STRATEGI AKULTURASI DAN HASIL PEMBUDAYAAN BERBEZA DALAM KALANGAN PELAJAR ANTARABANGSA UNIVERSITI AWAM MALAYSIA

Abstract

Acculturation is understood as a continuation of the process of accepting foreign cultural elements without losing the original cultural identity. Visibility as a result of acculturation culture is more easily achieved with the inclusion of material elements such as the process of borrowing language, the influence of clothing and food. Yet non-material cultural elements such as ideology and thought are more difficult to materialised. Therefore, the focus of the discussion of this paper is to identify the process of acculturation and different cultural outcomes based on mergers, clashes, or cultural isolation. This paper focuses on empirical data obtained from in-depth interviews with a group of international students currently studying at Public Universities of Malaysia. The selection of narrative quotations based on the views of the informants was used to support the acculturation strategies adapted by the group. Four public universities of Malaysia were selected based on the classification of the universities, the background of the establishment of the university, and the annual enrolment of international students. The application of semi-structured interview methods was implemented by utilizing an inductive analysis approach. The results of the study presented five different strategies and cultural outcomes, namely (i) Assimilation of Developing Relationships with New Culture, (ii) Separation of Values and Characteristics of Indigenous Culture Based on Denial of Influence of New Culture, (iii) New Culture and Marginalisation of Indigenous Culture in Daily Life Practices, (iv) Integration of Preservation of Native Culture in Exploring New Culture and (iv) Transmutation of New and Old Culture in the Production of Alternative Culture. The new findings of this study had proven that the acculturation strategies used by the international student group at Public Universities of Malaysia have given different implications for the results of collateralisation. Some of the factors that contributed to the acceptance and rejection of acculturation are the age of young international students who are around the early twenties and therefore immature, educational background and family influence, status as a foreigner who does not reside for a long time in the host country, the cultural distance between the country of origin and the host country as well as justification for student mobility aimed at furthering their studies abroad.