Overview

An unprecedented work of its time, this book represents a scholarly endeavor that examines the intriguing phenomena of language minority students' academic achievement in the United States. The linear structural relations approach, which is the most powerful analytical procedure for causal studies to date, was employed to explain the cause-effect network that links ethnic language dominance, socio-economic status, parental involvement, and psychological orientation to verbal and quantitative achievement. Striking results were found that suggest alternative thinkings to common beliefs and provide new insights into the achievement models of language minorities.

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9780820418230

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Reviews

The academic achievement of ethnic minority students, and the role that language proficiency plays in this is a topic of vital current interest in the U.S. and Wang's research provides important insights into this complex issue...Wang's study is also important methodologically, as it is an exemplary application of structural equation modeling to research in language acquisition and language education. This powerful statistical methodology provides a means for examining complex relationships among a large number of factors that affect second language acquisition, and offers the potential for empirically investigating different models of language acquisition. Wang's study thus has important implications, both substantively and methodologically, for research in language acquisition. (Lyle F. Bachman, University of California, Los Angeles) This research by Dr. Lih-Shing Wang is a trailblazing study in the field of second-language acquisition in terms of its methodological sophistication. The experimental design, involving three phases, has been planned with meticulous care and carried out with great precision. The analysis, using the state-of-the-art technique of linear structural relations (LISREL) modeling, is superb. All in all, this report is, in my opinion, an invaluable addition to the library of individual scholars and institutions alike. (Maurice M. Tatsuoka, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Author Information

The Author: Lih-Shing Wang received her M.A. from the University of Illinois, Ed.S. from the University of Georgia, and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Being actively involved in the language research and measurement field, she has published more than 20 professional articles and monographs. A former research scientist at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C., she is currently a professor of psychology at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan, Republic of China.

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