Who Am I Talking to

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.