Education Commons^™

The Predictive Relationship Between Cultural Identity, Value Orientation, Acculturation And The Cross-Cultural Student's Academic Motivation In The International School Setting, Dennis Steve Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This predictive correlational study examined the relationships between academic motivation and cultural identity, value orientation, and acculturation for a cross-cultural student population in an international school setting. This study was conducted at an international school in Thailand and all high school students (grade 10-12) enrolled during the 2014-2015 school year comprised the sample population. Participants completed an online survey comprised of the Portraits Value Questionnaire (PVQ), Socio-Cultural Adaptive Scale (SCAS), and a subscale of the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Styles (PALS 2000) instruments as well as a short demographic questionnaire. The results of the survey were analyzed using hierarchical multiple …

Acculturative And Psychosocial Predictors Of Academic-Related Outcomes Among Cambodian American High School Students, Khanh Dinh, Traci L. Weinstein, Su Yeoung Kim, Ivy K. Ho

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This study examined the acculturative and psychosocial predictors of academic-related outcomes among Cambodian American high school students from an urban school district in the State of Massachusetts. Student participants (N = 163) completed an anonymous survey that assessed demographic characteristics, acculturative experiences, intergenerational conflict, depression, and academic-related outcomes. The main results indicated that acculturative and psychosocial variables were significant predictors of academic-related outcomes. Specifically, Cambodian and Anglo/White cultural orientations and depression played significant roles across the four dimensions of academic-related outcomes, including grade point average, educational aspirations, beliefs in the utility of education, and psychological sense of school membership. This …

Latino Emergent Bilingual Students' Experiences With The Middle School Transition, Kerry Pecho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined how Latino emergent bilingual students anticipate and experience the transition from a bilingual elementary school program to middle school. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who were native Spanish-speakers participated in focus group discussions. Overall, participants described positive transition experiences, and much of the content was not unique to these students (e.g., feeling nervous, looking forward to more activities). Other content, though, revealed transition experiences that may be unique to this population (e.g., dramatic shift in ethnic and linguistic backgrounds of peers). Participants' responses suggested that they experience a …

An Analysis Of Acculturative Stress, Sociocultural Adaptation, And Satisfaction Among International Students At A Non-Metropolitan University, Hajara Mahmood

Dissertations

This quantitative descriptive study was designed to analyze levels of acculturative stress and sociocultural adaptation among international students at a non-metropolitan university in the U.S. in relation to college satisfaction and certain demographic characteristics. Surveys were used to measure international students’ levels of acculturative stress, sociocultural adaptation, including five subscales of sociocultural adaptation, and college satisfaction (N = 413). Demographic questions included gender, age, country of origin, length of stay in the U.S., degree level, and English language comfort. Results indicated a negative correlation between students’ levels of sociocultural adaptation and acculturative stress. In particular, increased competency among the five …

The Relationship Between The Level Of Acculturation In American (English-Speaking) Culture And Language Proficiency In Arabic Among Adolescents, Ahmed B. Elsayed

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION IN AMERICAN (ENGLISH-SPEAKING) CULTURE AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN ARABIC AMONG ADOLESCENTS

by

AHMED ELSAYED

August 2014

Advisor: Dr. Sharon Elliott

Major: Curriculum and Instruction

Degree: Doctor of Education

The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between acculturation and Arabic language skills in Arab American youth in a community center setting. Seventy Arabic speaking students at the age of 13 through 17 in a Midwestern state were selected on a non-random sampling basis to participate in this study. Three main measures were used to collect data: (1) Student Demographic Survey, …

Cultural Adaptations Of American Teachers In International Schools, David J. Alban

Dissertations

Global competition of academic aptitude between countries has sparked policymakers’ concerns with the performance of the United States educational system leading to many educational reforms that direct educators to diversify their instruction to meet the needs of all students. Advances in technology and travel allow people to interact with other cultures creating more globalized societies. These two converging issues place a greater significance on educators to understand the interplay between culture and their teaching practices.

Literature reveals that the influence of home and community cultures affects the learning behaviors of students (Davis-Kean, 2005: Wang, Beras, & Eberhard, 2005; Sigel, Stinson, …

Using L1 Culture To Acquire L2 Culture: Zpd Framework, Amjad Taha

MA TESOL Collection

Teaching the target language culture has been recently receiving much attention and focus in the fields of second/foreign language teaching. This paper examines the importance of using the learners’ L1 culture as a tool to teach the target language culture. In addition, the paper stresses the idea that the learners develop a dynamic, hybrid identity and space that represents both their L1 and L2 culture. These manifestations are presented in a profound framework that shows the development stages that the learners go through in developing their third spaces by using their L1 culture.

This paper includes four main sections: an …

Culturally Responsive Curriculum: Enrichment Projects For School Age-Children, MóNica Balbuena De La Sancha

Theses Digitization Project

This project addresses the need of a culturally responsive curriculum for children of Mexican descent. This culturally responsive curriculum was developed to expose children to Mexico's unique history, culture, traditions, and indigenous peoples.

Perceptions Of Beauty Among Female Chinese Students In The United States And China, Carly R. Staley, Ginny Qin Zhan

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This pilot study compared the perceptions of beauty among Chinese women who were exchange students in the United States with Chinese women who were students in their homeland. We interviewed 19 women in China and 19 women in the United States to determine differences in responses. In accordance with the sociocultural approach and the social comparison approach, we expected Chinese women in the United States to have a be more acculturate, more frequently conclude that American women were more beautiful than Chinese women, be more likely than those studying in China to report body dissatisfaction, be more likely to dislike …

Mid-Childhood Immigrant Perspectives On Achieving College Success, Mark John Litwicki

Dissertations

This study extends what is known about the experience of mid-childhood immigration. Fifteen participants, college students who immigrated to the U.S. from Latin America between the ages of 8 and 16 and who had completed at least a semester of transferable college-level coursework, provided their narratives by way of an open-ended interview focusing primarily on academic performance and achievement. Interviews were conducted using a life story methodology which seeks to maximize participant control over responses. Participants recounted their experiences from arrival through school completion and at college, and described which variables - circumstances, characteristics, behaviors, attitudes, events - they perceived …

The Effects Of Acculturation On The L2 Learner, Raya C. Longto

MA TESOL Collection

This paper deals with the deconstruction of a novel (A Sprig of Lemon Blossom) written on the subject of Acculturation. Since the latter half of the twentieth century the world has traveled at an incredible speed towards globalization. Given this reality the number of people who constantly travel abroad for a variety of career and work related purposes is growing by the hour. Under the circumstances the theme of acculturation has become crucial as without an adequate form of this phenomenon people cannot function to the best of their abilities. The deconstruction of this novel addresses the three-fold process of …

Immigrant Students In The Context Of Us School System Case Study Of Russian-Speaking Immigrant Community In West Springfield, Massachusetts Based On “Bridge” Project Materials, Natalia Oleshko

Master's Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to describe Russian-speaking immigrant school students’ experiences in the United States and to explore issues of self-identification and the adaptive strategies associated with schooling. The case may shed some light on complex problems of clashes in cultural values, how the might influence the choice of adaptive strategies and efforts to excel in academia. The study of the case will not be limited by school environment; rather it will explore the issues and problems of students’ acculturation in a broader context that will include community, family, socioeconomic, cultural and historical factors.

The case study deals …

Creating Bicultural Identities: The Role Of School-Based Bilingual Paraprofessionals In Ontemporary Immigrant Accommodation (Two Kansas Case Studies), Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This study locates the professional and informal practices of school-based bilingual paraprofessionals (paras) in the context of the larger social phenomenon of acculturation, cultural brokerage, and identity construction. It demonstrates how the paras in two Kansas communities transform an assimilationist mandate into something quite different, the promotion of bicultural identities, as part of a process called “additive biculturalism.” Additive biculturalism incorporates Weiss’s characterization of paras as cultural brokers (1994), but expands upon it significantly. As the first part of additive biculturalism, bilingual paras model and promote bicultural identities among the English-Learner students and parents they work with. As the second …