FLORENCE, Italy - Svetlana Cojochru feels hurt. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a caregiver to Italian kids and elderly, but in order to stay she's had to prove her language skills by taking a test which requires her to write a postcard to a(n) {#blank#}1{#/blank#} friend and answer a fictional job ad.

    Italy is the latest Western European country trying to control a growing {#blank#}2{#/blank#} population by demanding language skills in exchange for work permits, or in some cases, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Some immigrant advocates worry that as hard {#blank#}4{#/blank#} times make it more difficult for natives to keep jobs, such measures will become more a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for intolerance than integration. Others say it's only {#blank#}6{#/blank#} that newcomers learn the language of their host nation, seeing it as a condition to ensure they can contribute to society.

    Other European countries laid down a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} requirement for immigrants, and some terms are even tougher. The governments argue that this will help foreigners join the society and promote understanding across cultures.

    Italy, which has a much weaker tradition of immigration, has {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a sharp increase in immigration in recent years. In 1990, immigrant numbered some 1.14 million out of Italy's then 56.7 million people, or about 2 percent. At the start of this year, foreigners living in Italy {#blank#}9{#/blank#} to 4.56 million of a total population of 60.6 million, or 7.5 percent, with immigrants' children accounting for an even larger percentage of births in Italy.

    Cojochru, the Moldovan caregiver, hoped obtaining permanent {#blank#}10{#/blank#} would help her bring her two children to Italy; they live with her sister in Moldova, where salaries are among the lowest in Europe. She was skeptical that the language requirement would encourage integration.

    Italians always "see me as a foreigner," an outsider, even though she's stayed in the country for years and can speak the local language fluently, she said.

Emphasizing social play in kindergarten improves academics

    Emphasizing social play and students helping one another in kindergarten improves academic outcomes, self-control and attention regulation, finds new UBC research. The study, published in the journal PLoS One, found this approach to kindergarten curriculum also {#blank#}1{#/blank#} children's joy in learning and teachers' enjoyment of teaching.

    "Before children have the ability to sit for long periods {#blank#}2{#/blank#} information, they need to be allowed to be {#blank#}3{#/blank#} and be encouraged to learn by doing," said Dr. Adele Diamond, the study's lead author. "Indeed, people of all ages learn better by doing than by being told."

    Through a controlled experiment, Diamond and her colleagues {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the effectiveness of a curriculum called Tools of the Mind (Tools). The curriculum was introduced to willing kindergarten teachers and 351 children with different backgrounds in 18 public schools.

    Tools was developed in 1993 by two American researchers. Its basic {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is that social-emotional development and improving self-control is as important as teaching academic skills and content. The Tools {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the role of social play in developing skills such as self-control, selective attention and planning. "Skills like self-control and selective attention are necessary for learning. They are often more strongly associated with school readiness (入学准备) than intelligence quotient (IQ)," said Diamond. "This experiment is the first to show {#blank#}7{#/blank#} of a curriculum emphasizing social play."

    Teachers reported more {#blank#}8{#/blank#} behavior and greater sense of community in Tools classes. Late in the school year, Tools teachers reported they still felt {#blank#}9{#/blank#} and excited about teaching, while teachers in the control group were exhausted. "I have enjoyed seeing the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} progress my students have made in writing and reading." said a Tools teacher in Vancouver. "I have also enjoyed seeing the students get so excited about coming to school and learning. They loved all the activities so much that many students didn't want to miss school, even if they were sick."