Adaptation of the Immigrant Students - Research Paper Example

College: Adaptation of the Immigrant Annotated Bibliography Carhill, Avary. Explaining English Language Proficiency among Adolescent Immigrants. Journal of American Educational Research. 2014. Carhill, unlike the rest of the authors, chooses to concentrates on English as a subject in school. English is the national language in the US and most subjects are taught in this language. The knowledge of English, therefore, determines the how a student will perform in school. Gabz, Trevor. Cultural factors influencing the mental Health of the Asian Americans. New York, NY: U.S Department of Education. 1999. Print In the book, Trevor revisits the varied culture of the Asian Americans and how these cultures may be hindrances to schooling. Trevor’s choice of the Asian was the key point of interest since this research will be concentrating on the Asians. Green, Stern. Educational Services for Immigrant Children. Washington DC: U.S Department of Education. 2014. Print. P46-98 In this journal book, Stern Green provides a fact sheet with the main objective of helping the education providers in the USA to better the standards of education for the immigrant students. He explores all the existing resources and laws that give the immigrant children the right to education. Marta, Tienda. Immigrant Children: The Future of Children: American Educational Journal, 21.1(2011): Pp. 3-56 Marta, like most of the aforementioned authors, enlists more factors that affect the adaptation and performance of the immigrant children in school. This journal book is important in adding more hidden factors of immigrant education. Parmon, Patricia. Educating Immigrant children: Bilingualism in America Schools. Journal of Social Sciences. 10.1(2010). Parmon explains the controversy that existed in the US on whether the immigrant should attend the schools or not. This book has aired various opinions of the US citizens of this matter. The findings of this book helps in ascertaining how this conflict has played a role in the immigrant school attendance and adaptations. Scott, Meid. Asian Americans: Factors influencing the Decision to study Abroad. Brandeis: University Press. 2010. Print Scott clarifies the major influencing factors specifically for the Asian American students when they are making the decision to join the schools abroad. The book is important in identifying the main drivers and hindrances of the immigrant children for joining the schools abroad. Shields, Richards. Challenges faced by the children of Immigrants. Princeton: University Press. 2011. Print. Here, Richards vividly explores a number of challenges that are faced by the parents of the immigrant students. This book is relevant in describing how these family challenges affect the experience and performances of the students in school. Vernez, Georges. How Immigrants Fare in the US Education. Illinois. Rand Corporation. 1993. Print This book by Georges critically and systematically describes and analyse all the experiences of the immigrant students in the US and their performances at their respective stages of education. The information in this book is vital in establishing how experiences affect the performances of the students. Below is a list of terms and their definition: Adaptation- acquiring the appropriate qualities and lifestyles and, conform to a new environment. Immigrant- a stranger who comes into a given country with intention of long stay Culture- the traditions of a community Adaptation of the Immigrant Students The project was initiated from the experiences obtained from the community service. During the two-hour weekly tutorials at the Wang YMCA which is based at China town, I witnessed a number of immigrant children struggling to adapt and perform in the school. Some of the students were quick to learn the concepts in class while others were taking much time to assimilate the very concepts. For that reason, it triggered a thought on what factors that guided the adaptation and the performance of these students. From the outlook, it could be easily noted that the knowledge and familiarity of English was a key factor that affected the acculturation of the students at most schools from around. This research shall first of all revisit all the negative factors that slow down the adaptation of the student and eventually find factors that will avert the situation. Immigrant students in the US high schools do not usually adapt to the system with a desired period of time. Most of them usually take longer time than expected of them. A few of the students totally fail to adapt to the education system and end up dropping out of school. The assumption of English knowledge as a major factor was just enough to establish the factors that influence the adjustment of the students in the US high schools. It called for a more detailed research with data that would support its findings. There was need to establish the factors that would help the immigrant students adapt quickly in school and catch up with native students. This study shall cover the schools with the China town, especially the Wang YMCA School. The targeted group shall be the immigrant students within this area, especially those from Asia. The methods for data collection shall be filling of questionnaires and verbal interview of the students and their teachers. Other factors shall be observed from the students’ behaviors. Most relevant and reliable information shall be obtained from books. All the children in the USA are entitled to access quality education despite their cultural background and citizenship (Green, 6). According to Green, the US Law has clearly provided all the necessary resources that aid the immigrant students obtain education while in the country. Under the law, the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for catering for the immigrants and the unaccompanied children in the United States of America. Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides the education funds for the immigrant students. There is also an Act of law that facilitates the English Acquisition Programs. This Program is aimed providing funds for the tutorials and instructions for immigrants who cannot speak and write in English. Another resource offered by the government is the National Clearinghouse for English language Acquisition. This program was started with the objectives of offering the monetary support to the education of the immigrant children as well as creating the New Comers Centers across the nation. In such centers, the immigrant children would be gathered and taught English language. Despite the provision of the funds by the US government, some immigrants still cannot make it to high school. In the year 1990, the number of immigrant students was calculated to be 2.4 million. This number has gradually increased, with most of the students being in the elementary schools. According to Vernez, the immigrants are likely to attend the elementary schools but are quite unlikely to attend the high school (12). The Hispanic children are more unlikely to attend the high school education since they have become a minority in the US immigrants. However, the immigrants who make it to high usually perform better than the native students and, therefore, the Hispanic children should always be motivated to go to school. He recommends that all the immigrants should always be encouraged to attend the high school education, despite this finding. Most immigrants in the US high schools usually perform better than the native students, especially in the bilingual skills (Parmon, 2010). Their school attendance is, however, very challenging to attain since some of the US citizens are really against the idea of the immigrants filling the classes. They think that the US government has wasted a lot of resources in the English tutorials. Instead, they propose that the immigrant children should be sometimes be forced to learn the language without the many motivations. The immigrant students usually face challenging factors, both internally and externally. The internal factors include the personal attributes and decisions that will lead to adaption of the student (Carhill, 12). The internal challenging factors may include the skills, age, gender, IQ and attitude of the student. Very talented students will always find something that makes them adapt to the new environment. On the age factor, the studies have shown that the younger students usually take less time to adapt than the older students. Also on gender, it has been established that boys always adapt faster than girls. This is because girls usually have a lot of privacy issues than do boys. The external factors include the institutional and the financial support obtained from the parents and other well wishers (Shields, 9). These entail the family background and culture. Parents who earn low wages may not afford to take their children to school and provide all the learning materials required. Language barrier has been found to be another major factor that plays a big role in the adaptation. If a student does not understand the foreign language, he may not adapt as faster as those who speak that national language. Shield has also noted that some communities adapt faster than others. In particular, the Chinese, Japanese and Indians have been found to adapt faster than the Cambodian and Vietnam refugees. The Asian culture, especially the Chinese and the Japanese, has greatly influenced the schooling of the children in a positive way. Most of the Asian children firm background of well educated parents. The educated parents have instilled a positive attitude in their children, who, have embraced education and maintained high performance (Scott, 10). The high value given to education in Asia is what has made the Chinese immigrant children perform better than others in school. The below segment shall critically analyse the factors that deter the adaption of the students in high school in an attempt to come up with viable factors that will facilitate the quicker adaptation of the students. Language is an aspect to consider in this case. Knowledge and familiarity of English usually facilitate a rapid adaption of the immigrant students in USA. Nearly all courses offered in school are written and taught in English language. Students who have adequate knowledge of English have advantage over the rest (Gabz, 21). At the Wang YMCA, speaking the language of English is still a problem to some of the students. This situation limits their socialization with other students. Without socialization with the native students, the immigrant student will certainly take long to fully adapt to the lifestyle of the school. Support as an element is a wider view of support that covers of all aspects of the student’s needs. For an immigrant student quickly adapt to the system, he has to be attending the school on a regular basis. However, the regular attendance cannot be achieved if the student lacks support from the parents and the institution. For instance, a student who lacks school fee may not have the opportunity to attend all the classes and sit for the assessment examinations. The immigrant students who lack moral support from the parents and peers do not adapt as faster as those who are always supported. Commitment to the international education is also another issue. When an immigrant student is taken to school, he may lose focus since this is not his homeland. Some students are always disoriented, wondering whether they should give the foreign education their all or just wait and until the day they eventually return home. Some also feel that their education may be terminated when their term for the stay expires. Those are some of the factors that may make the immigrant students lack proper commitment to the international education. Discrimination is another principal issue. This is because most immigrant students in high school usually feel alienated from the native students. This discrimination can be clearly seen the different study groups that are formed in the class. In most groups, one will notice that most members comprise of a certain origin. Some native students usually look down upon the immigrants as intruders in their country. The immigrant students also encourage this status by isolating themselves from the hosts and forming groups of their own. With kind of division, the immigrant students may not get the opportunity to learn from the native students and adapt to the new curriculum and lifestyle. Lack of motivation is also another issue where immigrant students usually make small progresses at the beginning of their studies. If these progresses are not recognized and rewarded in good time, the student may remain stagnant for a while. Nonetheless, language and personal commitment play the biggest roles in the adaption to the foreign education. If an immigrant student has these tools, he can overcome the rest of the barriers to education. With knowledge of English, one can even study on his own. The commitment will create a personal drive and motivation to carry on. In conclusion, the main factors that determine the adaptation of the immigrant students are: language barrier, support, commitment, discrimination and motivation. These factors must always be put into practice in order realize the full acculturation of the students. The first vital step would be to teach the immigrant English language that will in turn enhance their communication and socialization with the rest in the society. A student cannot understand what is taught in class if he does not know English. Furthermore, he will not be able to read and understand instructions. Secondly, immigrant must be given full support as they pursue the foreign education. As the government has always been at the forefront in the provision of subsidized education, parents and charitable institutions must come together and make the child feel a sense of belonging by providing monetary and moral support to the students in high school. The student must also show his relentless commitments, if he is to obtain any support. A student must keep on working hard in order to attain good grades that will earn him the support. Teachers and other relevant organizations should advocate for the eradication of all forms of discrimination in the learning institutions. The teachers have the duty to give all the students equal attention, despite their different backgrounds. Lastly, teachers must always make sure that the students are recognized and rewarded accordingly for every improvement they make in their studies. Works Cited Carhill, Avary. Explaining English Language Proficiency among Adolescent Immigrants: Journal of American Educational Research, 2014. Gabz, Trevor. Cultural factors influencing the mental Health of the Asian Americans. U.S Department of Education. New York. 1999. Print Green, Stern. Educational Services for Immigrant Children. Washington DC. U.S Department of Education. 2014. Print. P46-98 Marta, Tienda. Immigrant Children: The Future of Children: American Educational Journal, 21.1(2011). Pp3-56 Parmon, Patricia. Educating Immigrant children: Bilingualism in America Schools. Journal of Social Sciences, 10.1(2010). Scott, Meid. Asian Americans: Factors influencing the Decision to study Abroad. Brandeis. Brandeis. University Press. 2010. Print Shields, Richards. Challenges faced by the children of Immigrants. Princeton. Princeton University Press. 2011. Print. Vernez, Georges. How Immigrants Fare in the US Education. Illinois. Rand Corporation. 1993. Print Read More