Japanese Students' Experience of Adaptation and Acculturation of the United Kingdom

Abstract

Many Japanese students come to the U.K. to study. In general, studying is their primary aim but some have additional reasons such as personal development through exposure to another culture. As a result of the homogeneity of Japanese society, Japanese people are not necessarily used to other cultures especially if they have only lived within Japan. Due to the vast differences between Japanese and British cultures, many students have difficulties in adapting to British society (Nippoda, 2011). This article presents some culturally specific factors that affect students' adaptation based on research (Nippoda, 1993). It focuses on four main points arising from clinical work: the language barrier, differences in communication styles and educational systems, the individual's motivation and external pressure, and the effects of students' insecure status in the host country. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. This article is available in Online Readings in Psychology and Culture: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol8/iss1/5