Praises the work of Claire Kramsch and her ability to sensitize educators to the great intellectual and cultural experiences of linguistic foreignness and her effective advocacy for the intellectual weight of foreign language pedagogy in the academy. (Author/VWL)

Describes the rationale and focus of World Language Communities, a core course in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The course emphasizes the social, political, and economic implications of language diversity and the dynamics of natural language and linguistic communities. (SED)

In celebration of the work of Claire Kramsch, this article affirms her promotion of the literary text "to enrich and enliven the classroom, making the act of reading reflective and self-reflective, and creating a common culture of interpretation and debate within each classroom." (Author/VWL)

Discusses what the main task of foreign language teachers is and emphasizes the importance of remembering philology. Suggests that remembering languages in all their specificity and differences is the most effective way to expose students to a world in which shifts in politics, economics, and culture are producing radical new effects, while also…

Discusses the lack of motivation in the United States for learning foreign languages. Suggests that starting second languages earlier will produce more people both proficient in a second language and sensitive to other cultures. (EKN)

Discusses the design of a traditional Japanese house to clarify the importance of the "uchi"--the inside of the house--equation. Deals with key cultural concepts tied closely with "uchi/soto" (outside of the house), then shows that the use of the spatial notion in Japanese grammar reflects how culture and language are part of an integrated system.…

Discusses the position of foreign language teachers who are nonnative speakers of the languages they teach and suggests that they can be cultural mediators challenging the rigid categories of identity to bring out productive discussion and unexpected understandings about the self and the other. (Author/VWL)

Describes the leadership efforts in international education by the department of International Communication and Culture of SUNY College at Cortland. (EKN)

A survey looking at employment patterns and measuring attitudes of French majors, graduating from the University of California at Davis between 1964 and 1987, is presented. Results showed that the majority of graduates were pleased with their choice of major and felt it had broadened their perspective of the world. (JL)

Examines the contribution that applied linguistics can make to the way we conceive of language, literature, and culture in foreign language departments from a social semiotic perspective. (Author/VWL)

Addresses the continued need for teaching cultural literacy as an integral part of second-language courses and examines the problem of which literature and what culture should be taught. Canon formation is discussed as a means by which students can be sensitized to foreign cultural differences and developments that can enhance communication and…

Discusses a program at Rice University (Texas) where there is a mandate to advance the education of a globally competent citizenry through the study of language and culture. The program has initiated the integration of communication and cross-cultural competence into language sequences, created one-credit modules in English on the foreign…

Advocates a new sentimental education that recognizes our migrant condition of double consciousness as a normal outcome of creativity and flexibility that plays between the different languages and cultures. (Author/VWL)

Criticizes current practices of seeking and preserving knowledge which neither contribute to nor support the fields of "humanistic" interest. By confining specialized research to the scientists, it is suggested that a more generalized approach be taken towards literary studies, as a means of broadening and interrelating all the issues that affect…

Refutes the concept that a single and universal tongue is ideal and the rich diversity of languages is an unfortunate state of affairs, pointing out that the mastery of several languages enhances cultural understanding and experience. (eight references) (CB)