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mothers. They have not taken extracurricular positions in clubs or
scholastic organizations as is common among earlier Cuban-American
female students in south Florida.
Fathman (1975) finds that the need to know the language is an
important factor in learning it. The culturally related expectations
appear to be influencing female behavior in two ways. First, their
behavior is limited to a more passive role inside the home. As
listener rather than actor, females have less opportunities for in
teraction and less need to learn English. Second, traditionally
established culturally determined behavior patterns can be maintained
if females are limited in their interaction in English. Smith (1980)
observed the cultural influence of sex role behavior on Portuguese
females and its effect on their acquisition of English. Her observa
tions appear relevant to this learning environment. The behavior
observed in the cafeteria may be an extension of the cultural ex
pectations learned at home. While males were not scoring statistically
higher than females at the time of testing, there was a trend toward
significance. More research is required to determine if these cul
turally relevant sexual role differences eventually result in
significant differences in levels of achievement in English. The
school staff should be alerted to this possibility and develop methods
for encouraging females to use English more without engendering funda
mental conflicts of cultural values.
Hypothesis Three
Students who utilize English communication opportunities will make
more progress in mastering English as measured by ethnographic means