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Relations between language brokering and psychological adjustment were examined among 183 immigrant Chinese families residing in Canada. Adolescents (average age 15 years, 52% females) reported the frequencies with which they translated or interpreted materials for parents, with their materials varying in their levels of sensitivity. Mothers, fathers and adolescents also independently completed measures hypothesized to affect the emotional context in which language brokering takes place. and measures of individual and relational adjustment. Overall, more frequent language brokering appears to have stronger negative implications for adolescent adjustment and parent-child relationship quality, than for parents' adjustment. Material sensitivity, family obligation values, perceived parental psychological control, and parent versus friend orientation were found to moderate some of these relations. The findings are discussed in the context of the amount of pressure that is associated with language brokering, as well as vulnerabilities that may manifest from the parent-child role reversals inherent in language brokering.

This is a project about a specific group of peopleand place: the Chinese elderly in Strathcona, Vancouver. The parameters are cultural, social and physical. It is about a traditional culture at a crossroad with a North American culture, the implications being a critical exchange. I have proposed a living space that combines the closeness of a private world and the openness of an active and meaningful public face. The design of the housing addresses not only the area's need for elderly housing, but social and architectural perspectives as well. The private housing component is combined with a community (public) part - a daycare - and a semi-public part - the lounge, both of which allows the participation of the residents as well as the community. The lounge is a space for small exhibitions and performances. The semi-private component consists of a dining facility with kitchen, a small reading room (family room), a laundry and a clinic (beauty parlour). This combination means a dynamic connection of the public and the private faces. Through the use of the community's own design language and ideas from Asian housing and village designs, I have linked together a world of singular intracacies to create a rich sphere - one that will begin an urban repair through a breakdown and restructuring of the integral components of a place and the idiosyncracies of a culture. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

This thesis is a study of attitudes towards the final disposition of archival records among representatives of five organizations in the Chinese community, Vancouver, British Columbia. The findings reveal three different types of attitude towards the final disposition of their archival records: "closed", "fairly open", and "open". Organizations with a political mission, a long history, and financially independent of government support tend to hold a "closed" attitude towards the final disposition of archival records; those with a project-oriented mission, existing for a limited time, and financially dependent of the government tend to hold an "open" attitude; those with missions such as cultural and social services tend to hold a "fairly open" attitude. The size of an organization does not influence the attitudes. The organizations open or fairly open towards access of their records possess higher potential for acquisition of ethnic archives by a public archival institution, whereas those closed to access of their records hold lower potential for acquisition. It is argued that these findings, though preliminary in nature, have significant importance for the archival community as regards the development of acquisition policy and strategy in keeping with the situation anddesires of records generators, in this case, ethnic groups. Its implications are especially significant in the Canadian setting, being a country widely acknowledged to have many ethnic groups. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

For centuries, Western societies thought of wilderness as a barren, desolate place that harboured temptation and sin. Over the last hundred and fifty years, a marked shift has occurred in Western perception of this so-called savage place; it has become revered, protected, and even worshipped. What was once the Devil's playground is now thought to provide a locus of spiritual regeneration and hope for the future. In North America, this pronounced shift is thought to coincide with notions of the sublime and the frontier. This study explores the perceptions of wilderness among Chinese Canadian immigrants in British Columbia, people who have been less influenced by concepts of the sublime and frontier. It examines closely the idea that wilderness today is a self-evident construct that holds across most inhabitants of the province. Instead, ideas about wilderness held by people who have immigrated from China, similar to the ideas held by early immigrants from Europe, are influenced by tradition (especially Confucianism, Taoism, and, more recently, Maoism), space (i.e. coming from densely populated areas), and language. Through this study, it has become apparent that the language and discourse surrounding wilderness in Canada is markedly different from that of Chinese Canadian immigrants. While the language and meaning of wilderness, as referred to in Western society, is assumed relatively easily for interviewees, the identification with moral and aesthetic responses common to discussions of wilderness in North America is much less likely to manifest itself. Wilderness, which represented barrenness and desolation to interviewees when they lived in China, has come to represent forests, mountains, animals, and lack of human influence. What previously had different philosophical meaning, now, in a cognitive sense, represents beauty and, potentially, a locus of spirituality. The results of this study have important consequences for decision-making in cross-cultural environments. Policy surrounding wilderness or environmental preservation may be without meaning or relevance to new immigrants, who bring with them shared meanings and relationships to nature that may or may not be incongruous with Canadian environmental policy. In facing such debates, it is crucial to understand the perceptions of various players and how those ideas are linked to tradition, language, and the geography of the familiar. It is also critical to ask - What is wilderness and why are we protecting it above all else? / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate

In research on immigrant enterprise, scholars argue that entrepreneurs mobilize informal support and resources from ethnic affiliations to overcome barriers associated with their immigrant or 'racial' status. The presumed relationship between ethnicity and entrepreneurship is relatively straight forward: immigrant entrepreneurs facing cultural or economic barriers use ethnic resources to propel their economic strategies. This assumption is brought under scrutiny in a study of Chinese Canadian immigrant entrepreneurs in Vancouver, Canada who arrived after 1967, many of whom are skilled professionals, affluent investors, and experienced entrepreneurs. Some have formed corporate ethnic enterprises and many maintain extensive social and commercial ties abroad. What relationship exists between ethnicity and entrepreneurship in this setting? Do these conditions necessitate new approaches or concepts? These questions are explored in the course of the study. Using ethnographic methods, this study examines the changing patterns and composition of Chinese Canadian rmmigrant entrepreneurship and the role of ethnic ties in this process. Consideration is given to the historical precedents and class and cultural politics surrounding the immigration and participation of Chinese Canadian entrepreneurs and workers in the Vancouver economy. The study concludes that existing theory on immigrant enterprise needs move beyond a narrow focus on ethnicity to consider the historical and cultural context of immigrant entrepreneurship. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

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