A study investigated the relationship of the upbringing of Indochinese children and cognitive style, especially in relation to the learning of English as a Second Language. Subjects were 108 Kampuchean and 73 Vietnamese refugee children at a Philippine refugee processing center. The children were interviewed concerning their previous school attendance, number of participating parents, strictness of upbringing, stricter parent, parent who punishes more, and nature of punishment used. Significant differences between the two groups were found, suggesting that each group would have different cognitive styles, Kampucheans with a more field dependent cognitive style and Vietnamese a more field independent style. Test scores indicating the progress of each group in learning English were analyzed. It was predicted that the children with a more field independent cognitive style, which most closely approximates the style of their American teachers, would show significantly better language learning than those with a more field dependent cognitive style. As predicted, the Vietnamese scored significantly higher than the Kampucheans. Implications for classroom language teaching practice are discussed, including the need for teacher awareness of student differences and of their own cognitive styles, better matching of teacher and student styles, and greater familiarity with teaching techniques appropriate to different styles. (MSE)