Description

This book tells about a study on bilingual Chinese
in America, who have dual cultural identities and
dual voices. By altering the language they use, the
author demonstrated that bilingual Chinese would
express themselves differently according to the
cultural schema they internalize via the specific
language. It is found that when using English,
bilingual Chinese tend to identify with more
independent self-descriptions than those who use
Mandarin. In contrast, when using Mandarin, bilingual
Chinese tend to express their sadness through
interpersonal sensitivity than those who use English.
These results were analyzed using a discrete language
analysis program called Latent Semantic Analysis
(LSA). This study confirms the cultural hypothesis
that Eastern culture, especially Chinese, value
interdependence and collectivism more than Western
culture. In addition, language could serve as a
primer or access to those cultural constructs, such
as self-concept and emotion. This book has various
implications to social psychology and applied
psychology, especially the mental health professions,
as it taps into the multiculturalism and
cross-cultural counseling.