The immense potential of language, for learning, building relationships, as the embodiment of culture, for an understanding of the world and for expressing 'self', is the underlying theme of this thesis. One less apparent aspect of the language of children is their private speech. In this thesis the research questions focus on whether children from diverse language backgrounds attending English-speaking kindergartens use private speech. Further, if so, what is the context, who is present when it is used and is there a response from the person or people? These questions are primarily addressed through observations of eight children as well as recordings of their private speech. An understanding of the context is supported through interviews with the parents and teachers in the kindergartens. The expectations for this research were largely based on the work of Vygotsky, and adapted to the natural, 'free play' environments of the kindergartens. It was expected that children from diverse language backgrounds in English medium kindergartens would use private speech in their own language. While the children did use private speech (unlike the results from Vygotsky's research) they talked to themselves in English using the language that they had acquired from the community, from the media, from their experiences at kindergarten and in some cases from their families. Based on Krafft & Berk's categories of private speech, a significant focus of this research is the categories of private speech that were used by individual children. These findings pose interesting insight into the experiences of the children. This research has shown the child's remarkable ability to tune into the language and culture of context and to do so not only in relation to the socio-cultural context but also through thinking and acting. This study has also provided insight into the early childhood environments and the experiences of the teachers. As the first known research into private speech/self-talk in early childhood in Aotearoa New Zealand it can serve as a spring-board for further research to enhance our understanding of the child's thinking and learning through private speech.

The outcome of demographics which point to a rapid increase in the number of older adults in the population has been widely debated in the literature. However, it has been examined primarily from the perspective of an unrealistically optimistic or unduly pessimistic view of the future, with few attempts to provide other alternatives. This thesis is structured in three sections. The first backgrounds the context of the research question, the relevant literature, the prospect of gender bias in that literature and the historical development of government policy towards ageing. The second section presents a theoretical perspective for social change, examines the development of social movements and puts a case for a new social movement arising out of the increasing number of older adults and supporting educative processes. The third section reports on empirical research based on interviews in Australia and New Zealand with leaders of organisations involved with older adults and focuses on drawing conclusions from the research in relation to the research question. The theory proposed in this thesis is based on the premise that an opportune time in history exists for older adults to contribute to social and political change. However, for senior members of society to undertake this role will require education in some form, to act as an agency or catalyst to initiate an organised social movement. Findings of this research support the view that the majority of older adults remain fit and healthy and do not conform to the medicalisation approach to ageing on which government policy and, to a large extent, public attitudes, have been formed. While there would be problems of organisation in the formation of a new social movement there are no insurmountable obstacles to overcome. The greatest difficulty would seem to lie in overcoming inertia, sectional interests, generating the leadership and developing innovative and imaginative educative processes. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

International students have diverse needs when undertaking education in Australian universities. It is in the interest of both international students and the host institution to ensure these students achieve success in their studies. This study builds on previous research and explores, from the students' perspective, the academic adjustment experiences of undergraduate international Business students from Chinese Confucian heritage cultural backgrounds at Victoria University, Australia. A qualitative methodology, using principles of grounded theory, was used for the study. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted for data collection. The transcribed data was analysed under focus questions and themes identified in the literature review using open and fixed grids. The dissertation documents the academic experiences of the cohort of students studied, focusing on the significant cultural factors which impinged on their adjustment; and discusses the emerging patterns, processes of the adjustment, strategies for future students to adjust well, and implications for curriculum development and delivery. The results of this study have suggested that cultural and educational backgrounds play a significant role in students' adjustment. The systematic building by academics and administrators of formal and informal mechanisms in Australian universities, which value students' cultural diversity and develop inclusive curricula, is to enrich the learning experiences of all students.

Chapter 1 describes the subjects and the investigation procedure including the recorded interviews and equipment used. It also outlines the ten pronunciation lessons that were given. Chapter 2 is a short account of the phonemes of Australian English. Chapter 3 is an account of the phonemes of Vietnamese, summarising and comparing the analyses of Nguyen Dang Liem and Le Ba Thao (later form: Thao Le). Chapter 4 compares Australian English and South Vietnamese, discussing the postulated correspondence of the phonemes and predicting errors arising from L1 interference. Chapter 5 is a detailed analysis of the English sounds spoken by the subjects, including descriptions of the results of the first and second tests. This chapter comprises detailed analysis of the vowels, diphthongs, consonants and consonant clusters pronounced by the subjects. The bulk of this chapter could have been contained in an appendix. A reader may choose to read only the first few pages and then go on to chapter 6. Chapter 6 is a summary of the vowels, diphthongs and consonants analysed in chapter 5, but presented in a less detailed way, enabling easier access to the findings in chapter 5. This chapter is especially useful for those who want to concentrate on the main points. Chapter 7 gives some practical ideas for teachers of English pronunciation to Vietnamese people. Chapter 8 describes the statistical agreement tests. It includes the percentages of difficulties and improvements of the vowels, diphthongs and consonants calculated overall and in word position, and the difficulties of the individual students. Chapter 9 gives a description of the approxilect spoken by South Vietnamese speakers of English. It includes a consideration of predictable and non-predictable error types and provides some details about first language interference. Chapter 10 provides an acoustical analysis of the vowels of South Vietnamese

Due to a range of historical reasons, relatively few academic studies of Cambodian society and culture in relation to women have been available to inform researchers and Western aid workers. To assist in filling this gap, this thesis analyses Western understandings of the application of Women and Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD) policies in Cambodia against the backdrop of the reality of Cambodian culture and politics. The first three chapters provide the historical and cultural context for understanding the fate of WID/GAD policies introduced in the 1990s. Chapters Four and Five provide the personal context for the thesis, focussing on my role as a researcher and the sense I have made of Cambodian women's understanding of their own history and culture. Chapter Four provides a description of my acculturation into Cambodian society as an ethnographer through 'adoption' into a Cambodian family, and outlines the theoretical approaches and ethnographic procedures used in the collection and analysis of data. Chapter Five describes my understanding of how and why Cambodian women interpreted and adapted their culture and history in the way they did in the 1990s. Against these historical, cultural and personal contexts, Chapters Six to Eight describe and analyse the WID/GAD development process during this same decade. Chapter Nine concludes the thesis by drawing together the interconnecting threads of previous chapters. Its central argument is that Western concepts of gender equity remained alien to Cambodian culture in its specific historical manifestation in the 1990s. Given the combination of cultural barriers to change within both Cambodian society and the foreign aid community, the WID/GAD agenda introduced in the 1990s was destined to fail in its attempt to alleviate feminised poverty and empower Cambodian women. As the chapter describes, the agenda was largely pursued under the auspices of MOWA. However, government inability or unwillingness to prioritise the needs of its people combined with donor failure to monitor aid assistance and collaborate with local women in a culturally sensitive way inevitably meant that wealth and power increased at the top, while poverty and powerlessness increased at the bottom. But the chapter and the thesis overall conclude on a positive note, by considering the potential of a local community development model based on trust-building and Cambodian understandings of gender equity centred on the Buddhist wat.

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