Describes a study designed to differentiate between universal and culturally specific aspects of children's biological understanding. A group of 363 kindergartners, second graders, and fourth graders from Israel, Japan, and the United States matched 16 attributes to people, animals, plants, and inanimate objects. Results revealed how cultural…

Systemic functional linguistics, particularly ideas about the relationship of language to its context, is used to examine the selections and functions of different sets of genres found in science and history textbooks in junior secondary education. Genre selection was found to point students in different directions, either from action to…

Addresses the question of how constraints are established by which Hispanicity is determined vis-a-vis language. It argues that, if Spanish-English bilingualism comes to prevail among American Hispanics, they will lose the Spanish language as a mother tongue and their distinct culture, becoming an Anglophone subculture similar to Irish or Italian…

Reviews the early history of the English language in Japan, from its introduction in the early 17th century through the 20th century, focusing on the role of English in regard to education, nationalism, and modernization. Also discussed is the current status of English instruction in Japan. (16 references) (MDM)

Discusses the role of the Chinese language and people in Japan, focusing on the historical impact of the Chinese language and culture on Japan, Chinese schools in Japan, and local Chinese immigrant communities. (20 references) (MDM)

Investigated the effect of using gender as a functional category in elementary school students' gender stereotyping. Results support the idea that the functional use of gender categories leads to increases in gender stereotyping, particularly among those children with less-advanced classification skills. Advanced classification skills proved to…

Examined the potential of creative writing in (n=32) students' science learning. Analysis of children's stories and conversations in a Year 5/6 integrated studies setting revealed a number of themes around the processes of learning and using science and language. (19 references) (Author/MKR)

A study investigated gender-related patterns of student talk in teacher-directed and student-directed peer response groups in college writing classrooms. Females in both groups asked more questions, made more suggestions, and more often used gender-typical language. Although females and males in teacher-directed groups responded equally, females…

A study examined interactional patterns in interviews that characterize elicitation of one text type, description, including type/mixture of questions asked by the fieldworker and the speaker's response. Subjects (n=137) were of three ethnic groups and three socioeconomic levels. Results suggest questioning strategy can have strong, predictable…

An approach to writing instruction in a second language begins with a look at the different functions of oral and written language and proceeds to an analysis of stylistic differences. A number of examples are offered from French textbooks, letters, and excerpts from speech used on television. (MSE)

Examines the historical role of English in the Nigerian education system. Introduced through evangelism and colonialism, English became the official Nigerian language and still occupies a place of pride in formal schooling. Although the widespread use of English in Nigeria will likely continue, the language must be adapted to the linguistic…

Describes the linguistic situation in Israel and the language teaching policies and practices in Israeli schools. Policy is dominated by the ideological role and practical value of Hebrew, and is further driven by the large numbers of non-Jewish minorities, the status of English as a world language, and the political values of Arabic. (21…

Describes ways in which the inclusion of literacy materials in kindergarten classroom dramatic play centers encourages young children to incorporate literacy activities into their play. (BB)

Four instructional ideas for use in the French second-language classroom are described, including an exercise in the temporal aspect of French past tenses; part of a series on simulating a French village community; a verb tense drill set in the context of a murder mystery; and an exercise in current French street slang. (MSE)

The underclass model used to describe the situation of inner-city Blacks cannot legitimately be employed to understand the social and economic status of Hispanic Americans. A comprehensive theory of Hispanic poverty must consider diversity of Spanish-origin groups; race; residential segregation; immigration; and role of the Spanish language.…