Naturalistic impromptu speech is difficult for researchers to analyze because it is difficult to observe. Further, it is impossible to create two similar communicative situations across languages for contrastive analysis. The experimental compromise is the extension of traditional contrastive methodology from elements of grammar to elements of…

Specific social groups express themselves through their own particularized media. For example, "MS" magazine directs its communication to feminist readers, and as a part of this, regularly reprints advertisements and news clipping taken from mainstream media in its "No Comment" section. This section provides opportunities for…

This study investigates cultural differences in second language aural comprehension levels among Asians under the constraints of background noise. It is determined that noise is an important component of language proficiency, for it is found where most interactions take place. Students from Hong Kong, Seoul (Korea), Tokyo (Japan), and the South…

This teacher training guide provides information about Navajo cultural beliefs that conflict with learning in the dominant society's educational system. The guide offers rationales for the taboos and recommendations for providing appropriate learning situations, materials, and multicultural learning styles. Section 1 contains information on Navajo…

Thirty teenage exchange students from Denmark and the United States were interviewed concerning the differences they perceived in the two cultures. Salient differences were cited in the domains of family rules, education and schools, use of alcohol, romantic relationships and sexuality, communication and friendships, ethnic differences and…

This paper explores how a set of curriculum reforms in the United States and England over the past 20 years may be interrelated, according to conclusions drawn from ethnographic investigation and informed by historical reflections. The discussion centers upon the case of informal, open, or progressive education, which has enjoyed a 40 plus--year…

These three Information Alerts provide annotated bibliographies of documents covering the education of Asian and Pacific Americans. They cover the following topics, among others: (1) nondiscriminatory educational practices; (2) multilingual education; (3) special needs of the population; (4) parent participation; (5) injecting Asian culture into…

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Reading Recovery program pioneered in New Zealand by Marie Clay (daily supplemental lessons, for students with reading difficulties, which develop a strategy-oriented, self-improving reading system), a study examined the success of the program in an Old Order Amish population of first-grade students from Ohio.…

U.S. economic and national security are linked to the quality of teaching and learning within the educational system. There is a need to improve the nation's ability to develop students who possess the capacities for responsible citizenship, vocational competence, and intellectual and social growth in a diverse and complex world. U.S. citizens…

Because an understanding of the cultural value orientation leads to more effective communication with people from different cultures, this paper examines how the difference of cultural value orientations affects the communication process. The paper explores the dissimilarities of value orientations between Chinese and American families from the…

Foreign students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States represent a broad range of cultures and could provide the intercultural experiences and wider world view that American students need. At present, however, interaction between these foreign students and their American classmates is minimal. A survey of foreign student…

Offering guidelines for future Follow Through program design, documentation, and evaluation, this paper examines the bases of criticisms of standardized tests, describes learning characteristics of black children, and briefly enunciates a system for Follow Through evaluation efforts. Discussion of standardized tests addresses the following…

A literature review was conducted to identify factors in recent brain research related to the needs of elementary school students and to provide a comprehensive list of strategies from which teachers may choose to improve the "brain compatibility" of their classrooms. Annotations of 65 articles are provided. Articles are arranged…

Nationalism and worldmindedness are social cognitions that have both culture-unique and culture-universal aspects. To compare cross-cultural manifestations of these 2 sentiments, 270 Japanese and 210 American university students in Tokyo and Los Angeles answered questions on national resources, self-sufficiency and interdependence, communication,…

The results of a study on the position and attitudes of black students at the traditionally black Fayetteville State University (FSU), North Carolina, to the presence of white students are presented. During the fall semester of 1987, the undergraduate white student body comprised 20.4%, compared to 3% prior to 1967. A random sample survey was…