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Padilla, Amado
Academic Title
Other Titles
Professor of Psychological Studies in Education
Director, California Foreign Language Project
Director, Bay Area Foreign Language Project
Contact Information
Admin. Support
Program Affiliations
Dr. Padilla's research follows three major strands: (1) resilient students who achhieve high levels of academic performance despite coming from home and community backgrounds that pose multiple challenges to educational excellence, including adaptation to U.S. culture and English by immigrant adolescents; (2) acculturation and acculturative stresses that impact the physical and psychological well-being of newcomer youth and adults as well as the acquisition of bicultural strategies for functioning in their home culture and in mainstream American culture; and (3) studies involving second language learning and teaching, and strategies for achieving bilingual proficiency especially among heritage speakers of numerous European and Asian languages. He has published widely in his areas of research expertise. He is also interested in quantitative research in multicultural contexts. He serves as the principal investigator of the California World Language Project (CWLP), a program that assists California teachers in world language instruction. A final interest includes the history of ethnic minority scholars in psychology.
Current projects include: (a) the development of models of ethnic identity that incorporate social cognition theory and social identity; (b)acculturative stress and mental health status across three generations of Latinos; (c) home, school and community protective factors that empower Latino students to succeed academically; (d) learning of Mandarin by high school students in summer intensive programs vs. students in regular high school world language classes; and (e) student language and academic content learning in a Mandarin/English dual language immersion program.
Quote
"For members of many ethnic groups with their own language, the language itself comes to be symbolic of the group's vitality and place in the world. For instance, we use the term "mother tongue" to signify the first language learned and/or the language of the home. There is perhaps no greater way to express the importance that language has to a group than to equate it to the affection that we give our mothers! In other words, language, like a mother, provides the nurturance and stability so necessary for healthy development and fulfillment. Language gives meaning to an ethnic group because it connects the present with the past through its oral traditions, literary forms, music, history, and customs. In essence, it is frequently language which gives an ethnic group its distinctiveness."
- From his chapter "Psychology" in The Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity
Education
- B.A., (Psychology) New Mexico Highlands University
- M.S., (Experimental Psychology) Oklahoma State University
- Ph.D., (Experimental Psychology) University of New Mexico
Time at Stanford
Since 1988.
Professor of Psychological Studies in Education (1988 - ).
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor of Psychology, State University of New York;
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara;
Associate Professor to Full Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Courses Taught
- Education of Immigrant Students: Psychological Perspectives (ED 177/277)
- Adolescent Development and Learning (ED 177/277)
- Psychological and Educational Resilience Among Children and Youth (ED 256)
- Adolescent Development and Schooling (ED 345)
Recent Publications
Xu, X., & Padilla, A. (in press). Using meaning interpretation and chunking to enhance memory: The case of Chinese character learning.
Borrero, N., Lee, D., & Padilla, A. M. (in press). Developing a culture of resilience for low- income immigrant youth.
Xu, X., Padilla, A.M., & Silva, D. (in press). Time factor in Mandarin language learning: Four week intensive vs. regular high school semester. Language Learning Journal.
Padilla, A. M., & Borsato, G. N.(2010). Psychology. In J. A. Fishman & O. Garcia (eds.), Handbook of language and ethnic identity. New York: Oxford University Press. (Pp. 5- 17)
Padilla, A. M., & Olmedo, E. O. (2009). Synopsis of key persons, events and associations in the history of Latino psychology. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15, 363-373.
Padilla, A. M. (2009). My life in fast forward: Reflections on the making of a Latino psychologist. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.). Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Pp. 45-54).
Padilla, A. M. (2009). Developmental processes related to intergenerational transmission of culture: Growing up with two cultures in the United States. In U. Schonpflug (Ed.), Cultural transmission: Developmental, psychological, social, and methodological perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press. (Pp. 185–211)
Padilla, A. M. (2008). The need to be ethnic: The role of perceived discrimination in ethnic identity. In C. Willis Esqueda (Ed.), Motivational Aspects of Prejudice and Racism. Nebraska Series on Motivation, Volume 53. New York: Springer Press.(Pp.7–42).
Padilla, A. M.,& Borsato, G. (2008). Issues in culturally appropriate psychoeducational assessment. In L. A. Suzuki & J.Ponterotto (Eds.), Handbook of Multicultural Assessment. New York: John Wiley. Pp. 5–21.
Padilla, A. M. (2006). Second language learning: Issues in research and teaching. In P. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Psychology (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association. Pp. 571-591.
Padilla, A. M.(2006). Bicultural social development. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 28, 467-497.
"Quantitative Methods in Multicultural Education Research" In J. Banks & C. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of Research in Multicultural Education. (2004) Josey-Bass.
"A Statewide Professional Development Program for California Foreign Language Teachers" (2004) in Foreign Language Annals.
"Acculturation, Social Identity, and Social Cognition: A new perspective" (2003)in Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences.
"United States? Hegemony and Purposes for Learning English in Mexico" (2003) In P. Ryan and R. Terborg (Eds.), Language Issues of Inequality.
"Evaluation of Professional Development for Language Teachers in California" (2002) Foreign Language Annals.
"Academic Performance of Immigrant and U.S. born Mexican Heritage Students" (2001) American Educational Research Journal.
Current Activities
Principal Investigator, California Foreign Language Project;
Member, Board of Directors, DreamCatchers;
Member, Board of Directors, EdSource;
Editor, Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences.
