A study investigated cultural variations in the ways groups of speakers reach consensus in the face of disagreement or suggestion. Subjects were six graduate students in each of five groups: one composed of native speakers of American English, two of Taiwanese Chinese, and two of mainland Chinese. Each group performed a desert survival exercise,…

The media imperialism approach to studies of communications in South America lacks sensitivity to the historical dimension, and tends to define the issues of western media imperialism in the context of the United States post-World War II ascendancy to world power. Through an examination of the expansion of U. S. communication interests into Latin…

A college course in American culture, designed for students of English as a second language as an introduction to both American culture and university content courses, is described. The course was developed based on the philosophy and techniques of ethnography and foreign language pedagogy, and requires a combination of student participation,…

This transcript of and guide to a two-cassette course designed to assist Italian immigrants in erasure of their foreign accents can be used for either individual or group study. Narrative and taped demonstrations of American English that pinpoint typical phonological barriers and pronunciation difficulties are outlined. The author's own system of…

The attempt by many urban school districts to develop African curricula creates a dilemma, because it usually places an African-centered program in a multicultural curriculum that is centered in the European-American educational tradition. Currently, some elements of an African and African-centered curriculum may be found in the multicultural…

This collection of papers on the intercultural communication between the United States and Japan is divided into three sections. The first section, "Introduction to Intercultural Communication," describes the background of the relationship between Japan and the United States, the history of the study of intercultural communication, and…

This book is a collection of articles and research materials on Arab-Americans. Part one of the book provides an historical overview of Arab-Americans, their reasons for emigration from Greater Syria, and profiles of the two major religious groups, Muslims and Christians, in the United States Arab population. Authors of this section include Alixa…

A computer program devised to analyze text by the use of case grammar is described. The program tests a text against the expectations created by a narrative situation and by the connotative values in the narrator's choice of words. It determines spatial concepts attached to various English words and analyzes the spatial relationships in syntactic…

Both a theoretical framework and some practical suggestions are included in this book intended to help educators improve the teaching of writing to high school students who are native speakers of nonstandard English dialects. The first chapter includes a brief background on the problem of writing in American schools, with special focus on the…

A directory of collections of audio recordings of varieties of American English spoken in North America and including English-based creoles contains information about collections of any size, classified according to the primary state in the U.S. represented by the speakers in the sample and cross-referenced when more than one state is represented…

A study of intercultural business communication problems compared three examples of direct marketing sales letters similar in function, format, content, and targeted recipient but originating in different cultures (India, England, and the United States) and companies. The letters were directed to a single prospective purchaser of "Who's…

This study examined the cross-cultural differences involved in Chinese and American students' attitudes towards education. Examined were students' daily experiences, wishes, aspirations, likes, and dislikes. Data were obtained through interviews with 396 Chinese and 720 American students from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Students attended 11…

A discussion of teaching culture through the use of films focuses on how German Cinema films can be used successfully as a required extracurricular activity in German second-language-instruction. This kind of extracurricular activity is seen as a two dimensional educational experience. From the students' point of view, everything about seeing a…

A study examined the role of phonological regression in the language learning patterns of two toddlers. The children's phonological development was measured by inventories of the words produced at the beginning and end of an eight-week period, and distinctions were made between regressions due to cognitive factors and those due to non-cognitive…

Lists of topics and elements in American English are provided for use in developing English as second language (ESL) materials and lessons. The 128 lists are presented under five categories: (1) examples of grammatical forms; (2) common communicative situations, topics, and functions; (3) aspects of American culture; (4) metalinguistic factors…