Bicultural Competence Research Articles

Bicultural Competence and Academic and Psychosocial Functioning Among Latinx Early Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Role of Gender

Bicultural Competence and Academic and Psychosocial Functioning Among Latinx Early Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Role of Gender

Impact of Bicultural Competence on Interpreting Dynamics among Freelance Sign Language Interpreters in Nairobi County, Kenya

Impact of Bicultural Competence on Interpreting Dynamics among Freelance Sign Language Interpreters in Nairobi County, Kenya

Effects of Perceived Discrimination on Multicultural Adolescents’ Ethnic Identity Conflict: A Moderated Mediation Effect of Parent-Child Open Communication through Bicultural Competence

This study examined the effects of perceived discrimination on multicultural adolescents regarding feelings of conflict over their ethnic identity by investigating the moderating role of father-child open communication and mother-child open communication mediated by bicultural competence. A total of 234 middle school students (grades 7-8; 139 girls and 95 boys) from multicultural families, from which the father is Korean and the mother is not, participated in the study. Data was collected through an online self-report questionnaire and was analyzed via SPSS 26.0 and Process (Version 4.1) MACRO. The results can be summarized as follows. First, bicultural competence mediated the effects of perceived discrimination on feelings of conflict over one’s ethnic identity. Enhanced bicultural competence resulting from a lower perception of discrimination contributed to a reduction in feelings of conflict over one’s ethnic identity. Second, the moderated mediation effect of fatherchild open communication was significant, while the effect of mother-child open communication was not. Thus, the mediation relationship (lower perceived discrimination increased bicultural competence and, thus, reduced conflict over one’s ethnic identity) grew stronger as the level of father-child open communication increased. The significance of this study lies in uncovering the causal relationships between individual and environmental factors that contribute to ethnic identity development among multicultural adolescents, particularly highlighting the important role of Korean fathers within multicultural households.

Dyadic bicultural competence: A new way of conceptualizing patterns of cultural competence in close relationships

AbstractIn this review, we explore how bicultural competence, or the extent to which individuals effectively balance two cultures, can exist at a dyadic level, where two individuals' respective levels of cultural competence determine how effectively the dyad engages with their environment and collectively manages challenges associated with navigating two cultures. We review existing literature relevant to this concept, which we call dyadic bicultural competence, focusing on intimate partners. Research in this area is limited, and there have been mixed findings regarding how partners' cultural competencies relate to relationship functioning. We propose a model based on established models of relational strain and culture in family dynamics, explaining how dyadic bicultural competence can be associated with relationship trajectories. This proposed model provides a framework that explains mixed findings in this area and may be helpful in guiding future work exploring the role of cultural competence in individual and relational functioning for migrants.

Racial uplifts and the Asian American experience.

It is well established that experiences of racial discrimination pose a significant health risk to ethnic minority youth. In this article, we introduce a new concept, racial uplifts, to capture a largely neglected countertheme in the scientific literature-the nature and processes underlying salubrious race-related experiences. We report on data from a mixed-method study of everyday racial uplifts in the lives of Asian American youth. Study 1a (n = 20; age range = 17-23 years) and Study 1b (n = 14; age range = 18-22 years) examined data collected through semistructured focus group interviews. Study 2 used data from a 14-day diary study (n = 152; age range = 16-20 years). A consensual qualitative research analysis of interview data revealed six major racial uplifting themes: (a) ethnic bonding, (b) overcoming obstacles, (c) bicultural competence, (d) cultural bridging, (e) globalism, and (f) outgroup regard. Analysis of end-of-day diary data revealed that respondents reported at least one daily racial uplift on 65% of the study days and multiple uplifts on 42% of the study days. Multilevel analyses indicated that everyday racial uplifts were associated with decreased daily negative affect and increased daily positive affect and self-esteem. The results add to a growing literature on the role of assets and promotive resources in the lives of ethnic minority youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Linguocultural adaptation in TV series translation

The article considers common challenges of translating culture-bound vocabulary in popular American TV series. The article is aimed to determine basic techniques of linguocultural adaptation in Russian translation of “Friends” TV series. Traditional comparative and statistical analysis methods are applied to examine culture-bound elements of the original text of the above-mentioned sitcom, and therefore, to identify adequate techniques of linguocultural adaptation in its Russian translation. Moreover, “Friends” TV series contains a huge number of phraseological units, puns and jokes adequately conveyed in its Russian translation, and therefore, keeping the target audience interested in the sitcom. Scientific novelty of the research is determined by the author’s attempt to compile some essential tips for linguocultural adaptation while translating TV series from English into Russian. Research findings have proved that achieving success in both linguistic and cultural adaption implies the translator’s ability to take into account the particular nature of both the form of the material presented and its perception by the target audience. Thus, the linguocultural adaptation whiletranslating TV series from English into Russian requires a translator to have a bicultural competence that involves background knowledge (linguistic and extralinguistic) about both the source and target cultures.

Effects of bicultural competence and racial identity on intrinsic motivation: The mediating role of belonging to Native American tribal colleges

Since the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, Native Americans (NA) have experienced historical trauma (Brave Heart & DeBruyn, 1998). However, sources of socio-cultural resilience continue to exist within this population (Kirmayer et al., 2011). Rather than pathologize NAs, we attempt to better understand the implications of their sources of socio-cultural resilience. We sought to examine how bicultural competence and racial identity affect intrinsic motivation and how these relationships are mediated by a sense of belonging. Self-reported data for this study was gathered from a sample of NAs (N = 219) attending a tribal college. Results suggest that bicultural competence and the racial identity dimensions of racial centrality and private regard are related to intrinsic motivation, and these relationships are mediated by a sense of belonging. These findings suggest that tribal colleges are a likely source of socio-cultural resilience, facilitating success for NAs in an ever-changing world.

Daily Rumination and Diurnal Cortisol in Latino Adolescents: The Role of Bicultural Competence and Gender

Rumination is a transdiagnostic risk factor for internalizing disorders and is hypothesized to influence psychopathology through alterations in physiological stress systems (i.e., hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis). The current study examined daily and spillover effects of rumination on diurnal cortisol patterns and investigated how bicultural competence and gender moderated those associations. Salivary cortisol was collected five times per day for three weekdays in a sample of 206 Latino adolescents (Mage=18.10, SD=0.41; 64.4% female). Daily diaries assessed daily rumination and perceived stress, and demographics and bicultural competence were assessed via self-report questionnaires. Diurnal cortisol patterns were modeled using three-level growth curve analyses. Illustrating spillover effects, ruminating more than usual about stress/problems one night was linked with flatter next-day diurnal slopes (γ=.119, p<.01). Gender significantly moderated associations between same-day rumination and diurnal cortisol patterns. When females ruminated more than usual about stress/problems, they exhibited a greater cortisol awakening response (CAR; γ=.046, p<.01). Males exhibited a smaller CAR on days when they ruminated more than usual about their feelings (γ=-.067, p<.05). Bicultural competence was not a significant moderator of associations. Findings suggest spillover effects and gender differences in the relation of rumination and diurnal cortisol activity in Latino adolescents. Efforts to identify adolescents at-risk for psychopathology should consider the interplay of detrimental emotion regulation styles and gender that contribute to greater physiological stress at a daily level.

Latent Trait Cortisol: Considering the Interplay of Adversity and Cultural Resilience Factors in Latino Adolescents

Latent trait cortisol (LTC) has been established across multiple samples as a stable person-level indicator of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. However, extant research among predominantly White samples linking early life adversity to LTC has produced inconsistent findings, likely due to methodological and demographic differences. Using a cultural neurobiological framework, this study examined whether cultural resilience factors (ethnic racial identity [ERI], bicultural competence) may promote healthier LTC levels and protect against the deleterious effects of exposure to early adversity among Latino adolescents. Salivary cortisol was collected five times a day across three weekdays in a sample of 206 Latino high school seniors (Mage=18.1; 64.4% female). Self-reported questionnaires assessing demographics, health behaviors, adverse experiences, ERI, and bicultural competence (i.e., comfort and facility subscales) were also collected. Confirmatory factor analysis identified an adequate theory-driven model of LTC using waking and 30-minute post-waking samples and estimating within-day sample covariation. Structural equation modeling revealed that greater early adversity predicted lower LTC (b=-.11, p=.01). ERI demonstrated neither promotive nor protective effects. Bicultural facility predicted greater LTC (b=.39, p=.004) but did not moderate the association between adversity and LTC. Consistent with hypo-arousal theories, early adversity contributed to reduced LTC among Latino adolescents, whereas the ease with which youth navigate host and heritage culture demands (i.e., bicultural facility) promoted robust HPA axis functioning. Burgeoning literature establishing LTC as a stable cortisol construct should continue to be contextualized by known risk factors as well as culturally salient processes.

Contextualizing Bicultural Competence Across Youths' Adaptation From High School to College: Prospective Associations With Mental Health and Substance Use.

Bicultural competence, the ability to navigate bicultural demands, is a salient developmental competency for youth of color linked with positive adjustment. This study investigated how discrimination experiences informed developmental trajectories of behavioral and affective bicultural competence across youth's adaptation from high school to college, and how these biculturalism trajectories predicted later adjustment (i.e., internalizing symptoms and binge drinking). Data were collected between 2016 through 2020 and included 206 U.S. Latino youth (Mage=17.59, 64% female, 85% Mexican origin, 11% first and 62% second generation immigrants). Linear latent growth analyses revealed that youth who experienced greater time-varying discrimination demonstrated lower concurrent behavioral and affective bicultural competence. Higher behavioral bicultural competence intercepts were associated with fewer internalizing symptoms in the third college year. No other significant associations emerged for internalizing symptoms or binge drinking. These findings have implications for mental health equity among Latino youth during a critical period of psychopathology onset.

자녀 이중언어교육을 위한 부모교육 프로그램이 중국 다문화가정 부모의 이중언어교수효능감과 이중문화역량에 미치는 효과

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of parent education programs for bilingual education of children on the bilingual teaching efficacy and bicultural competence of parents in Chinese multicultural family. Methods For the foregoing, this study selected 13 mothers in Chinese multicultural families living in Seoul⋅Gyeonggi as a single research group, and conducted a program composed of mind opening-understanding of subject-case exploration-discussion(practice)-finish for 10 times. To examine the effect of parent education programs for bilingual education of children, this study conducted a survey on the bilingual teaching efficacy and bicultural competence before, immediately after and 6 weeks after the program, and measured difference between scores of pre-post and post-follow-up test through the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. Results First, parents in Chinese multicultural families who participated in parent education programs for bilingual education of children showed a significant difference in pre-post test (Z=-3.30, p&lt;.01), whereas no significant difference was shown in the post-follow-up test (Z=-1.922, p&gt;.05). Second, participants showed a significant difference in the pre-post test of bicultural competence (Z=-2.92, p&lt;.01), but no significant difference was shown in the post-follow-up test (Z=-.045, p&gt;.05). Conclusions Parents in Chinese multicultural families who participated in this study experienced significant improvement in bilingual teaching efficacy and bicultural competence after participating in parent education programs for bilingual education of children, and this study confirmed that improved bilingual teaching efficacy and bicultural competence was maintained continuously for a certain period of time 6 weeks after the program was finished.

1.5-generation Korean-New Zealanders’ perceptions of bilingualism, heritage language competence, and identity

Abstract This study explores four 1.5-generation Korean-New Zealanders’ perceptions of bilingualism, heritage language (HL) competence, and identity. Drawing on interview data, the study shows that the participants were strongly connected to their ethnic group and strove to accept and strengthen their hyphenated Korean-New Zealander identities through foregrounding their bilingual and bicultural competence. In addition to their Korean use at home, socializing with other Korean speakers at church and in peer groups aided their learning of a wide range of registers in context, while providing culturally sensitive places for the participants to explore their identities. Nevertheless, the study also found that the participants encountered racial and linguistic hierarchical structures from which they were marginalized, which delayed their construction of positive bilingual identities. The findings enable a deeper understanding of how family-internal and family-external factors shape immigrant children’s identities, and suggest that substantial institutional and societal support are needed to foster immigrant children’s bilingualism and biculturalism.

Literary Translation Techniques in Professor Pamela Smith’s Translation of Akinwumi Is̩ola’s Ogun Omode to Treasury of Childhood Memories

Literary translation is a veritable tool to mitigate the endangerment and imminent extinction of African indigenous languages and literature. Professor Pamela Smith has taken up the challenge to translate Ogún O̩mo̩dé written by Professor Akinwumi Is̩o̩la into Treasury of Childhood Memories among many others. Yorùbá literary critics, translation experts, and linguists are yet to scrutinize the literary translation techniques in the translated text. This study, therefore, examined the literary techniques adopted by the translator in the Target Language (TL). The study employed a qualitative research design with a close reading and content analysis of both the Second Language (SL) and Target Language (TL) texts using the Hutardo’ (2002, 498) model of literary techniques for data analysis. The findings of the study showed that: the translator adopted many literary techniques that make the TL fascinating and pleasurable to readers, but the following techniques were more predominant, these are modulation; compression; elision/omission; linguistic amplification; borrowing, calque; compensation; adaptation; and particularization. The essay concluded that the translator's high level of bilingual and bicultural competence and the literary translation techniques adopted to make the contents of the source text easily transposed and rendered in impeccable English language in the TL.

Bicultural competence and academic adjustment across Latino youth adaptation from high school to college.

This study investigated the association between bicultural competence and academic adjustment (i.e., engagement, efficacy, achievement) among 193 Latino youth (65.3% female; 89.1% U.S.-born) followed from their senior high school year (Mage =17.58 years, SD=0.53) to their fifth college semester (2016-2019). Latent growth analyses revealed that youth's overall bicultural competence trajectory was moderately high and stable across this period. Youth who maintained or increased bicultural competence levels over time (slopes) demonstrated greater self-efficacy. Youth with greater high school bicultural competence (intercepts) demonstrated higher engagement but lower achievement. No other associations emerged. This study highlights that the promoting influence of bicultural competence may not extend to all indicators of academic adjustment but may depend upon the contexts and demands they navigate.

Social Justice Identity Development for International Counseling Psychology Students

Despite the inclusion of social justice and international issues in counseling psychology, there are no conceptual models or research to date that focus on social justice identity development and training issues for international counseling psychology students. The unique cross-cultural experiences and systemic injustices facing many international counseling psychology students may inform their social justice identity development in a distinctive manner. Thus, by incorporating biculturalism and transformative learning theories, this article proposes a theoretical model to illustrate the psychological processes and outcomes of social justice identity development for international counseling psychology students with the following four phases: (a) cultural and social awareness of privilege and oppression, (b) critical analysis of systemic oppression across cultures, (c) synergistic development of social justice competence and bicultural competence, and (d) integration of social justice identity and competence across cultures. We provide recommendations for future practice, advocacy, education, training, and research.

The influences of different types of social media activities on ethnic minorities’ acculturation

Adopting the activity-audience framework, this study examined how different social media activities among a group of ethnic minority students associated with acculturation. It took a Qual-Quant sequential design by interviewing 44 secondary school ethnic minority students in Hong Kong first to conceptualize the potential relationships and then surveying 565 students to test the conceptual model. It found that different social media activities associated differently with acculturation; in contrast to the weak association of communication with friends and schoolmate, consuming mainstream culture-related information and interacting with strangers from the mainstream culture were the important determinators of the students’ bicultural competence and bicultural identity. Cognitive appraisal positively mediated the contribution of information consumption, whereas communication with strangers was mediated positively by behavioral appraisal but negatively by affective appraisal. The findings advocate a differentiated approach toward utilizing the affordances of social media activities for acculturation.

Filial responsibility, bicultural competence, and socioemotional well-being among Latina college students.

Filial responsibility includes instrumental and expressive caregiving. Research on the perceptions of filial responsibility has examined perceived unfairness-the perception of the lack of equity and mutuality in the distribution of such tasks. Previous research on filial responsibility among Latinx young adults is inconsistent and limited but has indicated that examining dimensions of filial responsibility is key to understanding its impact on socioemotional outcomes. Furthermore, it is important to consider how dimensions of bicultural competence (comfort, facility, and advantages perceived in navigating two cultural contexts), moderate these relations. The current study examined filial responsibility and socioemotional well-being among Latina college students. We also examined the moderating role of dimensions of bicultural competence. Latina college students (N = 312, Mage = 19.12, SD = 1.15) provided self-reports on filial responsibility, bicultural competence, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem. Stepwise regression and moderation analyses were conducted to examine the aims of the study. For filial responsibility, we found that expressive caregiving related to more depressive symptoms. Instrumental caregiving is related to higher self-esteem. Perceived unfairness was related to more depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem. Although the global measure of bicultural competence was not a significant moderator, certain dimensions of bicultural competence moderated these relations. Bicultural facility amplified the relations between expressive caregiving and depressive symptoms. Bicultural comfort amplified the relation between perceived unfairness and depressive symptoms. Bicultural comfort and advantages amplified the relations between perceived unfairness and self-esteem. The study has implications for improving the socioemotional well-being of Latina college students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Unpacking the Benefits of Bicultural Competence: Latina/x/o College Students’ Academic and Psychosocial Adjustment

Theories posit that bicultural competence, the ability to negotiate between U.S. mainstream culture and one’s own heritage culture, is an important cultural adaptation skill for Latina/x/o populations’ academic and psychosocial outcomes, in part, because of the ability to hold and resolve competing perspectives within and across contexts. However, more research is needed to identify the associations of distinct dimensions of bicultural competence to academic and psychosocial adjustment. The current study examined the concurrent and short-term, longitudinal association between bicultural competence (i.e., comfort, facility, and advantages) and Latina/x/o college students’ ( N = 54; Mage = 19.94 years, SD = 1.43) academic and psychosocial adjustment. Bicultural comfort and facility, but not bicultural advantages, were concurrently associated with better academic and psychosocial adjustment. The findings highlight the need to help Latina/x/o college students feel positive and able about adapting to both cultures to improve their academic and psychosocial adjustment.

Exploring American EFL teachers’ bicultural identity construction: theories vs. practices

ABSTRACT Foreign language teachers’ recognition of their identity is essential to their professional development. Drawing on bicultural theories, this study investigated two American teachers who recounted their experiences of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at a university in China. This study leverages the Two-directional Extension Model as the theoretical framework for analysis. It employs interviews, reflective journals, and field observations to collect data to seek ways of improving foreign teachers’ bicultural communication competence by exploring how the two American EFL teachers construct their bicultural identity. One major finding highlights the EFL teachers’ bicultural identity construction as a dynamic and ongoing process upon which several have effects, affecting professional development in higher education in China.

The Influence of Ethnic-Racial Identity Developmental Processes on Global Bicultural Competence Development.

This study investigated ethnic-racial identity (ERI) developmental processes (i.e., exploration and resolution) as pathways for adolescents to develop global bicultural competence, or the ability to meet heritage and host cultural demands. The sample included 749 U.S. Mexican-origin youth (30% Mexico-born; 51% male) followed from early-to-late adolescence (Mage = 12.79-17.38 years). Longitudinal structural equationanalyses revealed that youth's sequential engagement in ERI exploration and resolution (from early-to-middle adolescence) promoted global bicultural competence in late adolescence. The findings highlight the benefits of achieving clarity about one's ERI via self-exploration efforts for adolescents' ability to respond effectively to bicultural demands. This study advances mechanisms via which ERI development may support youth adaptation to multiple cultural systems.