Acculturation Measure
A highly researched phenomenon within Latino and many
other cultures, acculturation occurs when different
groups intermingle, leading to a change in the behaviors
and/or attitudes of one or both. Much of this research
has aimed to discover the dimensions or factors within
acculturation, and so has involved the development and
refinement of acculturation scales.
Generally, acculturation has been found
to be a multidimensional concept. In an important 1987
study of Chicano culture, Susan E. Keefe and Amado M.
Padilla found acculturation to reside within two primary
factors, cultural awareness and ethnic loyalty. In 1997,
Israel Cuéllar and colleagues noted that acculturation
includes a canvas of potential psychological, cognitive,
affective, and behavioral changes. However, a number
of research scholars find acculturation to be most highly
correlated with language abilities, and thus find such
abilities to be central in determining the degree of
acculturation. Because little space was available in
the Hispanic Media Study to measure acculturation, the
survey used language capabilities as a proxy. A summative
scale was created using the six questions listed below.
Reliability
was very high (a = .90, mean = 16.7, range = 6-30).
Items in acculturation scale:
If you had to put something together from
a set of instructions, would you prefer the instructions
be written in English or in Spanish?
What language do you usually speak at
home—only Spanish, more Spanish than English, both
equally, more English than Spanish, or only English?
Would you say you can carry on a conversation
in Spanish, both understanding and speaking, very well,
pretty well, just a little, or not at all?
Would you say you can read a newspaper
or book in Spanish very well, pretty well, just a little,
or not at all?
Would you say you can carry on a conversation
in English, both understanding and speaking, very well,
pretty well, just a little, or not at all?
Would you say you can read a newspaper
or book in English very well, pretty well, just a little,
or not at all?
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