In this study, the oral participation in L2-learners' English classroom was analysed in order to investigate what specific factors motivate och discourage pupils in EFL classroom to particpate orally. Additionally, this paper identifies the motivational factors of pupils and discusses how they affect their oral participation during English lessons. Therefore, the main reserach question of this paper are: How do the participating pupils feel about particpating in oral tasks? What helps or hinders pupils to participate in oral tasks during English lesson? This qualitative study in which we preffered the usage of semi-structured interviews (see: Appendix Interview Guide) was conducted with eight particpants between the ages of 13 and 15 from three different schools. The data analysis showed that the pupils' engagement to participate is influenced by external factors such as motivation, environment and individual factors. According to this study, it can be concluded that motivation and participation are linked and work together to achieve the main goal of participation and involvement during English lessons. Furthermore, the study paid extra attention to environmental and human elements, such as fear, anxiety and self-consciousness. In addition, pupils stated that strong feelings, such as being judged for being in the spotlight are the most common reasons for a pupil's lack of motivation to participate and angage during English lessons. Finally, this study and its results are most beneficial to English teachers to get inspired and influenced to construct an active EFL classroom where pupils develop a willingness to communicate and use their L2.

This paper empirically explores how well the established resource theory can explainwhy individuals in European countries participate or not participate through e-participation.Focusing on key resources, the essay also examines the difference in degree of explanationbetween resources on an individual level and country contextual resources. Through logisticregression analysis using variables and nearly 40 000 cases from ESS and the UN E-governmentSurvey, the study finds the resource theory explaining a majority of the results, while at the sametime it fails to contribute satisfying explanations in some areas. Furthermore, our analysisconclude that individual resources has greater impact on individual participation than countrycontextual resources. The best model for understanding individual e-participation from aresource theory perspective still needs to include country contextual resources.

Dissatisfaction with service delivery is an enormous challenge for the current government of South Africa, as protests about service delivery are frequent and often violent and disruptive. E-participation could provide a means for dissatisfied citizens to voice their grievances, but it has not been duly exploited in South Africa. The purpose of this research is to contribute to knowledge of e-participation in developing countries , and specifically to identify the factors that influence the success of service delivery e-participation initiatives. A case study was conducted of an e- participation project - Project Lungisa - and qualitative data, in the form of interviews, documents and field notes, was collected and analysed in order to identify these influencing factors. As predicted in the literature review, citizens’ trust in government, stakeholder management, ICT infrastructure and project leadership were factors that influenced Lungisa’s success. Political consensus and inclusion did not influence success, and as a result two of the study ’s propositions could not be confirmed. Unanticipated factors that emerged as influential include local government support, independence from government and political parties, the use of mobile phone technology, marketing and advertising and community integration. A revised conceptual model is presented in the conclusion of this study, which could be tested in future research. Recommendations for practitioners are also given based on the nine influencing factors, and it is hoped that these will be of value to implementers of future e-participation projects.

The current study examined the level of participation by families who have Vlll been involved between 1 and 3 years with the Community-Family Partnership (CFP) project. The CFP project is 1 of 34 Comprehensive Child Development Projects funded by the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families through the Head Start Bureau. The CFP makes available comprehensive, on-going services to enrolled families. Twenty-six families were identified as the Low Participation Group . Twenty-three families were identified as the High Participation Group. Children from each group were tested using the Battelle Developmental Inventory on a yearly basis. Results of a repeated measures ANOV A indicated that children of families with high participation had better child BDI scores than children of families with low participation. No difference was found in the economic status of these families. Multiple regression analyses were conducted using family demographic characteristics and other measures to create a profile of an actively participating family.

Recent research shows a global trend of declining voter turnout and increasing levels of elite-challenging political action. In France, elite-challenging political action, such as participating in demonstrations, is especially prominent. In addition, the voter turnout in France has been recently declining. The French case is interesting in this regard, as the voter turnout is lower than the European average while participation in demonstrations is more common than in other European countries. What characterizes people who abstain from voting but nevertheless participate in demonstrations?  This study shows that the factors that characterize non-voting demonstrators are self-expression values, internal efficacy as well as dissatisfaction with the government. In addition, the group of non-voting demonstrators tend to differ compared to the group of voting demonstrators regarding external efficacy, net income level and gender. However, explanations of elite-challenging political action seem to be able to explain demonstration behavior better among voters than non-voters. This shows that the contemporary research field of political participation needs to advance. Understanding why people abstain from voting while engaging in demonstrations is important from several perspectives: it can help us understand how contemporary old democracies can become more stable and in congruence with the current democratic culture, which thereby would make them more stable; it can help us understand what characterizes critical citizens who participate in our democracy; and finally, it can help us understand how traditional forms of political participation, such as voting, are no longer the only ways for people to participate in politics.

Transformational change for Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) of racial, ethnic, and gender groups has not occurred, despite continuing efforts for over four decades. BPE can be represented through particular activities to increase underrepresented students' participation at the undergraduate and graduate levels (herein referred to as BPE Work). One approach to investigating the complexity of change through BPE is through the analysis of a sub-group of faculty who engage in BPE Work within the system of engineering education. In the case of BPE, investigation of faculty engagement is limited. Further, limited exploration of the majority group's experiences (i.e., white men) exists concerning their agency and this type of work. This study investigates the experiences of engineering faculty who identify as white men and have been engaged in BPE Work using faculty agency and narrative. These narratives reveal insights into the current system that may drive, sustain, or prohibit BPE change. Using the narrative experiences of eight engineering faculty involved in BPE Work who identify as white men, this research explores the following questions: (1) What activities do white men faculty describe in their personal narratives of engaging in BPE Work; (2) How do white men faculty describe their trajectory into and through engaging in BPE Work; (3) What factors influence the actions and perspectives of white men faculty engaged in BPE Work; and (4) How do white men faculty describe the outcomes to their professional and personal lives when using their agency for BPE Work? Application of data analysis to research questions to elicit findings found in chapter 4 consisted of an accountability cycle, BPE Work activities, factors that impact (constraining or enabling) BPE Work, and outcomes to the participants' lives from engagement in BPE Work. The participants of this study shared experiences in which they expressed perspectives on BPE, reflecting on their backgrounds. Archer (2003) describes the ability to take a stance regarding society as invoking an "active agent," but that this stance is not a one-and-done situation (p. 343). This study resulted in findings for Deans and Provosts on the vital need for a normalized climate for BPE Work, the hidden essential functions of Engineering Student Support Centers, value-focused needs for tenure/promotion/merit processes for BPE Work, the trajectory of faculty development in BPE Work, the experiences that permeate into faculty life in undergraduate student development, and the need for future work in interrogating power dynamics in engineering education The need for all faculty to be involved in change alludes to a necessary understanding. The number of faculty of color and women faculty is not robust enough or supported to carry the system's burden. A need is present to take a realistic look at how white men experience BPE Work. This look is vital for policy and the identification of system constraints that need to be evaluated and used to drive BPE forward. / Doctor of Philosophy / Change for Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) (specifically for underrepresented races, ethnicities, and women in engineering) has not occurred, despite continuing efforts for over four decades. BPE can be represented through particular activities to increase underrepresented students' participation at the undergraduate and graduate levels (herein referred to as BPE Work). One approach to investigating the complexity of change through BPE is through the analysis of a sub-group of faculty who engage in BPE Work within the system of engineering education. In the case of BPE, investigation of faculty engagement is limited. Further, limited exploration of the majority group's experiences (i.e., white men) exists concerning their agency and this type of work. This study investigates the experiences of engineering faculty who identify as white men and have been engaged in BPE Work using faculty agency and narrative. These narratives reveal insights into the current system that may drive, sustain, or prohibit BPE change. Using the narrative experiences of eight engineering faculty involved in BPE Work who identify as white men, this research explores the following questions: (1) What activities do white men faculty describe in their personal narratives of engaging in BPE Work; (2) How do white men faculty describe their trajectory into and through engaging in BPE Work; (3) What factors influence the actions and perspectives of white men faculty engaged in BPE Work; and (4) How do white men faculty describe the outcomes to their professional and personal lives when using their agency for BPE Work? Using narrative methods, this study resulting in findings at the departmental, college, and national levels that imply the need for further investigation into the experiences of white faculty in engineering and their involvement in BPE Work. The need for all faculty to be involved in change alludes to a necessary understanding. The number of faculty of color and women faculty is not robust enough or supported to carry the system's burden. A need is present to take a realistic look at how white men experience BPE Work. This look is vital for policy and the identification of system constraints that need to be evaluated and used to drive BPE forward.

The primary purposes of the study are to explain the essentials of citizen participation and see how the community has reacted to an actual example of citizen participation, the North Pickering Public Participation Program. Citizen participation emerges as a consequence of both the planners' and the people's consciousness. It means different things to different people, but few cases represent true participation. In the study, an implicit comparison is made between an officially initiated public participation process and a community-preferred one. Urbanization and suburbanization have brought about intense growth in the existing urban centres and tremendous loss of agricultural land in Southern Ontario. The choice of North Pickering as the site for a new town is claimed to be an answer to the growth objective of decentralization and deconcentration. Its planning process has proceeded with a large-scale citizen participation program. "Information and consultation" are the official strategies from which "decision-making is to be a shared one". Most people are not happy with the participation process for they have not been truly consulted and their opinions have not been considered, although official sources say the final plan for North Pickering reflects public inputs. The community prefers a process in which they are given some power over the bargaining process.It is suggested that the North Pickering Participation Process represents some degree of tokenism. The officials have the intent, but not the proper way, of involving the people. Thus frustrations arise on both sides. This probably explains why a similar process will not go with the planning of Townsend, another new town to be built in Southen1 Ontario. Though not satisfactory, citizen participation in North Pickering is a worthwhile experience. It should be a start rather than an end in itself. / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Many scholars have discussed the role and opportunities of social media in protests and uprisings. Often these studies highlight the potential of social media as an outlet for making your voice heard, calling for action and for reaching out to the outside world about ongoing events. Few investigate the less expressive, latent, forms of political participation and the dynamics with more active, manifest, participation. With the aim of increasing our understanding of the dynamics between latent online and manifest offline political participation, this paper examines possible shifts from the latent online to manifest offline participation, focusing on the October 2019 uprising in Lebanon. In this thesis I theorize that people are somewhat aware and interested in politics. Along with information flows and social network ties, latent online participation is expected to shift into manifest offline participation. It uses original survey data with a sample of 176 Lebanese students, which is analyzed through a series of regression models. The results show some support for the theorized correlation, with varied effects among the indicators for latent online engagement. This study does not allow us to make a definitive statement about this relationship; nevertheless, it does suggest that latent online engagement can shift into manifest offline political participation for at least one of the latent categories, to various extent. Furthermore, this thesis contributes to the field of political participation, social media studies as well as contributing to broadening the discussion on the conditions for democratization in the age of social networking.

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