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This paper looks at the media in Germany and Australia in order to focus on the question of how Islam is accepted in both countries, and the extent to which Islamophobia exists. It was discovered that, for the most part, the media in both countries present a somewhat biased view of Muslims and Islam. However, there were some significant differences: (1) a higher acceptance of multiculturalism in the Australian media, which is revealed in the greater number of articles on ordinary, everyday multicultural life; (2) differences in the portrayal of migrants' roles; and (3) the terminology used to refer to migrants. The paper concludes by outlining the ways in which multicultural education could contribute to a reduction of Islamophobia. (Contains 1 table and 7 notes.)

In this paper, the acceptance of bilingualism and the role of bilingual education are studied in Australia and Germany. The differences between these countries with respect to immigration and multiculturalism/multilingualism policies allows the study of the underlying reasons with regard to the handling of bilingualism. While in Germany a contrast between teaching of migrant and minority languages and foreign languages is obvious, the development of LOTE in Australia overcomes this distinction but not the reluctance towards bilingual education. It is then asked what is the meaning of bilingualism with regard to citizenship, which is based on the concept of the nation state in both countries, though in Australia at least concepts of a multicultural state are discussed. The connections of bilingualism/bilingual education and citizenship are also considered with regard to both countries within the context of political developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]