Faculty of Foreign Languages | English Language Major | Subject: Research Method | NEW CULTURAL STANDARDS AND THEIR INFLUENCES ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF DALAT
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NEW CULTURAL STANDARDS IN DALAT CITY AND ITS
INFLUENCES ON DALAT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

GROUP: A – AVKXY

1. A

Dalat, September 2017


UNIVERSITY OF DALAT
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GROUP: SKY – AVKXY

NEW CULTURAL STANDARDS IN DALAT CITY AND ITS
INFLUENCES ON DALAT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Name of supervisor: Vu Minh Ngoc

Dalat, September 2017

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Above all, we would like to express our profound gratitude to our course instructor – Mr. Vu
Minh Ngoc for his helpful guidelines, endless effort, and joyful encouragement. Besides, his

teaching helped us to successfully complete this research.
This research report would not be accomplished without the generous contributions of any
individuals in the group. Thank you so much for the unlimited help and strong support!
Additionally, we want to show our heartfelt appreciation to the students of Faculty of Foreign
Languages from the first year to the fourth year for their endless patience and detailed answers in
the process of collecting the data for this research.
Last but not least, to our classmates and friends, thank you for your help and support during the
research period.

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ABSTRACT
During the last few decades, the phenomenon of culture and the issues relating to cultural
preservation, cultural development, cultural integration and assimilation have been becoming a
heated controversy in Vietnam. In this occurrence, the young generation play the leading roles
and are always considered as the future and the essence of the nation. Thus, they must be
equipped with proper knowledge and positive attitudes to avoid the scenario of destroying
Vietnam’s cultural identities. Particularly, this research aims to definite the practical reality in
Dalat City and analyze the effects on certain group of students in Dalat University as well as
their attitudes towards the occurrence for deeper understandings. This research is done with the
assistance of two main methodologies: questionnaire and observation. Simultaneously, the reality
of foreign cultural standards in Dalat City is beneficial for extended research in the future, as the
experimental findings are indicated to a city which has recently developed at such a brisk pace.
The different viewpoints of Dalat University students also coupled with the fact that cultural
changes are necessary for the development of individual and the country or not. Hence, specific
solutions and strategies are requisite for solving the underlying problems of the occurrence.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................3
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................4
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................5
1.

Introduction:......................................................................................................................7
1.1.

Rationale........................................................................................................................7

1.2.

Aims of the Research.....................................................................................................7

1.3.

Research Questions........................................................................................................8

1.4.

Significance of the research...........................................................................................8

1.5.

Limitation of the research..............................................................................................8

2.

Background:......................................................................................................................8
2.1.

Literature Review..........................................................................................................8

2.2.

Definition of terms:......................................................................................................11

3.

Methodology...................................................................................................................12
3.1.

Collection of secondary information...........................................................................12

3.2.

Collection of primary information...............................................................................12

4.

Findings and Discussions................................................................................................13
4.1.

The reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City.....................................................13

4.2.

The impacts of foreign cultural standards on Dalat University students.....................16

4.2.1.

The positive impacts..........................................................................................................17

4.2.2.

The negative impacts.........................................................................................................19

4.3.

The opinions of Dalat University students towards new foreign cultural standards...20

4.4.

Comparisons to other studies.......................................................................................21

5.

Conclusion and Recommendations.................................................................................22
5.1.

Recapitulation..............................................................................................................22

5.2.

Suggested solutions.....................................................................................................22

5.3.

Limitations and suggestions for further study.............................................................23

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................24
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................26

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1. Introduction:
1.1. Rationale
Nowadays, the constant modernization and industrialization process has led to the gradual
development of several sectors worldwide. Simultaneously, the culture of every developed
country has become globalize through several means, especially through the Internet. Indeed, we
can easily find a great variety of prevailing trends and all kinds of entertainment from different
countries, namely Western and South Korean, while surfing the Internet or just walking down the
street. The young generations have heartily welcomed every new cultural phenomenon; however,
they hold a laid-back attitude, as they have not known how the long-term outcomes affect their
traditional culture and shape their future lifestyle. Thus, it is crucial to identify the two sides of a
problem currently existing in everyday life. In spite of the fact that there are various researches
mentioning the phenomenon, the purpose of this research is to definite the practical reality in
Dalat City and analyze the effects on a certain group of students as well as their attitudes towards
the occurrence for deeper understandings. So what do Dalat University students really think
about foreign cultural standards other than their traditional ones? For going deeply into this state,
we do this study.
1.2. Aims of the Research
As we all know, there has been a rapid development in several sectors in Dalat City in the last
decade. It is undeniable that the tremendous economic growths have opened a great variety of
opportunities for promoting cultural integration and developing the cultural identity. Admittedly,
Dalat people and mostly the young generations have good chances at getting accesses to different
cultures and lifestyles, which definitely is an important breakthrough for future developments. In

fact, with selective approaches towards new cultural standards, Vietnam will be a component part
of the world community, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. On the other hand, we will
gradually lose the distinctive traditional values if we hold casual attitudes. The country people
plays an important role in the process of forming a new lifestyle but still able to maintain and
preserve the traditional values. Dr. Nguyễn Văn Kim said in the book Tiếp biến và hội nhập văn
hoá ở Việt Nam (2016): “The core of the Vietnamese cultural value system is the human and the
core of Vietnamese human values is cultural personality”. In addition, there are several different
studies made about the topic namely How Cultural Integration Has Changed Vietnam (2016),
Vấn đề tiếp nhận văn hóa nước ngồi của sinh viên hiện nay (2016), Nghiên cứu văn hóa học và
văn hóa Việt Nam (2014), and Changing tendency in culture and lifestyle of Vietnam (2010).
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Hence, this research aims to clarify the reality and the opinions of Dalat University students
about the new cultural occurrence in Dalat City.
1.3. Research Questions
What are the influences of new cultural standards on Dalat University students?
What do Dalat University students think about cultures other than Vietnamese culture?
1.4. Significance of the research
The finding of this study will redound to the benefit of the society considering that culture and
the issues relating to cultural preservation and development have been becoming a national
concern. Besides, the greater demand for international integration has led to a lack of awareness
in the young generations. Therefore, this study would also be beneficial to Vietnamese students,
as it would provide the necessary information on the practical reality and help students to
achieve appropriate recognition towards cultural phenomenon and its effects. For the researchers,
the study will help them uncover the occurrence in a specific city that will assist them in their
own research in the future.
1.5. Limitation of the research
Due to the short duration of doing the research, the results only represent a part of students of
Dalat University and Dalat City. To be more specific, the results are based on 100 Dalat

University students majored in English department, ranging from the first year to the fourth year.
Thus, it is not representative of the greater student population of Dalat University.
2. Background:
2.1. Literature Review
According to the critic Williams, R. (2016), “culture” has three divergent meanings: a process of
individual enrichment, a group’s “particular way of life” and an activity. Nevertheless, the three
senses of culture are actually quite different. To some extent, culture is a strong tie of economic,
political and social sectors. Indeed, according to Do (2016, para 9), “Culture is the backbone of a
nation which differentiates itself from other countries, the disappearance of distinctive culture
exemplifies its doomsday”. Culture exchange and economic integration should be equal in
importance and neither should be given preference. Notably, culture plays a dominant role in
international integration and substantially contributes to the country’s development. However,
people need to be careful when it comes to cultural exchange to avoid a tragic scenario where
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Vietnamese culture could be assimilated by other foreign countries. Admittedly, an
underdeveloped country may not necessarily have a less civilized culture. Although we cannot
isolate every global cultural connection, we should be cautious when it comes to foreign cultural
essences that we choose to integrate with. Besides, the preservation of our own distinctive
culture is vitally important in the process of developing our cultural identities.
Moreover, the study by Mai and Pham (2010, para 3), regarding the changing trends in culture
and lifestyles in Vietnam, shows the diversity in cultural changes, and at the same time clarify
the causes and factors affecting those changes. Vietnam is in a deep and great changing process,
the dramatic changes in the economy, politics, society, science and technology have accelerated
the process of integration. Besides, based on analyzing the relationship between cultural
advances for international development, the study analyzed and clarified the perception and
reaction of the youngsters towards cultural elements relating to foreign values, especially their
major changes in behavior. Overall, this study demonstrates changes in cultural and lifestyle
which is the transition from traditional culture to modern culture, from single-style culture to

multi-style culture.
The study of Pham (2013, para 6) theorized that globalization is an objective tendency that has a
strong impact on every nation and individual, especially the young generations who are
preparing to join working environment. The article also reveals the positive impacts and negative
impacts of the occurrence. Undoubtedly, due to the impacts of globalization and open-door
policy, students are able to broaden their comprehensive knowledge. Additionally, their
awareness of domestic and international issues has increased thanks to the globalization process.
As a result, students take the lead in receiving new foreign cultural values. A great number of
students from many rural areas have rapidly changed their habits and personalities as they enter
the urban life with a higher level of globalization. On the other hand, globalization has been
placing foreign cultural values on our country. However, foreign cultures are created in different
economic, political, social and traditional scenario, so the interaction between two distinct
cultural flows leads to significant changes. It goes without saying that this impact changes the
perception and lifestyles of many students in a positive way. Nevertheless, the power of foreign
culture often associated with the power of the economy, this has led to the dominance of foreign
culture in students’ perception.
Duong (2014, III, para 1) pointed out that the culture of student life must first be seen as an
integral part of the national culture. Therefore, the cultural life of students reflects the cultural
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identity of the nation with the common characteristics of the national culture. Simultaneously,
the cultural life of students has inherited the traditional culture of old generations and combined
modern culture to form distinctive lifestyle with a sense of purpose. Changes in culture reflect
how a group adapts to such phenomena, whether they are of political, economic or
environmental issues.
On the contrary, there are also some concerns in the cultural lifestyle of some young people and
students. First of all, they adopt an extravagant and unhealthy lifestyle with no sense of purpose.
The above limitations are the result of many causes, in which the root cause should be
mentioned. Family not only contributes to the formation of personality but also the cultural

lifestyle of the young generations. Thus, more than anyone else, parents need to be aware of their
responsibilities to preserve family well-being and build a cultural family with prosperity,
equality, progress, and happiness.
In brief, it is crucial to build a prosperous country for the purpose of country people - a civilized
society in the period of industrialization and modernization. Governments should focus on
developing intellectual potentials and cultural creativity potential of each and every citizen as
well as an ethnic community. The study of Vietnamese culture and issues relating to cultural
development and preservation will help to provide cultural knowledge to every Vietnamese,
especially youngsters - the future generation of the country, contributing to the success of the
construction and to develop a developed Vietnamese culture that closely linked to traditional
identity.
Culture is a topic that has been thoroughly studied. However, further study of the practical reality
in a city and the cultural impacts on a certain group of students will lead to better understanding.
Specifically, the prevailing opinions of Dalat University students can help people realize the
importance of the research. As Dalat has gradually developed in the last decades, the city plays
an important role in the growth of Vietnam, and Dalat youngsters’ opinions should help to clarify
the necessity for uncovering new cultural phenomenon. Moreover, this research’s results can
support further studies on the phenomenon of culture and the related issues. The vital data on the
commonsense reality and help understudies to accomplish proper acknowledgment towards
social marvel and its belongings. For the analysts, the examination will enable them to reveal the
event in a particular city that will help them in their own particular research later on.
2.2. Definition of terms:

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According to Wikipedia, “Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies.
Culture is a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are
transmitted through social learning in human societies”.
Culture has become the object of culturology, culture studies, and science of culture. The first

definition of culture of Tylor E.B. in Primitive Culture (1871), but there are now so many
different definitions. Two American anthropologists, Kroeber A. and Kluckhohn C. (1952), wrote
a book devoted to cultural definitions, culture is a critical review of concepts and definitions, in
which 164 definitions of culture were derived and analyzed. In the second edition of this book,
the number of cultural definitions has risen to more than 200. The number of cultural definitions
is hardly known at present: some say 400, some say is 500, there are people asserting that they
number up to thousands.
Culture is rather a complex definition in today societies. In a broad sense, culture consists of a
set of social behaviors and viewpoints that express shared meaning encompassing symbolism,
language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts. According to the critic Raymond
Williams (1976), “culture” has three divergent meanings: a process of individual enrichment, a
group’s “particular way of life” and an activity. Nevertheless, the three senses of culture are
actually quite different. In this research, culture is defined as the meaning in Oxford Learner’s
Dictionaries: “The customs and beliefs, art, the way of life and social organization as well as the
common beliefs and attitudes about something that people in a particular group or organization.”
“Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person's or group's culture come to resemble
those of another group” (Wikipedia). It is expected that immigrants and members of an ethnic
group should submit to the majority group in terms of norms, values, and behavior. Besides,
assimilation leads to the in the controversy in societies where the majority group does not
tolerate different ethnic or racial identities.
On the contrary, “multiculturalism or cultural pluralism is a term describing the coexistence of
many cultures in a locality, without any one culture dominating the region. By making the
broadest range of human differences acceptable to the largest number of people, multiculturalism
seeks to overcome racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination”. (The Columbia
Encyclopedia, 2000)
For the purpose of this research, “Culture standards can be seen as the socially shared and
accepted norms and values that are used by the individuals living within a particular culture to
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evaluate the behavior of each other.” (Thomas, 1999). In addition, it is considered as the central
characteristics that define a culture.
“Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group. It is part of a person's selfconception and self-perception and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class,
generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. In this way,
cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also of the culturally identical group
of members sharing the same cultural identity”. (Wikipedia)
3. Methodology
As mentioned above, this research aims to clarify the reality and the opinions of Dalat University
students about the new cultural occurrence in Dalat City. The population for this study is defined
as 100 Dalat University students majored in English department, ranging from the first year to
the fourth year. For the purpose of this research, we decided to choose two main methods which
actively support the process of conducting concrete results.
3.1. Collection of secondary information
To find out the necessary information about the reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City,
we have found some materials relating to the research topic in some books namely Bản sắc văn
hóa Việt Nam (Phan, 2004); Một số vấn đề văn hóa của giới trẻ (Le, T.H & Le, D.T, 2013);
Tương phản và di chuyển văn hóa truyền thống vào đời sống Internet Việt Nam (Pham, 2013);
Đa văn hóa – một tiến trình tất yếu của đô thị (Ngo, 2013); Sức hấp dẫn nữ tính của Hàn Lưu,
(Phan, 2009) and Khái Luận về Văn hóa (Tran, 2013).
3.2. Collection of primary information
Questionnaire
Based on the purpose and content of the research, we created the questionnaire which was given
to 100 students (both male and female) ranging from the first year to the fourth year from
English department of Dalat University. The questionnaire includes 17 main questions ordered
logically so that we can get reliable respondents. Participants were asked to complete different
kinds of questions including multiple choice questions, scale questions, open-ended questions. A
questionnaire is a good method to clearly identify the reality of new foreign cultural standards as
well as the liberal attitudes of a certain group of students. However, a questionnaire cannot give
us in-depth data.
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Observation method
We observed people, mostly youngsters in a coffee shop and around campus for 2 hours, to see
how they communicated with each other and with foreign visitors, how they dressed and how
they acted.
Method of information analysis
All quantitative data that we got from questionnaires and from observation are listed and
arranged logically which served as a base of support to help us identify the favorable outcomes
of this research. Besides, all of the necessary information is collected by reading, interview, and
observation that help to complete the research findings answering the two research questions:
“What are the influences of new cultural standards on Dalat University students?” and “What do
Dalat University students think about cultures other than Vietnamese culture?”
4. Findings and Discussions
4.1. The reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City
It goes without saying that the open-door policy has paved the way for the Western culture to
penetrate Vietnamese society. Additionally, with the active support of the integration trend,
globalization and the dramatic advances in science and technology, the influences of foreign
culture spread far and wide to every sector of Vietnamese society. Dalat City, for instance, is one
of many cities in Vietnam that is clearly affected by new foreign cultural standards. It is
undeniable that the positive effects including urban and industrial development, advanced
material life, personal role’s enhancement and critical freedom’s appreciation. The broad
international coherence is evident through the prevalence of new styles in music, movies, food,
language, and lifestyle.
In 100 samples that we have surveyed, students showed different ideas about new foreign
cultural standards. This consists of the most popular culture among the student community, how
they approach new culture, why Vietnamese people are so fascinated in other culture, the impacts
of foreign movies and the possible threats to Vietnam traditional cultural identity.

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Figure 1: Percentage of countries’ culture that Dalat University students want to import to
Vietnam.
Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of some countries’ popularity among Dalat University
students. In general, America and Korea are the two countries that have considerable impacts on
students and have attracted their interest. To be more specific, USA tops at 47% which
predominates the total number. Besides, Korea is the second popular country swelling to 29%
prior to the growing trend of the Hallyu or Korean wave worldwide.
This finding also is considered as a crucial data to develop further recognition. Especially, in the
process of exchanging and integrating cultures with developed countries, we have acquired many
new values and creative experiences. Foreign cultural artworks are the bridge to spread the world
culture to the Vietnamese. In the process of integrating with global culture, we need to select new
value norms that are consistent with Vietnam's cultural and personal development goals. From
our standpoints, the acquisition of cultural values of humanity must be selective, based on the
foundations of our national culture. For Vietnam, that foundation is the traditional cultural values
that have been formed and developed throughout 4000 years.

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Figure 2: Percentage of entertainment trend from 8 countries
Additionally, referring to Figure 2, we can see that Dalat University students have a great
tendency of imposing foreign standards in their hobbies for movies, music, and food.
Simultaneously, regarding the aspect of entertainment, America has the statistic of 73.2% out of
a systematic survey of 8 various countries. This is a not very surprising result considering the
impacts of the explosion of urbanization in the last decades of XX century and early XXI
century. The development of the USA in several sectors has led to the multiculturalism as well as
the spread of the country own culture worldwide. Thus, Vietnamese people now tend to impose
US standards in every field of daily life, from entertainment, food to lifestyle and language.

Moreover, the percentages of three sectors mentioned of Korea reach an average plateau of 20%.
This is quite high in comparison to the total statistics. Admittedly, it can be seen that Korean
restaurants are flourished in Dalat City namely QnC, Fungi Chingu and Monster Chef, etc.
Expectedly, regarding food sector, Dalat youngsters hold favorable opinions with Vietnamese
food, as it is undeniable that Vietnam has a colorful food culture. Along with this instance,
Japan’s movies and food are also popular in Dalat City. This derived from the considerable stand
of Japan in the world, and there are now a great variety of Japanese restaurants namely Tokyo,
Yakuta, and Ganeya, etc. in Dalat City. Plus, China’s music and movies also gain wide interests
of Dalat students. Other countries like Thai, India, and French, etc. are not really popular in Dalat
City now but may be popular in near future.
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As can be seen from the responses to a question about the ways of approaching new culture, 62%
of respondents claimed that they have accesses to other culture mostly through the Internet. The
statistics for books, newspapers, and relatives are 17.3%, 12.3% and 8.6% respectively. Hence,
this is an understandable result, as Asia's Internet growth rate in recent years is the fastest in the
world, at over 300% per year. According to Internet World Stats (2017), Asia alone (55.2% of the
world's population) has nearly 2 billion Internet users accounting for 49.7% of the world's
netizens. Vietnam alone has 64 million Internet users in the region (67.1%). The explosion of the
broadband Internet in the early 21st century in Vietnam has created opportunities for many
people, especially young people, students, and intellectuals, to have access to the Internet.
Furthermore, when being asked about the reasons why Vietnamese people are so fascinated with
other cultures, the survey showed that 51% of respondents admitted that people simply just want
to broaden their knowledge about the world. It can be seen that the positive responses were a
result of the students’ daily life, as everyone around them shares the same interest in foreign
cultures.
Nevertheless, we also asked respondents about the possible threats to Vietnam culture, and the
findings are surprisingly neutral with three different answers. Specifically, the survey revealed
that 62.7% of students stated that the Vietnam traditional culture might be fading mostly in the

ways of people live and the ways they behave. To one extent, the majority of students assumed
that it is inevitable when it comes to the impacts of foreign cultures. The ones who object the fact
that Vietnam traditional culture is being replaced have their own viewpoints, as they claimed that
there are certain threats but the total replacement is not possible. The percentage is fluctuated
around 33% considering three reasons: underdeveloped economy, cultural invasion, and extreme
politics. Hence, the findings are predictable considering the complex in Vietnam societies in the
last decades.
4.2. The impacts of foreign cultural standards on Dalat University students
It is undeniable that cultural integration process plays a very important role in the culture of each
nation and ethnic group. There is no culture, no matter how large and far-reaching that culture is,
that can develop in isolation and separation from other cultures. Nevertheless, the international
integration process in several sectors has two sides: positive and negative. The positive side is
that the process will help the culture of each nation (in the sense of national - ethnic) to develop
and receive the progressive values of the culture from other ethnic groups, which will enrich the

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culture of the nation. These characteristics have existed for thousands of years along with the
development of national history, which like a 'social gene' inherited from life to life.
However, the negative side is the risk of becoming assimilated into unifying values and foreign
cultural norms that will pose a threat of inhibiting the creativity of ethnic cultures leading to the
danger of corruption and even the abolition of cultural values. Vietnamese policymakers and
researchers are concerned about young people’s ideology about culture. Professor Ngo (2013)
said: “The future of culture depends on the young generation. Thus, proposals on culture should
focus on young people, the future generation of the country. It’s important to raise their
awareness about the values and means to protect heritage and tradition in this dynamic era
because they are the masters of this process. I think we should focus on patiently preserving and
promoting the tradition and actively integrating into world culture”.
As mentioned in the beginning, this research aims to clarify the reality and the opinions of Dalat

University students about the new cultural occurrence in Dalat City. Specifically, it is essential to
identify the influences of foreign cultural standards on Dalat University students and young
people in Dalat City, which will be helpful in raising youngsters’ awareness of culture and the
issues relating to cultural preservation and development in Vietnam.
4.2.1. The positive impacts
It goes without saying that there are a great variety of positive influences of new cultural
standards on students. Indeed, Vietnamese youths in general and Dalat University students, in
particular, have taken the lead in the cultural exchange with their peers worldwide and regionally,
as they exchange the traditional values and differences in friendly ways. As a matter of fact, we
cannot deny the necessity of international integration. This process reflects that Vietnamese
youth is eager to broaden their knowledge, their experiences and to compete for development.
Notably, it can be seen that 92.5% of respondents claimed that foreign cultural standards affect
their lifestyle and even their studying positively. To be more specific, foreign movies are one of
the main factor affecting young people. Mostly through movies from Japan, America, and Korea,
they now lead a more healthy life in certain ways. For instance, in the industrialization and
modernization era, youngsters realize their prominent roles in the development of the country. In
addition, an active and dynamic lifestyle is adopted in replacement to the old conventional one.
The global issues and news help Vietnamese youth to change the ideas of certain areas namely
politics, economy and society worldwide, which will help to involve themselves more in the
common interest of the nation.
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The reception of foreign culture of students takes place right at the university lecture hall. This is
a whole new experience. Since the late nineteenth century, higher education in Vietnam has been
influenced by Western education. Subjects of higher education in Vietnam are developing in a
diverse and modern way. The content of many subjects and majors come from many different
cultures in the world. Especially in the field of social sciences and humanities, knowledge is
linked to the culture and civilization of its origin. Consequently, students extend their knowledge
and capture the culture and civilization of various countries worldwide.

Students, especially English majored students, are also influenced by teachers and friends.
Among the teachers of the school, there are some trained abroad. They brought their knowledge,
views, and style of learning from abroad to students. They learn foreign languages and cultures,
and they often interact with foreign students. The number of foreign students studying in
Vietnam is increasing. The school or the Youth Union also organize co-operative activities,
which link Vietnamese students with international students at universities around the world.
These are the opportunities for students from different countries to learn from each other and to
promote their culture to their friends in the world.
With the influences of foreign culture, Vietnamese students become strong, dynamic, modern,
and creative, dare to think, dare to do. They have the ability to use international language to
communicate and study with foreigners. There are many students dream to go abroad to study,
work and live. They bring with them their naked ambition to practice and experience personal
values, desire to assert their ego. This is not a bad dream, especially the assertion of the self is
the premise of creativity. However, there must be clear direction and propaganda so that they can
be more active in creative activities.
Furthermore, students have become more independent when it comes to studying. In point of
fact, they are braver, as they are now not afraid of raising questions of their curiosity about
various subjects and problems. For example, classes become more interesting and lively when
students and teachers share ideas and debates with each other. The heavy atmosphere in
traditional classes is partially cleared to make way for energetic classes. In other words, the
boundary between teachers and students is slowly pushed back, but this still maintains the
mutual respect.

It can be said that this active way of studying contributes greatly to the

development of students’ abilities and practical skills.
4.2.2. The negative impacts

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On the other hand, one thing which is equally important is that the open-door policy and
international exchange process also poses knotty problems of negative social practices and
lifestyle for the authorities. The great hindrances of cultural deviations and materialism also
penetrate into Vietnam, which set the downward trend for the young generations. All available
evidence points to the fact that a small majority of youngsters now lead an unhealthy lifestyle
with evasive actions on individual lust, prostitution, drug abuse, violence, crimes, disregard of
family life criteria, maltreatment of parents and old people, lack of concern for children and even
sexual abuse of children.
There are two prominent issues in contemporary Vietnamese youth living in big cities: premarital
sex and Western-style imitation, which has been around for some time and becoming more
prevalent in recent years. The common feature of the two mentioned occurrence is the openness
towards love and sex. Nevertheless, they still have some distinctions.
In the mimicry of Western lifestyles, young girls have a high tendency of “worshipping” short,
long-term contractual relations. According to them, this type of experimental life is very 'safe'
because when it is no longer compatible, they can always leave their partner easily without any
bounds. There are also a small number of college students choosing this as a way of making a
living, but many of the rich students prefer this type of relationship, as it is considered as a fad to
prove that they have a modern lifestyle. The more pressing issue is that the phenomenon of
premarital sex is becoming more and more common in both middle school and high school
environment. Hence, in some ways, the concept of oriental marriage does not exist.
While advancing knowledge about cultural essence from foreign countries, quite a few young
people have been adversely affected by negative practices as a result of the lack of deep
awareness. One of the most common thoughts of students is that they cannot stop the idea of
comparing Vietnamese culture to other cultures in the world with quite negative attitudes.
Consequently, it is a necessity to heighten youngsters’ awareness in order to stimulate youth
activities in global cultural dialogue and exchange.
The broad international coherence is evident in the youth culture through the prevalence of
trendy music and fashion styles. It is notable that the impact of Western culture also brings with
it the downside that many people worry because it does not fit the traditional cultural values of

Vietnam. However, it is difficult for them to accept the habit of closing the door and clinging to
old traditions, which in other word means self-denial and the sense of lagging behind.

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In brief, the global cultural integration, dialogue, and exchange process have been proved
necessary for the development of future generations with new requirements and challenges of the
era. Accordingly, the country and every individual should have right solutions to develop the
youth strategy, plans to provide young people in Vietnam and other countries with the necessary
knowledge and skills to participate and respond to the positive and negative aspects of this
process.
4.3. The opinions of Dalat University students towards new foreign cultural standards
Incontrovertibly, through this research, we can see that Dalat University students hold positive
and responsible attitudes towards the phenomenon of new cultural standards in Dalat City. First
and foremost, they adhere the definitive agreements on the fact that the international integration
process along with foreign cultural standards actively assists them and Vietnamese young
generation in broadening their knowledge and their horizon. This is considered as the first
decisive step for them to identify who they are and what their roles are in the progress of
integration and development.
Moreover, students at Dalat University are highly aware that Vietnamese culture is an
agricultural culture with the harmony of emotional rather than rational. The old generation is
highly attached to traditional values, and they know how to appreciate their cultural identities.
The young generation, however, is quite easy to be influenced by new concepts every aspect of
daily life. Indeed, Dalat University students agree that Vietnam has been facing the cultural
invasion due to cultural assimilation, and youngsters play the leading role in that occurrence.
They reach broad agreement on the opinion that the traditional art of Vietnam has been largely
replaced by new modern art from foreign countries. They themselves are now in favor of new
trendy music and fashion style, and the old art such as Cai luong, Cheo, Tuong, Mua nuoc, etc.
were put aside paving the way for other interesting artworks. They do not hate or disgust

Vietnam cultural identities, it’s just that their practical standpoints derived from the fact that old
artworks are no longer suit their taste. To one extent, young people and Dalat University students
still care about traditional artworks, but they do not know how to preserve and develop their
national essences.
4.4. Comparisons to other studies
As already recalled in sections above, various studies were carried out in the past few years to
clarify the reality of new cultural standards in Dalat City. These studies, conducted for the
purpose of getting a clear understanding of the changes happening in the new cultural
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phenomenon, differ partly in their research questions and scope from the present one but are
anyway a useful benchmark to test the validity of our results. However, all the mentioned studies
relied on stratified data collected through different means.
To some extent, the amount of information collected from our study and others’ differed greatly.
Our survey was designed to provide more accurate results for each respondent since it asks for
more information. At the same time, and consequently, the number of responses received is
lower than that obtained by other studies. We received 100 responses against thousands of
responses collected other research.
The results obtained by others’ study and ours were quite familiar. It is undeniable that culture
plays a dominant role in international integration and substantially contributes to the country’s
development. Hence, people need to be careful when it comes to cultural exchange to avoid a
tragic scenario where Vietnamese culture could be assimilated by other foreign countries.
The agreement was that the young generation plays the leading role and should be well-educated.
The power of foreign culture often associated with the power of the economy, this has led to the
dominance of foreign culture in students’ perception. Changes in culture reflect how a group
adapts to such phenomena, whether they are of political, economic or environmental issues.
Thus, parents have the obligation to preserve family well-being and build a cultural family with
prosperity, equality, progress, and happiness.
For the general part of the survey, a combination of questions is needed to decide whether

youngsters have any awareness of the reality of new cultural phenomenon and the impacts on
their life or not. The number of criteria that is selected by the respondents will provide
information on a certain group of students’ viewpoints towards foreign cultures and Vietnam’s
traditional culture.

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5. Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1. Recapitulation
In conclusion, there has been a rapid development in several sectors in Dalat City in the last
decade. It is undeniable that the open-door policy has opened a great variety of opportunities for
promoting cultural integration and developing the cultural identity. The aim of this research is to
clarify the reality and the opinions of Dalat University students about the new cultural
occurrence in Dalat City. With three main research methodology: questionnaire and observation,
we are able to identify the influences of new cultural standards on Dalat University students and
their objective opinions towards the phenomenon. Hence, the findings of this research about the
practical reality in Dalat City reflect the upward trend of new foreign cultural standards. To be
more specific, America, Korea, and China are the top three countries which are popular among
Dalat youngsters and Dalat University students. This consists of the most popular culture among
the student community, how they approach new culture, why Vietnamese people are so
fascinated in other culture, the impacts of foreign movies and the possible threats to Vietnam
traditional cultural identity. Additionally, Dalat University students showed different ideas and
practical opinions about new foreign cultural standards, as there are both positive and negative
impacts on various fields of their life.
5.2. Suggested solutions
It goes without saying that there must be specific strategies to develop the positive influences of
the international integration process and new foreign cultural standards as well as solutions to
solve the drawbacks of the phenomenon.
Firstly, governments need to strengthen propaganda and education to raise young people’s

awareness and understanding of traditional culture. This will help students to see the beauty, the
humanistic values of traditional culture on the basis of science. When national pride is based on
science, it will make students accountable and responsible for preserving and promoting those
cultural values as well as building and defending their homeland.
Secondly, schools and parents need to encourage students' creative and constructive role through
the promotion of volunteer movements. It is an important impetus for students to receive and
cultivate foreign cultures that are adequate for the conditions and circumstances of Vietnam.
Thirdly, the country people have the obligation to build a healthy cultural environment and create
favorable environments for young generations to study and develop their abilities.
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Fourthly, right orientations should help to create a suitable cultural environment to change the
cultural behavior of students. The behavior of young students is the result of cognitive,
emotional, will and confidence in the daily life. If the process of adapting the culture of youth is
stimulated, it must be manifested by culturally appropriate behaviors.
Overall, along with exchanging and receiving foreign cultures, students need to be aware of
preserving their cultural identity. At the same time, political, socio-political and social
organizations should have appropriate orientations for the process of exchanging and receiving
human culture for the young generation.
5.3. Limitations and suggestions for further study
Prior to the short time frame of the research and other objective conditions, this research has
certain limitations. To begin with, the research cannot demonstrate all the influences of new
cultural standards on students of other majors in Dalat University such as Law, Math –
Computing, Biology, Physics, etc. as well as their attitudes towards the phenomenon.
Nevertheless, the research provides the specific statistics on the popular countries, the impacts of
foreign movies, the ways students approached new cultural standards and the possible threats to
Vietnam’s cultural identities. Besides, the conclusion of this research is based only on a small
group of 100 students majoring English department, so this research just partly revealed the true
reality of new cultural occurrence in Dalat City. Hence, future researchers should focus and

expand the level of questionnaires and cope with the aid of other methodology to support the
validity and reliability of their own research.

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APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Hello, we are conducting a research about new cultural standards in Dalat City. Through this
brief survey, your answers will be helpful in defining the reality of culture and raising students’
awareness of culture and the issues relating to cultural preservation and development. Please
note that all your personal information will be confidential, and your responses will only be used
for survey purposes.
Thank you very much for your time and opinions!
Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………
Age: …………………………………………………………………………………………..
Gender:
Female

Male

Please circle the answer of your choice or write in the space provided

1. Do you think foreign movies affect you?
a. Yes
b. No
2. If yes, to what aspects?
a. Fashion
b. Daily communication
c. Feelings
d. Beliefs
e. Lifestyle
f. Others: …………

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