| Summary: | Master of Science === Department of Journalism and Mass Communications === William J. Adams === Using focus group this study found that forms of computer-mediated communication combined play a positive role in the acculturation process of the international students from China, India, and the Republic of Korea. Participants from different cultures reached general agreements that computer, the Internet, and other computer-facilitated devices and services have become functional displacements to older media in their daily life in the United States. While mass communication promotes behavior, psychological, and sociocultural adaptations of the international students, interpersonal communication is still of central importance in acculturation process and outcomes. Findings suggested that computer-mediated communication could become a major key to the formation and perfection of a pluralist American society, because (1) the computerized mediums serve as both the host and native media, and (2) forms of computer-mediated communication facilitate the cooperation between subgroups and individuals in different social arenas in American life.
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