Second-language acquisition theorists caution educators that higher second-language competency skills can take anywhere from five to eight years to attain realistically for any individual acquiring competency in a second language. There are many other variables like age of arrival in the United States and standard of education from home country…

This document presents the proceedings of the 17th Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2012, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included herein are the following 25 action research papers: (1) "Reading and Writing": A Study Comparing the Strengths of Peer Review and Visible Author Writing Strategies (Elizabeth Behar); (2)…

"Dimension" is the annual volume containing the selected, refereed, edited Proceedings of each year's conference. "From Practice to Profession" was the announced theme of the annual conference of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT), held March 1-3, 2007, at the Atlanta (GA) Renaissance Hotel, in partnership…

The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) survey of California Latino youth perceptions of college financial aid reveals: (1) Ninety-eight percent of respondents felt it was important to have a college education; (2) Thirty-eight percent of respondents did not feel the benefits of college outweigh the costs; (3) Not being able to work and incurring…

This report describes various strategies which were implemented to increase reading vocabulary and comprehension on consistently below average test scores of first grade students. A targeted group of 25 students were selected for this process. The objectives included increasing comprehension and reading vocabulary, developing a more positive…

This study examined the effects of race/ethnicity and degree of acculturation on knowledge and attitudes about human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Subjects were 274 college students from 5 racial/ethnic groups (Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, U.S. born, having an Asian origin with families that…

Based on the work of Paulo Freire (1970), this study employed dialogical research methods (Padilla, 1993) to reveal overt and hidden aspects of Latina/o doctoral student experiences. Six Latina/o doctoral students, representing various Research I institutions, participated in the study. The design of the study included two phases. The first phase…

This study examined racial and ethnic differences in student satisfaction with campus services at a state university. In March and April 1997, a total of 841 students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst completed a 19-item survey on their campus experiences and satisfaction with various services. The sample included 521 white, 105 Asian, 96…

Examines ethnic climate and relationships among ethnic groups at five colleges. Data indicate that White and Latino students were the most comfortable interacting with other ethnic groups, whereas Asian students were the least comfortable. White students viewed the interracial climate positively, whereas Black students described their campuses as…

The Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanic Youth (SASH-Y) was used to assess acculturation among 137 fourth- and fifth-grade children in rural southern Colorado, including 11 Mexican, 33 Mexican American, and 93 Euro-American children. The SASH-Y, especially questions related to language use, was found to be robust with a young, rural Latino…

A study examined family influences on reading motivation in Latino children. Surveys and interviews with 18 Latino students in an urban southwestern elementary school and their parents indicated that as domestic workload increased, the value children placed on reading decreased. The more time families spent together and on religious literacy…

This article offers a framework for development and implementation of health education strategies for preventing HIV infection and enhancing health promoting attitudes and behaviors among Black and Latino adolescents. Three HIV prevention program components are identified and discussed. (IAH)

The importance of the teacher to African American and Hispanic American students of lower socioeconomic status (LSES) was studied with 70 urban junior high school teachers and their students. Teacher characteristics, such as self-efficacy, that affect their significance were also studied. Implications for teacher effectiveness are discussed. (SLD)

Determines the relative degree of five personal (academic) attributes and five motivational variables found in a sample of successful Mexican American students. Subjects possessed all five personal attributes and four of the motivational variables. Concludes that Mexican American students possessing these attributes and variables can enjoy…

In two studies involving 18 secondary-level students with learning disabilities and 32 elementary-level at-risk African-American and Hispanic students, it was found that students exposed to positive-mood induction completed more math problems accurately than control children, and the secondary-level experimental students expressed greater…