An increasingly important curricular aim of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is to develop learners' intercultural competence for communication with people from different cultures through English. English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perceptions and practices in relation to integrating culture with English learning have been…

Cultural competence is the knowledge, behaviors, and dispositions necessary to effectively interact with other cultural groups. Two case studies are presented which illustrate the cultural competence of administrators in urban settings. Theories are reviewed to investigate the themes of cultural competence that emerged from the professional…

The authors tested the component model of reading (CMR) among 186,725 fourth grade students from 38 countries (45 regions) on five continents by analyzing the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study data using measures of ecological (country, family, school, teacher), psychological, and cognitive components. More than 91% of the…

Early childhood educators work with children and families from a range of diverse backgrounds. As society becomes increasingly multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural, so too grows the need for educators' abilities to support children's development by instilling in them the tools they need to live together respectfully and stand up to…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Concerns about Counseling Racial Minority Clients (CCRMC) scale among counselor trainees. Sample 1 was used for an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Four factors were identified, Managing Cultural Differences ([alpha] = 0.82), Offending or Hurting Clients…

An inquiry-oriented laboratory in chemistry was integrated into the chemistry curriculum in Jewish high schools in Israel, and after a short period was also implemented in Arab sector. In this study, we investigated the effect of culture on the perceptions of laboratory classroom learning environments by comparing the perceptions of Arab and…

Providing authentic encounters with secondary students may be a way to provide a realistic image of students' academic challenges, and enhance preservice teachers' skills, knowledge, and dispositions to better address the needs of their future academically, linguistically, socially, and culturally unique students. The purpose of our study was to…

Higher Education is experiencing an increasingly diverse student population. Students bring a range of skills and experiences to their courses; they have different backgrounds and different needs. This fluidity requires an approach to teaching that encompasses the social aspects of learning. It has been suggested that authentic approaches to…

Starting to be implemented as of the 1960s, early intervention programs are frequently employed at the present time. Researchers develop and implement early intervention programs in various subjects and areas. These programs may be family-based, school-based, community-based, or a combination of them. This study aimed at comparing the early…

In this study I examine how women in a north Indian city narratively construct their identities in relation to medium of education (MoE)--English only (EME), Hindi only (HME), and a combination of both. I specifically analyze how the participants discursively articulate empowerment or disempowerment while narrating stories connected to their MoEs.…

The dissertation begins by exploring specific issues in the history of Western philosophy, in particular the theory of language that underlies speculation about the possibility of ideographic writing. Starting with the "China Illustrata" of Athanasius Kircher, the first chapter proceeds to archaeo-historically excavate Kircher's…

Although only 20 percent of teacher education students nationwide who completed their training and were certified during the 2009 spring semester were employed as teachers during the 2009 fall semester (U.S. Department of Education ED Review statistics, Nov. 20, 2009), 100 percent of Western Kentucky University (WKU) teacher education spring 2009…

This is the third edition of the ECERS-E, formerly called "Assessing Quality in the Early Years: Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-E)." The ECERS-E is an instrument for measuring quality in literacy, numeracy, science and diversity as observable in pre-school in relation to child cognitive and social/behavioural…

Teachers, as often as students, articulate frustrations over each other's choices and expectations. A teacher's demand for respect may appear an imposition and abuse of authority to students accustomed to speaking out against perceived injustices. All teachers experience some tentativeness, especially in an unfamiliar environment. Since classroom…

This research focuses on the development and study of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that support religious practices and the use of standpoint theory in ICT evaluation studies. Three phases makeup this work: formative studies to understand how megachurches, their members and leaders use ICT in ways tied to their Protestant…