Included in this report are descriptions of the background, lifestyle, and sociocultural patterns of Ethiopian refugees. Intended to provide information for American sponsors involved in Ethiopian refugee adjustment and resettlement in the United States, the report discusses Ethiopian and American differences in patterns of thinking and behavior…

The course syllabus is provided for Whatcom Community College's 10-week interdisciplinary course, "The Evolution of Contemporary Values." Materials presented for the first week of instruction include the course outline; the course objective (i.e., to examine the nature and origins of a number of value systems in the contemporary United States via…

This paper examines the attitudes of teachers from three different cultural backgrounds (Anglo-American, American Black, and Hispanic) concerning elementary school boys and girls. An instrument consisting of 39, seven-step, bipolar semantic differential scales, based on terms descriptive of elementary school boys and girls, was developed and…

The implications of family communication styles for teaching English as a second language (ESL) are explored. Family interaction types differ according to culture and social class. Factors in family interaction influence the way a second language is learned and the way it can best be taught. Two basic family types are distinguished: the personal…

The annotated bibliography is intended to examine the possible role of sociocultural factors on the low achievement and special education placement of limited English proficient (LEP) Hispanic children. Four topic areas are addressed: (1) ethnic differences in teacher-pupil interactions and their relation to achievement; (2) the relationship of…

The current style-specific theories of human communication include the public speaking style, the relationship style, and the message communication style. It now appears that intercultural communication may emerge as the fourth style-specific theory as a result of scholars' concern over the ethnocentric bias found in the study of communication.…

This paper results from a research project that investigated the problem of inter-ethnic relations between Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, as they are bound together under the label, "Asian/Pacific Americans" (APA). A basic thesis is that by identifying these two groups with one label, significant cultural and socioeconomic differences are…

The universality of the childhood experience is a perspective that is useful in the classroom where the student body reflects the multiethnic, multicultural roots of American culture. The novels from the Caribbean can add new material to the body of world literature and should be included in a crosscultural study of the "bildungsroman"…

This paper focuses on aspects of a process of learning (participation) that emerged in a study of crosscultural experiences. As a phenomenological work, this study brings attention to the possibility that how adults learn in everyday life may actually be a process of experiencing the difference between what is familiar and known, and that which is…

When an individual enters a foreign cultural environment, the familiar signs and symbols that allow normal functioning and social interaction are gone. In order to adjust successfully one must understand the socially created system of hierarchically structured contextual units within which individual units of action are interpreted. These can be…

This report is a narrative account of a seminar devoted to analyzing processes of change and discussing strategies used in various Western countries to plan, develop, implement, and manage change. Subtopics of focus were cultural pluralism, management, governance and finance; career preparation; and early childhood education. The seminar's opening…

This guide is designed for classroom teachers who work with non English dominant Asian students from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Historic information, English as a Second Language contrasts, and cultural information are included. The three basic components of the guide are the phonological, the syntactical, and the cultural.…

The approach used in two different public school systems to change white attitudes was discussed and evaluated at two conferences for public school educators in Maryland. One program discussed was conducted for a large suburban system with more than 160,000 students enrolled. The system had had many racial incidents over the years and was…

Research supported in part by Office of Economic Opportunity contract No. IED 1-66-12.