Affective and Cognitive Development of Culture Learning During the Early and Middle Childhood Curriculum

Culture learning is a particular type of human learning related to the patterns of human interaction and identification. This study describes the process of culture learning as it takes place within a foreign language program at a selected suburban middle school site. It explores two arenas of inquiry: How does an awareness of people different from oneself develop in the middle school adolescent, and what is the contribution of foreign language study to the development of culture learning? The findings have implications for the middle school community (administrators, staff, students, parents) and those concerned with facilitating cross-cultural learning in today’s global society.