With the worldwide use of English as a second language (ESL) and globalization, teachers are expected to understand, acknowledge and interact with culturally and linguistically diverse students and integrate their linguistic and multicultural backgrounds in classroom settings. Teachers need to be multicultural to be able to successfully impact…

The topic of bilingualism has aroused considerable interest in research on language acquisition in recent decades. Researchers in various fields, such as developmental psychology and psycholinguistics, have investigated bilingual populations from different perspectives in order to understand better how bilingualism affects cognitive abilities like…

This article discusses the implications and complexities of Canada's multicultural policies for aboriginal students in its post-secondary education systems. The author, a Pakistani-Canadian multicultural educator, interviewed an Aboriginal-Canadian multicultural educator, to discuss the cultural differences, divisions, and resistances between…

A number of "do's" and "don'ts" are offered that could be helpful to teachers working with the culturally different. Briefly summarized, the suggestions are: (1) Understand that there is no such thing as a culturally deprived child. (2) Understand that the language or dialect the students speak is as perfect a linguistic system as the teacher's…

After a definition of terms, a dialectological and sociolinguistic review of linguistic minorities existing in Italy is made. Geographic aspects of distribution and retrogression of regional speech and use of Italian by minorities form the basis for differentiating degrees of deculturization. The role of linguistic and other minorities is studied.…

The "Self" is a core notion in Western philosophy, which mainly defined it as an "autarchic individual", dependent on no "Other" whatsoever. Such a prevailing definition fails to recognise that just the "Other" is needed to properly define the "Self". As a result, Western mainstream philosophy…

This paper aims to reconsider the status of "English as an international language" from the language user's perspective. Accepting a shift in focus from "English" to "Englishes", we argue that the concept of "Englishes", which assumes the pluralization of linguistic and cultural norms, still remains a collective concept, and to discuss English…

If first language maintenance is considered to be a goal of bilingual-bicultural educational programs, then alternative evaluation strategies are called for that will examine the "politics of speaking" in terms of determining the extent to which the informal or "hidden" curriculum and social organization of the program was inadvertently…

Spanish and English versions of a values assessment instrument were administered to a group of second language students of junior and senior high school age in an attempt to provide current, site-specific information for use by an educational program in a multi-cultural/multilingual environment. (Author/RM)

This book promotes multicultural education, focusing on the diverse ethnic groups that make up Russian society and drawing comparisons with the U.S. educational system to assert that a well-built multicultural classroom is key to reducing racial, ethnic, religious, class, and gender prejudices. It also examines issues of diversity in a rural…

Revised version of a paper presented at the TESOL Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 1971. (VM)

Comments on the distinction that Lisa Taylor, in a previous article, makes between "cultural diversity" and "cultural difference." The article notes that when new Canadians arrive in Canada, their point of reference is their own culture. The journey for new Canadians toward cultural integration into Canadian society is a…

This issue of the Canadian journal "Transitions," presented in French- and English-language editions, deals with immigration as it relates to families. "Immigration, Integration, Families, Values: Old Wine in New Bottles" (Morton Weinfeld with Kathy Eisner) discusses the process of immigrant integration, which spans…

This paper deals with the cultural attitudes which one either learns or inherits as a speaker of English. It is a discussion of the attitudes observed as a student of English, in the use of English as an international and auxiliary language, and in the teaching of English as a second language. As English becomes an international language,…

The major components of cross-cultural communication are treated in this collection of essays. The articles illustrate the influence which a society's values, role expectations, perception, nonverbal patterns and language behavior bring to bear on the international cross-cultural encounter. The following articles are presented: (1) "American…