The debate over American dominance of mass media exports gained new momentum in the late 1980s, when the European Community moved toward restricting the number of television programs imported from non-European countries. Research suggests that Europeans enjoy American television programs such as "Dallas" because the series embody basic…

A study investigated how learners of a second language cope with the linguistic difficulties in oral interaction with a native speaker. The four subjects were training to become bilingual secretaries and were faced with job interviews. The study's objectives were: (1) to analyze the subjects' oral performance and show that learners differ widely…

While language switching among multilinguals has been studied in a wide variety of contexts, few attempts have been made to generalize or to integrate findings into useful communication theory. Since language switching is an important part of personal as well as group identity and since issues surrounding language identity are often a focal point…

The educational potential of computer networks will be realized only when educators stop focusing on technical connections and start asking how educational activities that are supported on computer networks can make a significant contribution to education. Computer networks can contribute to accomplishing educational goals in language arts (by…

Using electronic mail (E-mail), the instructor of a master's level drama class at a Finnish university and an introductory literature instructor at Indiana University-Perdue University at Indianapolis communicated between themselves and served as intermediaries for communication between two groups of their students. While instructional levels and…

This study examines culture and illness among Latino immigrants living in Washington, D.C. Both newcomers and established residents with Latin American origins are included in three levels of inquiry: (1) a study of beliefs and perceptions about disease and the practices followed in the management of illness; (2) the identification of levels of…

This practicum implemented a 13-week multisensory-based unit of study designed to assist the 25 first grade students in the target population in developing good citizenship. Opportunity for the students to glean an understand that sharing and caring, and interdependence, the major components of good citizenship, are universal necessities was…

In a politically changing world, "languages in contact" must be redefined as "speakers of different languages in contact," and the implications for language learning and teaching must be recognized. Phenomena occurring beyond the languages themselves should be addressed in both language instruction and the construction of…

Because the changing demographics of the U.S. work force are making cultural diversity the rule rather than the exception, the skills necessary for people to work in a multicultural environment are becoming a natural employment requirement. Those skills are integral to the tool that is called cross-cultural/intercultural/multicultural…

One-fourth of the students in Boston public schools have parents who were born outside of the United States. This guide contains a series of classroom activities, produced by Boston teachers and aides, that are designed to take advantage of the abundant cultural diversity found in Boston schools by encouraging these dual-culture students to share…

The teaching of English in the People's Republic of China has received much attention in recent years. The two papers included here deal with the teaching of the English language and English and American literature to Chinese students. The first, a summary of a questionnaire survey, "Why Bother about Culture in English Language…

In Japan, absolute social status and power relationships among people are clearer than in the United States. The Japanese language supports this social system with the use of a special polite language ("keigo"), structural use of which is the same as polite language in English. The differences lie in the degrees of familiarity used and…

A biography for elementary school students presents an account of an American Indian television reporter, Tom Beaver (Creek), and includes a map of Oklahoma showing the location of Indian tribes. A teacher's guide following the biography contains information about the Creek tribe and the history of television, learning objectives and directions…

To examine the process of language shift (bilingualization) in an area where there is a local dialect equivalent to a "language of solidarity" and a national language equivalent to a "language of power," language interactions in the impoverished village of San Marcos in the highlands of Guatemala were examined. Although Spanish…

The literature on role-playing as a classroom instructional technique for English as a second language has addressed its benefits in improved acquisition of language or linguistic skills, communicative skills, cross-cultural skills, and interpersonal skills. However, promoters of role-playing may have set their goals too high and may be wasting…