Cultural difference in attitudes towards stuttering among British, Arab and Chinese students: Considering home and host cultures

Abstract

Background: Geographical and cultural differences have been shown to affect public attitudes towards stuttering. However, increasingly for many individuals in the world one's birthplace culture (or home culture) and culture in their local geographical environment (or host culture) are not the same. Aims: The effects of home culture and host culture in shaping the attitudes towards stuttering among students with British, Arab and Chinese home cultures attending one British university were explored. The effects of host culture were investigated by considering the time lived in the UK for Arab and Chinese students. Methods & Procedures:The study used a descriptive survey design that included a standardized self-delivered questionnaire: the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S). Purposive sampling was carried out thorough volunteer mailing lists, student societies and personal contact. The final sample of 156 university students included 51 British, 52 Arab and 53 Chinese students.Outcomes & Results: Overall stuttering score (OSS), which is indicative of attitudes towards stuttering, was highest for British participants (mean = 30) and lowest for Chinese participants (mean = 13), with Arab participants falling in the middle (mean = 21). The differences in attitudes between the three groups were statistically significant, suggesting that home culture is a contributor to attitudes towards stuttering. A post-hoc item analysis of the POSHA-S revealed numerous specific differences in attitudes towards stuttering between the three groups, including differences in the attribution of the aetiology of stuttering, their role in helping people who stutter (PWS) and sympathy toward PWS. Time lived in the UK-a proxy measure for the role of host culture-did not significantly influence the attitudes of Arab and Chinese respondents.Conclusions & Implications: To varying degrees, all three groups had evidence of stereotypical stuttering attitudes. Nevertheless, given similar ages and student status in the same university, observed respondent differences confirm previous research documenting geographical influences on stuttering attitudes in Western versus East Asian and Middle Eastern samples. The study also provides evidence that home culture was influential in shaping attitudes towards stuttering, but host culture was not a significant contributor.

Mothers’ and fathers’ attitudes toward stuttering in the Middle East compared to Europe and North America

“…This study also replicates previous research that suggests that country or region of citizenship has been shown to be a predictor of stuttering attitudes (St. Louis, Sønsterud, et al., 2016; Üstün‐Yavuz et al., 2021). Respondents from the Middle East had less positive ratings on the POSHA‐S than respondents from European and North American geographic regions.…”

“…With a few exceptions that are discussed later, a similar pattern emerged: male parents and nonparents tend to have equal or more positive stuttering attitudes than their female counterparts among the Middle Eastern countries while female parents and nonparents tend to show more positive attitudes in the European and North American countries in the POSHA–S database. Relative to other comparisons of groups on the POSHA–S (e.g., Flynn & St. Louis, 2011; Üstün‐Yavuz et al., 2021), these differences were not large. Previous research has indicated that differences in OSSs of <5 units could be interpreted as questionable to limited differences, those from 5 to 10 units as small but real differences, and those >10 as substantial differences (St. Louis, 2012b, 2015).…”

“…The literature clearly suggests that variables such as geography and culture (St. Louis, Sønsterud, et al., 2016, Üstün‐Yavuz et al., 2021) influence attitudes toward stuttering. Based on the research reviewed, parental attitudes may also play an important role.…”

Meta-analysis of Influential Factors on Perception toward Stuttering

“…그 밖에 높은 연령 대의 사람들이 어린 사람들보다 말더듬에 대하여 더 높은 지식 수 준을 보일 수도 있지만 (Imura et al, 2018) 연령 혹은 경력에 따라 말더듬 인식에서 유의한 차이가 나타나지 않는다고 보고되기도 하 였다 (Turnbaugh, Guitar, & Hoffman, 1979). 또한 말더듬에 대한 부정적인 인식은 매우 많은 문화권에서 공통적으로 관찰되며, 서 양권에 비하여 동양권에서 더 부정적일 수 있다는 점 역시 지적되 었다 (Ip, St. Louis, Myers, & Xue, 2012;Irani, Abdalla, & Gabel, 2012;Üstün-Yavuz, Warmington, Gerlach, & St. Louis, 2021;Weidner, St. Louis, Nakischi, & Ozdemir, 2017). 청자와 관련된 요인 이 외에도 말더듬 중증도와 같이 화자와 관련된 요인이 말더듬 인식 에 영향을 주는지 살펴본 연구 역시 비일관적인 결과를 보고하였 다.…”

Korean listeners’ mode of perceiving the durational variations of /s/ as prolongations

“…하지만 이와는 달리 말의 유창함은 연속적(continuous) 또는 점진적으로(gradient or gradually increasing) 지각되는 개념이라 는 주장들이 제기되었다 (Adams & Runyan, 1981;Kawai et al, 2005;Kawai et al, 2007;Tichenor et al, 2022) (Bebout & Arthur, 1992;Lai et al, 2007;Sim, 2000;Üstün-Yavuz et al, 2021) (Burley & Rinaldi, 1986;Dietrich et al, 2001;Hulit & Wirtz, 1994;Kawai et al, 2007;Patterson & Pring, 1991;Schroder et al, 2002;Susca & Healey, 2001). 일반적으로 장 애(인)에 대해 여성이 남성보다 큰 포용성 또는 관용성을 보인 다는 점을 고려해 볼 때 (Ferguson, 1999;Horne, 1985), 말더듬 지 각에 있어서도 남성이 여성보다 좀 더 부정적으로 지각할 것으 로 예측할 수 있다.…”