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A study of 30 Asian high school students (9 males, 21 females), who were in U.S. schools for a variety of reasons, ranging from extended visits to families of relatives to temporary academic or occupational appointments of parents in U.S. universities or corporations investigated student perspectives on English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and bilingual classrooms. The subjects represented a variety of nationalities and educational backgrounds. The students were interviewed, most individually, and all but one in their native languages. They were encouraged to speak openly about their experience in classrooms, with teachers, and with other students. It was found that ESL classes offer a haven for student to relax and relieve some of the tension of other classes, and also provide students with many more opportunities for active participation. The students were sensitive about being understood. Some negative comments reflect feelings of isolation and lack of incentive to learn. Clear differences between bilingual programs and ESL programs were perceived, and these students preferred an environment in which the teacher: (1) provides good instruction; (2) is sensitive to their needs; and (3) tries hard to engage them in the ongoing life of the classroom, school, and culture. A brief bibliography is included. (MSE)

Two studies examined conversations between mothers and children from three different groups to determine culturally preferred narrative elicitation patterns: (1) Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in Japan; (2) Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in the United States; and (3) English-speaking Canadian mother-child pairs. Experiment 1, which compared mothers from the two Japanese groups, found that Japanese mothers in the United States were more likely to give their children topic-extension prompts than mothers living Japan. Experiment 2, which included comparisons of both groups with English-speaking mother-child pairs, found that Japanese mothers in the United States and Japan provided less evaluation of their children's speaking and more verbal acknowledgement than English-speaking mothers. Japanese mothers in the United States requested more description from their children than did Japanese mothers in Japan. At 5 years of age, Japanese-speaking children, whether living in the United States or Japan, produced about 1.2 utterances per turn, whereas English-speaking children produced about 2.1 utterances per turn. Thus, whereas English-speaking mothers allow their children to take long monological turns, and even encourage this behavior, Japanese mothers simultaneously pay considerable attention to their children's narratives and facilitate frequent turn exchanges. Contains 17 references. (Author/MDM)

Conversations between mothers and children from three different cultural groups were analyzed to determine culturally preferred narrative elicitation patterns. The three groups included Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in Japan, Japanese-speaking, mother-child pairs living in the United States, and English-speaking Canadian mother-child pairs. Comparisons of mothers from these groups found that: (1) both Japanese-speaking groups provided less evaluation of their children's discourse than the English-speaking group; (2) both Japanese-speaking groups gave more verbal acknowledgement than did the English-speaking group; and (3) Japanese mothers in the United States requested more description from their children than Japanese mothers living in Japan. At 5 years of age, Japanese-speaking children, whether living in the United States or Japan, produced about 1.2 utterances per turn, whereas English-speaking children produced about 2.1 utterances per turn. Thus, whereas English-speaking mothers allow their children to take long monological turns, and even encourage this behavior, Japanese mothers simultaneously pay considerable attention to their children's narratives and facilitate frequent exchanges. Implications of these findings are further considered in the light of improving cross-cultural understanding. (MDM)

The distinctive features of narratives told by Asians, particularly Japanese, who are non-native speakers of English and residing in the United States are analyzed. Focus is on the narrative structure produced and the communication problems occurring due to cultural traits, particularly as they differ from North American norms. Educational and sociocultural issues surrounding multicultural literacy programs as they concern Asian "voluntary minorities." Specific Asian cultural traits that affect classroom communication and participation are noted. Two approaches to multicultural literacy education, additive and social interaction, are described and their advantages outlined. A study of Japanese narrative types, based on data gathered in one community's schools, is then presented. Results are drawn from an analysis of oral and written narratives by native Japanese-speaking children, produced in interviews or in class. Instructional recommendations for teachers of Asian children, based on the additive and social interaction approaches to literacy instruction, are offered. These recommendations address communication, social, cultural, and pedagogical issues specific to this population. Contains 90 references. (MSE)

The conversational narratives of 17 Japanese children aged 5 to 9 were analyzed using stanza analysis. Three distinctive features emerged: (1) the narratives are exceptionally succinct; (2) they are usually free-standing collections of three experiences; and (3) stanzas almost always consist of three lines. These features reflect the basic characteristics of "haiku," a commonly-practiced literary form that often combines poetry and narrative, and an ancient game called "karuta," which also displays three lines of written discourse. These literacy games explain both the extraordinary regularity of lines per stanza and the smooth acquisition of reading by a culture that practices restricted, ambiguous, oral-style discourse. The narratives can be understood in the larger context of"omoiyari" (empathy) training of Japanese children. This empathy training may explain the production, comprehension, and appreciation of ambiguous discourse in Japanese society. An 84-item bibliography is included, and narrative samples and discourse analysis results are appended. (Author/MSE)

In this research, using the "Frog, Where Are You?" picture book, 40 bilingual children age 6-12 years were asked to narrate the story in two languages, English and Japanese. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed in order to study the relationship between the use of the two languages. The results generally suggest that those children who possessed competent literacy skills in Japanese (which is considered their first language) possessed equivalent literacy skills in English (which is considered their second language). The study, however, also reveals that the bilingual children used more words when telling narratives in English than in Japanese. The study further indicates that the bilingual children tended to provide more referential details (i.e., specific events) in English, whereas in Japanese, the same narrators tended to emphasize evaluative descriptions (i.e., statements that tell the listener what to think about a person, place, thing, event, or more globally, the entire experience described in the narrative). Recognizing the close relationship between culture and language, the study implies that bilinguals access different cultural systems in their minds when telling the same story in two languages. (Contains 33 references.) (SM)

This study examined the efforts of parents and children of Japanese extraction in the San Francisco Bay Area to preserve bilingualism. First, an ethnographic study of the children was carried out at home and school. Second, interviews with the bilingual children's mothers were conducted. Finally, in order to measure each child's bilingual verbal ability, the Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVAT) were administered. The ethnographic study revealed that teachers working with Japanese children are trying to create a student-centered program. Interviews with the mothers revealed that despite their efforts to preserve Japanese language skills, the children, if given the choice, prefer to speak English. It is suggested that efforts are needed to overcome the mismatch between home and school cultures and instead create a school environment where there is little conflict in the socialization process between the wider society, culture and language and the Japanese culture and language. (Contains 18 references.) (KFT)

This study explores two linguistically alternative options--English and Japanese--available to children from bilingual homes, some of which are immigrant families. To measure each child's bilingual verbal ability, the Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVAT) were administered. Interviews with bilingual children's mothers were conducted. The results of the BVAT revealed that children's English vocabulary usage was highly correlated with their vocabulary usage in Japanese. Scores obtained in Japanese tasks, whether high or low, were mirrored in the scores of the corresponding English tasks. These results suggest that increasing language ability in either language used by bilingual children can accelerate their progress in the other language as well. Nonetheless, the study also revealed that children of Japanese parents performed better in English than in Japanese. Interviews with mothers and fathers revealed that children of Japanese heritage preferred speaking English over Japanese despite their mothers' concerted efforts to maintain Japanese. The implications of these findings hold significant meaning in terms of promoting bilingualism and biculturalism. Tables of data are appended. (Contains 26 references.) (KFT)

This study explores the relationship between English and Japanese in bilingual children. The Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVATs) were administered to 40 children of Japanese heritage and their mothers residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. All the subjects were either enrolled in bilingual programs in public elementary schools or attending Japanese language courses on weekends. The tests were administered to measure the children's English language proficiency and bilingual verbal ability (verbal cognitive ability in English and Japanese combined), and to predict the children's academic progress. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The study found that it is essential for bilingual children to raise the level of their first language ability to such an extent that their literacy skills in Japanese and English will be able to produce mutually accelerated progress effects. The study also revealed that Japanese was the dominant language for those parents who grew up in Japan, whereas English was dominant for many of their children. Specifically, bilingual children used Japanese mainly in interacting with their parents, while they tended to prefer speaking English in all other settings, such as at school and interacting with siblings. Overall, it was found that Japanese families demonstrate a successful case of balanced bilingualism. Unlike most other immigrant children, where over time English comes to displace the family's first language in children, families of Japanese heritage have been successful in promoting lasting bilingualism. (Contains 20 references.) (KFT)

Cross-cultural studies of Asian and American children suggest that the superior performance of Asian children in school settings is related to cultural and educational differences beginning in the home. In an effort to understand why Japanese children make a smooth transition from home to school, this study examined the home language environment of preschool children in native Japanese-speaking families in the United States. Participating in the study were 20 mothers and their children; half the children were 4-year-olds and half were 5-year-olds. Mothers were observed reading a Japanese translation of the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Transcripts of the verbatim mother-child verbal utterances other than reading were coded using a modified version of "The Coding System for Home Bookreading" in which utterances were coded as "immediate talk," such as labeling pictures; "nonimmediate talk," such as making real world connections or making inferences; or "other talk," such as requesting attention. The qualitative analyses revealed a ubiquitous pattern of the 3-part sequence among Japanese mothers during book reading, a sequence typically appearing in classroom interactions: the mother initiates usually in question form, the child responds, and the mother supplies feedback. Nonimmediate talk is considered to involve the types of skills necessary for school success. Quantitative analyses indicated that the correlation between mothers' nonimmediate talk and the children's nonimmediate talk was close to .90. (Contains 37 references.) (KB)

Studies on child language acquisition suggest that Japanese children begin to use a variety of linguistic signs very early. However, even if young Japanese children learned the social pragmatic functions and interactional dimensions of such linguistic means and communicative devices, they might not have acquired the subtleties of those devices that is expected in telling oral personal narratives, such as the effective use of proper verb-ending forms to encode the narrator's perspective. A total of 20 middle-class Japanese preschool children participated in this study along with their mothers; their oral personal narratives were studied in order to analyze what kinds of linguistic means and rhetorical devices they deployed in narrative. The findings seemed to indicate that cognitive, linguistic, conversational, and social-interactional dimensions take different courses in the process of language acquisition, but that, at the same time, these factors interact in a complex fashion in narrative development. In telling personal narratives, preschoolers have not yet mastered certain linguistic devices and manipulative strategies so that they are capable of effectively encoding their perspectives as well as their emotions. Unlike talking about the here-and-now, in the development of narrative skills preschoolers have a long way to go. Telling a narrative on their own does not seem to be an easy task for young children. (Contains 29 references.) (Author)

"Scaffolding" refers to the temporary support that parents and others give a child to perform a task. In narrative contexts, children's speech is guided and scaffolded by mothers who initiate and elicit children's contributions about past experiences. Unfortunately, data on this phenomenon from languages other than English are very limited. To fill this gap, this study explored how maternal patterns of narrative elicitation relate to young Japanese children's developing narrative discourse skill. Personal narratives of 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, ages 4 and 5, and their mothers were analyzed using the Labovian approach (Labov, 1972). Also, using a speech act coding system (McCabe and Peterson, 1991), conversations between the same 20 mother-child pairs were analyzed to study differences in narrative elicitation between mothers of 4- and 5-year-olds. Results in terms of developmental patterns indicated that: (1) compared to adults, young children emphasized a temporal sequence of action with less emphasis on nonsequential information, especially orientation; and (2) although 4-year-olds gave proportionately less evaluation than adults, no differences were observed between 5-year-olds and adults. In terms of social interaction aspects, mothers of children of different ages were found to use different techniques to elicit children's participation in narrative discourse; mothers of 4-year-old children requested more evaluation from their children than did mothers of older children. Results suggest that how mothers verbally interact with their young children during narrative elicitation is reflective of those children's developing narrative skills. (Contains 28 references.) (Author/EV)

Two lines of research are synthesized in this study: (1) structural aspects of children's narrative discourse and (2) the role of maternal styles of talking with young children. Personal narratives of 20 Japanese preschool children, aged 4 and 5 years, and their mothers were analyzed for developmental differences in the 2 age groups. Then conversations between the same children and their mothers were analyzed for differences in narrative elicitation in the two age groups. Maternal statements about or requests for information about actions during narrative elicitation were found to be negatively associated with children's statements about actions in their monologic narrative productions. However, positive correlations were found in two domains: quantity and variety of words used by mother and child in the interaction, and duration of elicited and monologic narratives. It is concluded that how mothers interact verbally with their young children reflects the children's developing narrative skills. Contains 41 references. (MSE)

Personal narratives of 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, half of them 4 years old and half 5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed using stanza analysis and high point analysis. The patterning in stanzas yielded the following: (1) with regard to the proportion of three-verse stanzas, there were no differences between the groups of 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, and adults (i.e., mothers); that is, the proportion of three-verse stanzas remains unstable across the three groups. (2) However, a smaller proposition of two-verse stanzas and, in contrast, a larger proportion of four- or more verse stanzas produced by 5-year-olds, indicated that they produce slightly longer stanzas than do 4-year-olds. (3) Furthermore, no difference was observed between 5-year-olds and adults in any types of stanzas. It was concluded that compared to 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds have begun to use the form of adult-like narratives. High point analysis indicated the following: (1) compared to adults, young children emphasized a temporal sequence of action with less emphasis on nonsequential information, especially orientation. (2) Although 4-year-olds gave proportionately less evaluation than adults, no differences were observed between 5-year-olds and adults. Therefore, compared to 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds have begun to evaluate in the form of adult-like narratives. The study illuminates the ages at which various narrative components develop and that from early childhood on, Japanese children learn the narrative mode of discourse valued by their mothers. (Author)

Conversations between mothers and children in Japanese and North American cultures were conducted to account for the way in which cultural narrative style is transmitted to children. The contrasts yielded from the study are described. (JL)

The traditional discussion of language issues is extended to multicultural settings by looking at how language shapes and is shaped by diverse cultural experiences. This review of existing studies shows that the acquisition of culture-specific communicative competence and socialization patterns plays a significant role in language acquisition and the development of language skills. Research further suggests that, regardless of home environments, children can learn to internalize the expectations of home life. The empowerment of language-minority students and their parents cannot be ignored in the discussion of successful language development for language minority students. The importance of the interaction between student and teacher must be acknowledged. The teacher must perform the role of an experienced participant in the community, rather than sole authority, and must facilitate communication so that all students feel comfortable taking risks with language. Teachers must understand the relationships among linguistic, sociocultural, and cognitive processes. (Contains 161 references.) (SLD)