The assimilation of the Hmong people into American life was examined through an intergenerational approach. Community residents were included in the study. Results indicate significant generational differences in assimilation problems and conflicts, especially in areas of language, culture, and Wisconsin weather. (MMU)

This article suggests that literacy development in immigrant, refugee, and other historically marginalized communities can be understood as a response to rhetorical struggles in contexts of civic life. To illustrate this "rhetorical conception of literacy," the article examines a collection of anti-immigrant letters published in a Midwestern…

Previous studies show that young monolingual children's ability to "fast map" new word forms is closely associated with both their age and existing vocabulary knowledge. In this study we investigate potential relationships between age, fast mapping skills and existing vocabulary knowledge in both languages of developing bilingual preschool…

Background/Context: It may appear a simple question for a 12 year old girl to ask: "what should I wear today for school?" But simplicity is deceptive when the possibilities are many and each carries with it a specific and dangerous weight. In this paper I start with a Hmong girl in Ban Rongrian, Thailand, as she faces forms of…

This article delineates a study which examines both the historical basis of Hmong literacy development (in the years before they left Laos) as well as the more recent history (since 1975) of a Hmong group that settled in northern Wisconsin. The article discusses the development and functions of literacy in the United States, particularly as…

Despite sharing similar attitudes regarding the information about peers that parents have a right to know, the strategies African American and Hmong families use to seek or censor information about peers diverge because of ethnic differences in emphasis on trust, nurturing autonomy, respect for parental authority, and maintaining cultural…

Today's classroom is a rainbow of cultures, traditions, and languages. In Hmong culture, parents think of a teacher as an authority figure who understands student needs, knows what would help students learn to excel academically, and understands how to teach students to become productive individuals. In this article, the author presents some…

Research on Hmong-Americans started emerging in the late 1980s and continues to flourish to the present. Topics studied range from family dynamics and cultural transitions to student achievement and challenges. Little research has been conducted specifically on Hmong college students. More extensive and comprehensive research on the Hmong student…

Cancer is the number one cause of death for Asian American women, yet they have the lowest rates of cancer screening. Contributing factors, particularly for Hmong women, include the lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate educational interventions. This study aimed to develop a culturally and linguistically appropriate intervention to…

Numerous studies (Goldstein, 1985; Rumbaut and Ima, 1988; Walker, 1989; Trueba, Jacobs, and Kirton, 1990 and Walker-Moffat, 1995) have found that the Hmong have extreme difficulties adjusting to the American educational system as compared with other language minority groups. Underlying this difficulty is a fundamental conflict between learning in…

Narratives of Hmong immigrants tell about their lives before they came to the United States and what their lives have become after their arrival. The book is based on interviews with 53 Hmong immigrants, although not all are included in their entirety. The chapters are: (1) "The Village"; (2) "The Escape"; (3) "The Camp"; (4) "To a Promised Land";…

Investigated the meaning of early marriage among Hmong American female college students. Interview and observation data attested to the complexity of the meaning of early marriage in the Hmong American community. Results refuted explanations of cultural difference as underlying early marriage and indicated that early marriage was an expression of…

Provides history and overview of Hmong immigrants to U.S. since Laos' fall to communists in 1975. Describes adjustment problems of Hmong resulting from vast differences between Hmong and American cultures. Notes specific adjustment and mental health problems. Suggests effective counseling interventions for Hmong Americans. (Author/CM)

Argues that the rhetoric of preliteracy is a 19th-century narrative that offers a subordinate identity and obscures the conditions through which literacy development is promoted. Examines the literacy experience of the Hmong of Laos to demonstrate how their supposed preliteracy is an outcome of a dense and interconnecting network of historical…

Comparison of foreign-born Hmong who immigrated as children and second-generation Hmong-American high school students shows that economics, perceptions of family relationships, culture, and educational experiences influence school attitudes and provide more variation than the stereotypes of model minorities and delinquents. Accommodation and…