A systematic cultural plan applied to the second language textbook will not produce riches overnight, but it is a solid beginning that might be expanded when the teacher has the opportunity for further research or an increase in budget for the purchase of cultural modules. The key word in this proposal is "system." Teachers can, and do, add…

This paper examines the problems of dispelling mistaken concepts about a country, or de-mythologizing students' ideas about a country's daily life, in foreign language instruction. Some conclusions about teaching culture are offered, and the teaching experiences which led to those conclusions are related. It is felt that much teaching about the…

There are a variety of methods to impart the cultural setting of a foreign language. The teacher can use, among other things, cultural assimilators, films, mini-dramas, culture capsules, background lectures, and native-speaking class visitors. This last technique can be extremely effective but difficult to arrange and difficult to control once it…

Following a brief review of the history of interest in foreign languages in America, facts to be considered when interpreting falling enrollment statistics, such as a drop in the birth rate, are discussed. It is stressed that foreign language teaching cannot be neglected in a world having improved and extensive communication between people…

The basic language issues in Canada are two-fold: (1) French-Canadians are making serious attempts to maintain their native language and culture, and a move towards French unilingualism is apparent; (2) English-Canadians are showing increasing interest in becoming bilingual, mainly because they are not threatened by native language loss or by…

This paper focuses on language diversity in Chicano speech communities in the United States and its relation to the teaching of Spanish to Chicano bilinguals. Attempts to teach standard Spanish to Spanish-speakers in the United States have been unsuccessful for the most part, because the schools recognize only a single standard of "correctness"…

In the Philippines, school children must contend with the use of English and Pilipino as media of instruction. Since they are taught by teachers who have not mastered English, either, the result is predictable: rote learning. In this process, pupils also learn the hierarchical authority structure of the school system, that is, the rules governing…

An analysis is presented of nine textbooks that have been developed in Germany for English language instruction in secondary schools. The purpose of the study is to describe the view that Germans appear to have of the United States as reflected in the information and opinions expressed in these textbooks. It is noted that all the textbooks…