This paper describes and reflects on the pedagogical meaning of a festival held to showcase and celebrate Latin American culture in a North Carolina town undergoing a cultural transition as its Latino population grows. Following a successful event the previous year, a 2-day festival was organized to include a soccer tournament, booths selling…

A study investigated the nature and effectiveness of communication strategies (CSs) used in a negotiation task involving native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) of Spanish. Subjects were eight university students divided into NS/NNS dyads; the NSs were studying English and the NNSs were studying third- and fourth-semester Spanish. The…

As interest in Alaska studies increases, a number of Alaska school districts have begun to develop materials specific to the cultures of their students. Designed specifically for Alaska districts, this curriculum development guide addresses the content and format of multicultural curriculum and the process of incorporation into a district's…

This paper discusses miscommunication in speech acts, speech act research, and applications in the classroom. A new model of speech acts proposed by Celce-Murcia, Dornyei, and Thurrell is discussed. The distinguishing feature of this model is that the pivotal center is discourse competence. Discourse competence interacts with the three subfields…

The goals of this telecommunications project are for students to: (1) gain a better understanding about the world and its people by communication with other students from other countries; (2) learn to use telecommunications for electronic mail and online research; (3) use higher-level thinking skills in preparing research papers and presentations;…

With an emphasis on social and teen issues, the objectives for this project for students in grades 7-12 are for students: (1) to "meet" and learn from students who live in another country; (2) to be able to understand similarities and differences between themselves and their keypals (named so because a keyboard is used instead of a pen);…

At the reported meeting, the Group was informed of the increasing interest from Eastern and Central Europe in the work of the Council of Europe. There was a report of the study visit to EUDISED (European Documentation and Information System for Education) agencies in Vienna and The Hague by representatives from the national agencies of…

This paper defines communication assessment in terms of the four characteristics of communication identified by John Daly, which propose that: (1) communication is interactive and dialogic; (2) communication occurs in real time; (3) communication is inherently contextual; and (4) communication is personal as well as social. The paper then examines…

Papers presented in the proceedings discuss: business communication skills; job searching; technology; effective oral communication skills; ethics; and innovative instruction in business communication classes. Papers are: "Communication Skills in Employment Ads of Major United States Newspapers" (M. Casady and F. S. Wayne); "A…

Young people need help in learning alternative dispute resolution skills at school. Teaching high school students how to understand conflict and then develop effective ways to deal with it is the purpose of this program. Designed for five 3-hour sessions using two trainers, it is organized around seven major themes: The Mediation Process, Cultural…

A study examined factors in the hierarchical formation of self-concept in English as a second language among bilingual college students. Subjects were 306 students in a Hong Kong institution of higher education, who were administered an academic self-description questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis of the data found distinct self-concepts…

This paper discusses assessing the oral communication skills of non-native speakers of English enrolled in pre-vocational programs at Golden West College (California), presents the locally developed assessment instrument, and discusses multicultural communication intervention strategies educators can use to empower students. The first part of the…

This study examined the experiences and present attitudes of Japanese and American Fulbrighters who went to the United States (U.S.) and Japan during the period 1951-90. The study sought to understand how these graduate students and scholars incorporated education and related experiences in a different society and culture into their own lives. The…

This guide is designed to help kindergarten through grade 12 students begin a life-long dialogue about intergroup relations. It helps them to examine their attitudes about diversity and intergroup relations, assists them in identifying problems in intergroup relations by using their own experiences and the results of The National Conference Poll…

The handbook is designed to help Peace Corps volunteers in Sri Lanka examine and understand the culture of that country. It looks at five general areas of culture relevant to everyday living (personal appearance, social invitations, work attitudes and relationships, interpersonal interaction and communication, and harassment) and analyzes them…