Abstract

The purpose of this research is to better understand the acculturation process and academic performance as experienced by a small group of foreign-born Armenian youth in Montreal, as a case study of immigrant youth in relation to their experiences of acculturative stress and its manifestations--psychologically, linguistically, socially and on the level of academic performance, as they tell their stories. The process of acculturation and the role played by the school, peers and parents was examined through an exploratory study interviewing 4 graduates from French language public schools in Montreal and 4 graduates of an Armenian community high school in Montreal. Participants were between ages 18 to 31. The findings of acculturation studies on foreign-born Armenian students in the U.S.A. were used to set a foundation and as a guideline for conducting similar research among foreign-born Armenian youth in Montreal. The narratives illustrate the process of acculturation of these eight Armenian foreign-born youth who completed their high school in Montreal as they recount their experiences of the role of schooling and family in this process. Results show that there is no apparent negative effect on academic performance that stems from acculturation stress experienced by the eight participants in this study. Language was one area of major initial difficulty. All participants exhibited areas of acculturation stress which were manifested in different ways. The acculturative strategy adopted by each participant was that of integration and was not influenced by the degree of ethnic identity, the country of origin nor the type of schooling in Montreal. Gender did not play a major role in influencing acculturation stress. Students are satisfied that they did well academically although they all experienced the effect of cultural differences and initially some degree of linguistic incompetence. The study has implications for teachers, school counsellors and school administrators.