The process of foreign language publishing, teaching, and learning are increasingly linked to the technological and socio-cultural expansion of an international communications marketplace. Publishers, such as Langenscheidt, play a pivotal role in the process of cultural production and mediation, which has simultaneously contributed to a reconfiguration of the publishing industry at large. Indeed, language publishing represents merely one programmatic emphasis (or subsidiary) within the operations of multimedia conglomerates, of which Langenscheidt is by no means the largest (in comparison to Bertelsmann, Holtzbrinck, McGraw-Hill, Paramount/Viacom, or Time-Warner). The development and expansion of the Langenscheidt Publishing Group from a print publisher, with a core program of foreign language and reference publishing, to an international, multimedia communications enterprise reveals the changing role(s) of cultural production and mediation both within the contexts of foreign language instruction (e.g., texts, media, and software) and in the broader contexts of an international communications and entertainment industry (travel and lifestyle products). Simultaneously, foreign language teachers and learners are also engaged in the exploration of new communications technologies and the negotiation of culture both within and outside of the foreign language class. The following discussion of recent initiatives by Langenscheidt may indicate the extent to which emergent technologies and strategies of cultural production will link more closely the environments of the foreign language classroom with various modes of intercultural communication and experience. Today, foreign language texts, reference works, and multimedia products for travel and leisure form the core of the Langenscheidt Publishing Group. During the past two decades Langenscheidt has built an integrated publishing concern which emphasizes cross-cultural communication and the international lifestyles of its customers. Through the cquisition of Polyglott, Baedeker, and numerous map publishers in the United States, Langenscheidt has become an international publisher of travel guides and maps, ranking in some U.S. markets with Rand McNally.l In order to ensure that its readers will be able to keep up-to-date with the explosion and secure its position as a leading language-reference publisher, Langenscheidt has also invested in major publishers of reference works and encyclopedias in Germany (including Bibliographisches Institut, F.A. Brockhaus Verlag, Dudenverlag, Meyers Lexikonverlag), as well as the Verlag Enzyklopidie with the DudenBrockhaus-Meyer imprints in the new states. These acquisitions reveal a conceptual development of the publishing group based on the recognition that the need for linguistic, cultural, and geographic orientation will create new demands for culturally-based information products. Rather than compartmentalizing travel, language learning, and ref ence publishing, Langenscheidt seeks to exploit programmatic affinities conceptually and technologically by packaging content-related linguistic guides, travel guides, and maps in multimedia f rmats (which may include various combinations of books, audio/video cassettes, computer oftware, and CD-ROMs). While technological and pedagogical innovation have defined the historical development of Langenscheidt, the integration of new conceptual linkages and technological innovation has led to a holistic approach to publishing which simultaneously expands the boundaries of traditional book publishing. Several examples illust ate this approach.