The key role that language and language policy play in relation to education, culture, and multiculturalism was emphasized throughout the plenary and workshop discussions of the 43rd Session of the International Conference on Education, convened by UNESCO in September, 1992. This paper reports the roundtable discussions of this meeting. The…

Researchers have noticed a gap between mathematics practice in school and mathematics practice in out-of-school situations. This study compares the out-of-school practice involving measurement of on-the-job carpet layers with the problem-solving strategies of ninth-grade students while engaged in measurement problems from the typical mathematics…

Two studies (from 1989 and 1990) are reviewed to illustrate the effectiveness and versatility of "ethnographies of thought" (as described by C. Geertz, 1983) for gaining significant understanding of the meaning perspectives of research participants and the contexts of a variety of educational settings. The methodological implications of the two…

An ethnographic study examined ways in which the writing behaviors of adult literacy students in a classroom setting were either similar to or different from current theories of language acquisition. Three students were selected from an adult literacy class at the Fordham Library Center in the Bronx. The research plan had a three-pronged approach:…

The eight digests and nine FAST (Focused Access to Selected Topics) annotated bibliographies included in this special collection focus on family involvement--parents and their children working together to learn. The material in the special collection is designed for use by teachers, students, administrators, researchers, policy makers, and…

A study of language and literacy activities and attitudes in a southern California bilingual community and the resulting development of more culturally relevant writing instruction for junior and senior high school students of that community is reported. The initial task was an ethnographic survey of the community, focusing on its language…

A study investigated some theoretical bases of two language-learning approaches, the audiolingual method and transformational grammar. Additionally, the study looked at the concept of language socialization and some anthropological concepts as they pertain to the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). A brief historical and…

This paper explores the role that language can play in the development of technologies or other processes within an organisation. Examples and lessons from the literature of the learning organisation are looked as a key in the development of language. The paper uses a practical example of a customer complaints management system to demonstrate how…

Grouse Creek is a small Mormon ranching community in the extreme northwest corner of Utah. A survey of that community was conducted during 1985 by a team of folklorists, architectural historians, and historians, with the purpose of testing the idea of combining in the same fieldwork a concern for architecture, folk arts, and folklife. The work was…

This book uses an ethnographic approach to collect and analyze patterns of language and culture that affect interracial communication and culture. The study selects patterns of behavior, or elements within patterns, and maps black and white cognitive territory in order to reveal the cultural reasons for communications difficulties. The book…

The social context within which home schooling takes place is described, and the ideological frameworks and contexts within which parents (most of them fundamentalist Christians) make schooling decisions are examined. Research involved participant observation and interviews with 16 home schooling families (13 families self-labeled…

This study focuses on how students make sense of and understand concepts related to the study of a wetland. The analyses of students' talk and drawings recorded during a 2-week wetland unit were divided into two levels. The first level examined students' understandings and explored student traits that contributed to a clear, stable understanding…

The foreign and international studies section of the proceedings includes the following 11 papers: "The Role of Culture in Development Communication Research and the Use of Ethnography in Development Communication Project Planning" (Jeff Merron); "A Catechism for Censorship: The Development of Circular Number 1000 in World War I…

Applications of the qualitative approach in the evaluation of special education and second language programs are addressed in this paper. Qualitative data are recommended for providing detailed descriptions of specific program elements, and can be obtained through interviews, observations, case studies, and ethnographic studies. Six evaluation…

Focusing on the role of intertextuality as young children learn to communicate through writing, art, and music during the course of usual classroom activities, an ethnographic study investigated: (1) how children's understanding and use of written language, music, and graphic/constructive art are embedded in the social worlds of their classroom;…