This study aims to identify the problems faced by Arab immigrant students when learning English as a third language (L3) in Sweden. The paper explores the views of non-native English-speaking students and teachers in adult education, about the speaking issues of Arab immigrant students in particular, by identifying the factors that result in the emergence and development of these problems. To achieve these objectives, I utilized a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews. While five of the interviews were face-to-face, one teacher answered the questions by email. The results indicate that the speaking difficulties are encountered due to similarities between Swedish and English words, weak linguistic skills (in phonetics, phonology, morphology and/or syntax) and weak speaking and writing skills due to inadequate practice. The findings from the analyses also indicate that the types of teaching methods and the differences between the cultures of the countries (i.e., Swedish and Arabic speaking countries) are the most prominent factors that affect the learning of English as L3 for Arab immigrants in Sweden. To improve students’ speaking skills in English, the participants proposed a number of suggestions, including providing more lessons and activities in English. Furthermore, they suggested that English teachers should communicate only in English with their students and should have proper training. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations for policy changes will be provided.

Background: People from ethnic minority immigrant groups living in host countries are known to have higher risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The role of acculturation, or assimilation into a different and dominant culture, is often studied from social and medical views when focusing on individuals diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases and their recovery after cardiac events. However, the effects of the complex roles of acculturation and religious coping on these individuals are rarely considered in the research. There is limited knowledge regarding the complex roles of acculturation and religious coping in adopting healthy lifestyle behaviours and managing stress among individuals with cardiovascular diseases from Arab communities in the Ottawa region. This research project’s general purpose was to explore and understand the complex roles of acculturation and religious coping through the experiences of individuals diagnosed with CVD from Arab communities in the Ottawa region. Objectives: The specific objectives were to 1) identify and understand the challenges among Arab immigrants related to acculturation and religiosity in adopting healthy lifestyle behaviours and managing stress; 2) measure and describe the levels of religious beliefs as well as religious coping strategies, acculturation, perceived stress, and healthy lifestyle behaviours among Arab individuals living in the region of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who have been diagnosed with cardiac events or who are at high risk for cardiovascular diseases; and 3) explore the role of acculturation and religious coping in shaping male Arab individuals’ lived experiences after a cardiac event and to explore their ways of understanding lifestyle behaviours and cardiac rehabilitation during recovery. Methods: A mixed-method approach was adopted in this research, which included three separate studies: Study 1 was a qualitative study (views of key informants with first-hand knowledge) in which three face-to-face focus groups were conducted with 17 Arab health promoters; Study 2 was a cross-sectional survey study was conducted with 63 individuals from local Arab communities who had been diagnosed with cardiac events or who were at high risk for cardiovascular diseases; and Study 3 consisted of a phenomenographic qualitative study, semi-structured in-depth interviews with male Arab individuals (N=10), selected from Study 2, who identified themselves as having had cardiac events while living in Canada. Results: From the perspective of Arab health promoters, there was an overlapping between various aspects of acculturation and religious beliefs that may have impacted the healthy lifestyle of Arab immigrants. These challenges were coded in four themes: “Culture first!”: dominant influence of home country culture; “Religiosity alone does not make you healthy!”: limited religious influence; “It is not easy!”: difficulties adapting to the Canadian lifestyle; and “We are not young!”: generational differences in adopting a healthy lifestyle. Findings from the survey study indicated that most participants were oriented more toward their Arabic culture than Canadian culture. Participants tended to be religious, and their nutritional behaviours were healthier than physical activity behaviours. However, age, gender, and interestingly, length of time living in Canada did not affect the participants’ results in any of the questionnaires. Based on lived experiences of 10 participants in the interview study, five core themes were identified: “Stressful events or cardiac events!”: acculturative stress effects; “It was a dreamlike event!”: dismissing perceptions of cardiac events; “recognizing risk factors is not enough to avoid them”: perceived threat; religious coping outcomes: satisfaction and fatalism; Cardiac Rehabilitation programs: who refers and who participates. Conclusion: This dissertation showed that acculturation level plays an essential role in Arab immigrants’ beliefs and behaviours regarding their health status and their experiences in preventing cardiovascular diseases risk factors or in recovery after cardiac events. Religious coping seems to be a way for less acculturated Arab immigrants to manage stress and mental burdens and find internal peace and satisfaction. From the perspective of Arab health promoters, some religious or cultural beliefs may be barriers to engaging in physical activity, especially for women and older people, and these barriers may be exacerbated by acculturative stress. Religiosity may also play an essential indirect role in managing stress through socialization, family support, and the adoption of coping strategies. Arab individuals living in the region of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, who have been diagnosed with cardiac events or who are at high risk for cardiovascular diseases may have been more religious and less acculturated in Canadian society. Their lifestyle health behaviours related to physical activity and nutrition may have been influenced by their health status, religious beliefs, and the practices or traditions of their culture of origin. Stress and mental burdens while living in Canada reflected negatively on Arab male individuals’ experiences with cardiac events. Stress was perceived as a potential cause of cardiac events and a factor leading to low self-efficacy in changing lifestyle behaviours. There is a need to promote healthy lifestyle messages and raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases risk factors among Arab communities. Future research is needed to design culturally adapted cardiac rehabilitation programs for Arab individuals and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions with both physical and mental health components.

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A case study research design was employed to examine the cultural reproduction, segmented assimilation and religious schooling experiences of immigrant Muslim parents and students at an Islamic day school. Research Site: The research site was the Nur Islamic Academy, a Pre-school-12th grade licensed private Islamic day school located in a north-eastern city in the United States. The student body composition was 55% immigrant and 45% African-American Muslims. The school was an edifice in an urban Arab enclave. This ethnic neighborhood was experiencing capital flight, uneven development and urban decay. Research Questions: Three core questions guided this study. What is the functionality of Islamic schooling as a vehicle of cultural reproduction? How do religiosity and the presentation of Islamic rituals serve students and families as opportunities for affirmation? What experiences carry the immigrant's identity? Research Design: The case study research design consisted of interviews, an immigrant student focus group, attitudinal parental survey, observations and archival investigations. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework of this study was cultural reproduction. Segmented assimilation, urban, ethnic, Muslim and immigrant identity theories were incorporated throughout this discourse. Data Analysis: Content Analysis methodologies were used to classify transcribed audio-taped interviews,observations and archival investigations into themes. The targeted population of this study did not respond well to survey data collection. Therefore the survey results were inconclusive. Outliers were identified and noted. The interpretations, conclusions, and discussions were supported with a literature synthesis. All participants were anonymous Findings: The findings of this study suggest that the Muslim expatriates in this urban immigrant settlement consciously used Islamic schooling as an institutional mode of intergenerational cultural reproduction. They elected to carry and hold their home cultures and Arabian heritage as they nestled into this urban landscape. Conclusions:The Nur Islamic Academy created an ethos that affirmed the parents, students and community member's Islamic belief system and Arabian heritage. Parents and students choose religious schooling as a means to ward-off the downward mobility that they associated with their neighborhood schools. Staff members and parents related that they have forgone full mainstream assimilation. Their preference was to actively participate in selective acculturation and incorporation processes as a segmented component of their day to day lives. 1. The Nur Islamic Academy and all other individual, organizational and institutional names are pseudonyms to maintain their anonymities. / Urban Education