Reviews two studies of the relationship between gender loading in languages and the perception of gender by speakers of those languages; the two studies reach contradictory conclusions. Examines a number of theoretical and methodological issues in linguistic relativity research and suggests avenues for further research. (SED)

Defines ethnomethodology as the study of how reasoning and activities are organizable within the limits and resources of a culture as rational, identifiable events and occurrences. Discusses the aims, practices, and values of ethnomethodology, suggesting that it not be judged by the criteria of logical positivism. (DMM)

Reviews the present state of knowledge with respect to substance abuse among Hispanic youth. Outlines several factors which have inhibited a thorough analysis of Hispanic drug-alcohol abuse and identifies salient issues to be addressed in the 1980s. Suggests the need for culture-specific programs. (CMG)

The teacher of English can help working class children draw sustenance for the imagination from their own world and its values. (PS)

Academic disciplines are suggested to be more closely related to national cultural patterns and to changes in society and educational organization than is often assumed. (LBH)

The author uses T. Parsons' and G. Platt's social theory to analyze the secularization of American higher education, then evaluates the necessity and desirability of that secularity. (GW)

This paper explores a new youth movement, spoken word, and the role it plays in identity development for many disenfranchised youth. Often addressing issues of identity, politics, gender, and power relations, young performance poets are carving out a critical public and educative space where they can speak "who they are." There is a…

This paper looks at an idea that the fundamental "social" purpose of college composition is not to expand but to contract students' capacities to function in and transform their world. The paper manifests interest in this conception of composition for intellectual, historical, and political reasons--historically, it addresses the…

Conceptual change as the foundation of meaningful learning is discussed and applied to the change in the context of cultural issues among high school students. Cultural issues are envisioned as the repertory of internal cognitive structure of individuals that shapes the foundations of their attitudinal and behavioural functioning. Each one of the…

Designed to help move literature beyond the canon to include the works of many underrepresented Americans, this book contains a collection of writings which discuss multicultural literature for secondary classrooms. It attempts to bring together the literature written by people of color living in the United States. Themes which emerge in the book…

This guide prepares students for a visit to the Hemphill Folk Art Collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The guide includes a map showing the six states from where the art works originated; questions and answers about the art; and activities for students. As students read the guide and look at the photographs of the art works, they are…

The expanding body of research on children and adults born to interracial/ethnic couples is in response, no doubt, to the changing demographics of the past three decades. This paper discusses the epistemological shift caused by these demographic changes. Many of the studies conducted since the 1980s on the contemporary experiences of mixed…

As the media literacy movement gains momentum in the United States, the increasingly diverse community of educators, community organizers and activists, scholars, social service and media professionals have a lot of issues to debate because media literacy can take many different forms. Moreover, the techniques of media analysis can be relevant to…

This paper presents a biographical sketch of the prolific African-American writer and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois, designed as an instructional unit in an introduction to mass communication course which can help make students aware of the roles played by ethnic minorities in shaping American and world media. The paper provides numerous details of…