with the general society and with other ethnic groups (Berry et al., 1987) In accordance with the theory developed by

John W Berry and his colleagues (1988), the adaptation strategies are commonly divided into 4 main types:

+ Assimilation: It happens when people regard the host culture rather than original culture Maintaining the original cultural identity is not as important as well communicating with the host society It means that the previous beliefs, values, norms, and social practices will be replaced by those of the new culture which help a person to totally get involved in the new society

+ Integration: It occurs when people consider both their original identity and new society are equal In this case, all the original identity is conserved while the relationship with new culture is developed Whether people choose assimilation or integration, they all try to promote the harmony between themselves and a typical group

+ Separation: This is a negative way of adaptation Different from assimilation and integration, separation happens when individuals or groups do not want to keep relationships with other groups or society belonging to the new culture + Marginalization: Worse than separation, it happens when people deny both their own cultural identity and the new culture This form of adaptation is featured

by confusion and alienation While integration and assimilation base on working with society, separation and marginalization are toward battling against society Below are 29 self-report items which are used to measure 4 types of East Asian acculturation process described by Nagata in 1994 and also applied by Barry (2001) to develop a new scale for measuring acculturation These items provide typical illustration for further understanding of this issue

“1: Assimilation

- I write better in English than in my native language (for example, Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

-When I am in my apartment/house, I typically speak English

- If I were asked to write poetry, I would prefer to write it in English

- I get along better with Americans than Asians

- I feel that Americans understand me better than Asians do

- I find it easier to communicate my feelings to Americans than to Asians

- I feel more comfortable socializing with Americans than I do with Asians

- Most of my friends at work/school are American

2: Separation

- Most of the music I listen to is Asian

- My closest friends are Asian

- I prefer going to social gatherings where most of the people are Asian

- I feel that Asians treat me as an equal more so than Americans do

- I would prefer to go out on a date with an Asian than with an American

- I feel more relaxed when I am with an Asian than when I am with an American

- Asians should not date non-Asians

- I have both American and Asian friends

- I feel that both Asians and Americans value me

- I feel very comfortable around both Americans and Asians

4: Marginalization

- Generally, I find it difficult to socialize with anybody, Asian or American

- I sometimes feel that neither Americans nor Asians like me

- There are times when I think no one understands me

- I sometimes find it hard to communicate with people

- I sometimes find it hard to make friends

- Sometimes I feel that Asians and Americans do not accept me

- Sometimes I find it hard to trust both Americans and Asians

- I find that both Asians and Americans often have difficulty understanding me

- I find that I do not feel comfortable when I am with other people” (Barry, 2001,

p.195)

Berry and his coworkers (2006) also suggest that integration is the most

preferred method which produces the best results in the immigrant's adaptation

during acculturation, while marginalization has the worst results.bvv The factor of differences in the use of four strategies might be based on

differences in features existing prior to acculturation; closeness between cultures,

cultural plurality in the origin culture, level of education, perception of the origin

culture or their cultural identity, language, age and gender As a result, different

people have different strategies; even one person, in different stages of cultural

adaptation process, may follow different strategies (Berry et al., 2006)

4 Factors affecting cultural adaptation process

Cultural adaptation is not an easy process; during the time it happens, there are

many things which can appear and disturb that process According to Martin and

Nakayama (2010) the most influenced factors can be divided into two types

In terms of individual influences, many individual characteristics including

age, gender, preparation level, and expectations can affect how well migrants

adapt (Ward, 1996) According to Martin and Nakayama (2010), the second

generation immigrants who are younger may adapt to the new society more easily

because they are less fixed in their ideas, beliefs, and identities On the other hand,

the first generation immigrants who are older may have more trouble adapting

because they are less flexible than younger people Numerous researchers

including Harvey (1997), Martin (1998), Nicholson (2000), Van Velsor (1993),

Westwood (1994) share a claim that women have more advantages to help them

learn to communicate more quickly than men while communication is a vehicle

for learning a new culture Compared to men, women have better social skills and

are more empathic and self-aware Harvey (1997) supposes that these

characteristics allow women to establish and maintain relationships in the host country faster He emphasizes that the self- awareness makes it easier for women

to realize the challenges posed by general conditions in the host culture At the same time, women tend to have more realistic expectations about expatriate relocation while men often underestimate the difficulties in the new society Individuals who demonstrate cognitive and behavioral flexibility and have openness to and appreciation of multicultural issue seem to approach culturally diverse situation more effectively Vontress (1988, 1996) emphasizes that flexibility is very important ability for immigrants to simultaneously accept the cultural differences Moreover, individuals at high levels of cultural adaptation often show greater psychological well-being such as happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction There are also positive correlations between the adaptation levels and personality of people who are considered empathetic, self-identified and who have cognitive flexibility, intrapersonal and interpersonal flexibility (Suzuki & Ponterotto, 2008, p 63-64)

Futhermore, other researchers including Wanatabe (2008), Berry (1997), Vedder & Virta (2005) and Martin & Nakayama (2010) has emphasized the contextual influences as another factor affecting cultural adaptation process They

are termed “social supports, local residents’ attitudes and helps, expatriates’ relationship with neighbors and colleagues and work load or stress at work” All

the native residents‟ supports and advices play an important role in helping immigrants adapt to the new environment more easily Besides, Martin & Nakayama (2010) claimed that expatriates‟ relative status and power might lead to the changes in the attitudes of host people toward newcomers, which consequently made a difference to the immigrants‟ adaptation process

5 Related studies on adaptation

Among the previous graduation theses of Intercultural Communication issue, there are three studies on the topic of adaptation process The earliest research is a

qualitative investigation about “Adjustment strategies in working environment of self- initiated expatriate teachers of English language in Hanoi” by Nguyen Xuan

Hanh in 2014 This study answers the question of how the foreign English teachers adapt to Vietnam‟s value in terms of working More specifically, the research matter is adaptation strategies, the host country is Vietnam and the research subjects are non- Vietnamese teachers who teach English The second one is

named “Expatriate NGO staffs' adaptation strategies to Vietnamese culture” by

Bui Thi Khanh Huyen in 2015 It also studies the adaptation process occurring in Vietnam but the subjects are changed from English teachers to expatriate NGO staffs Also in that year, Nguyen Thi Lan Anh conducts a research of

“Intercultural competence of Vietnamese sojourners studying in Western countries” This study is different from both two previous ones when focusing on

Vietnamese people in foreign countries

Even though all the researchers above are Vietnamese and the number of Vietnamese people living, working and studying in other countries is not a small number, only one in three researches focuses on Vietnamese people as the targeted subjects The only study of Vietnamese people; however, concentrates on

a large are of Western countries rather than a specific country Moreover, almost all the papers above just focus on one a certain kind of people at similar age level and there is a lack of comparison of people of different generations and their adaptation processes in the host country It is obvious that people in a family who share the same blood and live in the same house may have different adaptation strategies to the host country and different results of adaptation process Therefore, this study is expected to fill in those gaps when paying attention to both two generations of a Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic together with their adaptation strategies and integration status at the moment

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researcher will present information about the research sample and research design Description and explanation of their use are demonstrated in this chapter as well

1 Research Question

- How have the two generations in a Vietnamese family living in Czech adapted to the host society?

2 Research methods

a/ Qualitative Research and Case study

Firstly, qualitative research is a generic term for investigative methodologies described as ethnographic, naturalistic, anthropological, field, or participant observer research It emphasizes the importance of looking at variables in the natural setting in which they are found Interaction between variables is important Detailed data is gathered through open ended questions that provide direct quotations The interviewer is an integral part of the investigation (Jacob, 1988) This differs from quantitative research which attempts to gather data by objective methods to provide information about relations, comparisons, and predictions and attempts to remove the investigator from the investigation (Smith, 1983) By that reason, qualitative research may produce more in-depth, comprehension information about the research subject, and a wider understanding of the entire situation

Secondly, case study is detailed investigation of individuals, groups, institutions or other social units The researcher conducting a case study attempts

to analyze the variables relevant to the subject under study (Polit and Hungler, 1983) The principle difference between case studies and other research studies is that the focus of attention is the individual case and not the whole population of cases Most studies search for what is common and pervasive but in the case study,

the focus may not be on generalization but on understanding the particulars of that case in its complexity A case study focuses on a bounded system, usually under natural conditions, so that the system can be understood in its own habitat (Stake, 1988)

Basing on the characteristics of qualitative research and case study above, the researcher decide to apply them to this research which is a small scale one because

of the limitation of time and knowledge The purpose of this research is to find out the background, relationship, adaptation process and further in-depth information

of a typical Vietnamese family living in the Czech Republic

b/ Data collection instrument

This research will be conducted under the form of the semi-structured interview falling somewhere on the continuum between structured and unstructured ones A key feature of the semi-structured interview is in the partial pre-planning of the questions The interview is used to collect data because it is the most suitable method to make a case study A case study focuses on individual‟s experience and behavior within the scope of the inquiry During the interview, the researcher have a chance to investigate their lives in an in depth way, discover how individuals think and feel about a topic and why they have certain opinions, or inform their decision making and strategic planning Many problems or stories containing the problems are only revealed after a talk This family has two generations (four people) so I interview each of them separately After listening to their own stories and sharing, I can analyze, group, compare, contrast and conclude from the information I gain after the interview‟s questions with the informants

For the purpose above, the interview is carried out based on series of prepared questions of different aspects as follows:

pre-Questions for the 1 st generation:

(Personal background) - How did

you go to be living in Czech

republic? When did you go? How

old were you at that time? What was

your education level? What was

your job in Czech at that time?

What’s your job now?

(Difficulties during adaptation

process ) - Did you have any

difficulties when you first went to

Czech? If yes, what were they? How

did you deal with them? Did you

succeed?

(Language) - Which language do

you write better (VN or Czech)?

Which language do you often say?

Which language do you use to speak

with your family at home? Do you

think well in both two languages?

- Can you express yourself well

when speaking Czech? Or Can

Czech people understand what you

say?

- Do you want your children to learn

Questions for the 2 nd generation:

(Personal background) - How old are you at the moment? What is your education level now? What is your job? Have you married yet?

(Language)- Which language do you write better (VN or Czech)? Which language do you often say?

Do you often watch Czech TV programs? Can you understand jokes in Czech language?

- Do you often think in Vietnamese

- Can your Czech classmates and teachers understand what you say

at school?

(Relationships)- Do you feel hard

to make friend or communicate