The relationship between parenting and children's reports of ethnic identity was examined among 98 immigrant Chinese families in Canada. Children (average age = 12 years old, 57% girls) reported on their parents' parenting practices (i.e., warmth and inductive reasoning) and their feelings of ethnic identity. Mothers and fathers completed measures assessing their parenting cognitions (i.e., authority role beliefs, relational childrearing goals, and parenting self-efficacy). Higher levels of warmth and reasoning by mothers were associated with stronger feelings of ethnic identity among children. The results for fathers were more qualified. Fathers' warmth was related to stronger ethnic identity, but only among boys, and fathers' reasoning predicted stronger ethnic identity, but only among 1* generation children. In contrast to parenting practices, there were few relations between parenting cognitions and children's ethnic identity. Only mothers' authority beliefs were associated with reports of ethnic identity, and this was true only among first generation children. The findings are discussed in the context of culturally emphasized roles and relationships, differences in the cultural experiences of children who immigrate at younger versus older ages, and the importance of parenting relative to other factors that promote feelings of ethnic identity.

Recent years have witnessed the large number of Chinese immigrants in Canada. However, talk about the return migration of Chinese immigrants is circulating within the Canada's Chinese communities, especially among Chinese immigrants who have obtained Canadian academic credentials. This inquiry explores ten Chinese immigrants' perceptions about their immigration and living experiences in Canada. My goal is to understand, from a social-cultural-historical context, the phenomenon of Chinese-Canadian return migration among recent Chinese immigrants in Canada. The theoretical framework is derived primarily from Bourdieu's capital theory and his critical approach to the concept of habitus . Drawing on an interpretative, qualitative approach, I examine social, cultural, historical forces that influence the ways these Chinese immigrants perceive, negotiate and reposition themselves in facing various challenges and struggles. Traditionally, research on return migration of Chinese immigrants in Canada has focused on the economic and social integration of immigrants in the host country. I argue that "Chinese cultural habitus", such as the profound influence of Confucianism and Taoism that Chinese immigrants inherited, played critical roles in their actions, attitudes and decision-making about their return migration. I collected the participants' narratives for a one and half year period from August 2006 to March 2008 primarily through open-ended interviews, and various documentation such as field notes, reflexive notes and Canadian Statistics. Analyses of the data suggest that the unrecognized foreign credentials and the limited social capital of Chinese immigrants are the primary factors that disadvantage their social mobility. Chinese cultural values and beliefs have great impact on Chinese immigrants' perceptions and behaviors during their journey of crossing different social spaces, assuming different positionings and negotiating among their multiple identities.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Regent College, 1990. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-128).

No description available.

This study aimed to explore the complexity and interrelationships of language, culture and identity from the learners' perspectives. The focus of the study was on the exchange experiences of five Hong Kong students in the Canadian tertiary contexts. The participants were bilingual learners. They came from an educational background which emphasized English as a medium of instruction. In Canada, the students had the language competence to integrate into mainstream courses during their one year stay. This study questioned whether language was also their passport into a new culture. The study was divided into two phases. The first phase was a pilot study (January 1997- May 1997). Emergent themes from the pilot study guided the research questions in the second phase of the study ( October 1997 - July 1998). The methodology employed in this study emphasized a naturalistic inquiry approach and co-authorship with the participants. The research focused on a multiple case study approach with an ethnographic link to highlight the interpretive and sociocultural perspectives of the study. Research strategies included direct and participant observation, home visit, e-mail, phone conversation, informal interview, intensive discussion, secondary informant, artifact and metaphor. Personal narratives were central to the discussions in data analysis. Data collected in the study support the learner agency framework on the issue of social identity. Themes which emerged from the research process suggest multiple voices, multiple interpretations and multiple realities in the process of language socialization. Many interactive variables in the social contexts influence the construction and reconstruction of knowledge on language, culture and identity. Language socialization is a complex interweave of meanings between the individual and the environment. Ambivalence, contradictions and uncertainties are recurring themes in the rites of transition. Learners are empowered by their awareness and agency in their struggle. They are active agents of their identities, roles and status in changing sociocultural settings. This study urges the need for language educators to include voices of the learners in language research and to re-examine the notions of language power, cultural diversity, social access, claim of ownership, learner investment and human agency in language pedagogy.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Logos Evangelical Seminary, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-228).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Logos Evangelical Seminary, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 220-228).

Thus study seeks a contribution to the understanding of the problems of immigrant Chinese by comparing them with Canadian-born Chinese. It is almost impossible to understand the ways and customs of the Chinese without some insight into their culture. But to understand the adjustment problems of this minority group, their cultural background must be discussed in comparison with the North American culture. The study is focussed upon a small group, both immigrant and Canadian-born, whose failure to "make good" in Canada is signalized by their admission to a mental hospital. For case-study, eighteen immigrant Chinese patients and a comparative group of nine Canadian-born Chinese patients were selected. Data was obtained from clinical files recorded by doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, social workers and other members of the treatment team. A rating scale was devised to help assess the major factors in adjustment to life, subdivided into (a) personality constituents, (b) social factors, and (c) economic factors; this is then used to examine and compare the social functioning of each group. To substantiate the findings and to present a clearer picture of the causal factors, three illustrative cases are presented in detail - one Canadian-born Chinese, and two immigrant Chinese patients, in the ratio of the number studied. Each case is appraised in the same three areas: personality constituents, social factors, economic factors. Continually unsatisfactory employment and the barriers to communication created by cultural confusion show up among the factors at work. Problems of communication, social integration and cultural conflict are brought into clearer light as correlatives of mental illness, and the significance of these findings is appraised. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study aimed to explore the complexity and interrelationships of language, culture and identity from the learners' perspectives. The focus of the study was on the exchange experiences of five Hong Kong students in the Canadian tertiary contexts. The participants were bilingual learners. They came from an educational background which emphasized English as a medium of instruction. In Canada, the students had the language competence to integrate into mainstream courses during their one year stay. This study questioned whether language was also their passport into a new culture. The study was divided into two phases. The first phase was a pilot study (January 1997- May 1997). Emergent themes from the pilot study guided the research questions in the second phase of the study ( October 1997 - July 1998). The methodology employed in this study emphasized a naturalistic inquiry approach and co-authorship with the participants. The research focused on a multiple case study approach with an ethnographic link to highlight the interpretive and sociocultural perspectives of the study. Research strategies included direct and participant observation, home visit, e-mail, phone conversation, informal interview, intensive discussion, secondary informant, artifact and metaphor. Personal narratives were central to the discussions in data analysis. Data collected in the study support the learner agency framework on the issue of social identity. Themes which emerged from the research process suggest multiple voices, multiple interpretations and multiple realities in the process of language socialization. Many interactive variables in the social contexts influence the construction and reconstruction of knowledge on language, culture and identity. Language socialization is a complex interweave of meanings between the individual and the environment. Ambivalence, contradictions and uncertainties are recurring themes in the rites of transition. Learners are empowered by their awareness and agency in their struggle. They are active agents of their identities, roles and status in changing sociocultural settings. This study urges the need for language educators to include voices of the learners in language research and to re-examine the notions of language power, cultural diversity, social access, claim of ownership, learner investment and human agency in language pedagogy. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

No description available.