Drawing on the perspective of decolonizing methodology, this paper problematises the conventional interview technique of avoiding yes-or-no questions introduced by handbooks of research methods in applied linguistics. By demonstrating how this interview technique was found unsuitable in the first author's ethnographic study of multilingualism with…

Examines some of the differences between Americans and Japanese and shows how these differences influence perception and communication. Focuses on the bow and handshake, politeness, thoughtfulness, formality, social relationships, specificity and exaggeration, language, holidays, and possibilities for communication. (EL)

This paper discusses characteristics common to all Middle Eastern students with the exception of Israelis, and addresses itself to those working with Middle Eastern students on American college and university campuses. Middle Eastern students will show themselves to be highly adaptable, but they may demonstrate a formality of manner, particularly…

The 1992 report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) and several other recent studies and publications addressing the nation's changing labor force development needs, particularly as they concern instruction in English language skills for the workplace, are discussed briefly, and five aspects of this issue often…

A study investigated the relationship between language contacts made outside of the classroom by Japanese foreign students and how those contacts affect their participation within the classroom and their overall academic performance. Subjects were 32 university students from Japan enrolled in an intensive language program. All of the students had…

The paper attempts to illustrate the importance of an accurate sociocultural description of a number of unconscious verbal and gestural behaviors which help to distinguish a Frenchman from an American. An accurate description of many of the most elementary signs and gestures is needed to help to dispel the notion that there is a one-for-one…

A study explored the issues of cultural identity and interaction in public health discourse concerning Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Hong Kong's multilingual, multicultural social context. Twenty public service announcements (PSAs) concerning AIDS awareness televised in both English and Cantonese in Hong Kong from 1987 to 1994 were…

This volume on pragmatics and language learning includes the following: "'Cultural Scripts': A Semantic Approach to Cultural Analysis and Cross-Cultural Communication" (Anna Wierzbicka); "Issues in Second Language Learning in a Multilingual Context" (Ayo Bamgbose); "Cross-Cultural Speech Act Research and the…