





































Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

48 
 

Culture Shock and Adaptation: A Narrative Analysis of  

Saudi Arabian Students’ 

Experiences at Tertiary Education Institutions 

  

Nidhi Sharma, Sachiyo M. Shearman  

 

East Carolina University 

  

Abstract 

 

The United States has seen considerable growth in the number of Arabic speaking 

students over the last few years (Mitchell, 2020). Given the global rise in anti-Muslim 

sentiments in the world, however, many international students from the Middle East face 

complex challenges. There is an inevitable cultural shock that requires adaptations and 

adjustments. The authors of this paper conducted in-depth interviews with seven Saudi 

Arabian international students. We examined their shared narratives to gain insight and 

perspective into the challenges they face. They reported a variety of challenges, including 

the absence of family ties, lack of sense of community, religious practice differences, and 

difficulty navigating differences in verbal/nonverbal language differences and gender role 

expectations. This is consistent with the dimensions of cultural adjustment discussed by 

Kim’s (2001; 2005; 2017) Integrated Communication Theory of Cross-Cultural 

Adaptation. The results of this study can be applied to help orient international students.   

 

Introduction 

 

Culture is a pattern of meaning, a way of defining the world and living in it. Different 

cultures create quite different worlds (Nolan, 1990). As Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov 

(2010) claim, culture is like a software of our mind, which is shared among a group of 

people. Culture provides us with a framework for our worldviews, impacts perception, 

forms expectations, and shapes the shared reality of how members of a given group 

should be acting in a given context. When functioning within a mono-cultural context, we 

can be oblivious to these cultural differences. However, when one enters a different 

culture, all of the cultural differences become salient. 

 

Moving to a new country is not an easy transition and can sometimes result in culture 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

49 
 

shock. Culture shock is a multifaceted experience. One would experience culture shock 

at multiple levels - affective, behavioral, and cognitive (Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). 

When one plunges into a different culture or stays in another country or a culture for an 

extended period, it can result in various stressful and depressing situations. An altogether 

different culture, language, customs, traditions, and people, requires adjustment in 

various contexts; it often demands that individuals enter new cultures to learn how to 

“acculturate” or adjust to a new culture. (Kim, 2002; 2005; 2017). 

 

International students face this particular issue as they choose to navigate their academic 

career. International students who move abroad for their higher education are vulnerable 

to a variety of challenges related to cultural changes and language barriers. These 

international students need to know the cross-cultural differences in navigating both their 

academic and social lives (Morin, 2007). Although international students are prepared for 

academic tasks, they are not particularly familiar with differences in the use of nonverbal 

cues such as eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, paralanguage, and proxemics 

(Yang, 2015). Given entirely new circumstances in an unfamiliar environment, they may 

experience anxiety, confusion, depression, acculturative stress, conflicts, and various 

adjustment issues.  

 

The number of Arabic-speaking English learners in the United States is on the rise 

(Mitchell, 2020).  Adjusting to a new culture is difficult enough, but students from the 

Middle Eastern cultures face several challenges. Since the terrorist attack of September, 

2011 (9/11) in the United States, anti-Islamic sentiment has stirred up, fostering anti-

Muslim rhetoric in the media, and resulting in various instances of anti-Muslim violence 

(Gerteis, Hartmann, & Edgell, 2019). Abunab, Dator, Salvador, and Lacanaria (2017) 

reported that Arabic students, especially Arab-Muslim students who practice religious and 

restrictive cultural practices, face challenging times in the non-Muslim countries 

encountering discrimination, stereotyping, and basic misconceptions about them.  

Although it seems that the American society is embracing diversity and accepting 

multiculturalism, it seems that many minority members continue to face subtle forms of 

racism called microaggression (Sue et al., 2007; Sue, et al., 2009). 

 

Arab-Muslim students are often at the receiving end of these microaggressions in the 

climate after 9/11.  They are often a visible target due to their choice of faith, visible 

nonverbal cues such as head-coverings, or other religious practices. Given this 

background, the current study examined Saudi students’ experiences of culture shock 

and adaptation, as they navigate adaptation in their academic and social lives in tertiary 

education institutions in the United States. 

  

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

50 
 

  

 

Cross-Cultural Adaptation Process 

 

Kim (2001, 2005, 2017) proposed the Integrated Communication Theory of Cultural 

Adaptation, which explains the process of cross-cultural adaptation.  When an individual 

enters a new cultural environment for an extended period of the time, Kim (2001, 2005, 

2017) claims that one will go through a continuous cycle of stress-adaptation process, 

during which one will gradually enjoy interpersonal and psychological growth. In a new 

cultural environment, one may experience some periods of stress. Then, one learns to 

adjust to a new environment as they learn to engage in a new way of processing 

information, handling problems, and behaving. Kim explains that “each stressful 

experience is responded to with a temporary setback, which, in turn, activates adaptive 

energy to reorganize and re-engage in the activities of cultural learning and internal 

change, bringing about a new self-reintegration. (Kim, 2017, p.934).” 

 

At the initial stages of entering a new culture, one often faces intense culture shock, with 

more acculturative stress and challenges in adaptation. With time one learns to adapt to 

the new cultural environment and experiences less frustration. The intensity of the stress-

adaptation process decreases with the passage of time as an individual gets adjusted to 

the host culture. 

 

A variety of factors can have an impact on the process of adaptation to stress. Kim (2001) 

mentions six structural features that influence on cross-cultural adaptation processes. 

They include an individual’s predisposition (e.g., preparedness, adaptive personality), 

host environment (e.g., receptiveness to strangers), host cultural understanding and 

communication competence (e.g., communication competence within the host society), 

engagement in social communication (e.g., engagement in host’s interpersonal and 

mediated communication), ethnic identity and interpersonal and mediated communication 

(i.e., communication with members of the host culture in person and in mediated 

contexts), and identity transformation (functional fitness, psychological health, 

intercultural identity).  

 

Often, international students may not be fully objectively aware of the factors that may 

affect their experience of culture shock or adaptation. In the current study, we attempted 

to hear from Saudi Arabian students’ and understand their experience of adjustment at a 

public university in the United States. Specifically, we inquired about the types of 

challenges they faced in their academic and social lives in American higher education 

institutions and their attempts at adjusting to the new culture. Based on the Saudi 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

51 
 

students’ accounts of these challenges and ways of coping with them, we hoped to 

identify solutions that might help facilitate the cultural adaptation process of incoming 

international students. 

 

Methods 

Participants  

 

Seven students from Saudi Arabia, two females and five males, were interviewed 

between the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020. All of the students speak Arabic and 

English and identify themselves as Muslims. The respondents were all between 25 and 

30 years of age. They are studying English as their second language at a public university 

in the Southeastern United States. All the respondents come from a conservative Muslim 

families in Saudi Arabia.  In this paper, we will use pseudonyms (Fizza, Fahim, Hanin, 

Suhail, Bilal, Ahmed and Rahman) to protect the identity of the participants.  

 

Procedures 

 

In order to gain an insight into the real experiences of Saudi students in the world of 

American higher education, the authors conducted a semi-structured in-depth interview 

with the seven Arabic international students. One of the authors teaches an English as a 

Second Language course at a university and recruited students to participate in this 

interview study using a network sampling technique. The participants were informed with 

an IRB-approved informed consent before the interview. Each participant took one and a 

half hours to perform the interview, during which the interviewer took notes as well as 

reflective memos. 

 

Instruments 

 

The semi-structured interviews consisted of four sections. The first of them contained 

questions about demographic information, for example, national background, 

cultural/religious identity, etc. The next part concerned the culture shock experience and 

cultural differences perceived by the informants. The subsequent section discusses the 

misconceptions and stereotypes that American people may have about their culture as 

well as those that they have about American culture. It also discusses about how they 

adapted themselves to the American culture, and their suggestions as to how their 

transition to the American way of living can be improved. Simply put, the emphasis was 

placed on how international students, especially students from the Middle Eastern 

countries, deal with the challenges in adapting to the American culture. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

52 
 

 

Results 

 

Given the qualitative responses provided by the participants, we utilized qualitative 

thematic analysis steps that included, (1) familiarizing with the data, (2) generating initial 

coding, (3) iterative process of search for themes/reviewing themes, and naming and 

providing details for the themes, and (4) producing the report comprising the quotes 

(Braun & Clarke, 2006). The first author reviewed the participants' responses twice, noting 

repeated topics and important themes. We collected a list of six topics and  

challenges, namely, communication/relation, physical environment, American culture, 

religion/worldviews, and gender role differences. 

  

Sources of Culture Shock 

Communication/Relation 

 

Language. Language is an essential factor in culture shock, since the competency level 

in the host language is often an integral part of cultural adaptation. All of the participants 

of this study were taking English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. In Saudi Arabia, 

the use of the English language is minimal, hence all the participants had used the Arabic 

language in schools. It often takes some time for international students to learn and adapt 

to American culture and get comfortable interacting with others in their daily lives (Morin, 

2007). They face many verbal and non-verbal misunderstandings on a daily basis due to 

differences in the culture and language. Some examples of these include the following:  

 

●      Greetings: Saying ‘hello’, ‘smiling’, or greeting to a stranger is not a customary in Saudi 

Arabia. They had to get accustomed to the appropriate way of greeting in the US. 

●      Eye contact: Eye contact is considered as a sign of confidence, respect, or show of 

attention in the U.S., but it is considered rude in Saudi Arabia. 

●      Gestures: The participants reported that they were not used to using a variety of hand 

gestures such as a high five, handshakes, or victory signs used in the United States. 

In Saudi Arabia, people greet others by saying 'Wa ʿalaykumu s-salam' which means 

‘may peace be upon you’.  The use of curling fingers to mean ‘come here’ in the U.S., 

is considered rude in their culture. 

 

Family Ties. Saudi Arabian culture is intertwined with Islamic worldviews. The society is 

highly conservative, religious, traditional, and family oriented. Saudi Arabian people stay 

together as an extended family, help each other, and oftentimes, domestic help is 

available to them. One participant, Fizza stated, ‘I never had to worry about cooking food 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

53 
 

or about the upbringing of my daughter in Saudi Arabia as we have household help and 

our mothers live with us. Here in America, from taking care of your children to cleaning 

the house, cooking, laundry, and studying, everything has to be managed alone'. Besides 

having domestic help, the younger family members have assistance from elders in the 

family. When they move to the United States to pursue their academic career, they face 

challenges and have to learn to handle everything independently. Buying a car, getting 

their driver's license, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, cooking, and grocery shopping 

- everything falls on their lap along with their education. 

 

Physical Environment 

 

Religious Practice/Sense of Freedom. The participants stated that they visited a 

mosque regularly in Saudi Arabia and pray five times throughout the day (dawn, noon, 

afternoon, sunset, and night prayers). Since moving to the United States, five participants 

responded that they did not have enough time to perform religious practices. They feel 

that they had more time for family and for following the traditions or religious customs in 

Saudi Arabia. As Bilal mentioned, ’I hardly get time to visit mosques or say ‘namaz’ here 

in the U.S. as there is so much homework to do’. Namaz is the holy prayer of Muslims.  

However, they liked the fact that in the U.S. there is a lot of emphasis on human rights 

and everyone has the freedom to follow their own religion. For example, Rahman was 

surprised to see a mosque in almost every city and that everything related to religious 

practice or grocery items are available in the U.S. 

 

Social/Community Services. Currency differences and social services can be a big 

factor in cultural adjustment. All the respondents found everything rather expensive in the 

United States especially when they converted the prices into their own currency.  In Saudi 

Arabia, education and healthcare are free for the citizens, so they found buying medical 

insurance and going to a doctor in the U.S. is highly expensive. Fahim mentioned that his 

daughter needed a dental treatment, though he was shocked with by the doctor’s fee as 

in his country ‘medical, dental, and education is all free for them’. He also stated that their 

education in the United States was also sponsored by their government as Saudi 

Arabians enjoy free education. In colleges, students are paid to attend school. He said, 

“It was shocking for us that medical is so expensive here. We took our daughter to a 

dentist and had to spend money even with the insurance. I find it weird that one has to 

take appointments to see a doctor here. We have free medical, dental and education in 

our country. 

 

In Saudi Arabia, public transportation is widely available, whereas in the United States it 

is less common. Getting a driver's license, buying a car, and then buying insurance was 

indicated as requiring a lot of effort and cost a lot. When they choose to drive, they must 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

54 
 

first become accustomed to driving on the right side of the road, as in their home country 

people drive on the left and they must learn all the road signs and traffic rules, unlike in 

Saudi Arabia where the traffic rules are not very strictly followed. 

 

They also need to get adjusted to dealing with the differences in law enforcement. The 

participants liked the fact that in the U.S., 24/7 help from police is available by calling 911. 

On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia, the police do not intervene as frequently, especially 

when it comes to the case of domestic disputes. Suhail claimed that the police in his 

country does not interfere even if a husband is mistreating his wife as they say it is their 

personal matter.  

 

Religion 

 

Religious-Based Society. Saudi Arabia’s culture is based on religion and strict rules. 

Judgements and personal opinions may not be publicly expressed.  Often, Saudi 

Arabians do not choose whether to participate in the religion. Women are expected to 

wear an ‘Abaya’ in public, which is a robe that covers the face and only reveals the eyes. 

Women cover themselves as it brings more value to a woman to be hidden. Many women 

are expected to marry early and they move out of their family’s house thereafter. Women 

are allowed to uncover their hair and faces at weddings and schools, since men and 

women are separated in those places. Girls have their own buildings, classrooms, 

cafeterias, and teachers at schools separate from boys. Instructors must be women, 

otherwise a male can only teach a class of girls through Skype where they cannot see 

the students. The ‘Abaya’ is only worn in public places where men are present, such as 

the grocery store or the mall. Companies in Saudi Arabia have separate workstations 

solely for women. 

 

Physical Appearance. Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and has very strict Islamic laws. 

Everyone living there must abide by those rules. Women must wear loose-fitting clothes 

and cover their bodies so that no other man can see their bodies. They cover their body 

with an ‘Abaya’, i.e. a robe-like dress, and wear a headscarf called a ‘Hijab’, and some 

even cover their face with a ‘Burqa’, i.e. an outer loose-fit garment that covers the body 

and the face.  They can remove it only in front of their husbands, fathers or their brothers. 

Tsurui, Camara, and Sorrels (2012) report that international students’ clothing choices 

impact their level of acceptance in the host culture. In the case of Saudi Arabian students’ 

use of head/body covering, it is partly due to their religious beliefs, which is not something 

they can easily change to adjust to the host culture. Saudi Arabian participants believed 

that wearing the head/body covering is, to a certain extent a way of protecting and 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

55 
 

respecting women, though this type of covering is seen as putting down women in the 

United States. 

They all have a high level of pride in their religious beliefs and national identities, although 

they feel that in the U.S. sometimes people around them look at them differently. They 

stated they had to bear discrimination or being misunderstood due to their clothing as 

they were stereotyped as terrorists, based on their dress. Rahman mentioned, "we are 

looked at with suspicion at the airports and that is the reason why [sic.] we now wear 

jeans/t-shirts and not traditional dresses”.  Post 9/11, unfortunately, Muslim students had 

to face discrimination and racism, adding to the stereotyping challenges based by middle 

eastern students in the United States.  

 

Gender Roles Expectations. In Saudi Arabia, gender role differences are respected. 

Men hold more power at home and in various functions in the society, because of the very 

strictly religious-based society.  When making decisions, often women need permission 

from the person they are dependent which could be father, husband or brother, in order 

to travel abroad. It could be their father, husband, or even brother in order to travel to 

other countries. If a woman works, they do not contribute to the household as that is the 

man’s duty. Women do all the household chores, raise kids, and go to work so that only 

men are responsible for all the household payments. All women have a maid that lives 

with them and helps the family with household chores as well. 

 

In recent years, the Saudi Arabian society has transitioned from a traditional society into 

more of an equal opportunity society for women. Despite the changes, the expectations 

related to gender differences remain strong in the Saudi Arabian society, especially 

compared to the American society. In the United States, men's roles are very different as 

they know how to cook, clean, do laundry, and perform many other household tasks that 

women generally do in Saudi Arabia. Having a maid is not common in the U.S. as it is in 

Saudi Arabia, and even those with a maid do not live with the family. Without a maid or 

family help, Americans depend on themselves to get things done. Given this difference, 

participants in this study felt that life in the U.S. keeps them very busy, and it is hard to 

find time to simply enjoy the company of friends/family, aside from holidays. 

 

In Saudi Arabia, men and women have separate buildings with teachers of the same 

gender. It has been hard for Hanin to adapt to mixed gender classes and professors here 

in the United States. To cope with this cultural difference, Hanin claimed that she chose 

to speak only to same gender professors as it was more comfortable. According to 

Hofstede’s masculinity index (Hofstede Insights, 2020; Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005; 

Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov, 2010), there are differences in perceived gender role 

differences and expectations. The participants felt that they had to adjust to different 

gender role expectations in the United States.  

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

56 
 

 

 

Culture in the host country: US Culture. 

 

Diversity/Multiculturalism. The participants stated that they would describe the culture 

of the United States as diverse and open. This is because the United States is a melting 

pot for so many different countries, cultures and backgrounds. The participants noted that 

the United States has pride in its culture of freedom. They felt that Americans had the 

choice to be whatever they wanted to be and that they have the freedom to express 

themselves. The United States provides citizens freedom of speech and the right of their 

opinion, unlike in Saudi Arabia.   

 

The participants noted that the United States was greatly individualistic. This was 

reflected in the following statement: ‘Having friends come over to your house at any time 

of day is not okay here in the U.S. In Saudi Arabia, we have people come to our houses 

without calling beforehand and it is normal.’ It was also indicated by the interviewees that 

they also noted that it seems like Americans prefer to have privacy between people and 

focus on taking care of oneself instead of others. One participant gave an example of a 

situation in which he asked his American friend for someone’s phone number, and he 

was refused to pass the number before getting the person’s permission. This simple 

gesture was deemed unnecessary to the participants, though in the U.S. the gesture is a 

sign of respect.  

 

The culture in Saudi Arabia is more collectivist, as people get to know each other by 

inviting them to their homes. Trust is assumed, and mutual trust is assumed throughout 

the culture and country. Strangers are always willing to help in the same form they would 

help close family members. This is consistent with the principles of a collectivistic society 

detailed by Hofstede and colleagues (Hofstede Insight, 2020; Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005; 

Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov, 2010).  

 

Cultural Adaptation Process 

 

Misconceptions of Saudi Arabia and the United States. According to the participants, 

Americans perceive Saudi Arabians as angry people and potential terrorists.  The 

participants also admitted to having misconceptions about the American culture. For 

example, they believed that American food is of high quality, but a considerable proportion 

of it proved to be fast food.  Another misconception/stereotype the participants had of the 

U.S. was that everyone is rich. They did not expect that Americans must work really hard 

to make money.  In addition, participants thought racism was not a continuing social issue 

in the United States. The participants had only seen the racial issues in movies and did 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

57 
 

not think it existed anymore. At times, adjusting their preconceived notions about 

American culture was something that they needed to overcome as they experienced the 

host culture. 

 

Cultural Adaptation Strategies.  In the interview, we asked the Saudi students about 

the different actions they took to adjust to the new cultural environment. Some of them 

claimed that getting involved in various clubs at the university helped them. For instance, 

Rahman said that he joined the International Students Association and was involved in 

various events, which helped him to make new friends and overcome anxiety. Fahim and 

Fizaa spent time with their daughter, cooking food, and exploring the city together. This 

helped them stay busy, gain knowledge and get comfortable in the host country. Some 

said watching English movies, listening to podcasts, and participating in weekly 

conversation hours at the university helped them improve their English skills, which 

helped reduce the language barriers. Suhail, Bilal and Ahmed said going to the fitness 

center helped reduce their anxiety which also helped them maintain mental and physical 

stability. 

 

Naturally, although there are individual differences as to which strategies are effective, 

each person attempted to find something that works for them.  Kim (2017) noted three 

facets of internal change taking place in newcomers as they undertake the process of 

cross-cultural adaptation a) increased functional fitness in carrying out daily transactions, 

b) improved psychological health in dealing with the environment, and c) an increasingly 

intercultural identity orientation. The participants of this study were engaged in ways to 

connect with others and to figure out strategies that help reduce acculturative stress and 

maintain psychological health, while being functional and engaging in smoother cultural 

adjustment.  

 

Conclusion 

 

The study provides insights into the experiences of students from Saudi Arabia in the 

American tertiary education. Specifically, we obtained an in-depth understanding of the 

various factors that contribute to their acculturative stress and misconceptions. This 

helped us identify ways to help them with the transition. These struggles that the Saudi 

students shared here are also faced by other international students coming to the United 

States. Therefore, the insights that we obtained from this study can be useful in assisting 

incoming international students not just from Saudi Arabia but also from other parts of the 

world. Kim (2017) states that through active participation, and through cultivating the 

adaptive personality of openness, strength and positivity, one is more capable of 

overcoming temporary setbacks and attaining a level of functional efficacy one needs to 

pursue their personal and social goals. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

58 
 

 

Most of the participants in this study reported experiencing acculturative stress, yet they 

overcame the temporary setbacks and attained the level of functional efficacy they 

needed to pursue their personal and social goals. Their active participation in the host 

culture, willingness to accept new perspectives, and cultivation of strength in dealing with 

negative views and maintaining positivity all helped them adjust to a new cultural 

environment. 

 

The current study will help us to underscore the point that it is normal to have these 

cultural differences and for anyone to face acculturative stress. Instead of attempting to 

deny acculturative stress, it is important to prepare oneself to face these challenges and 

adapt to a new culture. The paper will also provide some guidelines to the office, such as 

global affairs, to help assist the international students on the day of their orientation at 

any university. We believe it is critical that the colleges and universities should not only 

offer generic orientations for incoming students but also special orientations for incoming 

international students. It will not only help facilitate their adjustment in a new environment 

but also ensure their academic success.  

 

By raising the awareness of these cultural differences and acculturative stress that 

international students face in the United States, American students can understand more 

about the cultural differences and to have empathy for foreign students. As the mission 

of many universities is to prepare graduating students for functioning in a global and 

diverse society, it is crucial for us to understand the struggles of international students 

while promote understanding and empathy among American students.  

 

References 

 

Abunab, H. Y., Dator, W. L. T., Salvador, J. T., & Lacanaria, M. G. C. (2017). Solitude, 

 religious and cultural uniqueness in a foreign environment: Adjustments as an     

 Arab  student. Journal of Religion and Health, 56(5), 1701–1718. 

 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0425-x 

 

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative    

           Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. 

 

Gerteis, J. Hartmann, D., & Edgell, P. (2019). Racial, religious, and civic dimensions of   

            anti-Muslim sentiment in America. Social Problems, 39, 1-22. Retrieved 

 from https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spz039 

 

 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0425-x
https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spz039


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

59 
 

Hofstede Insights, (2020). Country comparison. Retrieved on March 20th, 2020 

from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/. 

 

Hofstede, G. & Hofstede, G.J. (2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. 

            (Second edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. 

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G, J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations:   

            Software of the mind/Intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival.   

            New York: McGraw Hill. 

 

Kim, Y. Y. (2001). Becoming intercultural: An integrative theory of communication and   

            cross -cultural adaptation. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. 

 

Kim, Y.Y. (2002). Adapting to an unfamiliar culture: An interdisciplinary overview. In 

W.B. Gudykunst & B. Mody (Eds.), Handbook of international and intercultural 

 communication (2nd ed., pp. 259-273). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

 

Kim, Y. Y. (2005). Adapting to a new culture: An integrative communication theory. In   

           W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 375–  

           400). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 

 

Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Integrative communication theory of cross-cultural adaptation. In Y.  

           Y.   Kim (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of intercultural communication (pp.  

           929-941). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.  

 

Mitchell, C. (2020) U.S. Schools see surge in number of Arabic- and Chinese-Speaking   

           English learners. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y7ux7dkj. 

 

Morin, A. (2007). Communicative behavior of second language speaking students.   

           Louisiana Communication Journal, 7, 5-21. 

 

Nolan, R. (1990). Culture shock and cross-cultural adaptation or, I was OK until I got    

     here. Practicing Anthropology, 12(4), 2-20. Retrieved from    

     http://www.jstor.org/stable/44247160 

 

Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. M., Nadal, K. L.,  

           et al.  (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical   

           practice. American Psychologist, 62, 271-286. 

 

Sue, D. W., Lin, A. I., Torino, G. C., Capodilupo, C. M., & Rivera, D. P. (2009). Racial 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/
https://tinyurl.com/y7ux7dkj
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44247160


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  February 2021, Vol. 9, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 

 
 

60 
 

 microaggressions and difficult dialogues on race in the classroom. Cultural   

           Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15(2), 183-190. 

 

Tsurui, Y., Camara, S., & Sorrells, K. (2012). Does what I wear help me communicate  

           better?:  An investigation of communicative adaptability and clothing behavior of  

           international Japanese students in the US. Intercultural Communication Studies,  

          21(2), 1–19. 

 

Ward, C., Bochner, S. & Furnham, A. (2001). The psychology of culture shock. East 

Sussex, England: Routledge. 

 

Yang, P. (2015). Intercultural nonverbal communication competence: Meeting body 

language challenges in facilitating and working with students from culturally  

          diverse backgrounds in the Australian higher education context. Journal of  

          Communications Research, 7(1), 81–95. 

 

Nidhi Sharma earned her Masters of Arts in International Studies with TESOL certificate 

from the East Carolina University. She also has MBA in Human Resources and Marketing 

in India. She has worked as a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant where she has 

taught English to non-native speakers of English. She has presented her research at the 

Global Issues Conference (GIC) in 2020. She is fluent in three languages and have 

TESOL certification and feels comfortable addressing any language barriers with 

compassion. She currently works as a Business Operations Specialist with a company in 

Greenville in NC. 

  

Sachiyo M. Shearman earned her Ph.D. in Communication from the Michigan State 

University. She is an associate professor in the School of Communication at the East 

Carolina University. She has taught courses titled Global Understanding, Intercultural 

Communication, Conflict and Communication, Research Methods, and Communication 

Across Cultures in International Studies as well as in the School of Communication. She 

has written several book chapters and an electronic textbook titled Communication 

Across Cultures. Her research studies have been published in journals such as Human 

Communication Research, Communication Quarterly, Journal of Family Communication, 

and International Journal of Human Resources Development. 

 

http://www.gpejournal.org/

