Since 2000, I have been coordinating a web-based Virtual Exchange (VE) project, "Project Ibunka." "Ibunka" means different cultures in Japanese. It aims to provide opportunities for authentic interaction among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) learners all over the world. By the end of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how teachers can use their Sgaw Karen students' names as a means to gaining awareness of their students' home culture, language and personal stories. Design/methodology/approach: This case study uses interviews with four Karen families to explore the meanings behind the names and nicknames given…

The recent introduction by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development of the notion of 'global competence' appears to install cosmopolitan understanding at the heart of education across the globe. Yet how far does the OECD notion, and the broader models of global education it means to stand for, consolidate a picture that fails to…

This article extends our conceptual understanding of social capital and school achievement through a comparative race and ethnic approach. Using the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) 1988-1990 panel, this article develops a more comprehensive understanding of school achievement by exploring circumstances, which the authors call…

Stankov (2010) has offered an original and provoking theory to account for higher achievement, anxiety, and self-doubt among Asians. Unfortunately, several empirical and conceptual gaps must be closed before the author can make a convincing argument on the relationship between "unforgiving" Confucian culture and high achievement/test…

When the U.S. Census Bureau began releasing population reports from the 2010 count, the findings reaffirmed demographers' projections about the nation's rapidly changing racial, ethnic, and economic makeup. African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations grew about 30 percent since 2000 and will account for a majority of the…

Low- and middle-income students at public, two-year institutions too often do not apply for college financial aid (Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 2008; Kantrowitz, 2009a, 2011). This research first examines national data to identify what the risk factors are for not applying and compares those risk factors for students at…

In this interview Professor Farzad Sharifian, a pioneer of Cultural Linguistics, gives a concise history of this relatively new field, which he introduces as a multidisciplinary area of research that examines the intricate relationship between language and cultural conceptualizations. Prof. Sharifian asserts this flourishing field of research can…

In the United States, there is a broadly held presumption that the journey along the pipeline from kindergarten to early career success gradually reveals each child's innate abilities. This presumption is widespread not only in the general public, but among students themselves, who self-identify and identify each other as either academically…

This article considers key differences and similarities between Freirean and Taoist ideals. I limit my focus to the "Tao Te Ching" (attributed to Lao Tzu), paying brief attention to the origins of this classic work of Chinese philosophy before concentrating on several themes of relevance to Freire's work. An essay by James Fraser (1997), who makes…

Children of immigrants are a rapidly growing part of the U.S. child population. Their health, development, educational attainment, and social and economic integration into the nation's life will play a defining role in the nation's future. Nancy Landale, Kevin Thomas, and Jennifer Van Hook explore the challenges facing immigrant families as they…

Objective: To determine the relationship between length of time spent expressing highly aroused emotion and therapeutic outcome. Method: Thirty-eight clients (14 male, 24 female) between the ages of 22 and 60 years (M = 39.5, SD = 9.71), treated for depression with experiential therapy, were rated on working alliance and expressed emotional…

Historically, the absence of Asian-Pacific Islanders (APIs) from college sports has been due largely to the lack of role models in professional and amateur leagues. For years, coaches on the recruiting trail overlooked Asian athletes, often dismissing them as too small, too slow and too wrapped up in their studies. API parents, meanwhile, often…

The goal of this study was to analyze the education-related schemas guiding teachers and highly educated, professional immigrant parents in a small southern California elementary school district, and to describe how facets of these schemas converged or diverged as parents and teachers drew upon their social and cultural backgrounds during…

The exploitation of college athletes has been a topic of controversy within American higher education for over half of a century. Especially in the revenue-generating sports of men's basketball and football, critics have highlighted the surplus gains expropriated by colleges and universities on the backs of these young men, who are…