The most developed supra-national language-based movement today is la Francophonie, the movement representing all of the populations of the world that speak French. French is an international language and is spoken in many parts of the world, although the exact number of francophones is not known. La Francophonie has a number of major…

Educators' responsibility to cultural diversity among students is discussed. It is suggested that the presence of cultural diversity in the classroom seriously threatens the educative process when student and teacher are not connecting due to words and language. The educator's training tends to consist of jargon, stereotypic assessments, and…

This report details the design and results of a study commissioned by the California State Library to describe the everyday information needs of California citizens in the context of three societal trends that impact the operation of libraries and all other human services that define information delivery as part of their mandate: (1) emergence of…

The study of education systems and educational programs cannot be adequate without reference to those systems' social context. This paper examines the Australian Transition Education program, enacted by the government in 1979, in light of its social context. The program's ostensible purpose was to prepare students for employment. The Liberal…

A study of the influence of the writer's social and cultural background and training on the organization of his or her writing was studied in essays written by two groups of students: Chinese students at the Beijing Institute of International Relations and the Xian Foreign Language Institute and foreign students in the United States. The essays…

The convergence of several lines of psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic research suggests possible explanations for age-related influences on language acquisition. These factors, which include cognitive development, sociocultural context, affective factors, and language input, can be helpful to language educators. By being alert to the cognitive…

A study of student opinions in a developing country--Malaysia--shows that the institutionalization of education in developed countries has been transferred to developing countries in the status given to Western degrees. Ideas about what constitutes knowledge and professionalism, disseminated by universities of the Western world, have come to…

The papers focus on the desirability, feasibility, and importance of proposing and beginning to implement a language agenda for all residents of the United States. After an introductory synthesis by G. R. Tucker, the following papers are presented: (1) "Matching Appropriate Actions to Specific Linguistic Inadequacies," by R. E. Thompson;…

The core of the U.S. social welfare system provides old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to dependent children. In recent years, as social and economic developments have created new vulnerabilities for the American family, observers are asking whether the system needs refinement and rethinking. The Project on Social Welfare and the…

This paper reviews the concepts of acculturation and adaptation to provide a framework for understanding the highly variable relationship between acculturation and mental health in refugee populations. It begins with an extended definition and discussion of the concepts of acculturation and adaptation. The characteristics of acculturating groups…

This study explores cultural influences in the first three months of life by comparing the daily experiences of first generation Chinese-American and European-American infants whose parents were born in the United States. The study focused on 10 Chinese-American and 10 European-American families whose mothers were recruited during the third…

Designed for use with accompanying videotapes as single presentations or as a series for professionals or laypeople, or as supplementary modules in academic courses in psychology, marriage and family, health occupations, etc., these four learning modules focus on common phases of dying and grief as part of the normal cycle of living. The modules…

While little research has been done in the area of shyness and most of that has been descriptive, both theory and research suggest that investigation of expectancy of success and attributional style differences between shy and not-shy individuals is warranted. Very shy (N=49) or not-shy (N=48) female subjects, selected from an initial group of 698…

Geographic displacement as spiritual desolation is a theme that bonds Puerto Rican and Chicano literature. The movement of masses of people to the United States and within the United States itself has had and continues to have severe consequences for the Latino population in this country. Two novels, "Down These Mean Streets" by Piri…

The elimination of adult functional illiteracy has been declared a national priority. More than the ability to decipher a given text, functional literacy means the practical application of literacy skills to life in a particular society or group. But this in turn demands that the individual have enough prior knowledge of the surrounding culture…