A case study investigated the linguistic and social contexts of an adult Indonesian learner of English as a second language (ESL) in Australia, and how these factors affected his language learning progress. The learner, raised in Indonesia, was a young adult of Chinese descent. The discrepancy between the learner's perceptions of his own language…

This discussion compares Japan and the United States in terms of: (1) perceptions of children and childhood; (2) parents and parenting; (3) the preschool system; and (4) the social structure of child care settings. It is asserted that the most profound difference between Japanese and American perceptions of children may be that in Japan the…

Reviewed are recent studies of the cognitive development of Chinese children. The discussion identifies: (1) systematic studies of children's cognitive development; (2) studies on the development of thinking; (3) studies of memory development; and (4) studies on the influences of various national cultures and education on the development of…

In this presentation on how teacher education programs should reflect cultural diversity in order to attract and retain minority students, 10 premises are set forth on the needs and shortcomings of the present system of educating teachers. A discussion of goals for reflecting cultural diversity in teacher education programs emphasizes the…

A participant observation study was conducted to address socialization, cultural, and values questions related to high school students' interactions with microcomputers. Specific issues addressed included: (1) student social patterns in microcomputer interactions; (2) cultural and sex differences in microcomputer interactions; and (3) student…

The second phase of a three-phase study undertaken in Iowa provided a detailed analysis of the adult basic education/English-as-a-Second-Language (ABE/ESL) population. Objectives were to determine student motivation, segment the ESL population into groups based on group behavior, segment the population into groups based on ethnicity, and describe…

The objectives of this review of multicultural and migrant education in Australia were to survey nationally current activities; assess whether programs can be improved and, if so, make recommendations for change; and identify areas requiring further research. The review covers the following topics: (1) patterns of Australian multiculturalism; (2)…

Focusing on the social nature of reading instruction provides another direction to research and study that both differs from and adds to cognitive research. H. Mehan's theory of social constructivism emphasizes that the development of cognitive processes occurs within the individual through the internalization of interactions between learners and…

Working on the assumption that young people in the midwestern United States do not have many opportunities to witness an extensive representation of a remote culture, a study was designed to describe the social and psycho-sociological characteristics of those youngsters who were likely to be exposed to "Shogun" on television.…

This report provides background information on Polish refugees that may be of use to sponsors involved in Polish refugee resettlement in the United States. The report discusses economic and social conditions in Poland; the social values and political attitudes of modern Polish refugees as opposed to those of Poles who settled in the United States…

This book contains a collection of 14 papers dealing with guidance and guidance programs in the Philippines, the Republic of China, Japan, and Thailand. An overview of the place of American counselors in international guidance and benefits to counselors and the counseling profession of world-wide contacts is reviewed in the initial paper. Issues…

This report describes the ethnographic phase of a 2-year study (consisting of ethnographic observation and a survey) on how perceptions of home and school climates and interaction between the two factors might affect school performance among students of different racial/ethnic groups, sex, and socioeconomic status. Ethnographic case studies of…

This literature review of patterns of interpersonal communication in children of the Pacific Islands is based on the assumption that the communicative conventions in these children's homes are very different from those that they encounter in their Euro-American classrooms. Reviewed are studies of communicative interaction in children's peer…

A study examined the influence of cultural values on classroom behaviors of adult Vietnamese refugees. More specifically, the study was designed to determine the effect of culturally acquired attitudes and personality traits on the refugees' classroom behaviors, the relationship between these behaviors and the cognitive learning styles favored by…

Information on causes and warning signs of child sexual abuse, examples of treatment, and prevention resources are presented in this guide which highlights cultural differences in American Indian communities that may influence the occurrence and prevention of child sexual abuse. The guide begins by stating that from the limited statistics…