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Name: Professor: Subject: Institution: Date Due: Multicultural Class I am a Chinese international student. When in another country there are several things that define the level of power and privilege. The level of class for a Chinese student is high as compared to the same age students in most countries. This is due to the powerful economic growth that china enjoys compared to any other country in the world. According to race however, most American countries enjoy the superiority in terms of ethnicity. This therefore makes the Chinese affected. There are several factors that promote ethnicity against the Chinese students for instance language, education system, Chinese culture social system, personality and social change. This therefore places me to a less superior person in terms of identity as compared to the locals. For me to fit in this group, there are several hurdles that I have to go over. Phinney S (1990) after studying the relationship between ethnic identity and national identity argues that the two are very different although they are often being taken as the same. She argues that immigration causes acculturation in most people and that there are two dominant aspects of acculturation. These are preservation of ones heritage culture and adaptation or development of the new culture. That these aspects have strategies that will lead to acculturation for instance integration that involves both aspects, assimilation that is all about adapting or developing new culture, separation that wants to keep its heritage and marginalization that seeks

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none of the above. Due to strong Chinese culture, most Chinese international students are involved in the strategy of integration so as to gain confidence about the social change. In my case the difference in the nationality or ethnicity has affected me both positively and negatively. The positive effects have been improvement in the social life as there are many international students to interact with. Also the ability to learn new language and new culture is an advantage as this improves the marketability of my career. The benefit one gets from being an international student in America also has been encouraged by there being immigrants policies that seek to protect the aliens. This has somehow brought equality in some places of the continent. An aspect of the setting that may interact with identity choices is the immigrant policy of the host country, in particular, the extent to which a country supports the process of integration by respecting cultural diversity. National policies supporting multiculturalism would be expected to allow immigrants the option of being bicultural, and choice of this option should have an impact on well-being (Grosfoguel, 1997; Icduygu, 1996). The negative effect noticed here is mainly culture difference that makes life not as good as it could be in ones country. For instance an instructor wont understand that making faces is a taboo in china and therefore does that in class that ends up affecting one psychologically. Also that not participating in class or looking down when being talked to is due to Chinese culture. The instructor therefore should beware of diverse cultures of his students to avoid these negative effects for international students. In social construction theory, as in most ethnic approaches, the idea of an objectively knowable truth does not exist. Knowledge is constructed through social interpretation and the inter-subjective influences of language, family, and culture

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(Hoffman, 1990). The basic contention of social constructionism is that reality is socially constructed (Berger, 1967), that is, what we perceive as reality has been shaped through a system of social, cultural and interpersonal processes. Four assumptions are made by social constructionists: (1) the way we go about studying the world is determined by available concepts, categories, and methods. Our concepts often incline us toward or even dictate certain lines of inquiry while precluding others, making our results the products more of our language than of empirical discovery.(2) The concepts and categories we use vary considerably in their meanings and connotations over time and across cultures. Concepts are assumed to relate to permanent human experiences or functions. (3) The popularity or persistence of a particular concept, category, or method depends more on its usefulness (political usefulness particularity) than on its validity. (4) Descriptions and explanations of the world are themselves forms of social action and have consequences. (Gergen, 1985, pp.266-275). My perception therefore about the nature of ethnicity in this country is due to a personal experience. The people who are considered as other due to their social class or ability level are often affected psychologically and therefore strive to fit in the society in which the currently live. We all tend to choose the path of least resistance. The path of least resistance is usually the most common. The odds are loaded toward a path of least resistance in several ways. We often chose the path because its the only one we see (Johnson 81). Johnson explains that people automatically chose the path that a) they have been taught to choose by society, family, moral and conscious beliefs etc. and b) the one that is presented as the normal way in proceeding with the situation at question. Using Johnsons discussion therefore we can conclude that most people from different cultures are forced by the society in which they live in to change and adapt the culture of the most dominant. Society needs to be understanding and appreciative of all the differences its present members possess.

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Works cited Gergen K The social construction movement in modern psychology (1985): pp.266-275 Johnson, Alan G. Privilege, Power, and Difference. Second Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Web 24 March, 2012. <http://breakingprecedent.wetpaint.com/page/Path+of+Least+Resistance Johnson, Allan G. Unraveling the knot of privilege, power and difference: Who Me?.Allan G. Johnson, n.d. Web 12 March 2012. Michael J. Sporakowski The Social Construction of Sexuality: Personal Meanings, Perceptions of Sexual Experience, and Females' Sexuality in Puerto Rico Blacksburg, Virginia May, 1997. Web http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd 13514459731541/unrestricted/DISSER1.PDF Phinney, Jean S., Horenczyk, G., Liebkind, K. & Vedder, P. Ethnic Identity, immigration, and well-being: An Interactional Perspective Journal of Social Issues, 57:3 (2001): 493-510. Print