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Mass Media Use and Interpersonal Communication in the Acculturation 
of International Students
By
Nan Zheng Master Student
Claudia Rojo Master Student
3543 Greystone Drive Apt 2115I
Austin, TX 78731
512-795-2460(H)
   512-964-6904(Cell)
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Submitted to:
International Communication Division
For the Markham Competition (Student Papers)
2005 AEJMC Annual Convention
San Antonio


Abstract
Results of an e-mail survey on international students showed: (1) a 
significant correlation between prior exposure to American mass media 
content and attitudes toward American culture, (2) a correlation 
between the type of TV show watched (news and talk shows) and views 
of American culture, (3) a higher level of interpersonal 
communication corresponds with a higher degree of acculturation on a 
behavioral level, and (4) a collective effect of interpersonal 
contacts and TV viewing on acculturation.
Introduction
For many immigrants in American society, traveling the path toward 
Americanization is an inevitable process in their life. Immigrants 
who are being exposed to a new or unfamiliar culture may have the 
feeling of "jumping into cold water". Through the process of 
understanding and adapting to a new culture, they may gradually "warm 
the water" by overcoming their language barrier and building a social 
circle. This process is identified as acculturation.
Mass media, which are expected to be reflective of the new host 
culture, play an important role in facilitating acculturation. TV, 
with its relatively easy access and lower demand of language 
proficiency, becomes an ideal resource for new comers such as 
international students to learn the culture of host society.
Interpersonal communication is another key factor in acculturation. 
It not only provides emotional support to immigrants who rely on it 
for their sense of security and well-being, but also provides 
feedback to help them with interpreting culture arributes.1
The present study focuses on the effect of mass media, especially TV, 
and interpersonal communication on the process of acculturation. 
Different from previous studies in this field, prior exposure to 
American media is considered as a factor which may influence the 
acculturation. Moreover, instead of approaching mass media use and 
interpersonal communication as separate contributions to 
acculturation, this study tended to examine their collective effect 
on acculturation.
Theoretical Rationale
Acculturation is the natural process of adaptation of an individual 
who has been socialized in one culture and who then moves to another 
culture.2 According to Kim, the communication-acculturation system is 
the basic mechanism in the acculturation process. She indicated that 
"among many forms of human communication, interpersonal communication 
and mass media consumption are the two most salient forms in the 
cultural learning process."3 Thus, communication and acculturation 
are inseparable processes, and a person's communication patterns are 
indicators of her or his acculturation level.
Kim developed the "communication model of cross-cultural adaptation," 
4 which suggests that if immigrants are to successfully adapt, they 
must increase their host communication competence by actively 
participating in the interpersonal and mass communication processes 
of the host society.
The adaptive function of mass communication was clearly pointed out 
in Lasswell's formulation of the mass communication functions: (1) 
surveillance of the environment, (2) correlation of the components of 
society in making a response to the environment, and (3) transmission 
of social inheritance.5
Television, primarily because of its easy accessibility and 
pervasiveness of its messages, leads individuals to adopt beliefs 
that conform to the stereotyped and selective view of reality 
systematically portrayed on television.6 Moreover, Shapiro and 
McDonald have stated that mediated information is more likely to 
exert influence on those people who have had little or no direct 
contact with objects because they are lacking in a sufficient method 
of evaluating information.7 Thus, television viewing may predict a 
significant influence on the acculturation process.
In addition to mass communication, interpersonal communication with 
members in a host society also plays an important role in the 
acculturation process. Although mass media may serve as a virtually 
pressure-free source of learning about the host culture, its adaptive 
function is weaker than interpersonal communication.8 It is because 
of the simultaneous feedback from the interpersonal environment such 
as gestures, words and silence of host nationals which may 
effectively help immigrants understand and correct their 
communication patterns.
Literature review
Acculturation is not a new area of study, since scholars have 
researched the area since the 1930s. Early studies in this field, 
which were mainly conducted by anthropologists and sociologists, have 
assumed communication variables as an incidental part of 
acculturation.9 In these studies, the focus was on immigrants' 
adjustment and acculturation to the host culture rather than on the 
patterns of communication through which adjustment takes place.10
However, many communication-oriented variables were introduced in 
these early studies. Graves 11, for instance, included items like 
having a TV set in one's possession as part of his index in measuring 
immigrant acculturation. A similar assumption was made for the 
adaptive function of radio by DeFleur & Cho 12, who used the amount 
of daily exposure of radio and TV as an indicator of adaptation. 
Additionally, Nagata13, compared to the above studies, investigated 
the most communication variables in her study of Japanese immigrants 
in Chicago, and concluded there was a progressive increase in degrees 
of communication participation by immigrants in the host society.
In addition, the literature showed pursuing interpersonal 
relationship with the host people as a necessary condition for 
effective adjustment to the host culture. A study of international 
students in the United States showed that those more actively 
involved with Americans expressed more satisfaction in their sojourn 
experiences and had more favorable attitudes toward the United 
States.14 Further, the linkage between the number of host nationals 
in relation networks and cross-culture adaptation was found in 
studies of foreign students and visitors in the United States and elsewhere.15
A synthesis of the previous studies led to a theoretical development 
of acculturation. Kim, as a predominant scholar of cross-cultural 
adaptation, built an acculturation model with a central focus on the 
communication experiences of individual immigrants.16 In her study on 
Korean immigrants in the Chicago area17, the communication patterns 
were conceptualized on cognitive and behavioral levels. The cognitive 
level is based on immigrants' cultural knowledge of the host society; 
the behavioral level is observed by the immigrant's involvement in 
the host society. Three determinate factors of immigrants' 
communication patterns are language proficiency, acculturation 
motivation, and accessibility to host communication channels. The 
major conclusions were: (1) acculturation motivation, language 
fluency, and interpersonal and mass media channel accessibility are 
strongly correlated with an immigrant's intercultural communication 
behavior; (2) the four independent variables do not affect one's 
cognitive complexity directly, but are mediated by one's 
interpersonal and mass communication experiences in the host society; 
(3) the influence of interpersonal communication exceeds that of mass 
media usage in developing a complex cognitive system in perceiving 
the host society; and, (4) educational background, sex, time among 
the host society, and age at the time of immigration are the key 
determinants of one's language competence, acculturation motivation, 
and accessibility to host communication channels.
When it comes to the acculturation studies and TV viewing, most of 
the findings point to Gerbner's cultivation theory which indicated 
that TV viewing creates a stereotyped view of host society. For 
instance, Tan18 found that watching an American television program 
was correlated to accepting stereotyped traits about Americans. Since 
a television program was the only or primary source of information 
about American culture, his study showed that the most watched 
American television programs in Taiwan and Mexico, such as "Dallas" 
and "Dynasty", were cultivating a negative image of the U.S. In a 
recent study of international college students, the connection 
between levels of acculturation, daytime TV talk-show viewing, and 
beliefs about social reality was examined. The results indicated that 
international students who were heavy viewers of day-time TV talk 
shows and scored low on acculturation in the United States held the 
most negative views and attitudes of American society. 19
General agreements among above studies are: First, immigrants who 
tend to seek interpersonal relationships with Americans in social 
situations have not only a greater potential but also actually 
achieve a higher level of acculturation; second, the use of American 
mass media is positively related to the immigrant's acculturation.20
Besides the studies on general immigrant groups, scholars have 
exhibited considerable interest in examining acculturation among 
international students. Similar influence from mass media use and 
interpersonal communication was found on acculturation as it occurs 
among international students.21 Despite the wide-spread report of 
difficulties international students encounter, the majority of 
international students make reasonable adaptation to their cultural 
and institutional demands.22
Although there were numerous studies on communication pattern of 
acculturation, two areas have not been explored thoroughly. First, 
prior host media exposure may have influence on immigrants' attitude 
toward host society. A series of interviews with Korean-Americans 
residents revealed that pre-immigrants experience with images of the 
United States in movies, television programs, and magazines shaped 
their post-immigration response to the reality life.23 Second, in 
order to examine the acculturation as a complex social-cultural 
process, mass media use and interpersonal communication should not be 
considered separately. Kim, for example, indicated that the greater 
the participation in host interpersonal communication, the greater 
the participation in host mass communication.24 Thus, this study also 
tended to further explore the relationship between mass media use and 
interpersonal contacts with host society members through the process 
of acculturation.
Based on previous literature and theoretical consideration, this 
study was designed to answer the following questions:
Q1 Does exposures to American media content prior to arriving in the 
U.S. affect acculturation among international students?

Q2 How does TV viewing affect acculturation and international 
students' views toward American society after they come to the U.S.?

Q3 How does international students' interpersonal communication may 
affect acculturation?

Q4 Is there a collective effect of interpersonal contacts with 
Americans and mass media use through acculturation among 
international students?
Methodology
All registered International students (total 4,506) at a large public 
university in the southwest were contacted by email and invited to 
complete a Web-based survey, in which mass media use, interpersonal 
communication, and acculturation questions were asked. The following 
measurements were used to answer the research questions.
Prior Exposure to American Mass Media. Respondents' American mass 
media exposure before they came to the U.S. was measured by the 
questions designed as "Before you came to the U.S., how many days a 
week would you say you would watch American TV shows; read the 
newspaper for U.S. news; listen to radio for American content; use 
the Internet for U.S. news or entertainment." There were five 
response categories to all these four types of mass media: "never", 
"1-2 days" "3-4 days" "5-6 days" "everyday". The categories from 
"never" to "everyday" were assigned a number from "1" to "5". 
Respondents' scores on this question were a sum of numbers that 
assigned to their choice on each type of mass media use. In the later 
analysis, respondents were grouped as "heavy" or "light" users of 
American mass media by their scores.
TV Viewing After Arrival to the U.S. The amount of time spent on TV 
viewing after international students came to the U.S. was measured 
with the question: "Since you arrived in the U.S., on average, how 
many hours a day would you say you spend watching TV." There were 
seven response choices, ranging from "less than 1 hour" to "more than 
5 hours." If the respondents answered one hour or more, they were 
asked a follow-up question to determine the frequency of a particular 
type of TV programming they watched: news, drama, music, comedy, 
sports, weather, reality, talk shows, and other. Three response 
options were provided: "often", "sometimes", and "seldom or never."
The respondents were also asked "What would you say is the main 
reason that you watch TV in order to identify respondents' motivation 
for utilizing a particular mass medium. Four responses were given as 
"For fun", "Get information", "Learn English" and "Other".
Interpersonal Communication with Americans. Time spent on 
interpersonal communication was measured by asking "Since you arrived 
in the U.S., on average, how many hours a day would you say you spend 
talking to your friends/family?" Seven choices, ranging from "less 
than an hour" to "more than 5 hours" were provided. Consequently, the 
responses to these two questions were summed and categorized into 
"heavy" and "light" users of the interpersonal communication.
Number of interpersonal contacts with Americans was measured by 
asking "How many of your friends are American citizens?" with three 
response choices of "most or all," "some," and "few or none."
Interpersonal communication based on mass media use was measured by 
the question "How often do you talk about TV shows with your 
friends?" Three response choices were provided: "most of the time or 
always", "sometimes" and "rarely or never".
Acculturation Variables. Both attitude and behavior related to 
acculturation were assessed. On the attitudinal level, participants' 
attitudes of cultural themes that are portrayed on TV were measured 
by an index of statements ("I like the way friendships are portrayed 
on TV.";"I like the way TV portrays American families."; "I like the 
way Americans discuss their sexuality on TV";"I like the way 
Americans are dressed on TV." "I like the way that women are 
portrayed on American TV.") With the index, there are five response 
categories to all items "strongly agree", "agree", "undecided", 
"disagree", and "strongly disagree". Consequently, score on these 
items were summed to create two categories of attitude: positive and 
negative. In addition, participants' attitudes on American culture 
were directly assessed with the question "How much do you like 
American culture?" Response choices were given as "very much", 
"somewhat", and "not much/not at all". On the behavioral level, four 
behavioral questions such as "Do you own a T-shirt with state (or 
school) logo?" "Have you ever attended a sports event?" were asked. 
The more behaviors they reported in this matrix question, the higher 
scored on the behavioral level of acculturation.
In assessing the immigrant's English proficiency, respondents were 
asked to estimate their own ability to speak and understand English 
when they used the English mass media and communicated with natives. 
(e.g., "How much English would you say you understand when you watch 
TV?" "How much English would you say you understand when you listen 
to conversation between your American friends?").In addition, the 
survey also asked international students to report their TOEFL score. 
The correlation coefficient between the self-report English 
efficiency and self-reported TOEFL scores was .54 (P<.001).
Respondents were asked to report how long they have been lived in the 
U.S.. The length of the respondents stay was broken into three 
categories (1=1 to 2 years, 2=2.1 to 4.5 years and 3=4.6 to 26 years).
Results
Sample Profile Total 178 respondents have evenly split between males 
and females. Half of the respondents have lived in the U.S. for less 
than three years. High English proficiency was shared by around 80% 
of the respondents.25 The average amount of time for daily TV viewing 
was one hour.
Prior Exposure to American Mass Media and Acculturation. Table 1 
shows that there is a relationship between American media use prior 
to coming to the U.S. and respondents' views on American culture. For 
international students who had access to American media before they 
came to the U.S., heavy American media users (84%) are more likely 
than light users (45%) to report that they very much or somewhat like 
American culture.
Table 1
Relationship Between American Media Use Prior to Coming to the U.S. 
and View on American Culture (%)
American Media Use Prior to Coming to the U.S.
Light
Heavy
View on American Culture
Like it Very Much/
Somewhat Like It
65
84
Not Like It much/
Not Like It at All
36
17
Valid cases
93
79
X2=8.623 df=2 P<.05
While a relationship was found between media use and views on 
American culture, no such relationship was found between prior 
exposure to TV, specifically, and international students' views of 
American culture.
TV Viewing After Arrival to the U.S. and Acculturation. Although no 
significant correlation is found between total TV viewing time and 
any acculturation variables, news and talk show viewing yield 
significant results for respondents' view on American culture. 
Analysis revealed that international students who often watch talk 
shows are more likely to have a positive view on cultural themes 
portrayed on TV. Compared to 20% who seldom or never watch talk show, 
47% of international students who often watch talk shows hold a 
positive view on cultural themes portrayed on TV. Eighty percent of 
participants who seldom or never watch talk shows have a negative 
view on TV-portrayed cultural themes. (X2=10.916 df=2 P<.01) A 
similar result is observed on TV news viewing. Compared to 49% who 
seldom or never watch news, there are 69% of respondents who often 
watch news on TV hold a positive view on TV-portrayed cultural 
elements. (X2=8.393 df=2 P<.05)
International students' length of stay in the U.S. is significantly 
correlated with their motivation of TV viewing. (See Table 2) 
International students who stayed longer tended to use television for 
information seeking, while those who had only lived in the U.S. for 
one to two years, reported watching television mainly to learn English.
Table 2
Relationship Between International Students' Length of Stay in the 
U.S. and Motivation of TV Viewing (%)
Length of Stay in the U.S.
Motivation of TV Viewing
1-2 years
2.1-4.5 years
4.6-26 years
Watching TV for Fun
9
3
2
Watching TV for Information c
13
11
25
Watching TV for Learning English c
86
14
0
Watching TV for Other Reasons
2
3
2
Valid Cases
64
64
49
X2=16.411 df=8 P < .05
Table 3 examines the relationship between respondents' attitude on 
TV-portrayed cultural themes and their view on American culture. 
International students' attitudes toward cultural themes portrayed on 
TV corresponded with their attitudes toward American culture. For 
example, international students who had a positive view of cultural 
themes portrayed on TV tended to like American culture more than 
those who had negative view toward such themes. Twenty-one percent of 
respondents who held a positive view of cultural themes reported 
liking American culture very much, while only 8% of those who had a 
negative view provided the same answer.
Table 3
Relationship Between International Students' Attitude on TV-portrayed 
Culture Themes and Views on American Culture (%)
Attitude on Cultural Themes Portrayed on TV
Positive
Negative
View on American Culture
Like it very much
21
8
Somewhat like it
64
54
Not like it much/
not like it at all
16
38
Valid cases
88
84
X2=12.996 df=2 P<.01
Interpersonal Communication and Acculturation. Having American 
friends is also related to views on American culture. International 
students who said "most of all" (38%) of their friends were Americans 
were more likely than international students who said "some" (18%) or 
a "few or none" (2%) of their friends were Americans to say they very 
much like American culture. (See Table 4.)
Table 4
Relationship Between the Number of American Friends and View on 
American Culture (%)
Number of American Friends
Most of All
Some
A Few or None
View on American Culture
Like It Very Much
38
18
2
Somewhat Like It
63
62
53
Not Much Like It
0
20
46
Valid Cases
28
82
66
X2=34.455 df=4 P<.01
Additionally, international students who spent more time talking with 
their friends and families are considered heavy users of 
interpersonal communication. This group of people is more likely to 
score high on the behavioral level of acculturation. Compared to 29% 
of light users of the interpersonal communication who scored high on 
behavioral level of acculturation, 45% of heavy user scored high on 
behavioral level of acculturation. (X2=4.338 df=1 P<.05)
Collective Effect of Interpersonal Contacts and TV Viewing on 
Acculturation. Frequency of talking about TV shows with friends was 
found as an intervening variable26 between number of American friends 
and view on American culture.
To determine frequency of talking about TV shows with friends as a 
consequences of number of American friends and determinant of view on 
American culture, one must first establish that significant 
relationship exist between each two-variable pair: number of American 
friends and view on American culture; number of American friends and 
frequency of talking about TV shows with friends; frequency of 
talking about TV shows with friends and view on American culture. If 
significant relationships are found, the variable that is 
hypothesized as intervening must be held constant and the statistical 
relationship between number of American friends and view on American 
culture must vanish.
Significant relationships between the three pairs of variables were 
found. Respondents who have more American Friends held a more 
positive view on American culture(See Table 4), and also tended to 
talk about TV show more frequently (See Table 5). The frequency of 
talking about TV shows is positively related to respondents' view on 
American culture. (See Table 6)
Table 5
Relationship Between the Number of American Friends and Frequency of 
Talking About TV Shows with Friends(%)
Number of American Friends
Most of All
Some
Few or None
Frequency of Talking About TV Shows (%)
Always
4
2
4
Sometimes
79
55
37
Rarely or Never
17
42
59
Valid Cases
24
83
70
X2=14.332 df=4 P<.05


Table 6
Relationship Between the Frequency of Talking About TV Shows and 
Views on American Culture (%)
Frequency of Talking about TV Shows
Always
Sometimes
Rarely or never
View on American Culture
Like It Very Much
0
22
8
Somewhat Like It
83
63
53
Not Much Like It
17
16
40
Valid cases
6
88
78
X2=16.755 df=4P<.05
Partial support for an intervening variable was found in the category 
of "always" talking about TV shows with friends. Thus, when the 
respondents reported to "always" talk about TV shows with their 
friends, the frequency of talking about TV shows served as an 
intervening variable between the number of American friends and their 
views toward American culture.
Discussion
For many international students who have not lived in the U.S., it is 
often the case that the American media content is the only or main 
source of information they receive about American 
culture.  Therefore, not surprisingly, the current study revealed a 
significant correlation between international students' exposure to 
American mass media prior to arriving in the U.S. and their views of 
American culture.
In this study, the cultivation effect of TV viewing was observed in 
the acculturation process. International students' attitudes toward 
themes of American culture presented on TV were consistent with their 
view about American culture. A relationship between particular types 
of TV show and acculturation was also found. Both TV news and talk 
shows were positively correlated with international students' views 
of American culture.
Moreover, the current study revealed that the length of stay in the 
U.S. had influence on international students' motivation of TV 
viewing. International students who lived in the U.S. for a shorter 
period of time tended to use TV as a language learning tool. Since 
language proficiency is a key element in acculturation process, this 
finding indicated that mass media use was closely related with 
international students' cultural adaptation.
Kim found that interpersonal channels have greater adaptation 
function than the mass media.27 Results of the current study 
supported this statement. While mass media use correlated to 
attitudinal level of acculturation, interpersonal communication was 
found related to both behavioral and attitudinal levels of 
acculturation among international students. The sufficient feedback 
provided by interpersonal communication may help international 
students improve their understanding of a particular host culture, 
thus heading toward a higher level of acculturation.28
The discovery that talking about TV shows with friends as an 
intervening variable between international students' numbers of 
American friends and their view on American culture is the most 
striking finding in this study. This collective effect of mass media 
use and interpersonal communication in the acculturation process 
suggest that aside from functioning independently, mass communication 
and interpersonal communication can also intertwine in the process of 
acculturation.
Two issues should be considered upon the evaluation of the finding.
Although a correlation between mass media use and acculturation is 
found in the study, there is no conclusive evidence of cause and 
effect. Perhaps Gudykunst and Y. Kim29 best summarized their 
relationship: the degree to which strangers adapt to the host culture 
depends on their personal and social communication processes. At the 
same time, the adaptive changes that have already taken place are 
reflected in the strangers' communication patterns.
As a study of international students, the sample's two unique 
characteristics 30 must be considered when interpreting the results. 
Since some international students' reason for studying abroad is that 
the foreign country can offer them something that their native 
country cannot, they may concede some partial superiority to the host 
society. This may explain why this group tends to have a positive 
view on American culture. Further, usually well-educated, 
international students tend to have a more realistic view of the host 
society than other immigrant groups. This is why their perception of 
the host society may not be so easily affected by TV's unrealistic 
portrayal of the host society. With a generally good English 
proficiency, the language proficiency's impact on acculturation is 
not observed in this study.
In order to test and modify the communication model of acculturation, 
future research should be conducted on different immigrant groups' 
acculturation to different types of cultures. Moreover, the way of 
measuring acculturation should be continually molded to better 
represent new developments in acculturation research and the 
transient nature of cultures.
NOTES
1.Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural adaptation: an 
integrative theory (Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters LTD,1988), 107
2. Young Yum Kim. "Toward an interactive theory of 
communication-acculturation," Communication Yearbook. 3(1979): 435-453.
3. Young Yum Kim, "Communication patterns of foreign immigrants in 
the process of Acculturation," Human Communication Research 4 (1,1977): 66-77.
4.Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural adaptation: an 
integrative theory (Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters 
LTD,1988), 79, figure 6
5. Harold D. Lasswell, "The structure and function of communication 
in society," The communication of ideas, ed. Lyman Bryson, (New York: 
Cooper Systems,1948/1964):37-51
6. Denis McQuail, McQuail's Mass Communication Theory (4th Ed.) (London: SAGE
Publication 2000), 465
7. Michael A. Shapiro and Daniel G. McDonald. "I'm not a real doctor, 
but I play one in virtual reality: Implications of virtual reality 
for judgments about reality," Journal of Communication 42(4, Autumn 
1992): 94-114.
8. Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural adaptation: an 
integrative theory, 115
9. Giyoshi Nagata, A statistical approach to the study of 
acculturation of an ethnic group based on communication oriented 
variables: The case of Japanese Americans in Chicago. (Doctoral 
dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1969).
10. June Ock Yum, "Communication Diversity and Information 
Acquisition among Korean Immigrants in Hawaii", Human Communication 
Research 8(winter 1982): 154–169.
11. Theodore D. Graves, "Acculturation, access, alcohol in a 
tri-ethnic country," American Anthropologist 59(1967):306-321.
12. DeFleur, M.L., & Cho, S.C., "Assimilation of Japanese born women 
in an American city," Social Problems 4(1957):244-257.
13. Giyoshi Nagata, A statistical approach to the study of 
acculturation of an ethnic group based on communication oriented 
variables: The case of Japanese Americans in Chicago.
14. and 15 see Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural 
adaptation: an integrative theory p109
16. Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural adaptation: an 
integrative theory, 79 figure 6
17. Young Yum Kim, "Communication patterns of foreign immigrants in 
the process of Acculturation,"
18. Alexis S. Tan, Sarrina Li, and Charles Simpson, "American TV and 
social stereotypes of Americans in Taiwan and Mexico," Journalism 
Quarterly 63(winter 1986): 809-814.
19. Hyung Jin Woo and Joseph R.Dominick, "Acculturation, cultivation, 
and daytime TV Talk shows," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 
80 (1,2003):109-128.
20. Paul N.Lakey, "Acculturation: A review of the literature," 
Intercultural Communication Studies 7 (2, 2003):103-118
21.Flora Keshishian, "Acculturation, Communication, and the U.S. Mass 
Media: The Experience of an Iranian Immigrant," The Howard Journal of 
Communications 11(2000):93–106,
22. Church, Austin. T.: 1982, "Sojourner adjustment", Psychological 
Bulletin 9:540–572.
23. Paul Messaris and Jisuk Woo, "Images Vs.reality in 
Korean-Americans' responses to mass-mediated depictions of the United 
States," Cultural studies in Mass Communication 8 (1991):74-90
24. Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural adaptation: an 
integrative theory,76
25. Eighty percent of the respondents scored 600 or more on 
paper-based TOEFL test (perfect score 677), 79% who take the 
computer-based TOEFL test (perfect score 300) scored 260 or higher. 
On the self-report English proficiency, the average score is 4.00, 
with the perfect score 5.
  26. Morris Rosenberg, The logic of survey analysis(New York: Basic 
Bookks, Inc.1948),54-56.
The logic status of an intervening variable is that it viewed as a 
consequence of the independent variable and as a determinant of the 
dependent variable. To establish a variable as intervening, it may be 
noted, requires the presence of three asymmetrical relationships: (1) 
the original relationship between the independent and dependent 
variables;(2) a relationship between the independent variable and the 
test factor;(3) a relationship between the test factor and the 
dependent variable. When the test factor is controlled, the 
significant relationship between independent and dependent variable 
should be vanished.
27 Young Yum Kim. "Toward an interactive theory of 
communication-acculturation," Communication Yearbook.(1979)
28 Young Yum Kim, Communication and cross cultural adaptation: an 
integrative theory (Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters LTD,1988),106-113
29. William B. Gudykunst and Young Yum Kim, Communicating with 
strangers: An approach to intercultural communication. (New York: 
Random House 1984), 220
30 Pool, Ith iel de Sola, "Effects of cross-national contact on 
national and international ima ges." In International behavior: A 
social psychological analysis, edited by Kelman, Herbert C.,106-129. 
NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965.