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Acculturation and Media Usage among the Chinese students
in the US
Acculturation and Media Usage
Among the Chinese Students In the US
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to extend the
Uses-and-Gratifications approach to a cross-cultural context, focusing on
the relationship between need for acculturation, the acculturative motives
and the media use among Chinese students in the US. Eight-four Chinese
students have been chosen as the subjects. The data show that need for
acculturation is correlated to motives of acculturation in both TV watching
and Internet use. The acculturative motive is correlated to watching TV
news program and using American news websites and BBS.
Cui Yang
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Minnesota
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612-702-8314
Huaiting Wu
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Minnesota
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612-337-5774
Ma Zhu
Department of Educational
Psychology
University of Minnesota
Submitted to the International Communication Division
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Acculturation and Media Usage Among the Chinese Students In the US
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to extend the
Uses-and-Gratifications approach to a cross-cultural context, focusing on
the relationship between need for acculturation, the acculturative motives
and the media use among Chinese students in the US. Eight-four Chinese
students have been chosen as the subjects. The data show that need for
acculturation is correlated to motives of acculturation in both TV watching
and Internet use. The acculturative motive is correlated to watching TV
news program and using American news websites and BBS.
Submitted to the International Communication Division
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass
Communication
Introduction
Approximately 500,000 international students attend US universities and the
number has grown steadily over the past decade (Institute of International
Education, 1996). The emergence and increase of this special group have
attracted the attention of the academic. One of the focuses of studies on
this group is how and to what extent international students are adapting to
the new cross-cultural environment (e.g., Defleur & Cho, 1957; Dato-on,
2000; Fathi, A, 1973; Katona-Apte & Apte, 1980; Kim, 1980; Lee & Fse, 1994;
Mohan, 1980; Saran & Leonhard-Spark, 1980; Sethi & Giglio, 1988). The
purpose of this study is to extend the understanding of
Uses-and-gratifications approach to a cross-cultural social context,
focusing on the relationship between need for acculturation, the pattern of
media uses among the Chinese students in the US.
Acculturation and Media Usage
Many scholars in various academic disciplines have examined the complex
process of acculturation. The conceptualization can be traced back to the
turn of last century (Padilla, 1980). The process of adapting or adjusting
to a new cultural environment can be termed as acculturation (e.g.,
Dato-on, 2000; Lee, 1994), cross-cultural adaptation (e.g., A., 2001; Shah,
1991), cross-cultural adjustment (e.g., Jou & Fukada, 1996; Takeuchi, et
al., 2002), etc.. The multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary
characteristics of the study of acculturation have made the definition of
the concept diverse and inconsistent, which results in difficulty to apply
the concept in further research.
The most often cited definition of acculturation is constructed by Kim.
According to Kim (1988: 37-38), acculturation "refers to the process of
change over time that takes places within individuals who have completed
their primacy socialization process in one culture and then come into
continuous, prolonged, first-hand contact with a new and unfamiliar
culture." In this definition, acculturation is treated as a process instead
of a stagnant status, and the contact with a new and unfamiliar culture is
the primary stimulus of the process.
Individuals' own cultural identity and their relationship with the new
cultural context are two important issues in the process of acculturation.
Berry (1991) argues that these two important factors will decide whether or
not one's own cultural identity and customs should be preserved, and
whether relations with other groups in the larger society should be sought.
Based on the different acculturation strategies toward these two issues,
Berry constructs a four-fold model: "(a) Integration: valuing one's
cultural identity as well as relations with others, (b) Assimilation:
valuing relations with others while devaluing one's cultural identity, (c)
Separation: valuing one's cultural identity while devaluing relations with
others, and (d) Marginalization: devaluing one's cultural identity as well
as relations with others." (Berry, 1991:25). According to Berry, in these
four strategies, assimilation and integration require the highest need for
acculturation and result in the least acculturative stress.
Learning to live with the unfamiliarity and uncertainty of the new
social/cultural context has become one of the central challenges for the
newcomers. Taft (1977:134) argues that "there are certain universal human
needs and modes of functioning that must be satisfied in all culture."
Therefore, in this research, "the need for acculturation" is defined as, in
the cross-cultural context, in order to reduce the cross-cultural stress
and to function properly in the new society, the newcomers have a need to
adjust to the new society.
Laroche et al.'s (1997:37) divided the process of acculturation into four
dimensions of: "(1) host language fluency and usage, (2) host society
interaction frequency and depth vis a vis home society interaction, (3)
culturally linked habits and customs, and (4) host media utilization and
preference." According to these four dimensions, individuals' difference
in language ability, level of host-social interaction, and host media usage
are vital in deciding their needs of acculturation.
Newcomers' participation in the new society is closely related with their
communication behavior. "The extent to which members of a minority group
become acculturated to the way of life of the dominant group depends upon
the extent of their participation in the communication channels of their
rules" (Shibutani & Kwan, 1965: 573). Exploring the complex process of
communication between newcomers and the host cultural environment, Ruben's
(1975) parameter of human communication provides a useful and comprehensive
framework. In this parameter, each person's social communication activity
is conceptualized in two closely interrelated, inseparable communication
process—interpersonal communication and mass communication.
Mass communication theorists have contributed a number of theories and
propositions that bear significant implications for the relationship
between mass communication and acculturation. Gordon (1974:13)
conceptualized the function of mass communication in socialization: "the
media's major socialization influence is on (1) the images and stereotypes
we posses of our environments, our social system; (2) the long-term value
systems we possess; and (3) what we view as priority concern—by way of the
media's agenda-setting function". Also, Lasswell's (1964: 51) famous
formulation of the mass communication process recognizes three major
functions: "(1) surveillance of the environment, (2) correlation of the
components of society in making response to the environment, and (3)
transmission of the social inheritance." Both Gordon's and Laswell's views
point that mass media have a acculturative function "by transmitting not
only topical events but also societal values, norms of behavior, and
traditional perspectives for interpreting the environment." (Kim, 1988:114).
Mass communication activities (particularly the use of mass media) have
been observed to promote the acculturation process of newcomers in many
studies (e.g., Gordon, 1974; Kim, 1988; Lee& Tse, 1994; Shah, 1991;
Subervi-Velez, 1986). Mass media have been proven to play an important
role, especially "in the initial stage of acculturation" (Kim, 1979).
During this stage, when newcomers still have not enough host communication
competence to be functional in their interpersonal communication in the
host cultures. The frustration and stress in the initial direct contact
with the natives, especially the direct negative feedback might be too
overwhelming to the newcomers. It is more likely that the newcomers will
resort to less direct, less personal and virtually less pressure mass
communication, in which the newcomers have more freedom and could get more
sources about the host culture. Ryu's (1976) study found that the
international students relied on the mass media as important sources of
acculturation and the host media has been greatly used especially among the
new arrivals.
This research will focus on the sojourners, especially Chinese students,
the biggest group of international students in the US. The primary
research question is:
What is the relationship between the Chinese students' need of
acculturation and their media usage in the US?
Uses-And-Gratifications Perspective
Reece & Palmgreen (2000) states that the strength of a sojourner's
motivation to acquire the information is an important mediating variable
between the need for acculturation and media usage. Thus, the study of the
relationship between acculturation and media uses can fall into the
theoretical framework of uses and gratifications (U&G).
U&G is one of the most useful theories for the explanation of media uses
patterns. According to Katz, et al. (1974 ), the use-and-gratification
approach emerged because of the discovered inadequacy of the older
traditional, simple, direct effect, and the stimulus-response models of the
communication process. The new approach sought to explain how people use
media to gratify their needs, understand motives for media behavior and
identify functions and consequences that follow from needs, motives, and
behavior (Rubin, 2002: 526).
The main theoretical contribution it provided is an assumption that the
context of social condition is essential for a comprehension of the
behavior of audience and individuals. Social-structure variables influence
the matrix of values, need, belief, and social circumstance that models
media behavior. At the same time, the audience is conceived as very
"active", and an important part of mass media use is assumed to be "goal
directed" (Rubin, 2002).
Katz et all (1974: 20) provides a useful framework of U&G which including
several principal elements: "(1) the psychological and social origin of (2)
needs, which generate (3) expectations (4) of the mass media or other
sources, which lead to (5) differential patterns of media exposure (or
engagement in other activities), resulting in (6) need gratifications and
(7) other consequences perhaps mostly unintended ones".
As mentioned above, in the cross-cultural context, the newcomers
manifest the need for acculturation. Based on the literature review, it is
unclear, however, whether general acculturation needs are related to
newcomers' more specific motives for using host mass media. "The
acculturative motive in media usage" is another important variable in this
research.
Two concepts in the U&G approach, gratification sought and gratification
obtained, need clarification first. A number of media scholars stressed the
need to distinguish the motives for media usage or gratification sought
(GS) and the gratification perceived to be obtained (GO) (Greenberg, 1974;
Katz et al. 1973). In this research, the focus is on what kind of
expectations the Chinese students have in their media usage; that means the
gratification sought is the concentration. According to the definition of
gratification sought—"a particular gratification will be sought from a
medium if this medium is perceived to have some expected attributes or if
the medium is very positive evaluated" (Palmgreen & Rayburn 1985: 27), "the
acculturative motive in media usage" is conceptualized as the expectation
of getting a broad range of the host culture elements including its
economics, social, political and aesthetic from the media usage.
Not only the media types, but also the media content are observed in this
research. Though many studies have "controlled" for types of medium by
investigating the relationship for gratifications to content choice within
a single medium (e.g. Rubin & Rubin,1982), Lometti et al. (1977)
have noted the difference in medium type and content characteristics. Both
television and Internet, which could be accessible by the Chinese students
both in the US and in China, are of the interest here. In the
cross-cultural context, because of its dominant host cultural content,
television has been regarded as one important mass media in the process of
acculturation (Alman, 1993; Palmgreen & Reece, 2000; Rizk, 1986). In this
research, given the increasing influence of Internet on society, especially
its easy accessibility and important role in Chinese students daily life,
Internet uses are also taken into the consideration of the function of
media in the process of acculturation. On the other hand, the no-boundary
attribute of Internet gives media users more freedom to gratify specific
their need, especially to gratify different need of acculturation in the
cross-cultural context. The specific media content, such as news program,
entertainment program, is also emphasized in this research. Based on the
Laroche et al.'s (1997) conceptualization of the dimensions of
acculturation as mentioned before, the language used and the primary
cultural content in media are applied as the criteria to classify the media
into American-based media (i.e., American-based TV and American-based
Internet) and Chinese-based media (i.e., Chinese-based TV and Chinese-based
Internet).
Hypotheses
Drawing from literature review and the research questions,
the following hypotheses emerge:
1. The higher the acculturation need of the Chinese students in the US, the
higher their acculturative motives in media usage.
2. The higher the acculturation motives in the Chinese students' media
usage in the US, the more frequently they use America-based media.
2a. The higher acculturation motives in the Chinese students' media usage
in the US, the more frequent they watch American TV.
2b. The higher the acculturation motives in the Chinese students' media
usage in the US, the more frequent they use American-based Internet.
3. The higher the acculturation need of the Chinese students in the US, the
more frequent they use America-based media.
3a. The higher the acculturation need of the Chinese students in the US,
the more frequent they watch American TV.
3b. The higher the acculturation need of the Chinese students in the US,
the more frequent they use America-based Internet.
Research Method
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the sample of 84 Chinese students
currently attending a midwest university. The sample was a convenience
sample selected from more than 1,000 Chinese students and scholars on campus.
A pretest of the inventory was conducted among three Chinese graduate
students on campus. Revision of the wording and structure of the
questionnaire were performed. The final revised questionnaire was delivered
to the Chinese student population through four major methods, as follows:
1) in person distribution at several Chinese student social events; 2) in
person distribution through interpersonal networks; 3) email distribution
using personal email lists; and 4) email distribution using the email list
of the Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars of the
University.
The questionnaire was conducted by applying a common procedure in Uses &
Gratifications research. It included the questions of: media use before and
after Chinese students came to the US, need for acculturation, likelihood
of going back to China, motives for viewing American television, motives
for using the Internet, content of television watching, content of Internet
use and demographic information.
Media use in China and the US were measured by a Likert-type scale, raging
from 1 (never) to 5 (very often). Questions covered the use of short wave
and local radio, music, videos, movies, books, magazines, broadcast TV,
cable TV, and the Internet.
Need for acculturation was measured by a 3-question index developed by Rizk
(1986). The three questions were: 1) How interested are you in learning
about the current political, economic, and social situations and issues
within the United States? 2) How interested are you in learning and
understanding the ways American people behave and think? 3) How interested
are you in making American friends? Responses were structured on the Likert
scale.
Motives in media usage (see Table a) was measured by Likert scale, raging
from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Motives of Television
viewing were tested by a revised version of Rubin's (1983) Television
Viewing Motives Scale (TVMS) by Reece and Palmgreen (2000), including
acculturation, diversion, pass time, and escape. Motives of Internet use
were measured by a revised version of Papacharissi and Rubin's (2000)
Internet Motives Scale (IMS), including acculturation, diversion, pass
time, escape, interpersonal utility, information seeking, and convenience.
Program preference was also measured by Likert scale, indicating how often
the Chinese students watched a particular type of TV programs, including
local news, international news, comedy, Chinese language program, MTV,
entertainment program, sports program, and movies. The preference content
of Internet use was also measured, by classified into American news
website, Chinese news website, American BBS and Chinese BBS.
Data Analysis
The study utilized the following statistical analyses: descriptive
statistics, paired sample t-test, principal components analysis, and
Pearson correlations. All the analyses of this study utilized the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
Results
Survey Sample Characteristics
Among the 84 respondents, there are 47 female students (56.0%) and 35
(41.7%) male students. The majority of the subjects came to the US in the
last 1-3 years: eighteen (21.4%) of them are first year students,
twenty-five (29.8%) of them are second year students, twenty-three (27.4%)
are third year students, and sixteen (19%) subjects had been in the US for
more than 3 years. Most of them are graduate level students with age
ranging from 23-30. Among them there are 5 (6.0%) students in the range of
15-22-year-old, thirty-seven (44.0%) students are in the range of 23-26,
twenty-nine (34.5%) students are in the rage of 26-30, and eight (9.5%)
students are in the range of 31-40. Twenty-seven subjects (32.1%) are
currently seeking a master's degree. Forty subjects (47.6 %) are currently
seeking a doctoral degree.
The Change of Media Usage by Type
The result of previous media use in China and current media
use in the US showed change in the types of media the Chinese students used
before and after they came to the US.
(Insert Table 1 about here)
Table 1 lists the mean of media use in China and in the US as well as the
mean differences, t-values, degree of freedom and probability of
significance. With an alpha of 0.05, the means differed significantly on
all media types, except for the use of American music, American videos,
online multimedia and online literature.
The media that significantly decreased are short wave radio, local radio,
Chinese music, Chinese videos, Chinese movies, Chinese books, Chinese
magazines, and Chinese newspapers. It is noticeable that the usage of both
broadcast TV and cable TV are decreased significantly, indicating that
Chinese students are exposed to television less after they came to the US.
The use of chartrooms is also decreased significantly.
The types of media usage that significantly increased are American movies,
American books, American magazines, and American newspapers. There is
another significant increase email, instant messenger, online news and
online literature.
Motives of Media Use
Motives for TV watching and Internet use were explained via principal
components factor analysis (PCA), with varimax rotation, of the 10 TV
viewing motive items and 16 Internet use motive items.
(Insert Table 2 & 3 about here)
The results of factor analysis showed that acculturative motives for both
TV watching and Internet use are consistent. For both TV watching and
Internet use, "I want to learn more about American culture", "It helps me
adjust to American society", and "I want to improve my English" are three
core items of acculturative motives (loading value > .78).
(Insert Table 4 about here)
According to paired t-test result in Table 4, all three of the core
acculturative motives had a mean score significantly higher in TV watching
than Internet use, including "I want to learn more about American
culture."(? Mean=. 85, p= .000), "It helps me adjust to American society."
(? Mean=. 78, p= .000), and "I want to improve my English." (? Mean = 1.41,
p = .000). This means that acculturative motives are stronger in TV watching.
The Chinese students watch TV more for finding out "what's going on in
America" (mean = 3.68) than finding out "what's going on in China"(mean =
1.77), (? Mean = 1.89, p =.000; two-tailed); they use Internet more for
finding out "what's going on in China" (mean = 4.31) than for finding out
"what's going on in the US" (mean =3.61), (? Mean = .70, p= .000;
two-tailed). The seeking of information of China and US are significantly
important motives in Internet use.
(Insert Table 5& 6 about here)
The above result is further supported by one-sample t-test result in Table
5 and 6. According to Table 5, all acculturative motive items are
identified as "strong motives" for TV watching. In Table 6, only "I want to
find out what's going on in US" is identified as "strong motives" in
Internet use, and none of the core acculturative motive items are
identified as strong.
From Table 6, it also shows that the Chinese students use Internet to
connect with family and friends in China (mean = 4.08, p=.000), and find
out what's going on in China (mean = 4.31, p=.000).
Hypotheses Testing
Hypotheses 1: The higher the acculturation need of the Chinese students in
the US, the higher acculturative motives of them in media usage.
Significant positive relationship was found between need for acculturation
and acculturative motives for TV watching (r=.357, p= .001, one-tailed);
there was also significant positive relationship between need for
acculturation and acculturative motives for Internet use (r=.337, p=.001,
one-tailed). Hypotheses 1 was supported, which means that when the
acculturation need is higher, both acculturative motive for TV watching and
Internet use were higher. There was also significantly positive
relationship between acculturative motives for TV watching and Internet use
(r= .305, p= .009, two-tailed).
Hypotheses 2: The higher acculturative motives in the Chinese students'
media usage in the US, the more frequent they use American-based media.
Sub-hypothesis 2a: The higher acculturation motives in the Chinese student'
media usage in the US, the more frequent they watch American TV.
Significant positive relationship was found between the frequency of
watching local news and acculturative motives for TV watching (r = .211, p
= .039, one-tailed); between international news and acculturative motives
for TV watching (r = .262, p=.013, one-tailed); between comedy and
acculturative motives for TV watching (r =.195, p = .049, one-tailed). No
significant relationship was found between other types of TV program and
the motives. The hypothesis was partially supported and need more exploration.
Sub-hypothesis 2b: The higher acculturation motives in the Chinese
students' media usage in the US, the more frequent they use American-based
Internet.
In general, the use of Chinese-based Internet was higher than the use of
American-based Internet among the Chinese students. Their use of Chinese
news web page is significantly more than their use of American news website
(? Mean= 1.46, t= 8.689, p = .000, two-tailed); the use Chinese BBS is
significantly more than the use of American BBS (? Mean = 2.00, t = 11.142,
p = .000, two-tailed)
Significant positive relationship was found between using American News
Website and acculturative motives for Internet use (r = .263, p=.016,
two-tailed); also significant positive relationship between using American
BBS and acculturative motives for Internet use (r = .326, p=.003,
two-tailed). The hypothesis was supported by the above results, which means
that the higher acculturation motives, the more frequent Chinese student
use American-based Internet.
Hypotheses 3: The higher acculturation need of the Chinese students in the
US, the more frequent they use American-based media.
Sub-hypothesis 3a: The higher acculturation need of the Chinese student in
the US, the more frequent they watch American TV.
(Insert Table 7 about here)
There is no significance between acculturation need
and the frequency of watching all types of TV program, and the hypotheses
is not supported.
Sub-hypothesis 3b: The higher acculturation need of Chinese student in the
US, the more frequent they use American-based Internet.
(Insert Table 8 about here)
Significant positive relationship was found using between
American new website use and need for acculturation (r =. 225, p = .041,
two-tailed).
Discussion
This study introduces the perspective of Uses-and-Gratification to the
process of acculturation. The results of study provide a detailed
explanation of the relationship between need for acculturation,
acculturative motives and the media usage among the Chinese students in the
US.
First, the result of data analysis shows that the media use has changed in
media type, after the Chinese students came to the US. Generally speaking,
the use of traditional media (e.g., radio and television) and Chinese-based
media has significantly decreased, and the use of Internet and
American-based media has significantly increased. The change of media
availability might be one important reason. While it is still possible for
Chinese students to get some Chinese books, magazines, music, or movies
from library or from friends, the amount of these media is relative small.
This difficulty of accessing Chinese media in the United States restricts
the use of Chinese media. In contrast to the decrease of Chinese media, the
availability of American media and Internet has highly increased. It is
much easier for Chinese students to access Internet both at school and at
home in the United States. The change of the language context (from China
to the US) and the decrease of individuals' language competency (Chinese
vs. English) may explain the decrease of the use of TV. "Strangers must be
both motivated to receive messages (in mass media) and capable of
understanding them." (Kim, 1988: 117). The English education in China
leads to the Chinese students more skilled in reading and writing English,
in stead of spoken and listening comprehension. It might be more
comfortable and more understandable for the Chinese students to get
information from Internet than from television.
Second, the testing of hypothesis 1 shows that there is a significant
relationship between the need of acculturation and the motive of
acculturation in media use. "The media uses can be conceived as goal
directed." (Palmgreen et al., 1985: 14). This means that the stress from
being in a new social context and the need for adaptation to the new
society may result in Chinese students' motive of acculturation in media
use, and "The newcomers are keenly aware of the vital role that mass media
play in their overall function in the host society." (Shibuyani, 1965: 537).
Third, acculturative motives have been found stronger in TV watching than
Internet use, and significant relationship has been found in acculturative
motive and TV watching. TV watching has been treated as better way to get
information of American culture, to adjust to the American society and to
improve English, than Internet use. Almost totally host-cultural content,
along with its requirement in higher competence in language, TV watching
needs the Chinese students should be acculturatively motivated enough to
extensively consume it with American culture.
On the other hand, data show that the Chinese students use Internet to
connect with family and friends in China by email. Comparing to TV
watching, Internet use is a way "to find what's going on in China" rather
than "to find what's going on in America." Significant positive
relationship also has been found between both American news website and
American BBS use, and acculturative motives for Internet use and need for
acculturation. Given its nature as a global media, Internet can transform
the geographic boundaries and gives a virtual place where people could be
engaged in social interaction.. In the cross-cultural context, Internet
with different languages and cultural content could provide more
flexibility to the newcomers, who could keep in touch with the home
culture, or have high interaction with the host culture, based on their
different need for acculturation.
Finally, the usage of the television news and Internet news have
significant relationship with the Chinese students' acculturative motives
and need for acculturation. It confirms with some other research's finding
that "exposure to the content of information-oriented media such as
newspapers, magazines and television news has been observed to be
particularly with adaptation when compared to other media that are
primarily entertainment oriented." (Kim, 1988: 117). The underlying reason
might be that, the information-oriented media content is far more
associated with all aspects of the host culture including its economic,
social, political and aesthetic dimensions, which is the necessity for the
acculturation process.
The major limitation of this study is that the relatively small sample was
restricted to Chinese students at one university in the US. It is clearly
acknowledged that such a sample is not representative of the population of
the large, or diverse group of Chinese student in the US.
In this research, more attention has been paid to host media than
home-cultural media. In the future study, the relationship between the
acculturation and use of host media while still use home-cultural media
could be an interesting concentration in the future study. Future study
also could focus on the antecedent of gratification sought (GS), such as
personality and psychological characteristics in the cross-cultural
context. What's more, the influence from the interaction between
interpersonal communication and mass communication is also a very
interesting topic. Combining this with gratification obtained (GO), what
kind of perceived gratification the newcomers could get from their media
usage and whether it could help them adapt properly in their interpersonal
communication, will provide a dynamic system of acculturation.
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Table A. Motives for TV watching and Internet use
TV Watching Motives
Internet Use Motives
Acculturation
Acculturation
I want to learn more about American Culture
I want to learn more about American Culture
It helps me adjust to American society
It helps me adjust to American society
I want to improve my English
I want to improve my English
Diversion
Diversion
It relaxes me
It relaxes me
It entertains me
It entertains me
Escape
Escape
I want to forget about school, work, or other things
I want to forget about school, work, or other things
Companionship
Companionship
There is no one else to talk to
There is no one else to talk to
Surveillance
Surveillance
I want to find out what is going on in US
I want to find out what is going on in US
I want to find out what is going on in China
I want to find out what is going on in China
Escape
I have nothing better to do
Escape
I have nothing better to do
Interpersonal Utility
I want to communicate with friends, family in China
I want to belong to a group
I want to participate in discussion
It's convenient to communicate with others
Information Seeking
It is a new way to do research
Convenience
It is cheaper
Table 1: Means values of media usage in China and the US and paired t-tests
China
US
? X
t
df
P value
Short-wave radio
2.43
1.47
0.96
6.796
82
0.000
Local radio
3.55
3.13
0.42
2.915
83
0.005
Chinese music
3.83
3.05
0.79
6.195
83
0.000
American music
3.06
3.32
-0.27
-1.917
80
0.059
Chinese video
3.71
2.52
1.22
8.422
82
0.000
American video
3.35
3.39
-0.00
-0.224
81
0.823
American movies
2.3
2.77
-0.47
-3.039
82
0.003
Chinese movies
2.88
1.36
1.53
12.581
82
0.000
Chinese books
4.37
2.43
1.94
16.146
83
0.000
American books
3.1
3.96
-0.87
-5.738
82
0.000
Chinese magazines
4.3
1.71
2.58
19.083
82
0.000
American magazines
2.62
3.36
-0.7
-4.278
81
0.000
Chinese newspapers
4.33
2.21
2.12
15.47
83
0.000
American newspapers
2.41
3.51
-1.1
-7.721
82
0.000
Broad cast TV
3.76
3.21
0.55
3.422
82
0.001
Cable TV
3.74
3.14
0.58
2.542
82
0.013
Email
4.41
4.82
-0.43
-3.378
81
0.001
Instant messenger
2.52
3.11
-0.58
-3.166
80
0.002
Chat room
2.01
1.7
0.31
2.488
82
0.015
Online forum
2.23
2.43
-0.17
-1.329
82
0.188
Online news
3.56
4.19
-0.7
-4.166
80
0.000
Online multimedia
2.6
2.88
-0.28
-1.888
82
0.063
Online literature
2.9
3.35
-0.44
-2.596
80
0.011
Table 2: Factor analysis on TV viewing motives
Questionnaire format: "In the US, how important is each of the following
reasons in your TV watching?"
Factor 1 Acculturation
Mean
Reliability
0.80
Loading
I want to learn more about American culture
3.55
.867
It helps me adjust to American society
3.31
.876
I want to improve my English
4.01
.791
I want to find out what is going on in US
3.68
.610
Factor 2 Diversion
0.66
There is no one else to talk to
1.81
.845
I have nothing better to do
2.05
.840
Factor 3 Entertainment
0.22
It entertains me
4.44
.675
I can find out what is going on in China
Factor 4 Relaxation
1.77
0.14
.751
It relaxes me
I want to forget about school, work, or other things
3.97
2.21
.876
.537
Table 3: Factor analysis on Internet use motives
Questionnaire format: "In the US, how important is each of the following
reasons in your Internet use?
Factor 1 Acculturation
Mean
Reliability
0.80
Loading
I want to learn more about American culture
2.75
.809
It helps me adjust to American society
2.54
.867
I want to improve my English
2.67
.788
I want to find out what is going on in US
3.61
.592
I want to participate in discussion
2.28
.542
Factor 2 Diversion
0.73
I want to forget about school, work or other things
2.17
.868
I have nothing better to do
1.98
.763
I want to belong to a group
1.94
.660
Factor 3 Communication
0.41
I want to communicate with friends and family in China
4.08
.757
I want to find out what is going on in China
4.31
.702
It relaxes me
3.55
.556
It is convenient to communicate with others
4.09
.607
Factor 4 Convenience
0.51
It is cheaper
3.59
.727
It is a new way to do research
Factor 5 Entertainment
It entertains me
There is no one else to talk to
3.81
3.76
2.57
0.12
.816
.835
.490
Table 4: Difference in acculturation motives between TV and Internet use
Paired sample t-test
Acculturation motive items
Mean
TV
Mean
Internet
? Mean
t-value
p
I want to learn more about American culture
3.55
2.75
.85
5.826
.000
It helps me adjust to American society
3.31
2.54
.78
5.479
.000
I want to improve my English
4.01
2.67
1.41
8.613
.000
I want to find out what is going on in US
3.68
3.61
6.67E-02
.413
.681
Table 5: Strong TV watching motives using One-sample T-test
Motive items
Mean
? Mean
t-value
P (two-tailed)
Acculturation
I want to learn more about American culture
3.55
.55
4.384
.000
It helps me adjust to American society
3.31
.31
2.556
.013
I want to improve my English
4.01
1.01
8.490
.000
I want to find out what is going on in US
Other
3.68
.68
5.453
.000
It entertains me
It relaxes me
4.44
3.97
1.44
.97
3.502
8.797
.001
.000
Table 6: Strong Internet use motives using One-sample T-test
Motive items
Mean
? Mean
t-value
P (two-tailed)
Acculturation
I want to find out what's going on in US
3.61
.61
4.516
.000
Other
It entertains me
3.76
.76
6.261
.000
It relaxes me
3.55
.55
4.554
.000
I want to communicate with friend, family in China
4.08
1.08
9.027
.000
I want to find our what is going on in China
4.31
1.31
14.363
.000
It is convenient to communicate with others
4.09
1.09
9.516
.000
It is cheaper
It is a new way to do research
3.59
3.81
.59
.81
4.238
6.107
.000
.000
Table 8: Correlation Matrix of need for acculturation, Internet use motives
and content
Years in US
Need for Acculturation
Acculturation Motives Internet
American News website
Chinese News website
American BBS
Year in US
Need for Acculturation
.020
Accul. Motives Internet
.012
.337**
American News website
-.087
.225*
.263*
Chinese News website
-.081
.065
.090
.342**
American BBS
-.142
.069
.326**
.402**
.149
Chinese BBS
-.096
.085
-.189
-.056
.265*
.108
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Acculturation and Media Usage among the Chinese students
in the US
9
Table 7: Correlation Matrix of need for acculturation, TV watching motives
and usage
Year in US
Need for Acculturation
Acculturation motives for TV watching
Local
News
National News
Comedy
Chinese Program
MTV
Entertainment
Sports
Year in US
Need for Acculturation
.020
Acculturation Motive TV
-.146
.357**
Local news
.120
.013
.211*
National news
.224*
.106
.262*
.107
Comedy
.128
.123
.195*
.363**
-.002
Chinese TV
-.017
.138
.051
-.150
.226*
-.292**
MTV
-.069
.114
.076
-.094
.090
.056
.198*
Entertainment
-.029
-.122
.049
.222*
-.108
.306**
-.073
.120
Sports
.072
-.004
.046
.079
.070
-.002
.064
.095
.106
Movies
.095
.032
.123
-.089
.317**
.129
.126
.312**
.269*
.071
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (1-tailed)
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1-tailed)