Many English language learners (ELL) struggle to function in English-only classes and to compete with their native English-speaking peers, and tend not to fare well on high-stakes testing. One such example is the Vietnamese American students at City Middle School whose reading levels ranged from an alarming 1.5 to 4 (mid-year first grade to fourth…

An approach that teaches secondary students about Vietnam within the framework of the world history/world culture course is described. By reading and studying Vietnamese fiction and poetry, students learn about Vietnam from a Vietnamese perspective instead of the usual exclusive Western viewpoint. (RM)

This supplementary guide for use with K-2 Vietnamese-speaking students in Chicago public schools is keyed by page number to the standard social studies curriculum guides for these grades. The purpose of the activities in the guide, which are in Vietnamese, is to increase students' awareness and knowledge of the social environment in the United…

This packet contains eight multicultural learning units for use in the K-6 classrooms with Vietnamese students. They are written in lesson plan format, comprising appropriate background information, learning objectivees, materials needed, activities, evaluation, and, in some cases, activity sheet masters for duplication and distribution to the…

English-for-employment classes are being held at The College of DuPage, Illinois, for Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees. Basic vocabulary and communicating skills are taught with emphasis on terms used in the workplace. Teaching methods and employment objectives are discussed. (LH)

Describes how Maureen Crane Wartski's A BOAT TO NOWHERE can foster an exchange of ideas between Asian and non-Asian high school students. (MM)

This is a manual for teachers of Indochinese students. The manual begins with brief cultural, linguistic, and historical descriptions of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodian people. The tenets of animism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity, as practiced in Indochina are reviewed. Also discussed are Indochinese attitudes toward learning and…

Factors were studied that influence attitudes of Asian English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners in order to better understand possible reasons why attitudes may change and ways they may be influenced. Special attention was given to cultural and education differences, difficulties relating to nonliterate adult learners, and strategies to assist…

This article reports a survey of 300 intermediate-level EFL adult learners' views about the instruction they receive and of 15 of their teachers at the National University of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. Its main focus is on how learners can contribute to ELT methodology. The article reviews the literature on learner cultures and perceptions in…

This study investigated learning vocabulary in group work at university in Vietnam. The students were studied in two kinds of group settings, "unassisted" and "assisted", the first consisting of five students from the same class level and the second of four from the same class and a student from a higher class. Differences were…

Discusses the reaction of Vietnamese students to the spontaneous interaction and exchange that occurs in US classrooms. The article argues that teachers' lack of knowledge about their immigrant students' learning styles and strategies may result in teachers making inaccurate judgments about these students' classroom interaction behavior. (two…

This handbook describes the background, characteristics, and education and language needs of Vietnamese-speaking students in the United States. The handbook was designed to increase understanding of the Vietnamese language and culture among bilingual education specialists and other school personnel, especially in the California public schools.…

This revised version of the 1988 essay "Working with Vietnamese High School Students" includes updated demographics, profiles of the Amerasian newcomers and the children of Vietnamese re-education internees, who have been among the latest arrivals from Southeast Asia, a review of the literature on Vietnamese students, and a discussion of key…

PETCO is a simulated corporation used as a teaching tool in the pre-employment training program at the Galang Refugee Processing Center in Indonesia. The refugees in the program are in low-level classes. The use of the simulation allows the staff to present hands-on, task-based learning techniques to address four major concerns of refugees…

Although schools contain many material artifacts, studies in classrooms have tended to focus on discourse and quality of social interaction even when artifacts are being used. Responding to Engstrom's (1999) invitation to take artifacts seriously, three studies are described in which a material object was essential to a classroom activity. The…