This book is a talking tour of American English. Short easy-to-read essays explicate the key features that make American speech so expressive and distinct. The tour begins in the South, home of the most easily recognized of American dialects, travels north the New England, then west to the Midwest, and on to the far west and Alaska and Hawaii. In…

North Americans have been fixated on the personalities of their leaders; they often ignore the need for collective responsibility. Teachers should remember that the assumption made in popular culture about ordinary citizens is that they are passively willing to give up their responsibilities and condone violence and vigilantism. (IS)

Deals with the changing patterns of child rearing and family lifestyles in the United States and the significance of these changes for the development of children, families, and society at large. Four "preposterous proposals" describe current conditions for child development and include recommendations for public action. (JJD)

Students and teachers at Rocky Run Middle School (Virginia) use CU-SeeMe, a desktop video conferencing program providing real-time audio and visual, to communicate with educational communities in New Zealand and other international sites. Activities include helping foreign students adjust to American culture, teaching health education with expert…

Canadians do not have a common history, despite the English-speaking Eurocentric narrative that passes for Canadian history. Rethinking the history curriculum, combined with innovative practices such as using primary historical documents, conducting heritage fairs, and encouraging students to research and produce their own heritage minutes, can…

Discusses the study of literatures, cultures, and languages of people of color in the United States and Canada. Considers recruitment, mentoring, and evaluation of junior faculty members of color. Presents guidelines which are designed to assist departments that have not yet adopted or are in the process of developing such procedures. (SG)

Provides a sample unit, "Women's Rights in Canada," that uses biographies and autobiographies to enliven the lessons. Suggests ways to introduce the topic at the elementary level. Provides bibliographies of films, human rights materials, Canadian resources, biographies, and autobiographies. (GG)

Cites the problems associated with teaching history: (1) lack of consensus on what and how to teach; (2) the adult perspective from which it is taught; (3) the abstract nature of history content; and (4) the concept of time. Concludes that efforts to include adolescent knowledge, skills, and attitudes should be considered in the history program.…

Provides a lesson plan on the Great Depression in which students examine the social, economic, and political events of the period through a study of radio broadcasting. Describes an activity in which students research the era and create a radio broadcast. Outlines activity guidelines, radio language, and evaluation methods. (RW)

Outlines 12 differences between American and Chinese culture. The different connotations of five lexical items are discussed. Social behavior discussed includes 1) response to a compliment or offer; 2) greetings; and 3) sending gifts. The Chinese and American forms of expressing time and location, and of confirming the premise of a question are…

Discusses Columbus's motivation for his explorations. Argues that his ideas of geography and navigation were not novel but based on ancient and medieval sources. Claims that Columbus was motivated by a belief that his destiny was to carry Christianity to pagans, thereby ushering in the end of the world and final judgment. (DK)

In response to a lack of English-as-a-Second-Language curricular materials integrating language and culture, the authors designed a unit based on the problem-posing philosophy of education. Its application in two college-level ESL classrooms in South Dakota is described in which Lakota Indian culture was incorporated into the curriculum. (Contains…

Argues that the large contribution of women to the history of reform pedagogics substantiates the thesis that the professional image of the teacher is largely determined by the feminization of the profession. Contrasts this approach with other recent theses on the professionalization of male and female teachers. (DSK)

Examines Ocracoke English (OE), a dialect of American English spoken on Ocracoke Island, located off the coast of North Carolina. The article presents linguistic and sociolinguistic evidence that OE is an endangered dialect and describes the development of a community-based preservation program paralleling proactive programs implemented for…