Attempts to integrate recent models of social systems based on age and cognitive personality research with research on adolescence. Presents a conceptual model of how adolescents set personal goals, construct cognitive strategies, and evaluate their success in an age-graded sociocultural context. Discusses future directions for research based on…

Examines psychological and sociocultural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions for 115 Malaysian and 30 Singaporean students in New Zealand and 156 Malaysian students in Singapore (186 males and 115 females). Discusses predictors of psychological and sociocultural adaptation and culture-specific results. Results suggest a clear distinction…

Comments on Nicolopoulou's article in this issue on the idea that play is an inherently social and cultural cognitive childhood activity. Emphasizes the importance of cultural variation of play for research and education. (BB)

Discusses various responses to the author's book "Ways with Words--Language, Life and Work in Communities and Classrooms" (1983). Describes how these reactions have led the author to see things in the work that she had not seen before. Strengths and weaknesses of the book she identifies have implications for the conduct of future ethnographic…

A qualitative inquiry describes the sociocultural aspects of an urban elementary school serving as the context for a reading/language arts early field experience and examines how the sociocultural factors of this school contribute to the professional development of the preservice teachers who work there and their three supervising teachers. (SLD)

Discusses the description of English discourse for teaching purposes, drawing on new information from analysis of CANCODE (Cambridge/Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in English). Concludes that language teaching should be based on regularities and patterns, not rules, and that exposure to real, informal language of native speakers, with its…

College and university fundraisers are recognizing their international alumni's willingness as donors, but making the most of these potential donors requires explaining the concept of philanthropy, unknown in some cultures, researching prospects through a variety of sources, and preparing carefully for the cultural context of meetings overseas.…

Discusses a sociocultural model of a deaf child as a bilingual minority and examines its implications for deaf education. A case is made for recognizing ethnic diversity within the deaf community in implementing programs that strengthen the self-identities of children. The use of technology is addressed. (Author/CR)

Examines the effect of day care environments on the social and emotional development of young children in India, particularly considering the cultural context. Considers evidence from a study of families using day care in India, and compares maternal behavioral profiles in mother-infant interaction between India and the United States, Kenya,…

Explores current and future challenges to children in Europe. Social trends and the impact on European family life are analyzed, including having smaller families and delaying childbearing. Discusses the need to collect data on children in the European Union and to establish pan-European child protection policies. (CR)

Interviews with rural Norwegian youth about wolves and related environmental controversies found a range of viewpoints related to education and social class. The results reveal a conflict between dominant and subordinate forms of knowledge and between abstraction-oriented and production-oriented cultural forms. Modernization is removing many rural…

Describes cultural, political, and linguistic factors that have affected the literacy development of Aboriginal children in Australia. Discusses how oral and literate cultures manage knowledge differently, the social context of language development, literacy and power, cultural differences, and story reading. Suggests ways schools and teachers of…

Six experts in early care and education discuss trends that will shape early childhood education by 2010. Six trends with the greatest impact are brain research, public financing, universal prekindergarten, technology, diversity, and staffing issues. Other key trends include employer involvement, outcomes orientation, aging population, peace…

Examines the transferability of five Japanese indirect request strategies to corresponding English request contexts. Findings indicate that the Japanese strategies were differentially transferable and the transferability of each first-language request strategy was determined by interaction between the politeness and conventionality encoded in each…

Describes a time allocation study that was designed to determine how two types of teachers spent their time regarding gender differences in a primary school computer laboratory in Costa Rica. Topics include the sociocultural context of gender roles in Costa Rica, hypothesis testing, and the domination of boys in computer labs. Contains 101…