TH IV TJU TUESDAY, MAY 27,. 1OSS PROFESSOR LADO: Word Meanings Differ with Cultures Whittemore Discusses Plant, Soil Experiments By JAMES SEDER(I r "y Y VTA"IT 1UP .MO Our word "lunch," defined as the midday meal, might lead a foreigner to a misunderstanding of American culture, according to Professor Robert F. Lado, head of the English Language Institute. Prof. Lado explained that a South American would assume that lunch is a full course meal- a time when the family gets to- gether to exchange experiences of the day. But in the United States lunch means something entirely different. In Spain, the chief headquarters of Prof. Lado's coming sabbatical leave, he will gather cross-cultural information pertinent to the teaching of English as a foreign language. Prof. Lado explained that two people from different cultures could interpret the same thing in a completely different manner. Research Spanish Interpretation "Visitors do not see us as we are, and we do not see them as 11 they are. People view others in terms of their own culture." Prof. Lado said. His research will con- sist of discovering the understand- ing which the Spanish have of certain English words. Prof. Lado will try to find if there are gen- eral trends of misunderstanding which stem from basic miscon- ceptions about the civilization of the United States. "A foreign language must be taught in context with its cultur- al background," he stressed. It is not merely our intention to ex- plode the cliches and myths which are accepted as cultural knowl- edge of groups, Prof. Lado said, we are dealing with the broader question of cultural influence on language learning. Formulated Teaching Method Prof. Lado was the first person to formulate a method for testing English as a foreign language ob- jectively. He explain'ed that for a long time it was considered im- possible to test pronunciation by objective means. "Of course noth- ing is completely objective," he quickly added, "but we have found a way to determine a stu- dent's pronunciation facility by a paper and pencil test." From Spain, Prof. Lado will fly to Japan to direct a seminar for teachers of English as a foreign language. The seminar, sponsored by the American Embassy, the United States Fulbright Commis- sion in Japan, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, will draw teachers from the junior high schools of all provinces. -,Daily-Ian MacNiven PROF. LADO ... going to Spain ERE* SE COLEG HARRISBURG * YORK WILKES-BARRE SCRANTON ,ANYWHERE IN PENNSYLVANIA for reservations call WOodward 5-9800 "Valuable scientific research in such areas as plant life and soil experimentation can be performed without reducing observations to mathematical formulas," Prof. H a r 1 o w O. Whittemore, retiring chairman of the landscape archi- tecture department said, Except for four years spent as a science' instructor at Highland College in Kansas, Prof. Whitte- more has spent all of his teach- ing career at the University. One of the reasons why he remained at the University, Prof. Whitte- more said, was the acquisition by the department of Nichols Arbor- etum in 1917. Prof. Whittemore explained that the Arboretum, of which he is di- rector, is extremely valuable to his department. In it, experiments in acclimatization and soil control can be performed., Strong Trees Developed "One of our most interesting experiments," he continued, "was acclimatization of the Cedar of Lebanon trees to the Michigan climate." The trees, which are na- tive to Syria, had to be carefully handled in order to develop a "strong" enough tree to stand Ann Arbor's relatively cold cli- mate. The People working. on the pro- ject gathered seeds from cedars growing on the tops of mountains, which were already somewhat used to the cold. These seeds were transported to America, where they were grown in Boston. The Boston climate, Prof. Whittemore explained was b e t w e e n the warmth of Syria and coolness of Ann Arbor. Seeds from the trees in Boston were hardy enough to prosper were sent to Ann Arbor., These trees have grown success- fully, he continued, and his de- partment also developed a tech- nique by which sprigs of one of these cedars can be cut and used to create another cedar. "It is too early to tell," he added, "whether or not these plants will develop seeds which will be acclimatized to Ann Arbor weather. Handles Soil Problems Prof. Whittemore has done some interesting work in soil prob- lems. "The two most difficult types of soil to deal with are sand and clay." He found that clay could be made into better soil by adding black swamp mud to it. Sand, he found, could be improved by adding humus. Prof. Whittemore's hobby is m o u n t a i n climbing. "Some people," he explained, "are some- what surprised to hear that I mountain climb. They seem con- cerned that I maight have a heart attack, but if one gets in condi- tion, just as an athlete does; there is no danger in it." Prof. Whitte- more has climbed several of Amer- ica's highest mountains, including Mts. Whitney and Rainier. PROF. WHITTEMORE .. . landscape architect SERVING 50 CITIES in 8 STATES O PROP DRIVE-IN70S FREE DELIVERY THIS COUPON is good for 25c SAVING on any medium or large PIZZA- any time from Mon., May26 to Thurs., May 29 k 1I BIKE STORAGE Store Your Bicycle With Us During Vacation CAMPUS BIKE ii ------------------------------------------ -- 514-16 E. 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