G. William Lucker

Cognitive performance and academic achievement of Japanese, Chinese, and American children.

Chinese, Japanese, and American children at grades 1 and 5 were given a battery of 10 cognitive tasks and tests of achievement in reading and mathematics. Samples consisted of 240 children in each grade in each culture. 2 major purposes of the study were to determine possible differences in cognitive abilities of Japanese, Chinese, and American children and to investigate the possible differential relation of scores on cognitive tasks to reading by children of the 3 cultures. Similarity was found among children of the 3 cultures in level, variability, and structure of cognitive abilities. Chinese children surpassed Japanese and American children in reading scores; both Chinese and Japanese children obtained higher scores in mathematics than the American children. Prediction of achievement scores from the cognitive tasks showed few differential effects among children of the 3 cultures. The results suggest that the high achievement of Chinese and Japanese children cannot be attributed to higher intellectual abilities, but must be related to their experiences at home and at school.

Reading Disabilities: The Case of Chinese, Japanese, and English.

A common hypothesis has considered apparent differences in the incidence of reading disability in Asian and Western languages to be related to orthographic factors. A reading test was constructed in English, Japanese, and Chinese to assess the validity of this proposal. Large samples of fifth-grade children in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States were given the test and a battery of 10 cognitive tasks. Strong evidence was found that reading disabilities exist among Chinese and Japanese as well as among American children. In discriminating between groups of poor and average readers by means of the cognitive tasks, the combined effects of general information and verbal memory proved to be the most powerful predictors in Japan and Taiwan. General information and coding emerged as the most effective predictors for American children. The results cast doubt upon the crucial significance of orthography as the major factor determining the incidence of reading disabilities across cultures.

Generating and sustaining backward linkages between maquiladoras and local suppliers in Northern Mexico

Abstract Despite 25 years of growth, Mexicos in-bond assembly, or maquila , operations use very little material inputs that are made in Mexico. Mexican content is less than 2% of value added and those coming from the northern border region are even more miniscule. Some of the reasons for the paucity of local sourcing are reviewed with particular emphasis on corporate and plant purchasing arrangements. Mexican policies designed to support national suppliers are reviewed and the authors offer suggestions that stress the need for a regional focus that concentrates on fostering local technological capacities. The study relies in part on surveys of plant managers and corporate purchasing officers.

Family Variables and Reading: A Study of Mothers of Poor and Average Readers in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States

others of poor and average readers in Japan, Taiwan and the United States were iterviewed about their child-rearing practices, attitudes, and beliefs, and their childrens current and earlier experiences. Poor readers represented the lowest fifth percentile in reading scores; they were matched by classroom, sex, and age with average readers; i.e., children who obtained reading scores within one standard deviation from the mean. The groups seldom differed significantly according to environmental variables and parent-child interactions. Maternal ratings of cognitive and achievement variables differentiated both the children in the two groups and the mothers themselves. Maternal beliefs and descriptions of how children use time also differed between the two groups. Notable was the absence of significant interactions between country and reading level.

Limits to the Use and Generalizability of the Views of Life Questionnaire

The factor structures of the Views of Life questionnaire for four data sets collected in northern Mexico were compared with the original structure reported by Diaz-Guerrero (1979). None of the factor structures for these data sets replicated the original. The subscale means and variances were also compared. While statistically significant differences in subscale scores were obtained, little variance was explained by these comparisons (w2 usually < .10). Only one pair of variances was reliably different. Several explanations for the failure to replicate and suggestions for appropriate uses of the instrument are presented.