Immigrant Tibetan Children in U.S. Schools: An Invisible Minority Group

Most scholars believe that home and school cultural discontinuity contributes in a significant way to lower self-esteem and differential academic failure of many immigrant children. Academic and social adjustment problems of many recent immigrant Tibetan children in public schools clearly indicate the critical need to examine home and school conditions limiting their ability to experience success. Therefore, the primary purpose of this inquiry is to bring heightened awareness to the challenges and issues of educating a growing number of Tibetan children who otherwise may remain invisible in U.S. public schools. This article has three purposes. First, a literature review is undertaken to identify major issues of educating immigrant children in U.S. public schools. Second, the article proposes a three-pronged framework as a way to integrate Tibetan studies into existing curricula for the purpose of developing a culturally responsive learning environment. Finally, the study offers a number of ideas for future research studies that may identify home and schooling conditions that hinder or facilitate the learning of children-specifically Tibetan children as an invisible minority cultural group.     

Centering Transborder Students: Perspectives on Identity,Languaging and Schooling Between the U.S. and Mexico

Undocumented families' rates of repatriation to Mexico from the United States have risen throughout the Obama administration, and this trend will likely increase under Donald Trump. This study describes the experiences of Mexican-born youth who grew up in the United States and are back in Mexico. While these children are participants in their families' migration, their input is rarely sought in decisions to leave or return to a country. This article shares transborder students' voices on their struggles to find their identities as Mexican, American, or some combination of the two. They reflect on their schooling experiences across countries, and how these challenges are compounded when they are new to learning in Spanish or indigenous languages in Mexico.     

Learning from Escuela: Documentary Film as a Context for Teacher Learning

This article reports on the design of a teacher education activity that involves the documentary film, Escuela, which was produced by Hannah Weyer. We describe this instructional design, highlighting how documentary film can be used strategically to create opportunities for teacher candidates to approximate the work of culturally relevant teaching.     

Korean wave: Enjoyment factors of Korean dramas in the U.S.

From a disposition theory perspective, successful dramas are driven by the development of strong dispositions towards characters. Thus, disposition theory logic is used to predict the enjoyment of American viewers when watching two different Korean dramas (Personal Preference and Secret Garden). The influence of sex, affective dispositions, empathy, open-mindedness, and past exposure to Korean culture on audience enjoyment is measured. The findings support the basic premise of disposition theory that the development of strong dispositions towards characters is needed in order to develop emotional responses necessary for successful dramas. Disposition theory can be used to explain viewing dispositions in order to predict enjoyment cross-culturally.     

Intercultural communication effectiveness as perceived by American managers in Saudi Arabia and French managers in the U.S.

This study investigated agreement between American managers in Saudi Arabia and French managers in the U.S. regarding their subjective evaluation of the importance of 16 personal abilities for Intercultural Communication Effectiveness (ICE). Of these abilities, respondents were asked to select the 5 abilities that greatly facilitate intercultural functioning. Demographic data were collected, as well as respondents' satisfaction with stay in the host culture and degree of intercultural effectiveness. Both groups reported the ability to work with other people and to deal with unfamiliar situations, communication misunderstandings, and changes in life styles greatly facilitate functioning in a foreign culture. They disagreed on the importance of seven other ICE abilities. Results support both a culture-general and a culture-specific interpretation of ICE. Implications of the results for ICE and cross-cultural management were discussed.     

Borders and Intersections of Possibility: Multilingual Repertoires of Refugee Families in the Southwest U.S.

This study examines the linguistic and cultural intersections of recently arrived Somali Bantu refugee students in South Texas through the lens of border theory. The use of Spanish in the homes of refugee families is explored in addition to ways in which an educator used testimonios to honor students’ migration experiences. Findings show how specific approaches used in schools that affirm both the receiving communities’ and the new arrivals' local knowledge can have a lasting impact on literacy acquisition and resettlement experiences. Findings from this study also illuminate the potential impact of educators who develop a critical, inquiry stance by embedding multiple entry points for students to cross social, cultural, linguistic, and curricular borders in school.     

Inner Mongolia Grassland Son and Dance Ensemble Tours the U.S.

At the invitation of the U.S. International Traditional Culture Development Foundation, Inner Mongolia Grassland Song and Dance Ensemble toured this summer Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Sacramento and Stockton. The ensemble consisted of performers from Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Theatre and other art troupes and colleges in Inner Mongolia. The ensernble＇s performances were widely acclaimed in those cities. Acting Chinese Consul General in Chicago Tang Ying praised that the ensemble＇s tour was a great success.     

Predicting adjustment of U.S. college students studying abroad: Beyond the multicultural personality

This longitudinal path analysis tested Yakunina et al.’s (2012) partially mediated model of the relationship between the five multicultural personality factors (MPQ) measured at Time 1 and psychological adjustment measured at Time 2 in 120 U.S. students studying in Costa Rica for a semester. With the addition of other individual and social variables, this model also was tested as a predictor of students’ sociocultural adjustment. Individual (multicultural personality traits, openness to diversity, study abroad goals, language proficiency), social (homestay experience, amount of contact with co-nationals, amount of contact with locals), and structural factors (participation in structured group programs) were considered. Results for psychological adjustment mostly supported Yakunina et al.’s findings except for the relationship between openness to diversity and adjustment, raising the question of whether level of openness to diversity itself changes over the course of the study abroad experience. For sociocultural adjustment, a partially mediated model was the best fit, with social interaction with locals serving as a mediator of students’ MPQ level of open-mindedness and the quality of the homestay experience. Level of language ability at Time 1 was a direct predictor of this type of adjustment. Thus, the two types of adjustment have different predictors, with language proficiency and social interactions with locals being most important for sociocultural adjustment. Implications of the results for study abroad programs and future research are discussed.     

Diversity in the ethnic media audience: A study of Spanish language broadcast preference in the U.S.

The present study hypothesized that the media use and preference of ethnic minorities may not be due solely to language ability or level of acculturation, but rather may be role specific. Individuals assume several different roles in the course of the average day and media use may reflect the expectations associated with these roles. It was further hypothesized that radio, which can be used in a wide variety of situational settings, would yield different typologies of people who preferred ethnic language stations. However, television, which is generally viewed just at home, was conceived of as more likely to yield a homogeneous user group. Data from 993 Mexican-Americans living in the Southwestern U.S. conformed to these expectations. Two distinct profiles of Mexican-Americans who preferred Spanish language radio were created. However, only one profile of Hispanics who preferred Spanish language television emerged. The findings have important implications for theory regarding the role media plays in the lives of immigrants and ethnic minorities as well as for practitioners designing communication messages for ethnic audiences.     

Individualism-collectivism among Americans, Turks and Turkish immigrants to the U.S.

Whether immigrants to the U.S. from collectivist cultures will adopt American individualist values is an important question at the intersection of theories on acculturation and individualism/collectivism. According to the assimilation hypothesis, Turkish immigrants to the U.S. should become more individualistic with increasing length of stay. Alternatively, the immigrant interdependence hypothesis proposes that the exigencies of immigration require retaining or increasing collectivist values and behaviors, especially the willingness to rely on others. Measures of individualism and collectivism were obtained from Turkish immigrants to the U.S., Turks residing in Istanbul, and residents of Boston. Bostonians and Istanbul residents differed primarily on vertical collectivism, which is the tendency to subordinate ones own goals to those of in-group authority figures. Immigrants’ values did not change with increasing length of stay in the U.S., refuting the assimilation hypothesis. When immigrants were compared to non-immigrants, immigrants endorsed stronger horizontal and vertical collectivism and more desire to both give and receive, consistent with the immigrant interdependence hypothesis. However, this hypothesis was not uniformly supported. Compared to non-immigrants, immigrants reported more self-reliance with competition, and more internal locus of control, indicating a sense of agency and responsibility. Findings are consistent with the view that immigrants adjust in complex ways to their new society, and may have different temperaments than non-immigrants.     

A comparison of sex differences in career and achievement motivation in Iran and the U.S.

Differences in career and achievement motivation of U.S. and Iranian male and female college and high school students were compared, employing recently developed cross-cultural methodology. Of particular interest was the differential shift in achievement orientation at different age levels in the two cultural samples. Whereas achieving and career orientations were found to be higher in the U.S. college than in U.S. high school samples, the reverse was true in the Iranian samples. Compatible with observations made elsewhere, this suggests that age-related waxing and waning of achieving orientations occur in different cycles in different cultures. Also of interest was that the culture main effect was not significant but that the culture × sex interaction was. Thus, overall, achieving orientations between the culture samples were not different but Iranian males and females exhibited greater differences in achieving orientations than did U.S. subjects, as was predicted.     

Development communication expectations in occupational contexts: A Comparison of U.S. and foreign graduate students

This study focuses on the communication approaches used by experts in development. In line with recent “paradigm shift” issues, this study asks whether foreign and U.S. graduate students have inculcated alternative communication approaches instead of, or in addition to, the predominant “top to bottom” communication approach in their occupational communication roles. A total of 24 foreign and 23 U.S. graduate students from various departments at the University of Washington were asked to describe their expected communication with contact groups above, at the same and at lower status levels. All graduate students showed a marked tendency to exhibit “top to bottom” approaches with contacts of lower status and alternative communication approaches (i.e., bottom to top or interactive) only with peers. Few differences were found between U.S. and foreign, but those that were found were attributed to differing societal and occupational structures. Discussion focused on the lack of a coherent communication approach showing inculcation of more user oriented approaches suggested by the “paradigm shift.”     

Self-Disclosure and Emotional Closeness in Intracultural Friendships: A Cross-Cultural Comparison among U.S. Americans and Romanians

This study investigates the cultural differences in self-disclosure and emotional closeness in intracultual friendships in U.S. and Romanian cultures. Results show that culture has a significant effect on the intent of self-disclosure and emotional closeness. First, Americans are found to disclose in a greater intent than Romanians to their friends, but the two cultures do not differ in other dimensions of self-disclosure. Second, Romanians are found to perceive a greater level of emotional closeness in intracultural friendships than Americans. Last, honesty/accuracy and intent of self-disclosure predict emotional closeness in Romania, but none of the dimensions of self-disclosure predicts emotional closeness in the United States.