Issues in cross-cultural counseling: An examination of the meaning and dimensions of tolerance

While there is a clear need to address the ethical dimensions of cross-cultural counseling, the current literature lacks both a theoretical model of ethnic tolerance and a suitable measure for assessing the construct. The present study addressed this gap in the extant literature by (a) developing a measure of ethnic tolerance based upon extensive field work, (b) examining the measure's reliability and construct validity in light of two models of ethnic tolerance, and (c) examining the relationship of several factors (e.g., age, gender, and exposure to those of a different culture) to scores on the tolerance measure. Results indicated that the tolerance measure was best viewed as a unidimensional construct, had substantial content validity, and had modest construct validity. Respondents with more social contact with immigrants, as well as those who had positive experiences with immigrants, tended to score higher on the tolerance measure. Results underscore both the complexity of factors associated with tolerance and the need for counselor education programs to provide arenas for students to become aware of their own values and biases and how these may affect culturally-different clients.     

The development of attitudes and social characteristics of students attending predominantly black colleges: A longitudinal study

The study was designed to assess the development of Family Independence (FI), Peer Independence (PI), Liberalism (L), Social Conscience (SC), and Cultural Sophistication (CS) among students attending three predominantly black colleges. Responses to the Attitudes section of the College Student Questionnaires were obtained from 334 students when they were entering freshmen, end-of-year freshmen, and graduating seniors. The data were analyzed with a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance design. College, Sex, and Time were the independent variables, and the five attitude scales were the dependent variables. The tests for the main effects of time revealed overall gains on all five scales. A significant Sex × Time interaction indicated that PI scores for males increased, while females' PI scores decreased, during the freshman year; the females' PI scores increased during the subsequent three year period. Significant College × Time interactions were found for FI and CS. College × Sex × Time interactions were significant for L and CS. The results indicated that students who attended these predominantly black colleges developed greater self-reliance and autonomy and broadened interests in political, social, and cultural affairs. The extent of change in these attitudes varied, however, according to the college attended and/or sex of the student.     

Language learning and the technology of international communications

The author posits a reciprocal relationship between the recent popularisation of computer-based technology and the democratisation of Central and Eastern Europe. Brief reference is made to their common denominator, language and language change. The advent of the communicative approach to language learning and the new wave of language authenticity arising from it, both enhanced by the technological revolution, have made the defining of acceptability in the classroom and of communication in the process of testing more problematic than ever, although several advantages have also accrued. Advances in technology have generally outstripped our ability to apply their full or characteristic potential. While technology can personalise learning and in this way make learning more efficient, it can also impede motivation. Old methods, drills and routines are tending to be sustained by it. Lack of technology can also widen the gulf between developed, developing and underdeveloped countries of the world. The author proposes international partnerships as a means of preventing an imbalance which could threaten stability. Single language dominance is another threat to international understanding, given the growing awareness of our multilingual and multicultural environment. Enlightened language policies reaching from the individual to beyond the national community are needed, which adopt these aspects of language learning, explain decisions about the state's choice of languages and, at the same time, promote individual choice wherever practicable.

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Zusammenfassung Der Autor stellt eine Beziehung zwischen der jüngsten Verbreitung von Technologie auf Computerbasis und der Demokratisierung in Mittel- und Osteuropa her. Der gemeinsame Nenner Sprache und die Sprachveränderung wird kurz angesprochen. Der kommunikative Ansatz zum Erlernen einer Sprache und die daraus resultierende neue Welle von Sprachechtheit, beides eine Folge der technologischen Revolution, haben die Definition dessen, was im Klassenraum anwendbar ist und was im Prüfungsverfahren vermittelt werden kann problematischer als je zuvor gemacht. Es haben sich jedoch auch einige Vorteile ergeben. Die Fortschritte in der Technologie haben die Entfaltung unserer Fähigkeiten in ihrem vollen Umfang oder mit ihrem charakteristischen Potential im allgemeinen überflüssig gemacht. Während Technologie das Lernen personalisieren kann und es damit effizienter macht, kann sie aber auch die Motivation beeinträchtigen. Alte Methoden, Drill und Routine können dadurch leicht unterstützt werden. Ein Mangel an Technologie kann auch die Kluft zwischen entwickelten, entwickelnden und unterent wickelten Regionen vergrößern. Der Autor schlägt internationale Partnerschaften als Mittel zur Verhinderung eines die Stabilität bedrohenden Ungleichgewichts vor. Eine andere Bedrohung des internationalen gegenseitigen Verstehens im Hinblick auf das wachsende Bewußtwerden unserer mehrsprachigen und multikulturellen Umgebung, ist die Dominanz einer einzelnen Sprache. Eine aufgeklärte vom Einzelnen bis über die nationale Gesellschaft hinaus reichende Sprachpolitik ist notwendig, sie sollte diese Aspekte des Sprachenlernens einbeziehen, Entscheidungen über die staatliche Sprachenwahl erklären und gleichzeitig die individuelle Wahl einer Sprache soweit wie möglich fördern.

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Résumé L'auteur du présent article pose une relation réciproque entre la vulgarisation récente des techniques fondées sur l'informatique et la démocratisation de l'Europe centrale et orientale. Il mentionne brièvement leur dénominateur commun, le language et son évolution. L'apparition de l'approche communicative de l'apprentissage des langues et la nouvelle vague d'authenticité linguistique qui en résulte, toutes deux renforcées par la révolution technique, ont rendu plus problématique que jamais la définition de l'acceptabilité dans la classe et de la communication dans le processus de conception et d'administration des tests, bien qu'on en ait retiré plusieurs avantages. Le progrès technique a généralement surpassé notre capacité d'exploiter ses possibilités entières ou caractéristiques. Bien que la technique puisse personnaliser l'apprentissage et le rendre de ce fait plus efficace, elle peut aussi entraver la motivation. Elle tend à soutenir les méthodes anciennes, les exercices systématiques et de routine. Le manque de technique peut par ailleurs élargir le gouffre entre les pays industrialisés, en développement et sous-développés du monde. L'auteur propose d'avoir recours à des associations internationales pour prévenir le déséquilibre qui pourrait menacer la stabilité. La prédominance d'une langue constitue une autre menace pour la compréhension internationale, étant donné la conscience grandissante de notre environnement multilingue et multiculturel. Il est nécessaire de concevoir des politiques linguistiques libérales s'appliquant de l'individu à la communauté nationale et au-delà, qui adoptent ces aspects de l'enseignement des langues, expliquent les décisions concernant le choix de certaines langues par l'Etat et, en même temps, promeuvent le choix individuel, toutes les fois que cela s'avère praticable.

     

The effects on teaching of changes in relative rewards for research and teaching

To the degree that faculty members take into account the relative financial rewards for teaching and research in deciding on the allocation of available time between these two areas, a modification of the reward structure may be expected to produce changes in the amount of time devoted to each. The purpose of this article is to examine with the help of some basic graphic tools of economics the possible results on the quantity of teaching and the quantity of research that may follow from a modification of the reward structure. The possible results are analyzed in terms of displacement, salary, and work effects of the modification.     

A dynamic decision model for portfolio investment and assets management

This paper addresses a dynamic portfolio investment problem. It discusses how we can dynamically choose candidate assets, achieve the possible maximum revenue and reduce the risk to the minimum level. The paper generalizes Markowitz's portfolio selection theory and Sharpe's rule for investment decision. An analytical solution is presented to show how an institutional or individual investor can combine Markowitz's portfolio selection theory, generalized Sharpe's rule and Value-at-Risk(VaR) to find candidate assets and optimal level of position sizes for investment (dis-investment). The result shows that the generalized Markowitz's portfolio selection theory and generalized Sharpe's rule improve decision making for investment.     

Breaking the tyranny of office hours: Overcoming professor avoidance

ABSTRACT

Studies have found that Faculty–Student Interaction (FSI) has many positive benefits for students including academic support, professional development, mentoring, and career planning. Research-intensive universities exhibit the lowest levels of faculty–student interaction within higher education. This article utilises qualitative methods to explore faculty, student, and staff perceptions of faculty–student interactions, particularly those that take place out of the classroom, at a research-intensive public U.S. university. We identify social distance between faculty and students based on unequal status within a rigid, hierarchically-organised culture as a key barrier to FSI. We then discuss methods that some of the faculty in our study used to mitigate their social distance with students in an effort to increase FSI.