Cross-cultural awareness in the multicultural classroom has become an important issue in recent years for two main reasons: a continued increase in the number of international students studying in the United States and an increased emphasis on faculty skills for dealing with minorities in the classroom. Faculty approaches to maintaining cultural…

Three essays concerning second language classroom activities that promote learning of communication skills are presented. In "From Manipulation to Communication" (Renate A. Schulz), the importance of establishing minimal communicative objectives for classroom instruction skills is discussed, specifying situations in which students have to…

This book is the story of four nonnative children's acculturation into an American elementary school, as seen by the author, the teachers, the parents, and the children themselves. The book states that some of the challenges stem from linguistic barriers, but that others are cultural issues so endemic that neither the teacher nor the student is…

This handbook provides classroom teachers with information to assist them in enhancing Samoan students' social adjustment and academic achievement in U.S. schools. The information complements the 25-minute videotape, Samoa, which is designed for student viewing. The handbook provides background information on the Samoan people, their islands, and…

Cultural traits of Southeast Asian groups that can affect student behavior and communication in the classroom are reviewed, and specific techniques to meet this population's special needs are discussed. (MSE)

The result of interviews with 77 students on California state university campuses, this paper explores a set of guidelines designed to facilitate communication between white faculty and minority students. The paper is divided into three sections, each dealing with one of the three areas of the guidelines: classroom interaction, advising, and…

Preliminary results of a comparison of the language modifications made by teachers when telling stories to native English speakers and non-native speakers of English at various proficiency levels suggest that teachers need to do more than make the routine modifications in linguistic input to lower-level learners. Teachers need to: (1) act on the…

A handbook for teachers in small school districts who are faced with the need to include increasing numbers of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in their regular classroom programs is presented. The handbook is designed to help teachers develop effective strategies to adapt curricula and instructional materials to meet this…

A discussion of the second-language classroom as a fertile environment for cultural contact looks at the teacher's role and the instructional potential of various kinds of social discourse, including classroom communication, the social sciences, official and nonofficial reports, surveys, mass media, social action, and signs and symbols. (MSE)

A discussion of discourse analysis focuses on its usefulness as a framework for analyzing and improving the communication skills of international teaching assistants (ITAs). The discussion is based on the transcript (appended) of a native Chinese-speaking ITA conducting an organic chemistry class in English. Using discourse analysis at one level,…

Offers reasons and suggestions for involving Asian immigrant college students in classroom talk (by initiating informal conversations, involving more students in discussions, and structuring small-group communication). Cautions against pressuring them to adopt American speech habits that may threaten their Asian-language identities. Includes…

College faculty are not trained for intensely emotional discussion of non-Eurocentric topics that may arise in a diversified curriculum. They must learn to teach students to separate facts from cultural assumptions; shift perspective and acknowledge the validity of other viewpoints; and differentiate between personal discomfort and intellectual…

Argues that classroom dialogic (structured, open-ended) inquiry, through problem-posing, is a tool for classroom research into second-language instruction, helping teachers develop better understanding of students' backgrounds, motivation, cultures, and strategies for learning English. Outlines steps in dialogic inquiry, and offers examples of its…

Argues that one of the richest vehicles for enhancing students' classroom learning is the diversity of the student body itself. Integrating diversity into the classroom process also increases motivation and facilitates development of social, cognitive, and communication skills necessary for today's multicultural workforce. Classroom experiences,…

Peer response groups contribute to students' effectiveness as writers in any field, but cultural differences in communication affect interactions within the group. Culture-based dimensions on which communication may differ include individualism/collectivism, power distance, concept of "face," and communication style. Recommendations are…