In mainstream American culture, death is not usually talked about openly. It is discussed privately among adults because death is often regarded as a final ending. Nevertheless, many elementary school teachers discuss el Dia de los Muertos with their students. The celebration of el Dia de los Muertos, in contrast to dominant ideology, commemorates…

This dissertation is a sociolinguistic study of the ideologies about language, culture and ethnicity among Japanese immigrants and descendants in Brazil (hereafter, Nikkeis) who gather at a local Japanese cultural association, searching for what it means to be "Japanese" in Brazil. This study focuses on how linguistic behaviors are…

Through an analysis of activities called for in social studies texts at three grade levels, the author critically examines the links between children's improvisational performance and social studies curricula. He asks: What is unique about the process of embodying a historical or contemporary character as part of the learning process (such as a…