ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this chapter is to provide some basic information on the most salient groups of Asian and Asian Pacific Americans who came to this country as immigrants and refugees. Because most of them live on the West coast and share in common certain cultural elements, they are often stereotyped and their differences are not appreciated. Asian and Asian Pacific Islanders' within-group and intergroup diversity is a key issue in order to understand their differential academic achievement and educational needs. In providing the reader with some of the social and cultural contexts of these groups we attempt to emphasize the notion that the cultural diversity and uniqueness are linked to the different origin, ecological adaptations and histories of these groups, regardless of their racial similarities. We also try to present some descriptive cross-cultural comparisons for the major groups. The major groups of Asian Americans are East Asian, i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino; Pacific Islanders, i.e. Fijian, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Marshall Islander, Melanesian, Palauan, Samoan, Tahitian, Tongan, Trukese, Yapese; Southeast Asian, such as Hmong, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malayan, Mien, Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese; and South Asians, such as Bangladeshi, Bhuanese, Burmese, Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Sikimese.
