In the textbooks dealing with cultural studies of English-speaking countries (the USA and Great Britain)  several approaches to the organization of their material can be identified. One of them can be described as an academic approach. The topics  (such as government, elections, education, etc.) are treated in these textbooks in a very formal manner; the texts are mostly descriptive and resemble articles of a research paper. They may be rather long and difficult in terms of the language and there seems to be little effort on the part of their authors  to adapt these texts for the learner, to make them user-friendly or amusing. For learning English as a foreign language, this sort of literature seems to be most appropriate with the traditional grammar-translation method which involves much language analysis and does not promote much development of communication skills. The main skill which is practiced in these textbooks seems to be reading.

The second category of textbooks can be described as belonging to the other extreme on the scale of  textbooks. These are the textbooks aimed not only at providing new information about a foreign country but mostly at language and communication practice in different situations in a new cultural environment. They include practice not only in reading and understanding but also in listening, speaking and (to a  lesser extent) writing and have, besides texts, many corresponding exercises. For this reason they may become too detailed  for practical work and less comprehensive in contents.  (See, for example, ‘How to survive in the USA’, ‘Speaking of survival’ and similar material.)

The rest of the textbooks may be placed between these two extremes depending on the goal which they mostly seek: obtaining knowledge or putting this knowledge immediately into practice. However, it does not exclude the possibility of other approaches in the choice and organization of texts, one of which is proposed in the book under discussion. As a starting point we took the idea that one of the chief problems in the teaching and learning of a language is to sustain the motivation of the learner. The most effective means of  achieving this goal  is to arouse  the students’ interest in the material itself by selecting  subject matter that appeals to them. Considering that nowadays learners have opportunities to visit and stay in the countries they study and communicate with native speakers, this material is supposed to help them prepare for this communication. We have worked as a ‘trio’ in writing, editing and reviewing the contents of our textbook: a trio that includes two Russian teachers of English who have spent some time living and teaching in the US, and an American professor of psychology, who has spent several years living in Russia and has had some experience in teaching Russian University students. Our mutual experience has helped us in selecting  the most appropriate materials for our book.

We tried to reach a level of knowledge about the USA corresponding to that of an average American and to make the selection of topics as comprehensive as possible. Thus, the contents chosen includes a broad history of the US that  enhances an understanding of contemporary life in the US including social and economic structure, government and culture. The material is divided into twelve large sections: The Role of Geography and Environment in American History, American Regionalism, Some Prominent Events in American History, Chief Political Characteristics, Ten Prominent American Presidents, Ten Outstanding Americans, Some Phenomena and Names in American Culture (including literature, art, music, movie and recreational industry), Some Aspects of Life in the USA (nationalities, education, sports, living expenses, communication, libraries, medical care, religion, family trends, food and agriculture, architecture, the problem of capital punishment and other topics),  American Science and Space Research,  American Economy and Business, Some Noteworthy Cities and States and Supplementary Materials (including a list of American presidents and historical events; features of American English, etc.). Production of each article involved a thorough research of different sources. However, we have not sought to  present  complete coverage or summaries of the various areas included. Rather, our objective has been to provide an interesting view of institutions, traditions, beliefs and practices that impact  the experience of life in the US. Each topic, provided it arouses interest, can be extended and completed by the student.

Our main approach included, therefore,  motivation, comprehensiveness, the gist of real American life,  and user-friendliness. Trying to make our textbook user-friendly, we have employed a writing style that is most frequently used in American newspapers, journals and everyday language. We did not adapt the texts, but supplied each of them  with a vocabulary paying special attention to the least familiar words and their transcriptions, expressions  having  no exact equivalents in Russian and some grammar difficulties. Because of the large size of the textbook, we did not supply it with special exercises but made  lists of topics for discussion after each chapter and prepared one hundred questions for a quiz. We put a special emphasis on  discussion as the way of developing communication skills. The topics are interesting and often controversial by themselves to stimulate discussion; in addition we recommend drawing  comparison with similar aspects for Russia.   The texts will be supplied with many color illustrations, which is also one of the most powerful sources of  learner motivation.

Most of the subjects to be represented in this textbook have already been tried in class work at schools and  universities as  three previous  less  comprehensive editions (published in Moscow, 1993, and by St.-Petersburg State Technical University in  1994, 1996) had been long available. The book turned out to be quite successful  and it was this general approval  that encouraged  us in further studies. Among the most beneficial topics for group discussion are “American Primary and Secondary Education”, “Higher Education”, “College Life”, “Honor Systems in American Colleges”, “Living Expenses”, “Bill Clinton”, “Elections in the USA” and most of the texts from the Business section.

Class work with most of the texts  may be organized in the following manner. At first learners may be asked to look through the Reference section after the text being  studied and try to explain the translated words in English. In most of the groups such an activity would seem at first somewhat difficult, but very soon learners would get used to it and do it very efficiently, at times even competing with each other for better explanation. This ‘descriptive’ English-English translation  is aimed at enhancing  learner communication  skills and getting  initial  familiarization with the subject. The teacher may also call the learners’ attention to the grammar difficulties specified  at the end of each Reference section.

After selective translation of the most difficult paragraphs of the text,  a discussion may be started, basically, in terms of comparing  American realities with the corresponding Russian ones. You may compare, say, the specifics of tax deductions in America with those in Russia; you could possibly  consider the positive role of democracy in American  institutions of higher learning or lack of authoritarian approach in American high school. You  might dwell upon the significance of the above for either enhancing  the process of learning  or, if developed to an excessive extent, its becoming, in a way, detrimental for the process of learning. Generally, what we would like to stress is that most of the texts included  in the textbook are very stimulating for  fruitful  discussion  as they contain much up-to-date information  relevant to  contemporary  perception  of the  above subjects. Discussion points concluding  each of the chapters  are intended to help teachers in reviewing the study materials.

This new  edition of the book, which is due in 1999,  contains  a considerably enlarged chapter on  American culture, in particular, on American literature. The texts on the most prominent American  20-th century authors, such as William Faulkner, Eugene O’Neill, Robert Frost, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Arthur Miller, and Jerome David Salinger,  describe life and creative activity of these authors and give learners an insight into the trends in the development of modern American literature. These literary reviews are oriented  on upper-intermediate level learners and are most encouraging for further study of literary works by learners themselves.

In conclusion we would like to sincerely recommend this textbook on American studies to our colleagues and their students as we think that here they  will find  some useful  information about one of the most interesting  English-speaking countries, which  is still in need of further cultural studies. Being  user-friendly, real life oriented, informative and fairly communicative,  this book will hopefully make your classroom presentations  intellectually  refreshing  and  highly educational.

*Based on George Sivanich, Nina Popova, Olga Vessart. Life and Issues in the USA.. Past and Present. St. Petersburg, Prosvesheniye, to be published 1999