A study is described that will investigate whether cultural referents found in the Defense Language Institute (DLI) American Language Course are biased toward North American cultural norms, and whether Saudi Arabian military personnel in language training using those materials are affected by the cultural information contained within them. The present report provides background information on the problem to be studied, the link between language and culture, theoretical underpinnings of the study, the DLI materials under consideration, and characteristics of the Arab learner. Excerpts from the DLI materials are appended. Contains 20 references. (MSE)