Thesis (doctoral)--Stockholms universitet, 1987. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 316-328).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 185-193).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-193). Also available in print.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept of Psychology and Education. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-78).

No description available.

More than one in four children under age 6 in the United State are children of immigrants, and the majority of these children are Asian and Hispanic. Despite this, there have been few studies on the early development of young children of immigrants. In particular, although healthy development in the early years of life is important in helping children get ready for school, little is known about school readiness among children in immigrant families. Therefore, this study examines school readiness among children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers, with particular attention to two important characteristics of immigrant families: maternal language use and use of preschool. This study is composed of five chapters, starting with Chapter 1 that introduces the background and purpose of this study. Chapter 2 reviews the theoretical backgrounds for the association between maternal language use and the development of young children in immigrant families, and then for the role of preschool in children's school readiness. Using a nationally representative sample of children of Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), Chapters 3 and 4 examine whether maternal language use is associated with school readiness and whether preschool plays a protective role in promoting school readiness, respectively. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes by summarizing the findings and providing implications for theory and methodology, future research, and social work and policy. In Chapter 3, this study finds generally advantages of maternal use of English and bilingualism for children's cognitive development at kindergarten entry in both Asian and Hispanic groups. It also finds, compared to children of home language Asian mothers, higher levels of pro-social behavior among those of English dominant and bilingual Asian mothers, but also higher levels of behavior problems among those of English dominant Asian mothers. Furthermore, in additional analyses, this study finds that longer residency in the U.S. is associated with higher levels of approaches to learning for children of bilingual Asian mothers and lower levels of behavior problems for children of bilingual Hispanic mothers. In Chapter 4, this study finds that attending preschool (mostly prekindergarten or other center-based care) is associated with better academic school readiness at kindergarten entry among children of Asian immigrant mothers, but not children of Hispanic immigrant mothers. This study also finds higher levels of behavior problems and lower levels of approaches to learning among children in Head Start compared to those in parental care in both Asian and Hispanic groups. In addition, this study finds beneficial associations between preschool and academic school readiness at the year of participation among children of both Asian and Hispanic immigrant mothers, but these beneficial associations do not hold up at kindergarten entry among children of Hispanic mothers, while such associations are still found at kindergarten entry among children of Asian mothers. This study also finds more pronounced beneficial influences of preschool on academic school readiness at the year of participation among children of mothers who speak their home language in both Asian and Hispanic groups, but such more pronounced benefits are gone at kindergarten entry in both groups.

While educators have recognized that students from other countries often face traumatic experiences in their initial period of adaptation to the receiving country's schools and society, little attention has been devoted to understanding the nature or educational significance of these experiences. Traditionally, educators have equated adaptation difficulties with host language deficits, while other, possibly more consequential dimensions of the adaptation experience have gone unrecognized, and have not been represented in educational policy and funding decisions. Accordingly, this study is directed toward providing a more comprehensive understanding of the adaptation experiences of adolescent students who have recently arrived in Canada from other countries, and addresses a critical need for understanding these experiences from the perspectives of the students themselves. Inquiry is advanced within a descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory study which predominantly utilizes a phenomenological, qualitative methodology. The study's principal methodology builds upon Edmund Husserl's philosophical foundation by incorporating the existential perspectives of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the life-world social dimensions of Alfred Schutz, and the historical-contextual and interpretive elements of Max van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology. Fieldwork occurred over a six month period in a suburban Canadian secondary school. Study findings and recommendations derive from analysis of interviews, observations, and self-reports of three male and three female grade 10 students who arrived in Canada not more than 20 months prior to the outset of the study. Initial adaptation experiences of study participants point to three principal findings. The study's finding that despite adaptation challenges, students from abroad often achieve at or above receiving society norms within a short period after arrival, suggests that educators should consider how successful academic patterns of newcomers might be adopted by receiving society members. Participant experience indicates that host language acquisition is but one dimension of a multidimensional adaptation experience, and that it is seldom the student's most critical adaptation concern, even in terms of host communication skills. Participants experienced establishing friendships as their most critical and difficult adaptation concern, and looked to friendship to provide uncertainty reduction, access to and inclusion in the receiving society.

Recent years have witnessed the large number of Chinese immigrants in Canada. With the coming of those immigrants is the large number of school age children. Hence, immigrant families' educational expectations and parental participation in their children's schools become major educational concerns. This study focuses on recent Chinese immigrants' expectations of and concerns about their children's schooling. / Drawing from Bourdieu's cultural capital theory and Ogbu's social mobility theory, in this study, I used a qualitative interview methodology to explore the educational expectations and school involvement of five Chinese parents who had recently immigrated to Canada. The educational expectations for their children and school participation of these Chinese immigrants are deeply rooted in Chinese tradition and heritage and are also greatly shaped by their personal experiences in Canada. Their cultural values and beliefs and immigration experiences as visible minorities have had a great impact on their educational expectations. Language barriers and different cultural values between dominant mainstream and Chinese traditions are the two main factors that hinder immigrant parents' participation in school activities and hence in their children's schooling.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-88). Also available on the World Wide Web.

While educators have recognized that students from other countries often face traumatic experiences in their initial period of adaptation to the receiving country's schools and society, little attention has been devoted to understanding the nature or educational significance of these experiences. Traditionally, educators have equated adaptation difficulties with host language deficits, while other, possibly more consequential dimensions of the adaptation experience have gone unrecognized, and have not been represented in educational policy and funding decisions. Accordingly, this study is directed toward providing a more comprehensive understanding of the adaptation experiences of adolescent students who have recently arrived in Canada from other countries, and addresses a critical need for understanding these experiences from the perspectives of the students themselves. Inquiry is advanced within a descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory study which predominantly utilizes a phenomenological, qualitative methodology. The study's principal methodology builds upon Edmund Husserl's philosophical foundation by incorporating the existential perspectives of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the life-world social dimensions of Alfred Schutz, and the historical-contextual and interpretive elements of Max van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology. Fieldwork occurred over a six month period in a suburban Canadian secondary school. Study findings and recommendations derive from analysis of interviews, observations, and self-reports of three male and three female grade 10 students who arrived in Canada not more than 20 months prior to the outset of the study. Initial adaptation experiences of study participants point to three principal findings. The study's finding that despite adaptation challenges, students from abroad often achieve at or above receiving society norms within a short period after arrival, suggests that educators should consider how successful academic patterns of newcomers might be adopted by receiving society members. Participant experience indicates that host language acquisition is but one dimension of a multidimensional adaptation experience, and that it is seldom the student's most critical adaptation concern, even in terms of host communication skills. Participants experienced establishing friendships as their most critical and difficult adaptation concern, and looked to friendship to provide uncertainty reduction, access to and inclusion in the receiving society. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate