A diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is given when a child exhibits developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. In addition to academic and behavior problems, these children often have significant social problems. Since social problems are associated with a greater risk for developing problems later in life, a number of interventions have been attempted to normalize the social interactions of children with ADHD. These have included stimulant medication, cognitive-behavioral interventions, behavior modification, and social skills training. Additionally, attempts have been made to maximize the benefits of these interventions by combining them. Typically this involves combining stimulant medication with one of the other non-pharmacological interventions. Unfortunately, no one intervention or combination of interventions has stood out as the clear choice for improving the social problems of children with ADHD. Therefore, more research is needed to clarify this issue. Social skills training is often used in clinical and school settings for children with ADHD who experience social problems, despite the apparent lack of empirical evidence for its effectiveness. Social skills training programs frequently report success, but the evidence for success is taken only from anecdotal reports by parents and teachers. The purpose of this study was to document the effectiveness of a social skills training program for children with ADHD. A social skills intervention program was implemented for four children with ADHD. Eight weekly sessions focused on six targeted social skills. All four children were administered their prescribed stimulant medication for the duration of the training. In addition to small group training with the four target children, weekly classroom guidance lessons were conducted in each child's general education classroom focusing on the skill taught that week in small group. The target children were observed weekly in the playground setting at their schools prior to and during the training. Their parents and teachers completed the ADHD Rating Scale-IV and the Social Skills Rating System both pre-and post-training. A multiple baseline across behaviors design was used. Although three of the four children showed improvement on teacher ratings scales. Further, none of the parent rating scales showed improvement. None of the children showed improvement as evidenced through direct observational data.

This Field Study Report aims to advocate that the target culture should also be taught while teaching the English language to Chinese students. Chinese students are learning English to communicate and socialize with the English speaking people. But learning only the English language is not enough for this purpose. They have to learn the way the English speaking people express themselves, their value judgements, and their customs. In the review of literature, many linguists like Chastain and Rivers share this same opinion. English teaching in China started more than one hundred years ago. The traditional teaching method still has some influence. The present curriculum appears a little unbalanced. Some of the teaching materials are found to be inadequate to teach the target culture. To illustrate some cross-cultural interferences, a survey questionnaire was conducted among some Chinese students and some Australian students. The data obtained from the survey indicated some selected problem areas for the Chinese students in talking with the native speakers of English. Two teaching aids were designed. One is a fifteenminute video tape, the other is three simulation exercises. They demonstrate several cultural conflicts between the English speakers and Chinese English learners. Both the video tape and the simulation were trialled among the Chinese students. They proved to be relatively effective in teaching the target culture. The trialling convinced this writer that it was possible for a teacher of English to prepare teaching aids such as video and simulation exercises. However, this may be very time consuming. But the result of the trialling proved that it was worth the time and effort.

The study consists of five chapters. The first chapter gives a brief description of how English as a foreign language is taught in Indonesia and the need to improve the social competence of Indonesian speakers of English so that they will be regarded as competent speakers in social interaction. Language competence, including the notion of linguistic competence, together with the notions of communicative competence and social competence, is discussed in the second chapter, since it underlies the language learner's knowledge and ability to create and maintain a harmonious atmosphere in social interaction. Furthermore, the theory of communicative competence will include competency in sociocultural rules of use which will specify the ways in which utterances are produced and understood appropriately with respect to the components of communicative events outlined by Hymes. Speech act theory, particularly as it relates to complimenting behaviour is discussed. Chapter three reviews research on complimenting behaviour and considers some possible reasons why Indonesians do not pay as many compliments as Australians do. Ways of perceiving face - threatening acts and politeness are related to different cultures with different social values because of their different traditions, experience, ways of development and ways of thinking. Developing from these considerations of theory and research, the fourth chapter describes the study project which deals with what counts as a compliment in Indonesian and Australian English, what to compliment about and how people compliment as well as how people accept and respond to compliments. Analysis of some problems caused by lack of awareness of the differences between cultures and the effects of applying ones own strategy in complimenting behaviour, leading to misunderstanding, are also discussed. In the final chapter, the results of the project suggest what Indonesian learners of English need to be taught to help students develop social competence in complimenting behaviour. Suggestions for improving the social competence of Indonesian speakers of English are made.

Linguistic competence is a person's knowledge of the forms of a language. This knowledge is not sufficient for communication because communication involves a knowledge of appropriate ways to use the language, that is, when to say what to whom. A part of this total capacity which may be termed 'social competence' is the knowledge and ability to create and maintain a harmonious atmosphere in social interaction. � Social competence is acquired as a person grows up in a given society, learning to play different roles. In social interaction, social competence enables a person to live up to the expectations of these roles, and to act in such a way as to satisfy the interests of others in exchange for satisfaction of his own. One of the individual's interests in interaction is 'face': a desire for freedom from imposition and for appreciation. The preservation of a harmonious atmosphere in social interaction largely depends on how well the interactants preserve their own and each other's face. Certain speech acts are intrinsically face threatening, so mitigating strategies must be used to redress these acts. Owing to the differences in social values and personal relations in different societies, Chinese speakers of English may not perceive the threat to face involved in doing certain acts in the same way that English native speakers would perceive it. As a result, they may unwittingly threaten native speakers' face. Moreover, Chinese speakers may not be able to use mitigating strategies appropriately and may therefore be unable to maintain the desired harmonious atmosphere in interaction with native speakers of English. Therefore, in addition to learning the forms of English language, Chinese speakers should be encouraged to develop social competence, by learning the target language culture and by practising the appropriate polite strategies in social interaction.

<p>Previous entrepreneurship research has shown that networks are of great importance when discovering and exploiting business opportunities, i.e. in the start up process of new venture (e.g. Davidsson and Honig 2003; Evald, Klyver, and Svendsen 2006; Klyver, Hindle, and Meyer forthcoming). The value of a network is referred to as social capital, which refers to the amount of resources, both tangible and intangible, that an entrepreneur or entrepreneuse might have access to through the members of their network (Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998). Social capital is the product of social interactions (Anderson et al. 2007), implying that a person’s social abilities, i.e. social competence, can influence the creation of social capital (Baron and Markman 2000, 2003). Social capital the factor that helps the entrepreneur “get through the door”, while the entrepreneur’s social abilities determine the outcome of that interaction (Baron and Markman 2000:107). The focus of this study is, thus, to explore whether entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses utilize different types of the social capital in the process of starting a new venture and whether they perceive social competence to have an influential role in this process.</p><p>The theoretical framework consist of three main theoretical areas; social capital, social competence, and psychological gender. The first part is based on Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) model of social capital and describes theories explaining factors influence social capital embedded within a person’s network relationships. The second part covers social competence and the abilities that constitute this concept. Further, five dimensions are identified as comprising social competence, i.e. social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, apparent sincerity, and social manipulation (Baron and Markman 2000, 2003; Hoehn-Weiss et al. 2004; Ferris et al. 2005, 2007; Riggio 1986). The last part discusses whether there might exist differences between entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses regarding their behaviours and their psychological gender (Bem 1974, 1975, 1977; Spence et al. 1975).</p><p>The research design show similarities with both an inductive and a deductive approach, with a focus on the induction since little research within the entrepreneurship field has combined the different topics comprising the scope of this study. Further, this implies qualitative research methods and the empirical data was collect through conducting 14 semi structured interviews with entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses as well as through a questionnaire aiming at determine the respondents’ psychological gender.</p><p>The results of the present study indicate that entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses utilize different the types of social capital in the stages of the start up phase. Further, the study show that social competence plays and important role in the start up process and that there is a circular relation between social capital and social competence. Moreover, the results of the study indicate that male and female entrepreneurs behave differently in the start up phase and that their perceptions about and usage of their social competence might differ.</p>

Previous research has elucidated social competence as a prominent variable contributing to psychosocial adjustment in juveniles with chronic illness. In particular, early interactions with parents and peers play a large role in the development of social competence by teaching young people how to initiate and maintain satisfying and warm relationships. The current study examined developmental differences in relations among parent-child relationship variables (parental protectiveness), peer interaction variables (social skills, social anxiety), and social competence in juveniles with asthma and diabetes. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to evaluate mediated models using data from a sample of 178 preadolescent (ages 7-11) and adolescent (ages 12-16) juveniles. Results indicated that social anxiety and social skills mediated the relation between parental protectiveness and social competence in the adolescent age group, but not in the preadolescent age group. In contrast, social skills mediated the relation between parental protectiveness and social anxiety in the preadolescent group only. Attachment security evidenced a strong direct influence on social competence, which was not mediated by social skills or social anxiety. Because protective parenting styles were found to influence social competence through peer interaction variables posited to be directly impacted by chronic illness (i.e., social skills and social anxiety), it is suggested that they are an influential illness-specific determinant of psychosocial adjustment in young people with asthma or diabetes.

The current study examined relations between temperamental reactivity at 6 months and social competence in first grade, including if emotion regulation at 54 months played a role as mediator and/or moderator between temperamental reactivity and social competence in first grade. Previous studies have shown that children who are high on temperamental reactivity early on will have poorer social competence in the future (Houck, 1999). This study explored how emotion regulation might mediate this relationship as well as how emotion regulation may serve as a protective factor (e.g., moderator) for those with higher temperamental reactivity. Important background characteristics of child gender and ethnicity, mother's education, and income-to-needs ratio were controlled for. Results indicated that temperamental reactivity at 6 months did not play a significant role in social competence in first grade, nor on emotion regulation at 54 months. Emotion regulation at 54 months was also found to be neither a mediator nor a moderator between this relationship between temperamental reactivity and social competence. The only significant relationship that was found was that between emotion regulation at 54 months and social competence in first grade, which aligns with previous research. / Graduation date: 2013

Social competence and positive self-concept are essential to future adaptive outcomes and overall well-being; but children and adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) frequently struggle in these domains. This dissertation examined changes in the social competence and self-concept of campers with learning disabilities (LD), within a specialized summer camp, with particular focus on friendship development. The dissertation is presented in two manuscripts, which will be submitted for publication. The objective of the first manuscript was to examine changes in campers’ social skills, social acceptance, self-worth, and self-esteem, within the context of summer camp, as reported by parents and campers. Parental reports indicated small gains in social skills, social acceptance, and self-worth from the beginning to the end of camp; with gains in social acceptance and self-worth maintained four to five months later. Campers did not report changes in any domains. Parents and campers reported declines in camper self-esteem at follow-up. In general, campers with LD+ADHD exhibited smaller gains in social competence and self-concept, than those with LD. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical frameworks and existing camp and LD research. The objective of the second manuscript was to investigate campers’ friendship development, within the summer camp context. Many campers reported having high-quality, reciprocal friendships at the beginning of camp. Campers reported more reciprocal friendships after camp, but these were not maintained at follow-up. Campers also reported having a best camp friend by the end of camp, and this relationship was maintained at follow-up. In terms of friendship quality, campers reported increased closeness by the end of camp and conflict ratings were low, overall. This study examined factors predicting changes in social competence. High-quality, reciprocal friendships predicted changes in campers’ social acceptance, according to parents. Similarly, reciprocal friendships predicted changes in camper reported social acceptance. These results highlight the inter-connections between friendship and aspects of social competence. Camp attendance was found to be a relevant factor in friendship development and quality. The concluding chapter discusses social competence, friendship, and self-concept outcomes for campers with LD within the context of a specialized summer camp. The implications of the findings for present theory and clinical practice are discussed, including specific recommendations for this camp’s structure and program evaluation procedures.

Numerous skill deficits interfere with the social functioning of children with intellectual (ID) and learning disabilities (LD). Due to the limited effectiveness of social skill interventions for this population, it is necessary to explore additional opportunities for social skill acquisition. Research suggests that extracurricular activity participation positively influences adolescent development; however, little is known about the benefits of activity participation for children with ID and LD. This study investigated the impact of frequency and type of extracurricular activity on the social competence of 7-12 year old children with ID (n=42) and LD (n=53), in comparison to their typically developing peers (TD; n=24). More time involved in unstructured activities was related to higher ratings of social competence. Greater participation in unstructured extracurricular activities was particularly beneficial for children with ID. Future research on the quality of involvement is necessary to further understand what specific aspects of activities facilitate social development.

Previous entrepreneurship research has shown that networks are of great importance when discovering and exploiting business opportunities, i.e. in the start up process of new venture (e.g. Davidsson and Honig 2003; Evald, Klyver, and Svendsen 2006; Klyver, Hindle, and Meyer forthcoming). The value of a network is referred to as social capital, which refers to the amount of resources, both tangible and intangible, that an entrepreneur or entrepreneuse might have access to through the members of their network (Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998). Social capital is the product of social interactions (Anderson et al. 2007), implying that a person’s social abilities, i.e. social competence, can influence the creation of social capital (Baron and Markman 2000, 2003). Social capital the factor that helps the entrepreneur “get through the door”, while the entrepreneur’s social abilities determine the outcome of that interaction (Baron and Markman 2000:107). The focus of this study is, thus, to explore whether entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses utilize different types of the social capital in the process of starting a new venture and whether they perceive social competence to have an influential role in this process. The theoretical framework consist of three main theoretical areas; social capital, social competence, and psychological gender. The first part is based on Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) model of social capital and describes theories explaining factors influence social capital embedded within a person’s network relationships. The second part covers social competence and the abilities that constitute this concept. Further, five dimensions are identified as comprising social competence, i.e. social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, apparent sincerity, and social manipulation (Baron and Markman 2000, 2003; Hoehn-Weiss et al. 2004; Ferris et al. 2005, 2007; Riggio 1986). The last part discusses whether there might exist differences between entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses regarding their behaviours and their psychological gender (Bem 1974, 1975, 1977; Spence et al. 1975). The research design show similarities with both an inductive and a deductive approach, with a focus on the induction since little research within the entrepreneurship field has combined the different topics comprising the scope of this study. Further, this implies qualitative research methods and the empirical data was collect through conducting 14 semi structured interviews with entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses as well as through a questionnaire aiming at determine the respondents’ psychological gender. The results of the present study indicate that entrepreneurs and entrepreneuses utilize different the types of social capital in the stages of the start up phase. Further, the study show that social competence plays and important role in the start up process and that there is a circular relation between social capital and social competence. Moreover, the results of the study indicate that male and female entrepreneurs behave differently in the start up phase and that their perceptions about and usage of their social competence might differ.