While Europe is experiencing new transnationalism based on technical economic links, European preschool education is not as accommodating to multicultural growth as economic growth has been. In many schools, children are forced to learn and interact in a language foreign to them. This break with their mother tongue is also a break with maternal…

The relationship between language and culture is examined briefly, and instructional approaches to developing cultural awareness in language students, particularly Chinese students of English as a Second Language (ESL), are discussed. It is noted that effective cross-cultural communication requires an understanding of culture's role in governing…

Every 4 years, Gainesville College, in Georgia, conducts a survey of entering students to determine their demographic characteristics and reasons for enrolling. In fall 1995, 275 first-time freshmen students were surveyed, representing 55% of the total number of first-time freshmen, while the results were compared to findings from the Higher…

Constructivist approaches to therapy that view the therapist and patient as equal participants in co-creating a new dialogue render aspects of experience invisible. What is missing is an awareness of the dominant structures in society and the dominant ways of thinking and speaking. Three key factors need to be understood: first, the way meanings…

A study investigated the production of conventional conversational openings by five advanced learners of Kiswahili with experience in the Kiswahili speaking environment. Native speakers of Kiswahili usually engage in lengthy openings including several phatic inquiries (PIs) and phatic responses (PRs). The number and manner in which the PIs and PRs…

A study investigated requests as speech acts in "Zulu English," the English of Zulu first-language speakers, seeking to explain miscommunication in interactions between Zulu- and English-speakers by pointing to pragmatic transfer as one possible cause. Data were collected by means of a series of discourse completion tests in Zulu, Zulu…

This book is an account of a study of racism among young people in the central and southern parts of the London (England) Borough of Greenwich. It builds upon an earlier study in the Thamemead area in seeking to understand the social basis of racist activity in order to design strategies to combat it. Greenwich is an area that has experienced…

This pocket guide contains a collection of graphed data, available in 1994, on science and technology funding patterns within the United States, public attitudes toward science and technology, and international trends in science and technology. Sections contain: (1) national research and development (R&D) funding patterns; (2) academic R&D…

Within the European community, demographic changes have been occurring that have particularly affected children. These major transitions, which have direct implications for early childhood care and education, include: (1) increases in life expectancy and reductions in birth rates; (2) a strong overall movement toward individualization of personal…

A 1984-85 study of Palau elementary students, who were pretested, instructed with a textbook and additional practice booklets, and posttested, revealed gains for every skill at every grade level. A 1986-87 study, using a series of 26 booklets representing a fairly complete math curriculum, showed that students using the experimental booklets…

This book profiles those unique institutions or departments that are committed to public service, social change and environmental stewardship. Colleges in this guide engage in the major issues of today, especially environmental, women's, peace and ethnic studies. The programs are varied, such as marine biology, social work, outdoor education,…

This paper presents a series of propositions concerning processes that are at work in mentoring relationships, with each proposition accompanied by a brief discussion of the theory and research on which it is based. Examples are provided of the role of mentoring in the development of creative individuals. The propositions cover the following…

This report focuses on some of the changes that have taken place in the American family over the last several decades. In order to produce reform efforts that will achieve the six National Education Goals, communities need to understand how family life has changed in recent years and why the schools need to be redesigned to fit the way today's…

The adolescent child in Canada today lives in a world of rapid social, cultural, economic, and technological change, further complicated by the normal emotional, physical, and intellectual changes of 14- to 18-year-old children. The philosophical bases of high school education, therefore, should be reexamined to provide an environment conducive to…

This study investigated changes in the speech patterns of Japanese college students in an intensive English language course when using a microphone, focusing in part on possible links to "karaoke" activities common in Japan, in which participants sing along with music using a microphone. The researcher first observed several karaoke…