The composition of the United States population and its workforce is changing rapidly with a projected increase from 249 million in 1990 to 355 million by the year 2040. The majority white population is projected to only grow by 25 percent during this time period while the Latino, and Hispanic populations in the United States are projected to increase by 187 percent. Consequently, the current minorities will constitute more than half of the nation's total population by mid century and comprise a disproportionately large segment of the workforce. as a result of these changing demographics and increasing economic globalization, America's educational institutions will be confronted with reforming their curricula to meet new societal needs by promoting knowledge and understanding of different cultures.;The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of multicultural education integrated into the general education courses that are requirements for completion of AAS degree programs. Further, it was designed to identify the factors that influenced faculty members to include multicultural education into their courses.;Levels of integration of multicultural education were determined by personal interviews of faculty and supported by evidence presented in their syllabi, tests, and handouts. Analysis of the interviews provided the factors that motivate faculty members to infuse or not to infuse their classes with multicultural perspectives.;It was concluded that the amount of multicultural concepts infused into the courses vary from none to considerable and is determined by the faculty member's commitment to achieving pluralism. Factors that motivate inclusion are the disciplines, institutional atmosphere, and personal values of faculty.;Further study is needed to determine how much of the multicultural perspective students retain from the general education courses. A comparison between two and four-year colleges is needed to help determine whether only community college instructors are deficient in the amount of multicultural education they infuse into their disciplines.

Multicultural practitioners promote cultural competence among individuals to create awareness and tolerance of others who are culturally different. Yet, current research on cultural competence education primarily focused on practitioners in the traditional school setting instead of individuals in nonschool settings. This basic qualitative study investigated how multicultural practitioners in nonschool settings experience their attempts to develop cultural competence in constituents. Bennett's intercultural sensitivity, Koehn and Rosenau's multicultural competence, and Quappe and Cantatore's cultural awareness models informed the semi-structured interviews with 8 multicultural practitioners obtained via snowball sampling. Data were manually coded and analyzed to develop themes. Results indicated four ways participants conceptualized cultural competency, a five-part approach to cultural competence promotion, seven varying efforts to develop cultural competence, seven challenges that hindered their work, and four areas of success. Future studies might investigate differences in cultural competency efforts used by specific cultural groups and multicultural practitioners' growth as professionals to help to determine professional development programs that warrant implementation. This study will generate interest in developing cultural competence in groups and settings beyond the reach of traditional educational settings, thereby contributing to social change.

Simultaneous interpretation (SI) is a special kind of translation where the interpreter listens to a speaker, processes the spoken (or signed) source language message and produces an equivalent output in a target language, i.e., the interpreter produces one part of the message in the target language while simultaneously listening to the next part of the message in the source language. This thesis examines the process of simultaneous interpretation from an information processing point of view and describes the implications of such an approach for practical SI. Following an overview of research issues in SI literature, a definition of SI is given, pointing out the special characteristics of SI and the features that distinguish it from written translation and consecutive interpretation. A model incorporating various structural and functional components is then used to describe SI in terms of information processing. The focus of this investigation is on the integrative use of bottom-up and top-down processing mechanisms as typical features of human information processing systems. Subsequently the implications of the observations made about SI as an information process are considered within the context of practical SI. The various factors that influence the quality, speed and reliability of interpretation at all stages of the process are examined. Finally suggestions for the training of simultaneous interpreters are made. The thesis is concluded with the observation that SI is indeed a special kind of human information processing. Modelling SI in terms of information processing can contribute to the understanding of this complex process and its components. It is a powerful tool to enlighten the mechanisms and skills involved in SI and to establish efficient training programs for simultaneous interpreters.

The overarching theme of this doctoral portfolio is the issue of intercultural education. Linked to this are several sub-themes: teacher excellence and professional development; curriculum development and the acquisition of values and attitudes. These themes have been developed through studies of Asia and global education in the Australian context. One major outcome of this research is the development of a hybrid theoretical model, based on two pre-existing models, for examining curriculum in schools, as it is expressed in artefacts such as scope and sequence documents, as well as through practice and discourse by teachers and students. The research also generated a continuum to measure the effectiveness and extent of curricular change. The combination of these two artefacts provides an instrument for examining and mapping the progress and processes of curricular change with regard to fields such as studies of Asia. The model and other findings from this series of studies also pave the way for further examining the processes and outcomes of curricular change. / Doctor of Education (D.Ed.)

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Jewish Theological Seminary of America. William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-225). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1192. Advisers: Larry Mikulecky; Jerome Harste. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed March 22, 2007)."

The policies, practices and training needs of Saskatchewan guidance counsellors and educational psychologists with respect to cross-cultural counselling and assessment were investigated. The response rate to a mailed questionnaire was 55% (n 53) for counsellors and 48% (n = 22) for educational psychologists. The data were analyzed via a series of frequency counts and parametric statistics. In the absence of provincial guidelines, ethnic minority students are administered the same standardized intelligence tests as majority students, no modifications are made to compensate for cultural differences, but cautionary notes regarding the precision of scores are included in the final report. The classroom teacher is responsible for many aspects of the testing, assessment and placement procedures, and the parents are consulted throughout the process. Counsellors and educational psychologists have positive opinions towards cultural pluralism and recognize that ethnic minority students have unique problems and special counselling needs in adjusting to the present education system. They feel, however, inadequately prepared to help these students. The vast majority of counsellors and educational psychologists are interested in receiving cross-cultural training. Their preference for training is in the form of in-service workshops sponsored by their provincial professional associations (SGCA and SEPA) and by their local school as inadequate in the nine competency areas identified by the American Psychological Association as being important for pupil support personnel working with ethnic minority students and believe the post-secondary institutions must affirm their responsibility in the field of multicultural education by ensuring that counselling and educational psychology trainees acquire the knowledge, skills and practical training required to function effectively in a multicultural society. Recommendations for action and suggestions for future research are presented.

The policies, practices and training needs of Saskatchewan guidance counsellors and educational psychologists with respect to cross-cultural counselling and assessment were investigated. The response rate to a mailed questionnaire was 55% (n 53) for counsellors and 48% (n = 22) for educational psychologists. The data were analyzed via a series of frequency counts and parametric statistics. In the absence of provincial guidelines, ethnic minority students are administered the same standardized intelligence tests as majority students, no modifications are made to compensate for cultural differences, but cautionary notes regarding the precision of scores are included in the final report. The classroom teacher is responsible for many aspects of the testing, assessment and placement procedures, and the parents are consulted throughout the process. Counsellors and educational psychologists have positive opinions towards cultural pluralism and recognize that ethnic minority students have unique problems and special counselling needs in adjusting to the present education system. They feel, however, inadequately prepared to help these students. The vast majority of counsellors and educational psychologists are interested in receiving cross-cultural training. Their preference for training is in the form of in-service workshops sponsored by their provincial professional associations (SGCA and SEPA) and by their local school as inadequate in the nine competency areas identified by the American Psychological Association as being important for pupil support personnel working with ethnic minority students and believe the post-secondary institutions must affirm their responsibility in the field of multicultural education by ensuring that counselling and educational psychology trainees acquire the knowledge, skills and practical training required to function effectively in a multicultural society. Recommendations for action and suggestions for future research are presented.

Thesis (M.E.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-132).