Beware of Cultural Cliches! Some Interesting Findings in the Essays of 1974 and 1975 AATG Travel-Study Trip Applicants.

The new emphasis on combining language and culture teaching finds all teachers busy updating and improving their materials. However, feedback on how successful they are in their attempts is limited. Revealing insights into the image of Germany held by high school students can be gained from the 1974 and 1975 essays, written by applicants for the travel-study trips, on the following Landeskunde topics: (1) You would like to spend two months somewhere in West Germany. Which place would you pick, for what reasons, and what would you like to do there? (2) Do you think that there are essential differences between German and American youth? What is your answer based on? While one-sided, uniform responses occurred to the first topic, indicating the existence of strong cultural-geographical cliches, the reactions to the second topic were more varied, indicating a realistic grasp of contemporary life. Reasons are presented for the popularity of the cliches and recommendations offered for dealing with them without abandoning altogether the "good old Germany" image of folklore and regional attractions. (Author/TL)