Title

Closing the Achievement Gap: How to Reach Limited-Formal-Schooling and Long-Term English Learners

Yvonne S. Freeman and David E. Freeman

Reviews the research on effective practices for older English learners.  Then shows how three teachers have put this theory into practice to reach their older English learners and help them close the achievement gap.  These teachers organize their curriculum around themes, use predictable classroom routines, and scaffold instruction in a variety of ways.

Title

Implementing the ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students Through Teacher Education

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

Written by experienced ESL teachers and teacher educators, this is designed for teacher learners in credential/licensure programs and MA programs in U.S. colleges and universities and for practicing teachers in ESL and in all content areas.  Faculty and providers of technical assistance to school districts will also find the volume useful for in-service teacher development.

The prologue describes the role of teacher educator in standards-based educational reform and contains practical ideas for using the ESL standards in various courses within teacher education programs. 

The rest of the volume provides necessary reading for prospective and practicing teachers working with linguistically and culturally diverse students in U.S. schools:  Δ diversity in ESL student populations and in educational programs for these students  Δ the standard reform movement as backdrop to the development of the ESL standards  Δ first and second language acquisition research that supports a view of language as a cognitive, social, cultural, and academic activity  Δ application of the ESL standards to curriculum development  Δ trends in testing and measurement and a conceptual model for standards-based assessment  Δ implications of standards-based instruction for large-scale assessment of ESOL students  Δ assessment of ESOL students at the classroom level   Δ a framework for dissemination of the ESL standards and suggestions for ways teachers can advocate for standards implementation.

Title

ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students

By publishing these standards, TESOL prepares language specialists and mainstream teachers alike to deal with the challenges of providing an equitable and effective education for ESOL students from preschool to twelfth grade.

All elementary and secondary school students currently in the U.S. will be living in and contributing to an increasingly diverse society of interdependent community of nations in the 21st century.  To realize their personal, social, and long-term career goals, individuals will need to be able to communicate with others skillfully, appropriately, and effectively.  The challenge of contemporary education is to prepare all students for life in this new world, including those learners who enter schools with a language other than English.  The purpose of this document is to identify the ESL standards and their role in meeting this challenge.

Title

Integrating the ESL Standards Into Classroom Practice Grades Pre-K-2

Demonstrates creative ways to implement ESL standards, gives teachers guides to good practice, enables teachers to succeed in incorporating the ESL standards into other units and lessons they develop.

There are six Units:  Δ Unit 1: All About Me: Marvelous, Magnificent Me!   Δ Unit 2: Making Bread Together   Δ Unit 3: The World of Work: Choices and Opportunities   Δ Unit 4: "Eggs"citing Animals   Δ Unit 5: Exploring Native American Cultures: The Iroquios   Δ Unit 6: Our Global Community: Different but Alike.

Writers: Carla Frye, Judie Haynes, Sonia James, Carrie Martin, Judith B. O'Loughlin, Esther Retish and Betty Ansin Smallwood.

Title

Integrating the ESL Standards Into Classroom Practice Grades 3-5

Demonstrates creative ways to implement ESL standards, gives teachers guides to good practice, enables teachers to succeed in incorporating the ESL standards into other units and lessons they develop.

There are six Units:  Δ Unit 1: Native Americans, Then and Now   Δ Unit 2: Writing for Each Other   Δ Unit 3: Facing hardships: Jamestown and Colonial Life   Δ Unit 4: The Underground Railroad   Δ Unit 5: The Most Beautiful Place in the World   Δ Unit 6: Recycling.

Writers:  Sue DeFabbia, Jim Hughes, Linda New Levine, Carolyn Syvanen & Dorothy Taylor.

Title

Integrating the ESL Standards Into Classroom Practice Grades 6-8

Demonstrates creative ways to implement ESL standards, gives teachers guides to good practice, enables teachers to succeed in incorporating the ESL standards into other units and lessons they develop.

There are six Units:  Δ Unit 1: Understanding Our Past: The Middle Ages   Δ Unit 2: Learning About Discovery and Exploration: The Titanic   Δ Unit 3: Investigating How Much: Linear, Volume, and Mass Measurement  Δ Unit 4: Mastering the Art of Persuasion: Marketing and the Media   Δ Unit 5: Exploring How We Live: Community   Δ Unit 6: Discovering the Interdependency of Living Things: Earthworms.

Writers: Barbara Agor, Roger Gee, Paula Merchant, Olga Ryzhikov, Susan Sillivan, Dorothy Taylor, Louise Young.

Title

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

Demonstrates creative ways to implement ESL standards, gives teachers guides to good practice, enables teachers to succeed in incorporating the ESL standards into other units and lessons they develop.

There are six Units:  Δ Unit 1: Exploring World Religions   Δ Unit 2: Using Story to Compare, Conclude, and Identify   Δ Unit 3: The Scientific Method and Experimental Design   Δ Unit 4: Writing for a Statewide Proficiency Test   Δ Unit 5: Autobiographical Writing   Δ Unit 6: Creating a Community of Social Studies Learners.

Writers:  Sandra Briggs, George C. Bunch, Ellen Daniels, Patricia Hartmann, Carrie Lenarcic, William Pruitt, Gwen B. Riles, Cynthia Leigh Ross.

Title

Myths and Realities: Best Practices for Language Minority Students

Heinemann

An exhaustive handbook to debunk the myths and describe proven best practices in language-minority education.

Title

Professional Development for Bilingual and ESL Paraprofessionals: The Aspire Curriculum

Includes 4 workshops on getting started, focusing on reading and writing, extending students’ thinking skills, and choosing strategies for success.

Title

Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

Suggests how a mainstream elementary classroom teacher with little or no specialized ESL training can meet the challenge of teaching linguistically diverse students by integrating the teaching of English with the content areas of the regular curriculum.

Title

Includes an overview of assessment, key terms useful for understanding the framework, a conceptual model of assessment, principles highlighting the role of linguistic and cultural diversity in the assessment process, a discussion of the role of purpose and audience in designing assessment plans, and approaches to and uses for assessment.

Title

Snapshot Assessment System

Richard Rangel and Bill Bansberg

An informal tool for classroom teachers of migrant, language-minority, and mobile students in grades 4-6 to quickly assess academic progress in language arts, mathematics, and science in relation of content standards to identify students instructional needs.

Title

Addresses how to prepare English language learners to successfully enter the structures and demands of mainstream classrooms, curricula, and schools.

Title

The First Step on the Longer Path: Becoming an ESL Teacher

Provides teachers with practical ideas for helping children who don’t speak English.  For some, it may even become the necessary first step on the longer path to achieving full expertise in teaching English as a second language.

Title

Managing ESL Programs in Rural and Small Urban Schools

This volume describes how a small program of services can fit into the standards movement and how to staff such a program.  It contains a wealth of suggestions for instruction, student assessment, program evaluation, parent and community involvement, and multimedia resources for the education of second language learners in low-density communities.

◊Chapter 1: Pressing the Numbers     ◊Chapter 2: Statutory Requirements  ◊Chapter 3: Implementing the Lau Mandate   ◊Chapter 4: Including LEP Students in Standards-Driven Curriculum  ◊Chapter 5: Staffing the ESL Program  ◊Chapter 6: Parents and the Community  ◊Chapter 7: Authentic, Comprehensive Student Assessment  ◊Chapter 8: ESL Program Evaluation  ◊Chapter 9: Professional Resources: From People to Print to Pixels.

Title

Teaching to Diversity - Teaching and Learning in the Multi-Ethnic Classroom

Teaching to Diversity synthesizes current information on second-language issues in a form that is eminently practical and usable by the regular classroom teacher as well as by the ESL teacher. 

Title

Special Education in Multicultural Contexts

Margret A. Winzer & Kasper Mazurek

This book was written for teachers and those intervening with students with special needs in regular classrooms, special education settings, and other contexts as well as those with allied disciplines such as psychology, counseling, administration, and early childhood.  It addresses areas that are relatively novel to our field: the impact on a child's interactions and learning when a diverse cultural or linguistic background is joined to a disabling condition or giftedness.

Title

Cultural Diversity in Our Schools

Patricia L. Marshall

This book explores the construct of race/ethnicity and its impact on all aspects of the teaching-learning process.  In short, the focus of this book is on teachers primarily and students secondarily.  It aims to facilitate critical questioning among teachers  of all experiential levels and cultural backgrounds by examining the complexity of some of the more salient issues of the teaching-learning process in U.S. schools.

Part One:  Understanding Self: Diversity in Schools and the Outlooks of Teachers, presents important terminology and issues that teachers should consider as they begin to think of themselves as cultural beings and thereby develop critical understanding of their own attitudes, worldviews, and orientations toward the teaching role impact schooling for students.

Part Two:  Understanding Learners: Diverse Backgrounds and Worldviews of Students, explores the five major cultural groups in schools.

Part Three:  Understanding Teaching: Techniques and Strategies for Diverse Classroom Contexts, explores how such factors as curriculum content, learning styles, and the very language of schools impact academic success for students.

Part Four:  Understanding Schools: Diverse Dynamics That Impact Teachers Effectiveness, presents a series of vignettes that explore how collegial interactions, school leadership, and community relations impact teachers' efforts to meet the needs of the students in schools.

Title

Vocabulary Plus K-8 - A Source-Based Approach

Alleen Pace Nilsen & Don L.F. Nilsen

Features:     ◊ Ready-to-photography workshop pages in every chapter are easy to use and serve as conversation topics and as a way to refocus students' attention after they have been engaged in the more free-flowing parts of each lesson.     ◊ Photographs of student work and of students at work at the beginning of each chapter provide a quick glance at the possibilities for hands-on, multi-sensory activities.     ◊ Background reading for the teacher in each chapter present an almost-painless introduction to morphology and provide teachers with background information and "extra" examples.     ◊ Open-ended End-of-chapter activities in every chapter constitute the PLUS part of the text, by providing tested suggestion for activities that go far beyond the typical "memorization" of word meanings and include writing, speaking, and art activities.     ◊ Suggestions for eliciting participation from students in each chapter help students internalize the meanings of new words and gain a sense of ownership over the material by exploring techniques other than rote memorization.     ◊ Connections of word study with the development of higher order thinking skills in each chapter facilitate the preparation of students in passing the vocabulary section of the high-stakes tests given at the state level.

Title

Assessment Accommodations for Diverse Learners

David S. Goh

This book presents a systematic discussion of the use of assessment accommodations with two types of learners who have many assessment issues in common - students with disabilities and students from linguistically diverse backgrounds (ELLs).

Recent years have witnessed an increasing use of accommodations in school assessment, especially in large-scale achievement testing.  This concise and practical text provides a balanced discussion on professional use of assessment accommodations and empirical research on the effects of various accommodations.

Title

English Language Learners With Special Education Needs

Alfredo J. Artiles & Alba A. Ortiz, Editors

This book describes the challenges involved in identifying placing, teaching, and assessing English language learners with special education needs.  It describes model programs and approaches, including early intervention programs, assessment methods, parent/school collaboration, and native and dual language instruction.  All students deserve an education that meets their individual needs and capitalizes on their strengths.

Title

Special Education, Multicultural Education, and School Reform

Cheryl A Utley & Festus E. Obiakor

The neglect of students with disabilities in school reform and restructuring initiatives continues to be problematic for multicultural learners.  The authors discuss research focused on poverty, race, and cultural diversity and their impact on students with mild disabilities.  The demographic realities of society, linguistic diversity, emotional/behavioral disorders, mild mental retardation, specific learning disabilities, result-based education, school consultation and collaboration are examined.  Also discussed are current issues affecting the education of multicultural students with mild disabilities, the selection of appropriate service delivery options in inclusion settings, the implementation of effective instructional programs, and the utilization of services by families.  They offer practical solutions to create partnerships between multicultural students, their families, local service providers, general and special educators, and community members.

Title

Literacy Assessment of Second Language Learners

Sandra Rollins Hurley & Josefina Villamil Tinajero

The contributing authors take the position that teachers must skillfully connect teaching, learning, and assessment in meaningful ways.  Assessment measures, therefore, need to be designed for use as an integral part of instruction - not as a separate, add-on procedure - so that assessment does not take away from instructional time.  The main goal of the authors is to provide teachers, particularly those within grade K to 8 settings, theoretical and practical information about assessment.

Title

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 - Title I - Public Law 107-110

U.S. Department of Education

Title I: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged.

Title

Developing Cross-Cultural Compenence - Second Edition - A Guide for Working with Children and Their Families

Eleanor W. Lynch & Marci J. Hanson - Editors

This updated second edition offers practical advise.  With insight from their own racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, the chapter authors contribute wisdom and bout the influence of different cultures on people's beliefs, values, and behaviors.  Their knowledge helps professionals learn how to embrace diversity in intervention services and foster respectful and effective interactions with people of many cultures.

This is an invaluable as a textbook in graduate and undergraduate courses in general and special education, social work, child development, psychology, family studies, and public health and ideal as a guide for human services professionals, home visitors, paraprofessionals and program administrators who work with children with disabilities.  With new case examples and helpful appendices explaining courtesies, customs, events, practices, and vocabulary, this book supports professionals and students in understanding and accommodating the needs of a diverse population.

Title

One Child, Two Languages

Margret A. Winzer & Kasper Mazurek

This book was written for teachers and those intervening with students with special needs in regular classrooms, special education settings, and other contexts as well as those with allied disciplines such as psychology, counseling, administration, and early childhood.  It addresses areas that are relatively novel to our field: the impact on a child's interactions and learning when a diverse cultural or linguistic background is joined to a disabling condition or giftedness.

Title

Diversity & Developmentally Appropriate Practices - Challenges for Early Childhood Education

Bruce L. Mallory & Rebecca S. New, Editors

This timely book offers critiques of early childhood education and developmentally appropriate practices.  The editors seek to expand the current definition of developmentally appropriate practices to include alternative theoretical and practical perspectives necessary for addressing the needs of yuoung children with cultural and developmental differences.

Of particular interest to early childhood and special education teachers and teacher educators, school and day care administrators, and policy makers, this book serves as an excellent supplemental text to graduate and undergraduate courses.

Chapters: ◊ The Politics of Developmentally Appropriate Practice    ◊ Inclusive Policy, Practice and Theory for Young Children with Developmental Differences    ◊ Culture, Child Development, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice    ◊ Research in Parent-Child Interaction    ◊ Expanding the Perceptions of Developmentally Appropriate Practice    ◊ Understanding Development in Cultural Context    ◊ The Movement of African-American Children Through Sociocultural Contexts    ◊ Parents, Pluralism, and the NAEYC Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice    ◊ Developmentally Appropriate Practice and Cultural Values    ◊ Blending Developmentally Appropriate Practice and Early Childhood Special Education    ◊ Designing Meaningful Measurements for Early Childhood    ◊ Teachers perspectives on the Strengths and Achievements of Young Children    ◊ Language and Diversity in Early Childhood.

Title

Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners - Practical Approaches for Teachers

J. Michael O'Malley & Lorraine Valdez Pierce

Here is a practical guide for teachers, teacher trainers, administrators, and assessment specialists who work ESL/bilingual students of all grade levels.  This book provides:    ◊ a comprehensive selection of practical, effective strategies for assessing oral language, reading, writing, and the content areas    ◊ solid, research-based framework linking assessment to instruction    ◊ reproducible checklists, rating scales, and rubrics that can be adapted for local assessment needs    ◊ practical approaches for using portfolios, self-assessment, and peer assessment, accompanied by guidelines for grading practices.

Title

Language Minority Students with Disbilities

Leonard M. Baca & Estella Almanza

This book discusses the preparation needed by schools and school personnel to meet the needs of limited-English-proficient students with disabilities.

Title

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 - Title III - Public Law 107-110

U.S. Department of Education

Title III: Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students.

Title

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Professionals in Special Education: A Demographic Analysis

Judy L. Wald

This paper focuses on identifying some of the underlying issues associated with the supply and demand of culturally and linguistically diverse teaching professionals - particularly special educators representing diverse populations.  Some the the issues discussed may also apply to related service professions such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology.

Title

cultural and linguistic diversity and IDEA - An Evaluation Resource Guide

Center for Innovations in Special Education (CISE)

This guide was developed because the Missouri DESE convened a committee of educators experienced in the area of CLD to answer questions regarding how to evaluate children whose primary language is not English to determine if they are eligible for special education or First Steps. 

It provides introductory information on developmental/cultural issues and evaluation of CLD Children.  While much of the information in the document may be useful for determining instruction and strategies, the primary focus of this guide is on helping teams determine if a child is eligible under the Individuals and Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Title

Determining Appropriate Referrals of English Language Learners to Special Education: A Self-Assessment Guide for Principals

Council for Exceptional Children

This guide is designed to provide principals and  others a general overview of the issue so they may review their programs for sign of disproportionality.  To this end, the guide presents information on the following subjects:

◊ Self-assessment information that can help you review student data and determine if your school may have an over representation (or under representation) of English language learners in special education.     ◊ Issues related to communicating with English language learners and their families.  Parents are vital to to success of any education program, so a section on parental involvement is included.  It is designed to specifically address the needs of those parents whose native language is not English.     ◊ In an effort to reduce inappropriate referrals to special education, many schools are using Teacher Assistance Teems.  Included is a section on what these teams are and how they operate.     ◊ Process of assessment, eligibility, and the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP).     ◊ Instruction and professional development.

Title

Special Education...a service, not a place - Evaluation and Assessment in Early Childhood Special Education: Children Who Are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse

Kristine Slentz

This manual is designed to provide procedures and resources for assessing birth to 6 year olds who are culturally and linguistically diverse.  Information on language learning, the impact culture on behavior, information-gathering strategies, tests, and the referral process has been summarized from a variety of sources.  The resources are intended to guide the evaluation of children who have immigrated from other countries, live in communities that have maintained non-Anglo cultural traditions, and speak primarily other than English.

Although the emphasis is on evaluation of young children for special education eligibility, the procedures outlined can, and should also be applied to assessment for IEP/EFSP development and monitoring.

Title

Developing Cultural Competence in Early Childhood Assessment

Susan M. Moore & Janet Beatty & Clara Perez-Mendez - University of Colorado at Boulder

This manual serves as a supplement to the Screening and Evaluation Process guidelines, developed by the Child Find Project in 1993 and funded through the Colorado Department of Education (CDE).

Title

Teaching Second Language Learners With Learning Disabilities - Strategies for Effective Practice

J. Dixon Hearne

As the title suggests, this book addresses a topic of growing concern among educators, parents, and students.  this book is aimed at a wide audience of readers in the fields of special education, speech-language pathology, bilingual-ESL education, and general education.  It should serve as a practical resource for elementary school teachers, learning disabilities teachers and other special educators, bilingual teachers and coordinators, and elementary school administrators seeking to provide instructional leadership in these areas.

Each chapter in this book is written with the practitioner in mind, and careful attention is given to explanation, examples, and applications.  The book includes a brief history of the field of learning disabilities (LD), a discussion of parallels between the LD field and bilingual education, and an examination of emerging theories on second language acquisition.  Additionally, it offers extensive information about teaching and learning models and a host of promising practices for students with language and learning challenges (LLC) who have been labeled "learning disabled".

Title

Vocabulary Improvement Program for English Language Learners and Their Classmates - 6th Grade

Teresa Lively & Diane August & Maria Carlo & Catherine Snow

Research studies how that students' vocabulary knowledge strongly correlates with their success in reading comprehension.  Give your sixth graders the crucial vocabulary practice they need - in just 20 to 30 minutes per day - with this innovative program that combines teacher-directed instruction with cooperative group learning and individual activities.  The lessons in this 18-week curriculum were developed around readings from New Kids in Town, by Janet Bode, and two articles on immigration adapted from the New York Times (passages included in the manual) so that your students encounter the target words embedded in literature.

This manual includes: ◊ step-by-step instructions to walk you through each lesson      ◊ a range of vocabulary-building activities - from peer interviews and word webs to old favorites like fill-in-the-blanks and sentence writing      ◊ activities to reinforce word-learning outside the classroom      ◊ cooperative group work that pairs English language learners with native English speakers            ◊ vocabulary words defined in English and Spanish      ◊ activities that use a child's first language to bolster vocabulary and text comprehension      ◊ creative "teacher tips" to help you engage children with language      ◊ pages to be photocopied for in-class work, homework activities, and assessments

Title

Multicultural Students With Special Language Needs - 2nd Edition - Practical Strategies for Assessment and Intervention

Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin

This book is written to help school professionals develop a better understanding of linguistically and culturally diverse students so that they can work effectively with children who have special learning needs.  The book is based on research from a number of disciplines, including anthropology, linguistics, second language acquisition, health care, sociology, communicative disorders, bilingual/multicultural education, and special education.  The goal is to provide a multidisciplinary, well-rounded, and comprehensive view of L

Title

Vocabulary Improvement Program for English Language Learners and Their Classmates - 5th Grade

Teresa Lively & Diane August & Maria Carlo & Catherine Snow

Research studies how that students' vocabulary knowledge strongly correlates with their success in reading comprehension.  Give your sixth graders the crucial vocabulary practice they need - in just 20 to 30 minutes per day - with this innovative program that combines teacher-directed instruction with cooperative group learning and individual activities.  The lessons in this 18-week curriculum were developed around readings from New Kids in Town, by Janet Bode, and two articles on immigration adapted from the New York Times (passages included in the manual) so that your students encounter the target words embedded in literature.

This manual includes: ◊ step-by-step instructions to walk you through each lesson      ◊ a range of vocabulary-building activities - from peer interviews and word webs to old favorites like fill-in-the-blanks and sentence writing      ◊ activities to reinforce word-learning outside the classroom      ◊ cooperative group work that pairs English language learners with native English speakers            ◊ vocabulary words defined in English and Spanish      ◊ activities that use a child's first language to bolster vocabulary and text comprehension      ◊ creative "teacher tips" to help you engage children with language      ◊ pages to be photocopied for in-class work, homework activities, and assessments

Title

AIM for the BEST: Assessment and Intervention Model for the Bilingual Exceptional Students

Alba A. Ortiz & Cheryl Yellich Wilkinson & Phyllis Robertson-Courtney & Millicent I. Kushner & Charlene Rivera

This is a handbook for teachers and planners from the Innovative Approaches Research Project.  It describes an innovative instructional/intervention model that represents a promising approach to the education of language minority students.  It is one of four handbooks produced to document and disseminate the findings of the Innovative Approaches Research Project (IARP).  This handbook provides information about the IARP comprehensive service-deliver program for exceptional language minority children, implemented in a school district in the southwestern part of the United States.  School personnel, parents and educational planners may use this handbook to assess the appropriateness of the intervention for their schools.  Also, teachers may look to the handbook for explicit advise on implementing the model.  Therefore, the handbook provides many details about effective strategies and required resources for replicating the model.  It also give clear examples of instructional strategies used on a day-to-day basis to make classroom teaching effective.

Title

Meeting the Needs of Limited English Proficient Students in General and Special Education

Phyllis Robertson - Univ. of Texas at Austin

Topics for this Spring Workshop:  ◊ What Leaders of Successful Change Do   ◊ Implementing a Service Delivery System for Language Minority Students   ◊ Creating a Positive School Climate Through Incorporation of Students' Language and Culture   ◊ Effective Instruction in Regular and Special Education   ◊ Examples of Effective Instructional Strategies   ◊ Assessment Practices   ◊ The IEP Process for Language Minority Students.

Title

Multiculturalism and Disability: A Collection of Resources and Issues

Susan O'Connor

Part one of this resource packet is an attempt to place disability within the larger context of multiculturalism.  Within this framework we can begin to look at the multitude of salient aspects that make up the lives of people with disabilities as well as our own life.  By placing disability within this broader context, this article attempts to look at issues of discrimination that have faced many people because of race, gender, ethnicity, class, age and disability to name a few and the similarities that exist with such experiences.

The second part of the packet offers annotations of books, articles, materials and organizations that are dealing with issues of multiculturalism and disability as well as some that deal more specifically to one aspect of multiculturalism-such as issues of ethnicity, or poverty.  This packet will, hopefully, add to a broader discussion of multiculturalism taking place within families, service agencies, and communities across the country.

Title

Cultural Awareness Teaching Techniques - Resource Handbook Number 4

Jan Gaston

We live in a time when the need for understanding and mutual respect across cultural boundaries is imperative.  Implicit in the achievement of understanding and respect is the successful interchange between two human beings that we call communication.  Language is, of course, a key component of communication, and although the accurate use of linguistic forms is necessary for effective communication, in most communicative situations, the communicators do more than simply talk to each other in grammatically well-constructed sentences; there has to be a familiarity with the culture of the language being used by the communicators.

Quote from Language Competence and Cultural Awareness in the United States: A Statement of the Position of the Joint National Committee for Languages and the Council for Language and other International Studies:  "It is through the knowledge of languages and cultures that we best begin to know and comprehend the scope and significance of human experience in history, from ancient times to modern; it is through the knowledge of languages and culture that we best learn to tolerate and appreciate cultural and linguistic diversity at home, to understand our contemporaries abroad and so achieve our full potential as citizens of the world."

Title