The guide for developing curricula and instructional materials is intended for use in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and instruction in other second/foreign languages. It presents an overview of the course designer's task and some available techniques. First, assessment of educational needs and relevant societal factors is…

Papers on second language oral proficiency testing include: "Language Proficiency Interviews: A Discourse Approach" (Agnes Weiyun He, Richard Young); "Re-Analyzing the OPI: How Much Does It Look Like Natural Conversation?" (Marysia Johnson, Andrea Tyler); "Evaluating Learner Interactional Skills: Conversation at the Micro…

French elementary school teachers as well as the parents of their pupils remember being quiet students in teacher-dominated classrooms. Yet today both teachers and parents idealize lively classroom participation by their pupils or children. In this study, teachers and parents in an urban school district in Villefleurie, France, watched videotaped…

Various aspects of the relationship between students' cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic background and their unequal access to educational opportunities are examined. The theme is that in order to understand the barriers to equality faced by low-income cultural and linguistic minority youth, ways in which social class and ethnicity interact…

The eight articles in this collection focus on the Fulbe culture in West Africa, its intragroup relationships as well as its relations with other ethnic groups. Each article relates the concept of ethnicity to social and political differentiation among tribes. Following an introduction by Emily Schultz, John Lewis presents the findings of three…

A bibliography on intercultural nonverbal communication contains citations of interest primarily to Japanese teachers of English as a second language. Citations are organized in these categories: general information; chronemics; proxemics; personal space and territory; physical appearance and clothes; kinesics (posture and gestures); tactile…

Failure to understand the role of skin color in the development of ethnoracial identity among Hispanic Americans has led to continued psychic and educational problems for them, hidden the cause of real and potential divisiveness in the community, and prevented the development of effective strategies for overcoming ethnic prejudice. The ethnic…

The conference papers presented in this volume explore various aspects of a central question: how will computers be used in language teaching or, more broadly, who will be in control? The volume is divided into three sections: Critical Interactions, Promising Approaches, and Political Influences. Papers included within each of these categories are…

A bibliography on English language teaching to native Chinese-speakers contains 130 citations of journal articles, books, and other publications on a variety of topics, including language processing, material development, instructional techniques, language teaching and learning research, linguistic theory, cultural context and differences,…

Data from a wide range of disciplines can be used to create a paradigm describing the factors that enter into the creation of entrepreneurial events. Throughout the literature, entrepreneurial events are defined in terms of operational factors, such as initiative taking, bringing together resources, management, relative autonomy, and risk taking.…

The 13 papers are grouped into 2 sections: "General Theoretical and Methodological Issues," and "Microethnographic Studies of Minority Culture Children in the Classroom." Section I includes five papers which cover the following topics: approaches to inquiry in school-community ethnography which are qualitative, yet…

A survey of the status of language usage in Somalia begins with an overview of the usage patterns of Somali, the official language, and three languages previously used officially: English, Italian, and Arabic. The cultural context that for many years has supported the usage of a single native language for communication and administration is also…

This paper reviews research literature in the following areas associated with second language reading: (1) the level of language development in the native and target languages, (2) the teaching method selected, (3) the teaching materials selected, (4) the time and place of initial literacy in the home-language (L1), (5) the transition from…

Polish folk high schools are modeled after schools developed in the mid-1850s in Denmark to provide general, non-credit education for young adults in rural areas. The main objectives of the folk high schools are to provide a climate for individual student development and to serve as centers where young adults can learn about their cultural…

A case study of the Sri Lanka Institute of Distance Education, an Open University school, is presented. Areas of discussion include characteristics of the country, the educational system of Sri Lanka, and the university. Specific topics include: the physical setting of Sri Lanka; the population; society and culture; the economy; the political…