This paper aims to encourage a broader dialogue about how Lao immigrant parents from low socio-economic environment are able to support their children's development. It discusses how despite the challenges that immigrant Lao parents face daily (i.e., lack of English proficiency, mental health issues, and lack of familiarity with U.S. schools),…

A questionnaire was given to 33 Indochinese (Vietnamese and Laotian) immigrant parents residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in order to discover their views of the education their elementary school children were receiving. The results indicated that the parents were, in general, pleased with their children's education. Many felt, however, that…

Intended to help educators better understand the behavior of students from Southeast Asia as a function of culture, the paper provides information on family life. Childrearing attitudes are considered for the infant to toddler (0-3 years) age span and the preschool child (3-5 years). A chart compares child rearing practices in American and…

This article reviews the death-related experiences and concerns of Hmong refugees from Laos. Attention is given to describing traditional funerary and burial practices of the Hmong and the barriers to maintaining these practices in the United States. To understand the losses suffered by the Hmong, parallels are drawn between their experiences and…

The experiences of a Hmong man from Laos who has spent 15 years in the United States illustrate the possibilities of being both Hmong and American and demonstrate the acculturation process even as they show what it means to become American. The three values of resourcefulness, relationship, and respect are an integral part of the identity of Shou…

Papers presented at a 1984 conference on research on the Hmong in the United States are collected in this book. The 24 papers are organized around four central themes (Hmong culture and change, adaptation to a new society, language and literacy, and health care issues). Titles and authors are: (1) "Stages of Hmong Cultural Adaptation"…

This ethnographic study explored Hmong cultural and educational values. The interview data revealed some Hmong values similar to mainstream American values such as a respect for hard work; a concern about personal honor; and honesty. Some values, however, were in conflict with dominant American values such as: a strong clan-oriented society; a…

The concept of adolescence as a period during which certain kinds of behavior are to be expected has become institionalized in the American education system; acceptance of this "rite of passage" creates barriers for adolescent female refugees from the Hmong and Mien hilltribes of Laos, whose cultures do not include the concept of…

This paper summarizes the findings of a descriptive research project conducted among Southeast Asian parents in an Oregon school district, and discusses the issue of fieldwork methodology among refugee populations. The district studied had a student population of 18,000 (kindergarten through grade 12), with Southeast Asian refugees accounting for…

This paper summarizes the five year period (1980-1985) of the Sacramento City Unified School District Parent Participation Preschool and Children's Centers. The program provided multilingual education to preschool children and their limited-English-speaking parents. Children were enrolled in existing Head Start and State Preschool programs, and…

A study of the effectiveness of music and rhythm used in classroom activities as a technique for developing short-term memory for phonological learning had as subjects 25 adult Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, and Vietnamese immigrants, students in a course in English as a second language. The subjects were given a pretest of their ability to distinguish…

Basic information that teachers of English as a second language should know about Indochinese refugees, including the identification of different ethnic or regional groups and characteristics of four Indochinese languages, is presented. Indochinese refugees come from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The five major groups of people are unrelated…

The papers in this conference proceedings on the educational needs of Indochinese students concern the following issues: Indochinese refugee resettlement, educational barriers in Vietnamese and Laotian culture and language, basic ESL principles and ESL techniques in teaching content areas, and models for developing programs for the education of…

Three topics were dealt with during this panel discussion on how Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, and Vietnamese refugees see the American school system: (1) the general issues of acculturation and assimilation; (2) conflicts between school and home expectations; and (3) the use of students and other nonprofessionals as interpreters and translators in…

The aims of the projects described in this paper were to develop and evaluate a new approach to the assessment of English language skills of English as a second language (ESL) students. The approach makes use of optical scanning equipment in scoring cloze-elide test exercises, thereby providing a rapid, relatively inexpensive and objective measure…