Patterns of Participation in Classroom Learning

This study is concerned with the learning experiences and strategies of secondary Aboriginal girls from Elcho Island in the Northern Territory as they study in an urban school in the Gold Coast, Queensland. The girls were learning English as their second and third language. The study details how the ESL teacher/author tried to understand how to meet the needs of these girls who came with such different learning strategies and styles. The teacher/author's visit to their homeland in Elcho Island immediately helped her to understand how the grils' different social and learning experiences had influenced them, and how different their lives were at the new school. The account of observations and analysis of their patterns of participation in their new school give important insights into their learning styles

Book language as a foreign language — ESL strategies for indigenous learners

This study addresses the belated realisation that educators are unaware that many Indigenous Australian students speak very little Standard Australian English outside classrooms. This important educational issue is prominent in communities and schools where creoles and related language varieties, including Indigenous Englishes, are spoken. The study confirmed that the ESL educational needs of Australian Indigenous students are not adequately recognised or met

Peer mediation for conflict management: a Singaporean case study

The burgeoning interest in conflict and its management has recently begun to impact on schools and school systems worldwide. Motivated by a concern for increasing levels of violence in schools and student�student conflict, many school administrators are looking at conflict management programs as a means of dealing with the problem. Most of the more widely used programs have their origins in the United States; their appropriateness and effectiveness in other countries and cultures is, at best, unknown, and in some respects open to conjecture. In this paper the cultural appropriateness of a peer mediation program in a primary school in Singapore is the subject of investigation. The study also addresses, in an exploratory manner, the effectiveness of peer mediation as a mechanism for student�student conflict management

Career Development Program for Refugee and Migrant Youth

The Career Guidance for Refugee and Migrant Young People project is an initiative of the South Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre funded by the Department of Education and Training. It aims to develop, pilot and evaluate a career development and planning program that specifically meets the learning levels and needs of refugee youth with low levels of education, cultural life skills and English language ability

At the crossroads of learning and culture : identifying a construct for effective computer-assisted language learning for English language learners

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Bridging the Gap: Training Needs Assessment of the Immigrant Workforce in Onondaga County, NY

[Excerpt] This report addresses one small facet of the skills dilemma facing Onondaga County; that is, can the growing immigrant/refugee population in Syracuse satisfy local employers’ demand for labor? With support from a grant provided by the Economic Development Administration (U.S. Department of Commerce) University Center at Cornell University, members of the ILR School’s Extension faculty interviewed employers,immigrants and other English-as-a-secondlanguage (ESL) workforce newcomers, service providers, labor unions, and government planners during the winter of 2007 to assess the training needs of the county’s immigrant and ESL workforce. Our research was facilitated and aided by the Onondaga County Office of Economic Development

The Relationship between Culture and Cognitive Style: A Review of the Evidence and Some Reflections for the Classroom

This column summarizes factors in cultural experience that affect approaches to learning and problem solving. It reviews the evidence over the past thirty years on cognitive style differences in culturally diverse groups in the United States including Asian, African, Latino, and Native Americans and reports recent research findings on the Hmong. Finally, it raises some issues to consider when working with students from different cultural backgrounds

The response of secondary students from non-English speaking backgrounds to a visual arts course

Interest in multiculturalism has been expressed by educators for a number of years. Much of the literature concerning multiculturalism in visual arts education calls for the adoption of a culturally inclusive curricula in order to meet the needs of all students. In his consideration of conceptions of curriculum, Eisner (1988) made reference to a preferred body of knowledge which often excludes students from minority groups within society. Many Australian schools are experiencing increases in enrolments of students from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB). These students may themselves be immigrants or the children of one or both parents born in another country. This study is concerned specifically with the impact of such students\u27 inherited culture on their perceptions of the visual arts which may be influenced by exposure to particular styles or forms of art experienced in the context of the family, or through visual arts education in the student\u27s country of origin. The research investigates students from non-English speaking backgrounds perceptions of the visual arts and visual arts education. The study\u27s purpose is to determine the degree to which these perceptions influence the performance of NESB students undertaking a visual arts course at upper secondary school level. Although many students from various ethnic groups show an interest in and aptitude for the visual arts, they are often not successful in all aspects of the secondary level. From equity and justice perspectives it would appear that the opportunity to succeed in a chosen area should be available to all students and that in order to provide this opportunity, it is necessary to determine what factors influence the success or failure of these students. This study involved the use of qualitative research methods and was conducted as a case-study. The sample or case was selected from a Year 11 tertiary entrance art class and represents a diversity of ethnic backgrounds. The seven participants originated from Australia, mainland China, Greece, Indonesia, Russia and Vietnam. The data was collected using a questionnaire, interviews, observation and examination of work samples. The data was categorised according to themes which emerged during the data collection and analysis stages. Results showed that NESB students appear to be influenced by their early home and educational experiences and that these in turn are influenced by the ethnic and cultural contexts in which they were experienced. There is also evidence that the delivery and content of visual arts education plays an important role in influencing students\u27 perceptions of the visual arts. Information emerging from the study however suggests a need for further research in order to validate the findings. Replication of this research using a wider sample of students may help to reduce some of the variables impacting on the study. These may include levels of literacy attained by students in both their mother tongue and in English, continuity experienced by students in both general and visual arts education, and socio-economic status. Whilst it appears that further use of the case study may be appropriate, variation in both the research design and research instruments should also be considered

The Academic Effects of Learning Styles on ESL (English as a Second Language) Students in Intensive English Language Centers

This study investigated the learning styles of ESL students (students who learn English as a second language). The focus in this study was on the ESL Arab Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates) students who study English as a second language in Intensive English Language Centers (IELCs) in the United States. The study explored the ESL Arab Gulf students\u27 learning style preference and how they are affected by different variables such as cultural background, gender, and language level in IELCs. ESL Arab Gulf students were administered the VARK Learning Styles questionnaire. It measures several sensory types of learning styles such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile. The participants in this study were from Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. The finding of this quantitative research study showed that ESL Arab Gulf students\u27 learning styles were affected by their cultural backgrounds and their gender as well. The results of this study showed that matching teaching styles to ESL Arab Gulf students\u27 learning styles impacted the ESL Arab Gulf students\u27 academic success positively. It helped students to achieved higher TOEFL scores more than the students who had different learning styles from their teachers\u27