This manual was designed for refugee sponsors who are teaching English to Southeast Asian refugees. The manual encourages sponsors to research English as a Second Language (ESL) resources in their communities, to teach ESL in a professional and educationally sound manner, and to evaluate their work on a reuular basis. The first section of the…

This handbook provides basic information about working with Indochinese refugees - who they are, how they come to the United States, and how they can best be assisted in starting their new life in the United States. The first part of the book describes what it means to be a refugee. The second part contains an English version of "Your New Life in…

The term "Mien" is used to describe several mountain peoples of Southeast Asia, who migrated from China in the 18th and 19th centuries. Their strong family structure serves their agricultural way of life. The language, though tonal, exhibits many similarities to English. Religious beliefs are animistic, centering around spirits of…

To help educators and parents become more aware of and familiar with various minority cultures and provide for cultural diversity in the schools, brief descriptions are presented of cultural beliefs of three minority populations often seen in school: Native Americans; Indochinese; and Hispanic. (CB)

The author examines adjustment problems of Southeast Asian refugees in the U.S., noting conflict with their traditional orientation to learning and linguistic difficulties in acquiring English. Seven guidelines are offered for teaching, including an emphasis on survival skills and vocabulary and grammar rather than on pronunciation. (CL)

This book introduces students to the people and country of Laos. The historic "Land of a Million Elephants" (Lan Xang) is filled with diversity and wonder. This book provides background information and suggested topics for an intensive study of the country. The seven chapters are entitled: (1) "Land and People"; (2)…

Written for the Indochinese adult immigrant and the American sponsor, friend, or teacher, the document describes the cultures both in English and Vietnamese. The first part is a guide to the American culture. It explains American characteristics that may seem puzzling to a foreigner: the value placed on achievement and hard work, the highly…

A study comparing the educational performance of limited-English-proficient (LEP) and fluent-English-proficient (FEP) Southeast Asian students as a whole with that of other LEP and FEP ethnic groups finds that the five main Indochinese ethnic groups exhibit significant socioeconomic and ethnocultural diversity, impacting on their academic…

Teachers working with Asian refugee children describe their approaches to problems involving language acquisition, culture differences, and psychological adjustment. Tips are offered on peer teaching, creating a supportive atmosphere, and English language development. (FG)

The Volunteers for Refugee Self-Sufficiency (V-FoRSS) uses volunteers to meet the self-sufficiency needs of the refugee community in Phoenix, Arizona. The majority of the volunteers with V-FoRSS are home outreach tutors who provide English as a second language (ESL) and social adjustment skills instruction to adult Indochinese refugees. Classes…

These guidelines serve as an introduction to a set of eight course curricula in the VESL (Vocational English as a Second Language) program. This document introduces the reader to the VESL concept; multi-cultural, competency-based materials of VESL (sequential modules, translated lexicons, grammatical structure for modules, punctuation and…

A 12-month program provides adult Indochinese refugees with the basic communication skills and understanding of American culture needed to help them secure or upgrade employment. Offered through the community college system, the program is divided into four levels of instruction: non-literate, beginning, intermediate, and upper intermediate. The…

A framework is presented to help teachers become aware of classroom modifications possible in the regular classroom and to determine whether to refer IndoChinese students to special education when their needs cannot be met through modifications. Services that can be provided both before and after the child becomes a participant in a regular…

This handbook was developed to assist vocational educators in meeting the needs of the growing Limited English Speaking (LES) population in the regular classroom. The guide is organized in five sections. The first section of the handbook provides a list of needed teacher competencies for teachers of LES students in regular vocational classrooms,…

The purpose of this report is to acquaint the reader with the culture of the refugees entering American schools, to identify some of the educational problems they and educators face, and to help identify solutions or possibilities within educational management terms. In the first section of the report, the values, customs, traditions, beliefs, and…