The role of intercultural dissonance in second language acquisition: An intercultural dissonance hypothesis and a pedagogical culture hypothesis

Notwithstanding wide-ranging discussions of culture and second language acquisition (SLA), the literature lacks validated hypotheses to explain how culture is a factor in SLA and is further bereft of data supporting a pedagogical culture in ESL contexts.; This Project presents theoretical and empirical support for an Intercultural Dissonance Hypothesis (IDH): Dissonance between the Native Culture where the Native Language is situated and the Target Culture where the Target Language is situated promotes Rate and Level of attainment in SLA. The Project further posits a Pedagogical Culture Hypothesis (PCH): Learners resolving intercultural dissonance in classroom contexts demonstrate greater gains than learners who do not.; Following a theoretical basis for the IDH, the Project studies the biculturation and SLA of 40 community college ESL students enrolled in sentence grammar-and-composition classes. Data from a Cultural Attitude Questionnaire document the psychological reality of intercultural dissonance as correlating positively with achievement in the TL, affirming the IDH. Competing hypotheses, relating perceptions about culture and achievement in the TL to such factors as age, NL/TL differences, length of residence in the U.S., and reasons for coming to the U.S. are disconfirmed by the same data.; Confirming the PCH, Experimental Group subjects were given treatment which de-emphasized pedagogical grammar and required resolution of dissonances created when the Self confronts differences between Native Culture and Target Culture. A Comparison Group was given a syllabus traditionally associated with a sentence grammar-and-composition course. Results show statistically significant differences in pre- and post-test gains on discrete point tests and integrative tests for the Experimental Group.; Several implications follow: Data supporting the IDH show intercultural dissonance to be a more autonomous and powerful factor in adult second language acquisition than had previously been assumed. Management of intercultural dissonance can be replicated in the classroom to the advantage of the adult second language learner in school situations. Pedagogical implications strongly favor class syllabi with components highlighting intercultural dissonance and its management. The Project proposes paradigms for a theoretical understanding of intercultural dissonance in SLA and a principled pedagogical culture strategy for the college-level ESL classroom.