A postpartum questionnaire assessed influences of social support and acculturation on breast-feeding among 962 low-income immigrant women in New York. More acculturated women were two times less likely to intend to breast-feed but reported more social support. Predictors of breastfeeding were intent, nonsmoking, role models, and certain attitudes,…

Discusses how, to what degree, and with what causal force are language, communication, and discourse bound up with conflict and conflict resolution. Theorists of international relations have been interested in role played by language in such discourse. Reviews distinctions between "language" (the universal human capacity), a "language" (in modern…

Discusses gift-giving patterns in different cultures, particularly in relation to teacher-student interactions in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. Situations in which gift-giving can raise ethical questions and how to teach culturally diverse students about this issue are highlighted. Script theory provides a theoretical basis for…

Using sociocultural theory as a conceptual framework, this study examined selected features of student discourse of three pairs of third-semester learners of Spanish at the university level. Specifically the study investigated how these selected features, identified in an earlier research project, developed during opportunities to engage in five…

Reviews three prominent theories addressing social and cultural factors that can inhibit academic excellence among African American boys: Steele's stereotype threat model; Ogbu's cultural-ecological perspective; and Majors and Billson's "cool pose" theory. All three emphasize barriers preventing these boys from incorporating academics…

Applies loglinear models of social mobility to six surveys of Australian and Japanese men covering the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Finds similar patterns of association between social origins and social destinations in the two countries, no evidence of change over time in Japan, and only small evidence of increasing openness in Australia. (SV)

Suggests that communities, cities, and nations are no longer culturally and ethnically monolithic and examines the possibilities of human fellowships based on faith. Highlights intermarriage, migration, and changes in family structure as sources of complexity, but argues that we must learn how to live together after having crossed traditional…

Examines theoretical views of language use, learning, and teaching that underlie the work on tasks. Two broad and disparate views are identified: the psycholinguistic perspective and a perspective based on sociocultural theory. (Author/VWL)

Examines whether parents are involved differently with the education of their adolescent daughters and sons. Results show that parents help daughters and sons in different ways. Findings are discussed in terms of parents' traditional socialization practices versus a shift in parental treatment in response to social trends. (Author/MKA)

Reviews the status of graduate education for women in the United States and Canada, historical perspectives on women's work in the workplace and home, and barriers to graduate education for women. Uses psychological and liberatory models of feminist pedagogy to elucidate a feminist direction for graduate education. (Contains 49 references.) (SK)

Discusses how deflexion counters certain grammaticalization-related claims and emphasizes the socio-cultural context of overall grammar, arguing that grammaticalization changes must be understood in the context of a grammar's history as a whole. Using data from Swedish, shows that deflexion (directly or indirectly) results in the upgrading of…

Discusses the influence of Sharon Stephens' anthropological work on child welfare and children's rights, and how Stephens' essentially moral approach led her to insist that policy consequences of various constructions are real outcomes experienced in everyday life. Considers effects of colonial globalization on childhood, developing constructs of…

Taiwanese children identified their racial group membership and selected potential playmates from racially diverse photographs. Children displayed some Asian bias. Perception of racial features influenced children's choices more than recognition of ethnic labels, and both factors triggered some bias via knowledge of own-group membership. Age,…

Examined the impact of sociocultural influences and the moderating role of self-esteem and negative affect on body dissatisfaction and body change strategies for adolescent boys and girls. Surveys indicated that sociocultural pressures significantly predicted body dissatisfaction and body change strategies among both sexes. Both boys and girls…

Describes research that used formative evaluation methods to examine synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems for online learning at the University of Hawaii. Discusses learner-centeredness, constructivism, and sociocultural theories that were used as the bases for the design of synchronous activities and recommends 10 desirable…