title: Learning to be: Acculturation as a learning process a case study of international chinese PhD students at a New Zealand university

authors: Yuan, Yu

subjects: Learning

abstract: It is challenging to transition from a Master’s level of education to a PhD level, more so when students complete their PhD education in an unfamiliar academic and societal environment. PhD education undertaken internationally can, at the same time, provide tremendous learning opportunities. Accordingly, acculturation to the doctoral journey seems to be important for successful doctoral research. Due to the focus of the adopted theories, previous scholars have concentrated either on the cognitive, psychological, or social aspects of academic acculturation. In addition, the focus on more narrow ways of development or adjustment has not adequately captured the process of academic acculturation. This study adopts Illeris's Comprehensive Learning Theory (CLT) to shed light on academic acculturation. It aims to integrate the cognitive, emotional and interaction aspects of academic acculturation to explore the possible processes by which Chinese PhD students are acculturated to their doctoral journeys in New Zealand. The research was guided by the overarching research question: How do international Chinese PhD students learn to acculturate academically in a New Zealand university?
Given its exploratory nature, this study embraced a qualitative research paradigm. To gain in-depth insight into academic acculturation, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with Chinese PhD students enrolled at a New Zealand university. The interviews employed critical incident techniques and were supported by follow-up interviews. In total, eleven students took part in the semi-structured interviews. Each participant was encouraged to share their memorable doctoral experiences and to elaborate on their understanding and emotions of doctoral experiences.
Through thematic analysis, this study identified forms of learning content, incentives and social interactions that were embedded in the process of academic acculturation. Besides the research itself, Chinese PhD students encountered various contents to learn in order to guarantee the success of their doctoral journey.  These students demonstrated diverse motivations, which served as incentives for their pursuit of a doctoral degree. To ensure success, Chinese PhD students also engaged in interactions, including observations, learning initiatives, and interactions with various people. Furthermore, Chinese PhD students demonstrated four processes to academic acculturation: assimilation, multiple identities construction, accommodation and transformation. Yet, their previous educational experiences could potentially lead to misunderstandings and defence against acculturating to their doctoral journey.  Combined, the findings underscored the intricacies of an academic acculturation process, which need to be investigated through content, incentive and interaction dimensions as a comprehensive whole. Four academic acculturation processes underscored the situational nature of the acculturation process, influenced by both Chinese students' prior educational backgrounds and their specific doctoral journeys. This strengthens the notion that individuals could experience different academic acculturation pathways, and any single process (such as knowledge acquisition, transformation or adjustments) is inadequate to encompass the entirety of potential acculturation processes.
This study contributes a holistic perspective that helps doctoral supervisors and administrators provide relevant support to international Chinese doctoral students, as well as other international students. The research encourages Chinese PhD students to enrich their research skills and experiences before their doctoral journey. The students should also be aware that the doctoral journey in all likelihood will not take place as they expected, as their pre-established experiences might not guarantee a smooth doctoral journey and even cause challenges. Yet, challenges also contain great opportunities for enhancing knowledge, academic capacities, adaptability and even personal growth. This study also suggests that the process of academic acculturation can be enhanced through observations and active participation in diverse activities, as well as engage during interactions with a variety of individuals. These interactions collectively contribute to enriching students' knowledge and facilitating necessary adjustments for successful acculturation to the new academic environment.

text: Learning to be: Acculturation as a learning process a case study of international chinese PhD students at a New Zealand university It is challenging to transition from a Master’s level of education to a PhD level, more so when students complete their PhD education in an unfamiliar academic and societal environment. PhD education undertaken internationally can, at the same time, provide tremendous learning opportunities. Accordingly, acculturation to the doctoral journey seems to be important for successful doctoral research. Due to the focus of the adopted theories, previous scholars have concentrated either on the cognitive, psychological, or social aspects of academic acculturation. In addition, the focus on more narrow ways of development or adjustment has not adequately captured the process of academic acculturation. This study adopts Illeris's Comprehensive Learning Theory (CLT) to shed light on academic acculturation. It aims to integrate the cognitive, emotional and interaction aspects of academic acculturation to explore the possible processes by which Chinese PhD students are acculturated to their doctoral journeys in New Zealand. The research was guided by the overarching research question: How do international Chinese PhD students learn to acculturate academically in a New Zealand university?
Given its exploratory nature, this study embraced a qualitative research paradigm. To gain in-depth insight into academic acculturation, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with Chinese PhD students enrolled at a New Zealand university. The interviews employed critical incident techniques and were supported by follow-up interviews. In total, eleven students took part in the semi-structured interviews. Each participant was encouraged to share their memorable doctoral experiences and to elaborate on their understanding and emotions of doctoral experiences.
Through thematic analysis, this study identified forms of learning content, incentives and social interactions that were embedded in the process of academic acculturation. Besides the research itself, Chinese PhD students encountered various contents to learn in order to guarantee the success of their doctoral journey.  These students demonstrated diverse motivations, which served as incentives for their pursuit of a doctoral degree. To ensure success, Chinese PhD students also engaged in interactions, including observations, learning initiatives, and interactions with various people. Furthermore, Chinese PhD students demonstrated four processes to academic acculturation: assimilation, multiple identities construction, accommodation and transformation. Yet, their previous educational experiences could potentially lead to misunderstandings and defence against acculturating to their doctoral journey.  Combined, the findings underscored the intricacies of an academic acculturation process, which need to be investigated through content, incentive and interaction dimensions as a comprehensive whole. Four academic acculturation processes underscored the situational nature of the acculturation process, influenced by both Chinese students' prior educational backgrounds and their specific doctoral journeys. This strengthens the notion that individuals could experience different academic acculturation pathways, and any single process (such as knowledge acquisition, transformation or adjustments) is inadequate to encompass the entirety of potential acculturation processes.
This study contributes a holistic perspective that helps doctoral supervisors and administrators provide relevant support to international Chinese doctoral students, as well as other international students. The research encourages Chinese PhD students to enrich their research skills and experiences before their doctoral journey. The students should also be aware that the doctoral journey in all likelihood will not take place as they expected, as their pre-established experiences might not guarantee a smooth doctoral journey and even cause challenges. Yet, challenges also contain great opportunities for enhancing knowledge, academic capacities, adaptability and even personal growth. This study also suggests that the process of academic acculturation can be enhanced through observations and active participation in diverse activities, as well as engage during interactions with a variety of individuals. These interactions collectively contribute to enriching students' knowledge and facilitating necessary adjustments for successful acculturation to the new academic environment.

year: 2024-09-27

title: The association between mindfulness and driving behaviour in employees

authors: Bird, Diana

subjects: driving behaviour

abstract: This study examined the effect of mindfulness on driving behaviour, and the possible mediating effects of a number of well-being measures. Specifically, the research aimed to determine (1) if higher levels of mindfulness would lead to safer driving practices and (2) if there was a relationship between mindfulness and safe driving, whether this was mediated by well-being measures including self-control, emotion regulation, happiness, life satisfaction, job satisfaction and work engagement. Participants included 216 employees from 16 organizations. They all completed ‘the mindfulness, wellbeing and driving’ questionnaire, which involved measures of mindfulness, intentions to violate traffic rules, self-reported number of traffic incidences in the previous 12 months (fines, near misses and crashes), as well as the well-being measures mentioned above. First, a strong correlation between increased levels of mindfulness and safer driving practices was found, including a decreased likelihood of texting. Further initial correlations also demonstrated relationships between mindfulness and all the well-being measures. As mindfulness increased, levels of all the well-being measures increased, with the exception of happiness. However, when mediation analysis was performed only self-control and happiness were found to mediate the relationship between mindfulness and safer driving, while the effect of emotion regulation, life and job satisfaction and work engagement were not found to be significant mediators. The role of self-control as a mediator in the mindfulness safer driving relationship supported previous research. Increased levels of attention, awareness and emotion regulation are all qualities associated with increased levels of mindfulness, which have also been demonstrated to relate to safer driving practices.
While happiness was found to positively mediate the relationship between mindfulness and safer driving practices, interestingly, the relationship between mindfulness and happiness was opposite to what was expected. As levels of mindfulness increased, levels of happiness decreased. This may have been due to the happiness measure, which contained eudaimonic and hedonic factors. Hedonic factors have been considered less indicative of life satisfaction and overall well-being, and run opposite to the principles underlying mindfulness. Despite this, increased levels of happiness were still found to increase safer driving practices. These findings will hopefully ignite more research efforts to be directed towards examining the effects of mindfulness interventions on driving practices, and overall social and occupational well-being.

text: The association between mindfulness and driving behaviour in employees This study examined the effect of mindfulness on driving behaviour, and the possible mediating effects of a number of well-being measures. Specifically, the research aimed to determine (1) if higher levels of mindfulness would lead to safer driving practices and (2) if there was a relationship between mindfulness and safe driving, whether this was mediated by well-being measures including self-control, emotion regulation, happiness, life satisfaction, job satisfaction and work engagement. Participants included 216 employees from 16 organizations. They all completed ‘the mindfulness, wellbeing and driving’ questionnaire, which involved measures of mindfulness, intentions to violate traffic rules, self-reported number of traffic incidences in the previous 12 months (fines, near misses and crashes), as well as the well-being measures mentioned above. First, a strong correlation between increased levels of mindfulness and safer driving practices was found, including a decreased likelihood of texting. Further initial correlations also demonstrated relationships between mindfulness and all the well-being measures. As mindfulness increased, levels of all the well-being measures increased, with the exception of happiness. However, when mediation analysis was performed only self-control and happiness were found to mediate the relationship between mindfulness and safer driving, while the effect of emotion regulation, life and job satisfaction and work engagement were not found to be significant mediators. The role of self-control as a mediator in the mindfulness safer driving relationship supported previous research. Increased levels of attention, awareness and emotion regulation are all qualities associated with increased levels of mindfulness, which have also been demonstrated to relate to safer driving practices.
While happiness was found to positively mediate the relationship between mindfulness and safer driving practices, interestingly, the relationship between mindfulness and happiness was opposite to what was expected. As levels of mindfulness increased, levels of happiness decreased. This may have been due to the happiness measure, which contained eudaimonic and hedonic factors. Hedonic factors have been considered less indicative of life satisfaction and overall well-being, and run opposite to the principles underlying mindfulness. Despite this, increased levels of happiness were still found to increase safer driving practices. These findings will hopefully ignite more research efforts to be directed towards examining the effects of mindfulness interventions on driving practices, and overall social and occupational well-being.

year: 2018

title: New Zealand English and Te Reo Māori: A critical perspective on the loanword narrative using data from translingual picturebooks

authors: Barbour, Julie Renee

subjects: language contact

abstract: Aims/Purpose: New Zealand English has been characterised by the use of vocabulary ‘borrowed’ from the Indigenous Māori language since early contact between English and Māori speakers. In this paper, we consider the relevance of the ‘loanword narrative’ to New Zealand English, examining data from translingual picturebooks published in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Design/Data: We built a small corpus of 10 translingual picturebooks spanning a 30-year period beginning in the early years of Māori language revitalisation.
Analysis: We applied techniques of language analysis from descriptive linguistics, including studies of loanwords.
Findings: We find some evidence of linguistic ‘borrowing’.
Originality: However, in texts created by Māori content creators, with Māori cultural themes, a language practice akin to pedagogical code-switching or pedagogical translanguaging is observed. Māori content creators alternate between languages, treating Māori lexemes as distinct from NZE, preserving Māori orthographic traditions, and providing translation, explanation, or contextual support of Māori lexemes for NZE reader comprehension. Our observations find parallels in translanguaging studies in bilingual early childhood settings, and they are supported by new psycholinguistic research that has identified the development of substantial body of linguistic knowledge about the Māori language by non-Māori speakers through societal exposure.
Significance: We argue that the prevailing loanword narrative does not account for Māori language usage in translingual picturebooks developed by Māori content creators. Rather, we find a clear pattern of differentiation between Māori and NZE.

text: New Zealand English and Te Reo Māori: A critical perspective on the loanword narrative using data from translingual picturebooks Aims/Purpose: New Zealand English has been characterised by the use of vocabulary ‘borrowed’ from the Indigenous Māori language since early contact between English and Māori speakers. In this paper, we consider the relevance of the ‘loanword narrative’ to New Zealand English, examining data from translingual picturebooks published in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Design/Data: We built a small corpus of 10 translingual picturebooks spanning a 30-year period beginning in the early years of Māori language revitalisation.
Analysis: We applied techniques of language analysis from descriptive linguistics, including studies of loanwords.
Findings: We find some evidence of linguistic ‘borrowing’.
Originality: However, in texts created by Māori content creators, with Māori cultural themes, a language practice akin to pedagogical code-switching or pedagogical translanguaging is observed. Māori content creators alternate between languages, treating Māori lexemes as distinct from NZE, preserving Māori orthographic traditions, and providing translation, explanation, or contextual support of Māori lexemes for NZE reader comprehension. Our observations find parallels in translanguaging studies in bilingual early childhood settings, and they are supported by new psycholinguistic research that has identified the development of substantial body of linguistic knowledge about the Māori language by non-Māori speakers through societal exposure.
Significance: We argue that the prevailing loanword narrative does not account for Māori language usage in translingual picturebooks developed by Māori content creators. Rather, we find a clear pattern of differentiation between Māori and NZE.

year: 2025