Main examples of acculturation are related to religious beliefs, the loss of the native language or the intervention of foreign elements in the original culture.
The most palpable examples are found in immigrant families who have to adapt to the culture of the country where they emigrate. As a result, they must acquire new customs or norms of social behavior, even though they retain their own cultural traits such as language, dress, religion, gastronomy, among others.
The process of acculturation results from the contact and cultural exchange of the country where a person or social group is established. In this process new values and practices of a culture other than one's own are acquired.
This process of"cultural loan"is two-way; also the country or the receiving community acquires cultural traits of exchange. This changes with time to that society, from the human and social point of view.
Five examples of acculturation
1- Loss of the original language
The process of colonization in Latin America and the United States caused the almost total loss of the languages of the native peoples of the American continent, although many already reduced ethnic groups still retain their ancestral forms of communication.
Examples of this are the languages of the native peoples of Latin America. In Mexico, the Nahuatl, Chol, Mazateco and Totonac languages disappeared, as did the Aymara and Araona in Bolivia, the Saliba-Piaroa in Venezuela, or Quechua in Peru and Ecuador. Although they are still spoken in some regions, Spanish is the predominant language.
The loss of the Muskogi or Cherokee language, typical of the Indians living in the southeastern United States, is another example of the process of acculturation in which the dominant culture generally prevails.
2- Religious beliefs
Religion is another element present in the processes of acculturation that occur in societies. For example, during the Spanish and Portuguese conquest on the American continent the native peoples and black African slaves had to acquire a new religion imposed by the missions.
However, in the process of acculturation religious syncretism took place, through which the gods of blacks were assimilated to Catholic saints.
3- Migration
The massive displacement of nationals from one country to another for different reasons (wars, search for better living conditions, among other reasons) leads to the formation of ghettos or colonies in the territory that receives them.
These migrants, especially the elderly, maintain their uses, beliefs and customs. This is another example of acculturation.
This is not the case with the second generation of immigrants, who usually end up fully adapting to the culture of the country where they were born, leaving behind the predominant features of their parents' culture.
In these cases the use of parents' mother tongue, gastronomic customs and, sometimes, even religious beliefs and political ideology are lost.
4- Consumption of foreign products
Aculturization can also be experienced in various sectors and areas of consumption of a country such as gastronomy, music and fashion.
After a certain period, the adoption of new customs in foreigners is generated through acculturation.
5- Change of accent and use of foreign words
When people spend a lot of time living in another country, acculturation can be manifested by the adoption of different words and terms, even if it is a country with the same language as the immigrant.
It also happens when it comes to people who speak several languages, such as"espanglish", which is spoken in Puerto Rico because it is a territory with two languages. This phenomenon is also seen in Gibraltar, or in the way of talking about the so-called Chicanos (Mexicans living in the United States).
The best expressions of acculturation can be seen in large cities such as New York or London, which have complete suburbs where foreigners live whose population has been integrated into the country, retaining their own idiomatic and cultural roots.
References
- Understanding Acculturation and How It Differs from Assimilation. Searched from thoughtco.com
- Acculturation. Consulted from sociology.iresearchnet.com
- Spindler, G. D. (1963) Education and Culture: Anthropological Approaches. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York.
- Acculturation. Consulted from sociologydictionary.org
- Examples of acculturation. Consulted with examples.ca
- Acculturation. Retrieved from"http://en.wikipedia.org"
- Examples of acculturation. Recovered from Examples.org