Ka. Noels et al., LANGUAGE, IDENTITY, AND ADJUSTMENT - THE ROLE OF LINGUISTIC SELF-CONFIDENCE IN THE ACCULTURATION PROCESS, Journal of language and social psychology, 15(3), 1996, pp. 246-264
Research in both cross-cultural psychology and the social psychology o
f language has examined the changes in identity and language behavior
that occur when two ethnolinguistic groups come into contact. This stu
dy attempted to integrate these two fields of inquiry through an inves
tigation of the relations between identity, interethnic contact, lingu
istic self-confidence, and psychological adjustment in 179 Chinese uni
versity students. The findings indicated that exclusive identification
, with either the first or second language group was the most commonly
endorsed identity. Correlational and path analyses of the relations b
etween interethnic contact, self-confidence in using the English and C
hinese languages, Chinese and Canadian identities, and adjustment vari
ables supported the proposed model in which communication variables me
diate the influence of inter-ethnic contact on identity and adjustment
. The results are interpreted within the context of current formulatio
ns of acculturation and intercultural communication.