This guide was adapted from an article by Arthur Gordon originally titled "How to Understand Those Mystifying Americans." Each page of the text is divided into two parts, with the English version given on one side and the Vietnamese on the other. The guide is composed of two main sections. The first is addressed to Indochinese refugees…

An attempt is made (1) to define adolescence as a biological phenomenon, (2) to describe the characteristics of the adolescent in Latin America, and (3) to identify the adolescent within certain social and cultural groups of specific Latin American countries. The perspective of the four-part monograph is entirely sociological, and the report is…

The Summer Institute of Linguistics runs several bilingual schools in the Andean and Amazonian regions of Peru. These are the only public bilingual schools in the country serving the Indian population, a majority of whom do not speak Spanish as their first language. Although public education is now available to some 80 percent of all children, the…

Communication between persons of differing cultural backgrounds can be hindered by culturally-conditioned assumptions that they make about each other's cognitions. An exercise was designed to reduce this effect through increased cultural self-awareness. It involves participants in analyzing video recordings of staged "excerpts" from…

This collection of papers examines what it means to teach culture as an integrated part of language from both the language learner's and the language teacher's perspectives. The 11 papers include the following: "Teaching Cultures as an Integrated Part of Language: Implications for the Aims, Approaches and Pedagogies of Language Teaching"…

This document describes the work of several universities to make teacher-family partnerships a high priority in teacher preparation. The case studies of several successful programs demonstrate that teacher preparation programs can undertake various approaches to help teachers develop the skills and knowledge needed to carry out their partnership…

Asserts that the United States and Japan exist in a symbiotic partnership and that sociology courses provide an excellent opportunity to teach about multicultural issues. Describes a college-level course on the sociology of Japan. Discusses teaching methods, instructional materials, and the potential for team-teaching. (CFR)

A meeting of the minds between family members and school professionals about the definitions of problematic behavior is essential. This type of understanding can often be facilitated when educators have knowledge of the family's socioeconomic status, history, and ethnic and cultural patterns. The purpose of this article is to help school…

This paper discusses the challenges of identifying gifted students from underrepresented or special populations. Reasons for underrepresentation of students from special populations are reviewed and include biases in standardized testing, underreferral of students from diverse cultural and ethnic groups to gifted programs by teachers, and the…

This paper analyzes a study by Fukushima (1990) of the English offers and responses of Japanese English as a foreign language (EFL) college students and reports on an experiment designed to address the perceived weaknesses of Fukushima's work. Fukushima's study found that many Japanese EFL learners could not use appropriate levels of politeness in…

A handbook for those involved in Southeast Asian refugee assistance discusses some of the values and customs that refugee groups from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam may have in common and looks at the different countries and peoples of the region. A section on the shared values and customs of Indochinese refugees focuses on aspects of family life,…

The purpose of this communication learning aid is to help Americans become more effective in understanding and communicating with people of another culture. This publication discusses some differences encountered in the Philippines in such things as food, laws, customs, religion, language, dress and basic attitudes. It is designed to prepare the…

The purpose of this communication learning aid is to help Americans become more effective in understanding and communicating with people of another culture. This publication discusses some differences encountered in Samoa in such things as food, laws, customs, religion, language, dress and basic attitudes. It is designed to prepare the traveller…

A comprehensive overview of Mexican American families and their socialization practices is presented, along with a review of major parenting models and their applicability to Mexican American families. The evolutionary development of the Chicano family is analyzed using a psychological-sociological-cultural experience iconic model to explain the…

A curriculum examining various aspects of the Mexican American culture was designed for a training program conducted by the Texas Department of Public Welfare for its case workers and other personnel. Intended to heighten awareness of the cultural variables affecting the relationship of Mexican American clients to case workers and to the…