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This study investigated whether Jordanian mothers' self-reported parenting practices were associated with their kindergarten children's prosocial or anti-social behavior based on three parental patterns: nurturance, respect, and power assertion. The participants were 95 mothers with children in the kindergarten level in Jordan. Additionally, 13 teachers of these 95 kindergarten children were also participants. This Parenting Styles Inventory Scale, and the Prosocial and Anti-Social Behavior Rating Scale, developed by Lin (Influences of parenting and teaching styles on young children's prosocial and anti-social development in Taiwan. Unpublished dissertation, Arizona State University, USA, 1995), were used as instruments. Results indicated that nurturance was the most frequent and preferred parenting pattern of participants. Mothers who are warm and nurturing were more strongly associated with prosocial behavior in their children. An unexpected finding was that mothers with more children were more assertive and strict towards them.

This study investigated differences in English proficiency between university-level Thai students who participated in e-mail exchanges and those who did not. Those who participated in e-mail exchanges were subdivided into two groups, one group paired with American students majoring in English, and a second group paired with non-English majors. In a pretest-posttest design, Thai students' gender, level of computer experience, and scores on the TOEFL Institutional Testing Program (ITP) were compared. In addition, relationships were investigated between students' high school GPAs and their TOEFL ITP scores, as well as between their opinions on the value of e-mail exchanges and their level of computer skill. Students participating in e-mail exchanges scored higher on the TOEFL ITP than those who did not. Additionally, female students scored higher than male students, and students with more computer experience scored higher than those with lower computer skills. Students' test scores were not significantly affected by whether they were paired with English majors. However, a positive relationship was found between students' high school GPAs and their TOEFL ITP scores. In a follow-up survey, most students in the e-mail group indicated that the e-mail exchanges helped them improve their English proficiency. They found the exchanges enjoyable, and some indicated a willingness to continue the exchanges after the course was over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]