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Despite the recognized importance of leadership perception and individual differences in various cultures, our understanding of each of these variables is limited. The influence of fundamental cognitive styles (context dependent vs. independent) in different cultures and individual differences within culture has rarely been discussed. Current leadership perception research typically depends on surveys which cannot capture spontaneous responses that reflect both automatic and controlled processes. To better understand cross-cultural leadership perception, this study recruited two cultural groups (e.g., Americans and East Asians) and employed both qualitative (e.g., picture recognition tasks) and quantitative (Conditional Reasoning Tests) methods to examine the effect of culture and individual differences (power motive) on leadership perception. Findings and implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward physical activity and patterns of involvement among Chinese and American children. Participants were children in grades 3 and 8 in Central China (n=170) and in the Midwestern United States (n=100). Data were obtained by administering a revised inventory for children's attitudes toward physical activity (CATPA), a new CATPA inventory appropriate for grade 3, and a physical activity questionnaire. Separate 2 (Country) X 2 (Gender) X 2 (Age) MANOVAS, follow-up ANOVAs and descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. Unlike previous findings, this study indicated that Chinese participants have more positive attitudes toward physical activity while American participants reported more involvement in physical activity. Age and gender differences in attitudes toward physical activity were also found with younger children and girls expressing more positive attitudes. Marked gender and nationality differences in both participation patterns andphysical activity preferences were also evident. The results of the present study supported previous findings that attitude is a function of age and gender. / School of Physical Education

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore how different distance learning modes and environments affect the design and implementation of a crosscultural, university-level, distance education course. The case chosen was a U.S. -Taiwan collaboration that used H.323 videoconferencing and Web 2.0 technologies. Through participant observation, document analysis and interview, this study investigated the factors that influence the instructor's pedagogical practice with new technologies in relation to the cross-cultural aspects. It also examined the various types of interactions that occurred as consequences of the distance learning modes and the contexts of the course. The findings provided a portrait of factors and relationships that affected the implementation of the curriculum and the enablement of technology affordances. They suggested that the instructor’s personal value and intrinsic motivation, well-supported technology framework, and a long stable international partnership helped sustain her engagement in cross-cultural distance education (CCDE). While the instructor’s high self-efficacy prompted her to idealize technology affordances in the CCDE course, her limited technology literacy hindered the enablement of these affordances and resulted in different outcomes. In addition, difference in the teaching styles between the instructor and her international partner, unbalanced learner preparedness, and the Western valueladen learning environment were also factors that contributed to the gap between the idealization and the realization of the CCDE course. Implications and suggestions for future practice and research were provided in relation to the literature, as well as the contexts of cross-cultural/international distance education. / Access to thesis and accompanying PDF permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

From 1998- 2009, mainland China has been the number one source of immigrants in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2011). For newcomer families, adjusting to the local school is a major concern, since their children’s education is a crucial factor in families’ immigration decision. In my research, I examined Chinese immigrant parents’ experience with Canadian schooling. The study focuses on four families living in the Greater Toronto area, who have immigrated from mainland China. I employed narrative inquiry to tell the stories of the lived experience of the four families in my study. The data for these stories are mainly drawn from field notes of each of my home visits and my interviews with the family members over a six month period. I found that the challenges and difficulties the immigrant parents face are deeply rooted in the differences between Chinese and Canadian cultures and social systems. The discussion on the features of Chinese culture in its comparison with Western culture provides a reference point for understanding the Chinese immigrant parents’ values and opinions on such matters as schooling, moral education, and parenting practice. Parental involvement in schools is different between China and Canada, and the parents, and school teachers and administrators have different understanding on this issue. What’s more, the language barrier impeded the parents’ involvement in their children’s school life. The acculturation gap between the parents and their children is another major reason for miscommunication over such issues as extracurricular activities, choice of university major, and future career. The less heard voice of immigrant parents will open new venues for the understanding of cross-cultural experiences of immigrant students. I find that instead of mainly using the traditional Chinese practice and Chinese educational values in approaching their children’s education, it is important for Chinese immigrant parents to make efforts to familiarize themselves with the ideas and values that their children are exposed to in the new environment.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / This thesis examines the construction processes of language, culture and identities in relation to both the macro level of society and culture, as well as the micro-individual level. It argues that there is a need to understand these constructions beyond discrete notions of language, identities and culture. The thesis mobilises performativity theory to explore how exposure to a variety of practices during the life trajectory has an impact on the construction and performance of language, identities and culture. It shows how a theory of performativity can provide a comprehensive account of the complex process of, and the relationships between, hybridisation (engagement in a range of cultural practices) and monolithication (nostalgic attachments to familiar practices). The thesis also suggests that the deployment of performativity theory with a focus on individual biography as well as larger social-cultural factors may fill a gap left in some other modes of analysis such as Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Conversation Analysis (CA). Analysing data from four workplaces in Australia, the study focuses on trans-institutional talk, namely casual conversation in which people from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds work together. Following the suggestion (Pennycook 2003; Luke 2002) that there is a need to shift away from the understanding that a particular language is attached to a particular nation, territory and ethnicity, the thesis shows how discrete ethnic and linguistic labels such as ‘Japanese’ and ‘English’ as well as notions of ‘code-switching’ and ‘bi-lingualism’ become problematic in the attempt to grasp the complexity of contemporary transcultural workplaces. The thesis also explores the potential agency of subjects at the convergence of various discourses through iterative linguistic and cultural performances. In summary, the thesis provides deeper insight into transcultural performances to show the links between idiosyncratic individual performances and the construction of transcultural linguistic, cultural phenomena within globalisation.

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No description available.

Australia's population as estimated at 30 June 1997 was 18.5 million of which 23.3 percent were born overseas. People from non-English speaking countries account for 14.2 percent of the Australian population. The 1996 Census shows that 2.6 million in Australia speak a language other than English at home. Therefore, no one can deny that Australia's society is characterised by cultural and linguistic diversity. In this context, migrant health services, and policies and the needs of people from different cultural backgrounds in the area of health have been addressed since the early 1980s. This thesis draws attention to the concept of 'health' as a fundamental dimension embedded in the area of health care and its related policies, services, programs, and health instruments. This current study questions the idea of universality in the concept of 'health' which suggests that a certain meaning and construction of health can be applied to any culture and society. For this purpose, a qualitative study was designed to explore the concept of health within a group of Iranians in Australia and to examine the appropriateness of the aspects and constructs of health identified in the SF-36, a self-report health status questionnaire developed in the United States, for an Iranian population. The methodology used in this research sought to collect qualitative data with a sample of 21 Iranians- 10 females, and 11 males. The NUD.IST program was used to organise and manage the data for the first time in the Persian language. Findings from the research provided evidence of the ways a sample of Iranians understood health and its embedded dimensions. The themes that emerged from the transcripts as significantly reflecting participants' conceptualisation of health included harmony, health as a concept which is both emotional and physical; integrated, spiritual aspect of health; tranquillity, physical and emotional aspects of health; social and familial relationships; and absence of disorder. Using these themes, a framework consisting of the components of health was developed. The components of the framework include holistic, spiritual, dualistic, social, operational, oppositional, and comparative and relative dimensions. Findings provide evidence which supports the assumption that a group of Iranians have certain views of 'concepts of health'. The results from the research provided evidence that some of the items and constructs relating to health included in the SF-36 seem to be problematic when administered to an Iranian population. The findings of the thesis suggest that a qualitative inquiry into Iranians' discourse of health and its dimensions should be made with an Iranian group before administering an instrument such as the SF-36. Analysis of findings suggests a number of recommendations and modifications when the SF-36 is translated from English into Persian and administered to a group of Iranians.