Abstract
This paper is a progress report of the cross-cultural training program which has been carried out at the International Student Center of Tsukuba University. The program aims at a successful merger of cultural education and Japanese language education. By nature any language is a representation of its culture. An important feature of the program is a series of researches that include A) how foreign language learners understand Japanese language and culture, and B) how the cultural and communicative gaps of their native culture and language create a difference or distortion in their reactions to Japanese language learning, learning attitudes, word usages and other Japanese communicative activities. The aim of the program is for the Japanese language learners to enable 1) to accept meanings of different culture, 2) to position the language in their consciousness as natives do and therefore, 3) to use the language effectively based on their understanding of Japanese culture and ideas.
