<p>This project addresses the current need to change the content and delivery of secondary English curricula in order to reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity which makes up Canadian society. It gives a rationale for a multicultural education while suggesting content, concepts, learning outcomes, and strategies for achieving this goal. Analysis of sections of the Ministry of Education's guidelines, policies, and resources shows support for a multicultural approach in the English classroom. The review of teacher resources from existing books provides staff development ideas to assist teachers in the delivery of an antiracist and ethnoculturally-equitable program. Analysis of anthologies and individual literary examples demonstrates material and classroom ideas to provide positive examples for the study of writers from diverse backgrounds. The suggested authors include Canadian immigrant writers, Canadian writers of diverse cultural or mixed-racial backgrounds, and international writers. Suggested literature by Canadian Native writers along with relevant classroom ideas and discussion topics provides educators with the material and means to engage in discussion of Native experience and culture. A detailed analysis of Ruby Slipperjack's novel Silent Words (1992) discusses issues and strategies for a study of this novel in a grade nine English class. The project provides the theoretical basis for and the practical application of a multicultural approach which can be used by English teachers in all Ontario boards.</p> / Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)

Although the field of English as a Second Language – ESL – is a relatively new field for study, it grows out of a long tradition of teaching foreign or second languages. However, even without formal instruction in a second language, people throughout history have been learning second – and sometimes third and fourth – languages for purposes of trade, business, politics, social acceptance and even survival. Entering the last quarter of the twentieth century second or foreign language teachers had used three primary methods or approaches in their instruction: the Grammar-Translation method, the Audio-Lingual method, and the Cognitive Code approach. The extent to which any of these methods was successful was determined largely by the individual’s definition of success. In the world of the late 1970’s and the 1980’s, success in foreign or second language teaching has been defined in terms of the students’ ability to speak and understand – to use – the language for purposes of communication or interaction with native speakers of the target language, and to use it appropriately within a given context, at the end of a course of study. In the last fifteen years many new methods and approaches have been introduced and tried in second language classrooms, methods and approaches for which the goal has been communicative competence. Among them are the Silent Way, Total Physical Response, Counseling Learning, Suggestopedia, the Notional-Functional or Communicative Language Teaching approach, and various approaches or methods which use dramatic techniques. Although there may be considerable differences from one method or approach to another, these communicative approaches do share a common core: they involve the whole person – intellectual, emotional and social; they recognize the importance of minimizing stress within the learning environment; and they emphasize the importance of using the language in order to attain communicative competence in that language. One of these methods and one approach – Total Physical Response and Communicative Language Teaching – will be looked at in some detail in order to determine the underlying assumptions, particularly regarding learning and language theory; objectives and goals; syllabus; instructional materials; classroom activities; and the learner and teacher roles. Then a text which purports to reflect the method or approach will be briefly examined to determine the extent to which it does, in fact, reflect the method or approach.

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The purpose of this study was to explore how minority students are prepared to counsel White clients in two Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Engaging in a critical exploration of the experiences of minority students allowed the personal stories to create a consciousness which could lead to programmatic change. The paucity of research addressing the minority counselor/White client dyad lends viability to this study. This study used methods consistent with the critical research, including individual interviews and artifact collection. All data were analyzed through the lens of Critical Race Theory and Whiteness in an effort to conceptualize the role of race and racism on the minority student's preparation to counsel White clients. Data analysis revealed nine themes suggesting collectively that relevant curriculum focusing on the minority student/White client dyad is lacking, and that a colorblind curriculum is used to address cross-cultural interactions. Data also revealed that minority students in counseling experience microaggressions in the form of racial stereotyping, racism, and being silenced in their programs. Consequently, the students must often resort to conforming to White norms, altering how they communicate, and trying to be a model minority when working with White clients. to address these difficulties, the participating minority students and faculty members explained that minority students need to find counter spaces and programs need to increase cultural sensitivity of white faculty members. These themes allowed for the emergence of an understanding of minority students preparation to counsel White clients at two PWIs.

The problem of this study was to determine if differences exist in the self-concept scores between Anglo children and Chicano children. A secondary problem was to determine the level of correlation between self concept scores and academic averages. The Martinek-Zaichkowsky Self Concept Scale for Children was used to determine self concept scores and grade point averages reported by the students' classroom teachers were used for the academic averages. The findings of the study warranted the following conclusions: (1) Anglo, first grade children have a significantly higher total self concept than do Chicano, first grade children. (2) Chicano, third grade children have a significantly higher total self concept than do Anglo, third grade children. (3) No significant differences exist between total self concept scores of Anglo, sixth grade children as compared to those of Chicano, sixth grade children. (4) No significant differences exist between total self concept scores of Anglo, first grade children as compared to those of Anglo, sixth grade children. (5) No significant differences exist between total self concept scores of Chicano, first grade children as compared to those of Chicano, sixth grade children. (6) Significant, positive correlations between total self concept and total academic average were found only at the first and sixth grade levels for Chicano children.

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No description available.

Much of the literature dedicated to the academic achievement of African American males focuses on failure, obstacles, negative influences and explanations of factors that negatively impact their academic success. This qualitative research study provided an opportunity for African American male students at the high school level to articulate their experiences and speak to the factors that they perceived as contributing to their academic success. The constructs of identity and cultural capital were offered by this researcher as a conceptual framework into the insight of factors that impacted the academic achievement of this student group.;Through interviews, a classroom observation and document review, the perceptions of six African American male seniors from two public high schools located in southeastern Virginia were collected and analyzed. The themes derived from the data showed that these young men were successful due to the support they received from their teachers, parents and peers, their approach to challenging and difficult situations, and the opportunities that they were afforded that led to their use of the educational process to reach their goals and dreams.

Language students must learn to communicate effectively in cross-cultural settings, avoiding unwitting violations of culturally determined norms of behavior. This study compares German learners of English ( GEs) with native speakers of English ( AEs) and German (GGs), studying pragmatic transfer associated with the face-threatening speech act of refusal. Data elicitation involved a written role-play questionnaire composed of twelve refusal situations, including four refusal stimulus types (requests, invitations, offers, and suggestions) and interlocutors of higher, lower, and equal status. Response strategies were identified and classified, and the three groups were compared in terms of frequency and content of strategies chosen. Overall, the findings suggest that the AEs strove for friction-free interactions, while the German subjects tended to be candid. The AEs opted for inoffensive, routinized responses, emphasizing face-protection, and eschewing expressions of unwillingness. The AEs generally provided only vague excuses, relying extensively on positive forms aimed at preserving rapport. Social distance affected AE levels of politeness. By contrast, GG response patterns were situation-specific. Toward unjustified requests or unwelcome suggestions, the GGs exhibited directness, outspokenness with critical remarks, and willingness to risk confrontation, regardless of relative status. In more neutral situations, status and social distance influenced levels of politeness. The GEs appeared to assess situational factors in much the same way as the GGs; however, GE responses were consistently more tempered. Both groups of Germans were more open with expressions of unwillingness than the AEs. They tended to provide solid justification for refusals, while maintaining a more aloof stance. When there was no cause for irritation, the GEs recognized the need for greater tactfulness in English (probably responding according to explicit teaching). When aggravated, however, they lapsed into pragmatic patterns of their native language, following their "gut reactions." Sometimes GE efforts to exceed German native speaker levels of politeness led to "hyper-correction" (i.e., going beyond the AEs' degree of politeness).Occasionally, the GEs transferred German native speaker strategies for increasing politeness. In situations of potential conflict, the GEs might startle native speakers with unexpected candor, the shock exacerbated by cultural proximity and the GEs' near approach of native speaker norms on other levels.