Explores the ways British and New Zealand children imagined each other's environments and cultures. Illustrates the sources and importance of stereotypical understandings of landscape, people, and patterns of daily life in other nations, and the ways these may be contested through Internet contact. (JPB)

Presents an interview with educators' educator Sonia Nieto--an author of two important books ("The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities," and "Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education"). Discusses her books, avoiding stereotypes, current issues in multicultural education, how and what…

Eight American values/beliefs that affect speech/language service delivery are examined: the importance of time, the need for directness in communication, the appropriateness of informality in communication, the belief in equality, the necessity and efficacy of rehabilitation, the importance of independence, family involvement in rehabilitation,…

Grice's maxims, which define the conditions for efficient spoken communications, can be adapted to the teaching of writing by providing both teachers and writers with a way of understanding successful and unsuccessful written correspondence in mono- and cross-cultural settings. Cultural differences are revealed in a survey of lay readers'…

Although many teachers acknowledge that language and culture are critical components of children's development, actually incorporating materials representative of children's cultures remains a problem. This article explains how the dramatic play center is a natural place to promote multicultural awareness in the classroom and offers suggestions…

A study interviewed 28 Vietnamese refugee families in St. Louis (Missouri) to determine difficulties in adjusting to the United States and to assess the prevalence of child abuse among this population. Findings were inconsistent and suggested that common methods of identifying child abuse may not be valid among populations reluctant to admit to…

A study compared 31 abused and 21 non-abused Latino children on measures of depression, anxiety, behavior problems, and dissociation. Abused children had higher levels of symptoms on most measures. Scores of the abused children on self-report measures were not in the clinical range, but results of parent measures were in the clinical range.…

Provides an interview with David Matsumoto, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Culture and Emotion Research Laboratory at San Francisco State University. He has studied emotion, human interaction, and culture for more than 15 years. Focuses on cross-cultural psychology and perspectives in relation to the psychology curriculum. (CMK)

Discusses the situation of Hmong refugees who entered the United States 25 tears ago and new generations of Hmong living in the United States. The focus is on culture and learning styles, language and identity crises bridging the academic gap, instructional strategies, and tradition and progress. (Author/VWL)

Offers a qualitative, longitudinal study that focuses on individual changes in novice teachers triggered by continuous contact with students of another cultural background in multicultural schools. Reveals clear differences in the acculturation processes. Regards the increase in cognitive differentiation as an opportunity for personal change. (CMK)

English can be considered the number one global language. Though there are positive aspects to having a global language, it can lead to arrogance and complacency among native English-speakers and a sense of grievance and inferiority in other language groups. The paper examines reasons for the spread of English worldwide, discussing the importance…

Discusses the need for students to become more aware of other cultures as the population becomes more diverse. Provides examples of activities that teachers and library media specialists can use to expand student's cultural awareness and explains The Diversity Game that can be adapted to community demographics. (LRW)

This study examined content and conventions of stories made up by 6- and 7-year-olds from China, Hungary, and Sweden. Analyses revealed qualitative differences in children's life worlds, which could be related to their cultural backgrounds. The study also explored the origin of characters in the stories, characteristic plot events, and cultural…

Discusses the proactive-interactive human relations approach as a strategy to mitigate ethnic tension in urban schools, highlighting the Colorful Flags Program as an example of this approach. This Los Angeles-based program has serviced approximately 130,000 K-12 students in 17 California districts and has also been implemented in hospitals, police…

Offers cultural explanations of communication reluctance in the English-as-a-Foreign-Language classroom in Vietnam. Investigates what actually happens in the mind of the students when they first join a course, and explores how the lack of verbal performance in the language classroom reflects what they deem appropriate in their own culture.…