Interpretations of the differences between the African American child and the Caucasian child in North America follow two major trends. In one the differences in the African American child are viewed as deviance from the Euro-American norm and therefore inferior or pathological. In the other, the differences are viewed as deviant but adaptive…

A series of 18 fact sheets provide basic information on specific subjects of interest to those working with gifted and talented children. The fact sheets, produced by the Council for Exceptional Children, are in question/answer format and have resource references. Following are the topics of the fact sheets: career awareness for the gifted and…

PRESENTED IS AN INFORMAL REVIEW OF RESEARCH SPONSORED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ON IMPROVING THE EDUCATION OF THE STATE'S DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN. VARIOUS PROJECTS ARE EXPLORING (1) ATTITUDES AND SELF-IMAGE AMONG NEGROES, (2) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL CLASS, ATTITUDE, AND ACHIEVEMENT, AND (3) THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN…

This paper focuses attention on the kinds of research assumptions that are present in the literature on language, and which can be found in the "myths" about family structure and motivation. Three major professions are concerned with describing the language and cognitive abilities of black children--(1) educators, who believe these…

The 33 articles published in this conference report represent the wide range of topics covered at the conference. Entries are organized under the following six headings: Comprehension: the reason for reading; the role of reading in personal development; language and cultural variables and reading; instructional programs and procedures; reading in…

Body language, also called kinesics, is the discipline concerned with the study of all bodily motions that are communicative. An understanding of kinesics across cultures necessitates a close look at posture, movement, facial expression, eye management, gestures, and proxemics (distancing). The popularity of one posture over another and the…

The paper attempts to illustrate the importance of an accurate sociocultural description of a number of unconscious verbal and gestural behaviors which help to distinguish a Frenchman from an American. An accurate description of many of the most elementary signs and gestures is needed to help to dispel the notion that there is a one-for-one…

This paper reviews some significant research on ethnic variables as they relate to the process of schooling such as ethnicity and performance. Particular ethnic groups such as Spanish speaking subgroups in New York City, Mexican Americans, blacks, and American Indians are then discussed in order to provide a body of information as well as to…

Chinese Americans have been called inscrutable--not open to being understood. More casual, spontaneous, and expressive people find it hard to understand the strict discipline of feelings and highly selective and controlled expressions such as the Chinese American may practice. This paper serves as a social introduction to the Chinese American. For…

This booklet, containing monographs on aspects of multiethnic curriculum in the schools, is intended to aid teachers to keep in touch with some of the strategies and criteria in planning and executing multiethnic programs. An article on new curricula for multiethnic schools notes that most of the urban and suburban schools are racially and…

The basic question underlying the research reported in this paper is: To what extent does a difference between a child's cultural background and that of his teacher and his scholastic milieu affect his classroom attitude and performance? Questions arising from this basic one are: (1) What features of a child's cultural background directly or…

A 130-item bibliography with abstracts of books and articles in English and French provides information on various aspects of education (many of them language-related) in the Maghreb countries of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Each entry identifies the country with which it is concerned, and French titles are translated into English.…

The proceedings include addresses by Arthur S. Fleming and Samuel S. Shepard on the educational needs of the disadvantaged black and by E. Paul Torrance on creativity development. Transcriptions are included of workshop papers on teacher training, teacher role in creativity development, teacher resentment toward the adolescent innovator, teacher…

This study examines the attitudes which black high school students hold toward other blacks when they speak standard English and when they speak black English. Tenth-grade black students listened to recordings of black speakers, each using both standard English and black English for the same text. The students were asked to judge the speakers on…

This final substantive report includes the working papers presented by the American and Japanese participants, notes on discussions, a summary of an address by William Labov, and draft proposals for joint sociolinguistic research. The working papers involve several sociolinguistic issues in Japanese-American and Japanese culture. The American…