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##  Enhancing the Communication Skills of Newly-Arrived Asian American              Students. ERIC/CUE Digest No. 136.                                           

The number of Asian/Pacific Americans (APAs) in the United States               has increased significantly in recent decades, largely resulting                from the exodus of millions of Southeast Asians to this country.                APAs continue to arrive through sponsorships and business visas,                despite tightened immigration policies and other restrictions. They             now number eight million. 
One motivating factor for APA                       immigration is the quality and flexibility of education in the U.S.             Indeed, the Confucian tradition emphasizes the importance of                    education, and new immigrants work hard to overcome linguistic and              cultural challenges to obtain a good one. Traditional Asian families            expect their children to do well in school, and may feel ashamed and            responsible if a child does poorly or needs special attention. In               addition to regular schooling, many Asian American parents take                 their children to community language schools on weekends, expecting             them to increase their home language skills and maintain their                  native culture. 
The new APA immigrants vary greatly in their time             of arrival, prior education, economic status, and immigration                   history, among other factors. Some are unaccompanied minors; others             are graduate students with broader experiences and exposure to their            own culture and language. The younger students seem to adjust more              quickly. The cultural and historical backgrounds of APAs also affect            adjustment. Southeast Asians who were not prepared for their                    immigration have often found the adjustment process frustrating and             frightening. Conversely, other Asian immigrants, including East                 Indians, Pakistanis, and those from Asian Pacific areas, grew up                bilingually and do not find the English language too much of a                  challenge, yet their cultural differences can still be difficult to             negotiate. 
This digest focuses on meeting the educational needs of            recently immigrated children. It offers educators some suggestions              for understanding, motivating, and empowering students, and for                 working with their parents. CHALLENGES FOR ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN             CHILDREN

AND THEIR TEACHERSMaking learning an exciting and               meaningful process is challenging for teachers of newcomer students,            for they must find creative ways to make connections with                       them (Moss-Kanter, 1995). The newcomers usually have various levels             of English language proficiency, and may have limited opportunities             to practice the language outside the school setting. Moreover,                  school discourse is generally more formal than other communication,             and it is guided by a set of linguistic and social rules that are               conveyed through oral and written, and nonverbal, messages and                  interaction. Many newcomer students find the rules incomprehensible             because they differ so widely from their experiences in Asian                   classrooms. APA children who live in "ethnic enclaves" (such as                 Flushing, New York, and Little Saigon in southern California)                   experience particular difficulty in gaining both basic interpersonal            communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive academic linguistic                   proficiency (CALP) in English (Cummins, 1981). So, while some APA               students actively engage in verbal discourse with their teachers,               others are disenfranchised during classroom discussions and risk                school failure. 
Further, American teachers expect students to be              interactive, creative, and participatory, while APA parents teach               their children to be quiet and obedient, and not to question                    teachers (Cheng, 1991, 1994). APA children are used to learning                 through listening, observing, reading, and imitating; responding to             teachers' questions based on  lectures and textbooks; and taking                tests that require only the recall of factual information. Thus                 typical American classroom activities leave students feeling                    ambivalent and confused. American teachers may misinterpret                     students' resulting behavior as a sign of deficiency: 
*DELAY OR               HESITATION IN RESPONSE: Students may be unsure of an answer or                  unfamiliar with the discourse style, or they may simply feel                    disengaged and lost. 
*FREQUENT TOPIC SHIFTS AND POOR TOPIC                    MAINTENANCE: Students may not have sufficient knowledge to maintain             the topic, not be familiar with the rules for gaining the floor of              the classroom, or  simply fear and avoid interactions.                          *INAPPROPRIATE NONVERBAL EXPRESSIONS: Students may avoid eye contact            with adults (a sign of respect in Asian culture), frown (in                     concentration, as opposed to displeasure), or giggle (from                      embarrassment or lack of understanding, not in response to something            perceived as humorous). 
*SHORT RESPONSES: Students may not be                 proficient enough to reply in long, cohesive utterances, or they may            be too shy to respond. 
*USE OF A SOFT-SPOKEN VOICE: A loud voice              may signal disrespect in some Asian cultures. 
*TAKING FEW RISKS:              Students may fear being embarrassed or ridiculed by saying something            foolish. 
*LACK OF PARTICIPATION AND FAILURE TO OFFER INFORMATION:             In Asian classrooms volunteering information may be considered                  bold. 
*EMBARRASSMENT OVER PRAISE: Students' native culture may                regard humility and self-criticism highly. 
*ATYPICAL GREETING                 RITUALS: Students may appear impolite or unfriendly because they                look down (out of respect or fear) when the teacher approaches                  instead of offering a greeting. 
Adding to communication problems              between teachers and APA students are the personal challenges that              many newcomers face, some of which affect their ability to learn.               They include: an impoverished background; crowded living quarters               with no place to study; a poor education in their native land (a                particular problem for older children); parents who do not feel                 comfortable getting involved in the school system; and a lack                   self-esteem and feeling different from the other students, which can            be exacerbated by the segregation of students with limited English              proficiency (Posnick-Goodwin, 1998). STRATEGIES FOR OVERCOMING                CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EDUCATORS AND

STUDENTSTo                    communicate effectively, and to accurately determine the children's             communicative competence, administrators, teachers, and counselors              need to understand students' home culture and discourse rules, and              the similarities and differences between Asian and American schools.            When problems arise with a student, they have to consider a                     combination of explanations, including linguistic, cultural,                    traumatic, or neuro-physical (Cheng & Chang, 1995). They also need              to examine the cultural dimensions of interaction between themselves            and their students, and guard against stereotyping children or                  generalizing by relying on catalogs of cultural patterns. To help               themselves overcome cultural differences, educators can do the                  following (Cheng, Chen, Tsubo, Sekandari, & Alfafara-Killacky,                  1997): 
*Explore their own background to better understand their               attitudes about their own culture and other cultures. 
*Learn about            all aspects the students' various cultures, and develop an                      appreciation for their cultural beliefs, perceptions, and                       values. 
*Understand and act on the fact that the most effective               interventions take account of students' backgrounds. 
*Consider the            individual first. While it is important to incorporate the student's            culture in an effective manner, focusing on the individual rather               than a group is key to improving the quality of service in school               settings. 
*Place newcomer students in programs, classrooms, and               situations that are appropriate to their level of English language              proficiency and cultural acclimation, monitor their ability to                  function in all aspects of school life, and be aware of changes in              the settings that can affect their ability to function in                       them. CLASSROOM STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING APA STUDENT DISCOURSE                SKILLSThe following suggestions can help create an optimal                  language learning environment for newcomer students (Cheng, 1989,               1996): 
*Make no assumptions about what students know or do not                know, and anticipate their needs and greatest challenges. 
*Expect             frustration and possible misunderstandings. 
*Encourage students to            join social organizations (such as student clubs) to increase their             exposure to language as a social tool and to different types of                 discourse. 
*Facilitate students' transition into mainstream                   culture through activities like discussions of culturally unique                experiences and celebrations, such as birthday parties and                      Thanksgiving. 
*Nurture the students' bicultural identity by                   infusing all aspects of the curriculum with multicultural elements              and telling stories of famous people from both Asian and other                  ethnic groups; for example, children who speak Chinese at home and              practice Buddhism can share information about their lives and also              learn about Christian holidays. 
Teachers can also use specific                learning activities to promote newcomers' English language                      development and comfort with American school culture. For example,              they can do the following: 
*Provide explicit comparisons between              languages (i.e., Chinese is tonal and non-inflectional, while                   English is intonational and inflectional; Japanese has two writing              systems, kanji and kana). 
*Explicitly explain school discourse                rules, and the written and unwritten rules that govern writing                  styles. Model them repeatedly. 
*Role play, practice                           colloquialisms, and create skits with scripts loaded with school                discourse rules for the students: "Teacher: 'Hi! Su-Ming.'                      Su-Ming: 'Good morning, Mrs. Douglass.' Teacher: 'I like your shoes,            they are very pretty.' Su-Ming: 'Oh, thank you very much.'" 
*Read             to students to increase their vocabulary, and expose them to various            narrative styles (i.e., letters, stories, newspapers, magazines,                biographies, poetry). STRATEGIES FOR MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH                  NEWCOMER FAMILIESParents who are having their own difficulties              in adapting to a new language and culture may feel inadequate to                help their children with schoolwork or socialization. Also, because             of homeland traditions, many Asian American parents do not believe              that it is important to become involved in their children's schools             or education. 
Students benefit significantly from their parents'              involvement, however; they feel less marginalized as they view                  themselves and their families as constructive members of the school             community. Even more significant, families can play an important                role in their children's social, language, and literacy development             by involving themselves in their education (Chang, Lai, & Shimizu,              1995). In addition, parents can aid teachers by informing them about            their children's use of home and school language, the educational               resources available at home, and the community resources available              to their children. 
Thus, schools need to work hard to encourage               the involvement of newcomer parents in both school activities and               literacy learning at home; they need to reach into the community and            establish a partnership with their students' families. Community                members should also actively encourage parents to become involved in            school activities. Mentors can explain about American education                 expectations and schools. PTA members can serve as models for APA               newcomer parents and can encourage them to become active in the                 organization. 
Some specific suggestions for parent involvement in             school include: volunteering for school activities, such as field               trips; helping in the office, the library, or the classroom;                    preparing food for bake sales and student social events; and                    participating in multicultural fairs. CONCLUSIONGiven the                 complexity of the Asian/Pacific American student population,                    educators can find it difficult to learn about every student's                  language, culture, and social background. However, the ability to               communicate effectively across cultures can be developed, and                   educators can establish mutually beneficial partnerships with                   immigrant families. Integrating cross-cultural competence into a                school's culture, and designing teaching strategies specifically to             meet the educational needs of newcomers, can significantly improve              both the academic achievement and social acclimation of immigrant               students. REFERENCESChang, J.M., Lai, A., & Shimizu,                      W. (1995). LEP, LD, poor and missed learning opportunities: A case              of inner city Chinese children. In L. Cheng (Ed.), Integrating                  language and learning for inclusion (pp. 265-290). San Diego, CA:               Singular Publishing Group. 
Cheng, L. (1989, June). Service                    delivery to Asian/Pacific LEP children: A cross-cultural framework.             Topics in Language Disorders, 9(3), 1-14. (EJ 393 727) 
Cheng,                 L. (1991). Assessing Asian language performance: Guidelines for                 evaluating Limited English Proficient students. Oceanside, CA:                  Academic Communication Associates. 
Cheng, L. (1994). Difficult                discourse: An untold Asian story. In D.N. Ripich & N.A.                         Creaghead (Eds.), School discourse problems (2nd ed., pp. 156-170).             San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group. 
Cheng, L. (1996,                    October). Enhancing communication: Toward optimal language learning             for limited English proficient students. Language, Speech and                   Hearing Services in Schools, 28(2), 347-354. (EJ 532 482) 
Cheng,              L., & Chang, J.M. (1995). Asian/Pacific Islander students in need of            effective services. In L. Cheng (Ed.), Integrating language and                 learning for inclusion (pp. 3-30). San Diego, CA: Singular                      Publishing Group. 
Cheng, L., Chen, T., Tsubo, T., Sekandari, N., &            Alfafara-Killacky, S. (1997). Challenges of diversity: An Asian                 Pacific perspective. Multicultures, 3, 114-145. 
Cummins,                      J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting                educational success for language minority students. In Office of                Bilingual Bicultural Education, California State Department of                  Education (Ed.), Schooling and language minority students: A                    theoretical framework (pp. 3-49). Los Angeles: California State                 University, Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment                            Center. 
Moss-Kanter, R. (1995). The world class. New York: Simon &            Schuster. 
Posnick-Goodwin, S. (1998, March). Making the transition            to English. California Educator, 2(6), 12-13. 
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This Digest             was developed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education with                 funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement,                U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. RR93002016. The                opinions in this Digest do not necessarily reflect the position or              policies of OERI or the Department of Education.                             **Title:** Enhancing the Communication Skills of Newly-Arrived Asian American              Students. ERIC/CUE Digest No. 136.                                           **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Institute for Urban and                  Minority Education, Teachers College, Box 40, Columbia University,              New York, NY 10027 (Free).                                                   **Descriptors:**  Asian Americans,  Communication Skills,  Cultural Awareness,                   Cultural Differences, Elementary Secondary Education, Ethnic Groups,             Immigrants, Language Skills, Multicultural Education,  Pacific                 Islanders, Skill Development                                                 **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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