This book centralizes the narratives of adult English language learners, teachers, and trainee teachers in the development of a humanistic language pedagogy; their strengths, concerns, and stories inform this practical guide to adult literacy development and English language-culture learning and teaching. The author sets the need to educate the…

A generation or two ago, the achievement of children who came to school knowing little or no English was not a prominent national issue. Today, with the increased focus on school accountability and educational equity, it is. This comprehensive resource explores the research on promoting academic success among language-minority students. The…

In the context of teaching culture, this article presents teaching materials that provide learners of German with opportunities to reflect about, analyze, and practice, how Germans commonly react to compliments. Based on findings from conversation analysis, the materials provide students with rich contextual information and a variety of…

Today's young people--the Net Generation--have grown up with technology all around them. However, teachers cannot assume that students' familiarity with technology in general transfers successfully to pedagogical settings. This volume examines various technologies and offers concrete advice on how each can be successfully implemented in the second…

Presents various techniques for incorporating social awareness into conversational and composition language courses. (AM)

Describes how the use of stamps from francophone and other countries may be an adjunct to the teaching of French language and culture. (AM)

Special problems of adult language learners aged 50 and older studying English as a second language include physical, social, and psychological factors. Physical factors related to aging include vision and hearing problems that adults may not be willing to admit to. Older adults may also be more sensitive to room temperature and lighting, and may…

Describes how Holocaust literature can be used in Israeli English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) high school classrooms, focusing on the importance of the cultural model, language model, and personal growth model when studying literature in ESL classrooms. The article describes a work unit in Holocaust literature and presents sample activities related…

The implications of family communication styles for teaching English as a second language (ESL) are explored. Family interaction types differ according to culture and social class. Factors in family interaction influence the way a second language is learned and the way it can best be taught. Two basic family types are distinguished: the personal…

Discusses the use of recordings from Radio Canada and Radio France in advanced high school or college French classes. Techniques for using the recordings, particularly interviews, are suggested. A 16-item selective bibliography is appended. (AM)

This report describes a project that used children's literature to introduce 6- and 7-year-old children (n=25) in the United States to other languages to arouse their interest in finding out more about language. Most of the children were monolingual and spoke English; two boys spoke some Spanish. The study was conducted to see if young children's…

Discusses stylistic variation in communication, the elements involved (participants, contact, message, context, and code), and ways in which to incorporate the knowledge of this process in second language instruction. (AM)

This guide discusses material selection criteria for those who teach English reading skills to adult non-English speakers. It is argued that in order to achieve a grasp of meaning in a second language, the student must have some experience with the culture from which that meaning arises. For the selection of material, a checklist of American…

Linguistic oddities left behind by the historical development of German may be used to assist students in learning German and give them a clearer picture of both the German language and culture. Examples are given and suggestions are made on how best to integrate these oddities into the curriculum at the undergraduate level. (31 references) (LET)

Presents strategies for exploring the cultural content of feature foreign films in the language or culture and civilization classroom. Examples are taken from Francois Truffaut's "L'Argent de poche" and from Agnes Varga's "L'Une Chante, L'autre pas." (AM)