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Discussion of Findings Regarding Hypothesis and Research Question
Three
It appears that the Cuban students in both the high-achieving and
low-achieving English group have different expectations of what con
stitutes appropriate or interesting behavior. While all the Cubans
are still in a period of culture shock, the high and low English-
achieving groups resolve their anxieties in similar and dissimilar
ways. The low English achievers maintain group solidarity and limit
the way they receive information to Spanish language only. They avoid
speaking English when possible. When they find an English-speaking
person who also speaks Spanish, they utilize this person as a source
of information and friendship. The high achievers display self-
confidence by initiating conversations when necessary. They know they
can communicate with English speakers, yet, they maintain group
solidarity by affirming their preference for Spanish and by viewing
English speakers as uninteresting people with whom they had little in
common.
The most obvious measurable difference between students who were
achieving higher on standardized tests and students who were not achieving
was in physical education. Primarily, females did not participate.
Those females who did participate scored significantly higher on English
language measures. Correlations of rank on total English scores and
physical education ratings were significant for females, while rank on
total Spanish was significantly correlated with physical education
participation for males.