Compares mental health services from Anglo-American and Native perspectives, focusing on the cultural self as a suggested locus for greater credibility and increased use of these services. Recommends cultural competence as a model for community-specific policy for the design and implementation of services to increase the probability of…

Culture contributes to adult learners' success in English as a Second Language and to their ability to transfer English use to other contexts. Second-language learning is affected by two culturally related phenomena: communicative competence and the rules for participant interaction in the classroom. (SK)

Explores some of the challenges now resident in cross-cultural consultation. Emphasizes the fact that cross-cultural consultants must be aware of their personal values and biases, be culturally empathic, be aware of their consulting model, and be able to make culturally sensitive adaptations to their approach to consultation. (RJM)

Research in language learning and general education supports the idea that addressing the "communities" goal of the national standards for foreign language learning in the language classroom can be an effective way to teach the target language. This article gives examples of how community-based learning in the foreign language classroom…

Analyzes the effects of culture-referenced essay prompts/topics on the writing quality of 11th- and 12th-grade students who participated in a collaborative project between Temple University's Writing Program and four Philadelphia public high schools. Scores 711 essays holistically. Suggests that the culture-referenced topics elicited better…

Discusses students (in two different settings, and both native and nonnative speakers) who were quiet in their English classrooms. Finds that dimensions of schooling which created barriers were opportunity to talk, self concepts, and texts and other course materials. Includes responses which consider how students can be helped to talk. (PA)

Case studies of the transfer of training policies, practices, and delivery systems from one developed country to another and from developed to developing countries identified barriers. Because the education and training system is embedded in a sociocultural context, the success of transfer may be limited. (Contains 49 references.)

Focuses on personal letter writing as a mode of communication between a second language (L2) writer and a first language (L1) reader. The corpus is made up of 120 personal letters written to British native English speakers. Examined the corpus of letters in terms of the sociocultural background of the writers to establish links between the type of…

Analyzed the discourse of 9- to 12-year-olds on the subject of their development, creating an ethnographic account of the meaning of development in peer culture. The interviewed children distinguished a linear concept of development as both a natural process and a goal. Their discourse continually reconceptualized the relations between the sexes…

Compares how faculty in two academic organizations (an American university faculty and a Chinese faculty in Taiwan) evaluate levels of communication satisfaction within their organizations. Finds the difference in satisfaction level statistically significant. Suggests that social/cultural characteristics may affect communication in the…

States that in 1992, a "Think Tank on Multicultural Theater Literacy" was held and found that "theater has the potential to transcend cultural differences." Discusses why more has not been done to achieve the goal of achieving a truly multicultural theater curriculum. Concludes with a Cherokee myth and a lesson plan to develop…

Highlights ways of channelling students' passion for English music through motivating second-language activities. The article presents useful class activities involving introducing songs in the second-language classroom. As culture capsules, songs offer insights into the second culture and contextualize new language information. (10 references)…

Argues that Greek Americanism is neither based upon the wholesale assimilation of American culture nor the futile copying of Greek culture. Instead, an amalgamation of both cultures, a blending together of Greek and American cultures in a manner that produces a unique culture all its own is presented. (GR)

Analyzes research based on data drawn from the cultures of Puerto Rico, Finland, Australia, and the United States. Finds a very positive relationship between immediacy and perceived cognitive learning in each culture studied, but the magnitude of the relationships varied substantially. Discusses implications. (PA)

Takes a critical look at various tendencies within the current generation of approaches to family literacy programs. Groups these tendencies into three broad categories: intervention prevention, multiple literacies, and social change. Notes a danger in glibly assigning any given program to one category or another. (RS)