"Having a diversity of cultures within a single country can be a threat, a problem, or an asset." The contributors to this book argue that cultural pluralism rather than cultural homogeneity must be recognized and accepted within our educational institutions--not as a necessary evil, but as a strong positive force. For different does not mean…

This book is organized in four parts. Part one, "The Colonial Era," includes the following essays: "The treatment of the Indians in Plymouth Colony," D. Bushnell; "The dynamics of unopposed capitalism," S. Elkins; "Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Germans," G. Weaver; and "Frontier society," J. Leyburn. Part two, "The Young Republic,"…

The designation of the Japanese word class "joshi" (in English known as particles, post-positional case markers, or relationals) by the term te-ni-wo-ha can be traced to the early superimposition of the Chinese writing system on Japanese speech. Because of the structural differences between the two languages and the existence of elements in…

Four selected East Asian Studies programs for secondary grades are analyzed and evaluated in this paper, intended as a guide for teachers and, moreover, as a model for the assessment of similar programs. Categories of criteria utilized in each evaluation are: scope and sequence, structure, level of questions, arrangement of readings and adequacy…

This bibliography begins with a critique of the state of research in Black, Mexican American, Native American, and Chinese and Japanese-American gerontology. For Blacks, research is needed to answer the following questions: (1) What are the problems of Black aged being helped by white personnel in institutional settings? (2) What African cultural…

This discussion of possible future applications of machine translation of Asian language materials by library information systems focuses on the current technology, potential users, the necessary standardization of equipment and language representations, an existing information network that provides a database of Asian materials, and available…

First language studies show boys superior to girls in listening vocabulary, though girls are otherwise superior in language ability. A second language study used two sets of Chinese college students (n=285 and 205). Ten tests for proficiency in English and two listening vocabulary tests (described in text) yielded similar results. (Author/LMO)

This collection of 15 curriculum projects is the result of a summer seminar in China for teachers and scholars. Projects in the collection are: (1) "Perspectives on Modern Political/Social Issues in China" (Sandy Conlon); (2) "Ancient History X Projects/China" (Michael Corey); (3) "Education and Development: China, a Case…

This collection of papers discusses what researchers and classroom teachers think and do about culture in language education. There are nine chapters in two parts. Part 1, "Culture Theory," includes the following: (1) "Common Themes" (Joseph Lo Bianco); (2) "Culture: Visible, Invisible and Multiple" (Joseph Lo…

This teacher's guide presents teaching suggestions and presentation materials about the challenges faced by China and India as they work to sustain their population and ways of life without exhausting the environmental resources each has. The materials may be used as a unit on either nation or integrated into existing units of study. Student…

A study of social and cultural factors that affect the appropriateness of verbal expressions in different languages focuses on the comparative uses of three common expressions ("thank you, I'm sorry, excuse me" and their equivalents) in English and Chinese. First, the usage patterns of the three expressions are explained briefly, and the…

Some of the progress in the ways researchers and educators think about and work to improve school, family, and community partnerships is reviewed. This paper summarizes information that emerged from the first phase of a study of family influence and family-school-community connections of four ethnic groups in the Boston (Massachusetts) area. Each…

This curriculum module offers concrete and specific examples for instructors who wish to integrate the films of Yasujiro Ozu of Japan and Zhang Yimou from China into film studies courses. Through this module, students should learn to compare and contrast conventional screen space, color, and editing to alternative forms. By becoming more familiar…

This edited volume is a collection of personal accounts, in narrative and interview format, of the formative literacy experiences of highly successful second language users, all of whom are professional academics. Representing 14 countries of origin, the contributors, who are well known specialists in language teaching as well as a variety of…

This sampler of student responses to mathematics and science items was assembled to show how student responses differ depending on whether students are tested in English or in their native languages. The sampler aims to promote awareness among teachers and assessment developers that low language proficiency in English is a factor that can penalize…