This paper provides a framework for developing an approach to understanding soap opera's appeal as a direct function of both the genre's form and of its fans' viewing behavior. The paper suggests that while this analysis is largely critical, other studies from both critical and social scientific approaches can be based upon the framework and…

This paper questions some of the assumptions that permeate the current literature about soap operas and television, examining particularly the model according to which soap operas are the expression of an "essential" and universal feminine nature. The paper suggests the pertinence of a crosscultural approach to the study of melodrama as…

Hypothesizes that instrumental media motivation, selectivity, attention, and involvement are positive predictors of satisfaction, parasocial interaction, and cultivation effects from watching daytime television serials; avoidance, distraction, and skepticism were seen as negative predictors. Finds support for these expectations through three path…

Examines an approach to teaching conversation in New Zealand to adult migrants studying English as a Second Language, using language data from a television soap opera. Compares teacher-made samples of conversation and the scripted conversation of television soaps and points to advantages of using videoed television samples. (15 references)…

Examines television viewers' interpretations of a particular narrative from the British soap opera "Coronation Street" after they had watched it unfold over some time in natural viewing circumstances. Identifies and discusses the interpretations of four clusters of viewers ranked in terms of their relative allegiance to the characters.…

Discusses changes in feminist theory as well as struggles pertaining to Canadian multiculturalism and antiracism. The article focuses on an advanced-level writing class in Canadian culture consisting mostly of women students with an interest in soap operas, who focused in the class on what personal histories were evoked in watching these programs.…

Interviews with Latinos in the Northeast and the Southwest found that they watched Spanish-language soap operas (telenovelas) as a way of maintaining family ties and Hispanic culture, while watching American soap operas provided information about U.S. society and behavioral norms as well as opportunities to learn English. (Contains 21 references.)…

Discusses use of Spanish-language "telenovelas," serialized television programs broadcast daily and containing stories that are resolved in two to six months, as instructional material for Spanish second-language teaching. The telenovela contains authentic, comprehensible language and lends itself to an ongoing, long-term classroom activity.…

Experiential learning is, in its most simplistic form, a philosophical perspective that links the concrete with the abstract. If experiential learning utilizes the experiences of the learner, television is part of the learner's experience, and to ignore the pervasiveness of mass media in modern society is to ignore part of the lived experience of…

Investigated the contribution of daytime television soap operas to the perception of the roles of single mothers. Findings reveal there is a perception that single mothers have good jobs, are well educated, are not poverty prone, have healthy babies, and have men friends who provide their children with love. The problem of adolescents and gender…

Describes a study that tested whether the accessibility of information in memory mediates the cultivation effect (the effect of television viewing on social perceptions), consistent with the availability heuristic. Shows that heavy viewers gave higher frequency estimates (cultivation effect) and responded faster (accessibility effect) than did…

Studies sexual morality in one year of programing of the soap opera "All My Children." Reconceptualizes definitions of inappropriate sexual behavior to deemphasize marital status. Examines use of force in sexual contact. Finds that men, often heroes, engage in and are rewarded for aggressive sexual behavior in spite of women's protests.…

This paper outlines the fourth-year film appreciation course at Rand College of Education in Johannesburg, South Africa, designed to develop a greater critical awareness in students so they are able to distinguish between good and mediocre film and video material. Some attempt is made to establish what qualifies material to be regarded as…

The Studies on Television section of the proceedings contains the following 16 papers: "Television and the Cultivation of Perceptions about Racial Integration" (Paul Delva and others); "Breaking the News: The Ideology of Television News" (Paul Belgrade); "Whittle's Channel One and CNN's Newsroom: A Systematic Pilot Study…

Examines how young girls in a multi-aged primary classroom constructed gendered identities and meanings through interactions with books and televised soap operas that often distort their vision of reality and what it is to live as a female. Discovers that the girls interpreted story to make it fit into their already established ideas about…