Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

This study investigated the effects of reading comprehension strategy awareness and use on main idea comprehension and recall in first and second languages for Arabic-speaking Libyan university students. The research examined the effects of general reading proficiency, text difficulty and topic interest and familiarity on main idea comprehension. The study also examined whether there is a facilitatory relationship between awareness of reading comprehension strategies and their effective use. Participants were all university students majoring in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). There were 112 participants from Libya and 16 English speaking control participants from Canada. Reading comprehension strategy awareness was assessed via Mokhtari and Sheorey's (2002) Survey of Reading Strategy. The CanTEST was used to assess the English as a second language reading proficiency of the Arabic-speaking group, while the Nelson-Denny Reading Test served to assess L1 reading proficiency for the English-speaking group. An English reading text was administered to both groups and an Arabic reading text to the Arabic group only. The texts served as the basis for examining the English group's L1 and the Arabic group's L1 and L2 reading comprehension strategy use through their recall of the main ideas of these texts. A reader assessment questionnaire was employed to assess text difficulty, topic interest and familiarity. In addition, semi-structured reading strategy interviews were conducted individually with participants from the control and the experimental groups. The interviewees were randomly selected from within different reading proficiency groupings. Results revealed that reading comprehension strategy awareness had no effect on main idea comprehension in both L1 and L2 for the native Arabic group. The native English group had higher awareness of the three categories of reading strategies (Support, Global and Problem-solving) than the native Arabic group. The Problem solving strategy category was the most familiar to the native Arabic group. Results indicated that general reading proficiency did not affect the recall performance of main ideas for either group. Text difficulty and topic interest did not contribute to the comprehension and recall of main ideas, while topic familiarity was a factor in the recall performance of the native Arabic group. Qualitative analysis of the results indicated that the native English group effectively used more reading strategies than the native Arabic group, and that the native Arabic group did not actually use the strategies which they claimed the highest awareness of. Futhermore, they tended to misapply the strategies that they did use. These findings indicated that simply knowing about reading strategies does not necessarily result in being able to use them appropriately. We concluded that reading strategy awareness alone is not sufficient for the comprehension and recall of main ideas and that awareness needs to be accompanied by effective strategy use in order to have a positive impact on main idea comprehension and recall.

This qualitative case study investigates key reason(s) for Korean language loss among Korean-American children raised in mixed-race military families where the mother is a Korean immigrant of middle school or lower educational background and the father is an American Serviceman. A secondary purpose is to discover some effects of Korean language loss on the participant's identity (cultural and social) and effects on relationships between children and mothers. This study focuses on four Korean-Americans---three biracial participants, and one monoracial, adopted participant (ages 21 to 28). I record the phenomena of language loss, using the participants' voices. The three data sources include: interviews, follow-up discussions, and field notes. Major findings show: (1) that the decision to drop Korean language maintenance was made deliberately by one or both parents based on what the father considered best for the welfare of the child in U.S. schools. (2) The participants most traumatized by Korean language loss found it hard to identify with any group socially. (3) Those participants not consciously traumatized by Korean language loss claimed a Korean social identity. (4) All participants' mothers preferred to isolate themselves in the family or among Korean friends who spoke little English. (5) All participants noted frustrations in the mother-child relationship. (6) The children recognized it was easier to communicate with their absent military fathers even if they did not necessarily "get along" well with Dad once he returned home.

Education is and always has been an important component of American Indian life. Contrary to popular understanding, American Indians have always had a system of education which imparted understanding and cultural genetics to the rising generation. With European contact, this viable system of education was discredited; consequently, American Indians were viewed as "uncivilized" and in need of a Euro-American education. As the egregious five hundredth anniversary of European discovery of the new World approaches, educational policy makers still view the indigenous Americans as void of a culture worth perpetuating and therefore in need of a prescribed education. While Native Americans today are not adverse to Western education, they view it in a perfunctory manner because it is still designed to acculturate rather than educate. This constitutes miseducation and therefore is a foe against whom many American Indians battle for survival, both as a people and as individuals.

A survey needs assessment was conducted with casts of an International Educational Program. The purpose was to identify common problems the members faced and to determine their need for counseling services. The data collected included general demographics, symptoms of culture shock, personal and career problems, and counseling needs. Four hundred subjects from 25 different countries participated in this study. It was found that about 50% experienced symptoms of culture shock, personal problems rotated around difficulties at home, and career problems related to applying what they learned while in the program. It was also found that all groups indicated a need for counseling services. However, one particular group indicated a stronger need. Additional information provided by participants was analyzed and reported. From three open-ended questions, the students identified other common problems not mentioned in the body of the questionnaire.

The purpose of this research was to examine aspects of Indian higher education with a focus on Indian and native studies programs in the United States and Canada. The academic dimension of the study centered on the intellectual discussion, credibility, and stature of the field, as well as, perceptions prevalent in mainstream academia. This thesis compared and contrasted Indian higher education in the United States and Canada, and provided analysis of mainstream and tribal college Indian and native studies programs. Institutions studied were Sinte Gleska University, Trent University, University of Arizona and Saskatchewan Indian Federated College. A theoretical framework was created with essential criteria for Indian and native studies program development including: (1) Administrative Structure; (2) Program Purpose and Goals; (3) Mission Statement; (4) Governance; (5) Relationship to Tribal Community; (6) Curricula; (7) Staffing/Faculty; (8) Student Services; and (9) Community Outreach.

An extensive literature review has been undertaken to create an accurate portrayal of North American Indian Sign Language as used by both deaf and hearing American Indians. Historical accounts are stressed as the primary source for understanding the extent of signed language use among the American Indians of North American and its decline to the present status as an endangered language. This sign language has functioned in two significant ways: (1) primarily (for hearing tribal members) as an alternative to the spoken language and (2) as a primary, or first language for deaf tribal members. It is critical to bear this distinction in mind for future investigations into the linguistic status of North American Indian Sign Language. Additional historical accounts related to American Indians' encounters with the signed language use among Deaf Anglos are also included. An ongoing research project involving the preservation of old film in which North American Indian Sign Language has been documented in 1930s and the current data collection of deaf NAISL signer is discussed as a potential source for future research and as a viable access to the heritage of American Indians.

The study analyzed the relationship between cultural affinity and language dominance of Arab minority students participating in bilingual/bicultural education programs. The hypotheses tested were: (1) Arabic dominant Arab students would not exhibit a greater affinity for the Arab culture than for the American culture. (2) English dominant Arab students would not exhibit a greater affinity for the American culture than for the Arab culture. (3) Bilingual students would not exhibit an equal affinity for both the Arab and the American culture. / A major undertaking of the study was the modification and the adaptation of the Cultural Affinity Scale to the Arab culture, which was later used to assess cultural affinity. To assess language dominance, the Basic Inventory of Natural Language was used. The subjects for the study were 72 Arab minority students enrolled in fourth through eighth grade bilingual/bicultural classes in Wayne County School District in Detroit, Michigan. / The results of the study failed to confirm the relationship, if any, between the cultural affinity and the language dominance of Arab students in bilingual education programs. Regardless of their language dominance, the subjects demonstrated a consistent expression of their biculturalism. The fact that all the subjects were enrolled in bilingual/bicultural classes may be a significant factor in the explanation of the results. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: A, page: 0352. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

Bilingual bicultural education continues to be a complex social issue in the U.S. well into the end of the 20th century. Supporters of bilingual bicultural education charge that the mass media usually pay little attention to the field, and when they do pay attention, they tend to print mostly negative articles. Educators consider newspaper editors to be particularly biased when they write about bilingual bicultural education. / Newspaper editorials offer a public forum where controversial issues can be debated. Professional standards in the field of communications, e.g., Hulteng and Nelson (1971), require editors to use argumentation where all sides of a social issue are exposed so that readers can make up their own minds about a controversial social issue like bilingual bicultural education. / The research questions for this study are to ask (a) whether there are any editorials that espouse bilingual bicultural education, and (b) whether editors are exposing their readers to the 12 points in the argument that favors bilingual bicultural education. These 12 supportive statements are gleaned from the writing of educational theorists. / Since 1970, Editorials on File has been collecting U.S. editorials on sundry topics. In that 23-year period, there are 3 years where the selected editorials are about bilingual bicultural education. A computer program called Qual-Pro has been used to cull editorial sentences supportive of bilingual bicultural education in the 68 editorials of that period. / The results of the study are that none of the editors comes out in full support of bilingual bicultural classes. Of such statements in these 3 years of editorials, only 23% give even token discussion to the 12 points in the positive argument. Only 4 of the possible 12 points are mentioned--only 2 frequently, the other 2 somewhat frequently--and the other 8 points are hardly mentioned at all. The 2 points mentioned most often are (a) bilingual education is a legal right of minority students, and (b) bilingual education includes teaching in more than one language. The 2 points mentioned less often are that (c) bilingual education includes teaching about more than one culture, and (d) bilingual education has been and is now as asset to the nation as a whole. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2492. / Major Professor: Frederick L. Jenks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.