Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:56:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana Paula Doebber.pdf: 1939210 bytes, checksum: 224a0181d07a1672cabbad7d7a87733f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-02-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The study of linguistic transference phenomena in oral and written narratives, from one s vernacular in use, has frequently brought critics to the literacy process. This critic is also present on the teaching and learning in multilingual speech communities. Therefore, this research is being carried out through school ethnography activities in two classrooms: one in the first grade and the other in the sixth grade, both of primary education in a school located in Pato Bragado, Paraná. On the contrary to what the common sense tells us, bilingualism and bidialectalism are quite common in Brazil. The community speech of Pato Bragado constitutes a complex sociolinguistic context since there communicative interactions among locals, in a social and familiar context, people communicate using more than one language and in more than one variety in each of these languages. The use of more than one language is more restricted to the family environment, but its consequences appear in school, generating certain linguistic traits in the orality and writing of the students who come from these families. It was observed that there are Italian, Polish, German and Paraguayan descendents in the county who speak dialects derived from the language of their ancestors. Phonological traits of their vernacular which are transferred to orality do not usually impose greater stigmatization within their community, however its users report they have difficulties interacting in other communities, in other counties, creating a feeling of ridicule and the need to monitor and change into standard Portuguese. Therefore, the school should have pedagogical practices turned to this linguistic fact. In this research, the main aims are to identify and describe oral and written events of literacy from a school ethnography and narrative perspective. To do that it was checked how student-teacher and student-student interact in practical classroom situations through effective use of linguistic variations as well as how this process happens in the natural transference from the dialectal traits of their mother tongue into Portuguese. Data gathered in this survey made it possible to suggest pedagogical practices which would guide teachers in their didactic practice in bi(multi)lingual communities. It is believed that the result of this study can offer important contributions not only for the student, but also for teachers from bi(multi)lingual communities. It could also be used as information on how to work with the phonological traits of other linguistic systems in the literacy process favoring the students performance in several linguistic contexts. / O estudo de fenômenos de transferências lingüísticas, da língua materna vernácula de uso, em narrativas orais e escritas, tem, com alguma freqüência, destacado críticas no processo de letramento. Essa crítica também se detém sobre o ensino-aprendizagem em comunidades de fala multilíngües. Neste sentido, esta pesquisa está sendo realizada em atividade etnográfica escolar, em duas salas de aula, uma na primeira série e, a outra, em uma sexta série, ambas do Ensino Fundamental, localizadas em Pato Bragado, Paraná. Ao contrário do que o senso comum nos informa, no Brasil o bilingüismo e o bidialetalismo, é bastante comum. A comunidade de fala de Pato Bragado constitui um contexto sociolingüisticamente complexo, pois nas interações comunicativas entre os usuários no contexto social e familiar, as pessoas se comunicam interagindo em mais de uma língua e mais de uma variedade destas línguas. Este uso de mais de uma língua é mais restrito ao ambiente familiar, no entanto seus reflexos estão presentes também na escola, gerando traços lingüísticos na oralidade e na escrita dos alunos provenientes destas famílias. Foi verificado que existem descendentes de italianos, poloneses, alemães e paraguaios no município, os quais falam dialetos da língua de seus ascendentes. Os traços fonológicos da língua materna vernácula transferidos para a oralidade não costumam sofrer grande estigmatização dentro da comunidade, porém seus usuários relatam dificuldades nas interações em outras comunidades, em outros municípios, gerando o sentimento de ridículo e a necessidade de monitoração e mudança em direção ao português normativo. Sendo assim, é preciso que a escola tenha práticas pedagógicas voltadas para este fato lingüístico. Nesta pesquisa, os objetivos são identificar e descrever eventos de letramento oral e escrito, a partir da etnografia escolar e de narrativas, verificando como se dá a interação aluno/professor e aluno/aluno em situações de práticas de sala de aula pelas condições efetivas de variações lingüísticas e como isso ocorre no processo de transferências de traços dialetais da língua materna para o português. A partir deste levantamento, foi possível proporcionar práticas pedagógicas que orientam os professores na prática didática em comunidades bi (multi)língües. Acredita-se que o resultado deste estudo pode oferecer importantes contribuições não só para o aluno como também para o docente de comunidades de fala bi (multi)língües, podendo também servir de subsídio sobre como trabalhar com os traços fonológicos de outros sistemas lingüísticos no processo de alfabetização, favorecendo o desempenho dos alunos em diversos contextos lingüísticos.

Namibia is today the most unequal country in the world. It is 21 years since they gained independence, at that time the party that was and still are in power had the rhetoric of a socialist party. The divisions of the society are enormous, but to do a class analysis of the country is made difficult because of the ethnic divisions, which has its roots partly in the tribes that existed in the region before the colonialisation and partly in the apartheid regime.

The primary objective of this study is to determine the viability of opening a speciality top end, Ethnic cosmetic and toiletry retailer in the Greenacres Mall of Port Elizabeth, in order to meet the cosmetic and toiletry needs of Ethnic consumers, having moved from rural places of work and dwelling, to urban areas of work and dwelling. In order to achieve the above mentioned primary objective, the following secondary objectives will be pursued: • To investigate the current and forecast Ethnic cosmetic and toiletry trends in the United States of America, in order to serve as a benchmark in the development of a top end, speciality Ethnic cosmetic and toiletry retail store model, for the Greenacres Shopping Mall in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; • to identify whether a top end, speciality Ethnic cosmetic and toiletry store model for the Greenacres Shopping Mall in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, would be a viable business venture; • to investigate current and forecast Ethnic cosmetic and toiletry trends in South Africa, in order to reveal the shortfalls of retailers targeting this market segment; and • to identify the best business model for an organisation or individual wanting to grow their business through targeting the Ethnic cosmetic and toiletry consumer

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

La présente étude questionne les rapports complexes de la fiction et de l’histoire, les retentissements du contexte, le poids des enjeux historiques, idéologiques, axiologiques dans l’épopée orale. Dans l’Épopée du Foûta-Djalon, la fiction narrative relie les faits réels et les faits fictifs dans un élan de construction d’une histoire mémorable où la vérité épique élève au premier plan la figure héroïque (Abdoul Rahmâne) au détriment de la figure historique (Almâmy Oumar) et où certains faits, réaménagés et réactualisés font émerger les mythes fondateurs investis de nouveaux sens. Le conflit qui opposa en 1867 Peuls et Mandingues rejaillit dans le récit sous forme d’une opposition de valeurs, que la vision épique, ambivalente, accentue au moyen d’une dualité contrastée : Peuls vs Mandingues, Musulmans vs Animistes. Du fait de sa vocation d’exaltation des valeurs fondatrices, l’épopée se distingue de l’Histoire dont elle se nourrit mais qu’elle infléchit dans le sens d’un drame qui flatte et réveille la conscience collective sans cesse invitée à relever les défis du présent. Outre le ton idyllique ou encomiastique, l’épopée prend aussi des allures satiriques en faisant une critique sans complaisance des vicissitudes et des drames de l’Afrique contemporaine (L’enfant prodige). L’analyse de la composition, de la structure et de la performance narrative révèle une esthétique fondée sur le « style formulaire », la narration épisodique et une forte « épicisation » rhétorique, couronnée par les effets de l’accompagnement musical qui agrémente l’écoute et traduit en sons les thèmes essentiels. / : This work questions the complex relationships between fiction and history, the effects of contextual background, the weight of historical, ideological, and axiological issues in oral epic. In Épopée du Foûta-Djalon, the narrative fiction links real and fictional facts in a dynamic momentum to construct a memorable story, one in which epic truth enhances the heroic figure – Abdul Rahmane – at the expense of the historical figure – Almâmy Oumar -, and one in which some facts have been rearranged and updated, and thus bring forth the founding myths which are endowed with whole new meanings in the process. The conflict which opposed Fulah and the Mandinka people in 1867 is represented in the story in the form of adversary values which the bivalent, epic vision reinforces in a set of contrasting dualities: Fulah versus the Mandinka people, Muslims versus Animists. Because it aims to exalt founding values, the epic story differs from, though is inspired by, History, the essence of which is shifted to fit a drama meant to flatter and awaken the collective conscience endlessly urged to meet today’s challenges. Apart from its idyllic and eulogistical tone, the epic also takes on satirical airs through a thorough criticism of the vicissitudes and dramas of contemporary Africa (L’enfant prodige). The analysis of the narrative composition, structure and performance reveals an aesthetics based on what is called “the formulaic style”, the episodic narrative structure and a strong rhetorics of “epicisation”. This aesthetics culminates in the effects of the musical accompaniment which embellishes the listening of this oral epic and translates the main themes into sounds.

In this dissertation, I examine the ways white women teachers construct whiteness as they teach students of primarily Asian, African and Latina/o heritage. The primary purpose of this study is to conduct a preliminary examination of how white women construct whiteness as an embodied racial identity in educational contexts. More specifically, my goal is to examine how whiteness is constructed through narrative and to critique how the constructions of whiteness perpetuate and/or resist the discourse of white supremacy. To frame the study of teacher narratives, I draw on theory from critical pedagogy, communication education, interpersonal/intercultural communication and critical cultural studies. Furthermore, I employ a critical-interpretive methodology to examine how teachers construct their personhood within complex relationships of power. This methodology is practiced through the use of three methods: Interactive classroom observations, dialogic interviewing and narrative analysis. Five women teaching at a Southern California high school acted as "co-researchers" during this study. Herein, I interpret their narratives in order to understand how whiteness is constructed within the stories each teacher tells about her personhood/identity, the stories teachers tell about the personhood/identity of the students she teaches and how each teacher accounts for her relationship and the relationship of her students to the social world. Titular terms include whiteness, personhood/identity, narrative, critical pedagogy, communication education, intercultural communication and critical cultural studies.

The increasing diversity of the U.S. population presents a challenge to providers of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities, and their families. Information is needed about the cultural contexts of families with infants with disabilities which is currently lacking in the literature in special education. Using ethnographic methods of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and field notes, with member checks and peer debriefing for establishing trustworthiness, this study gathered information about the context of parenting an infant with developmental disabilities in Cork, Ireland during 1993. The primary respondents for this study were sixteen mothers of children between the ages of twelve and forty months, who had recently received a diagnosis which implied some degree of developmental disability. The findings reveal a process of adaptation and coping by the respondents that was informed by their cultural beliefs following their infant's diagnosis. A conceptual framework that described this process was proposed after being constructed during inductive data analysis. Within this framework, a three stage process of adaptation was identified. Specifically, the most salient aspects of the Irish culture that affected these mothers' adaptation were cultural models of motherhood, rules about not talking about problems and needing to "get on with it", and a need to address problems in the present without trying to predict the future. The clarity of the infant's diagnosis was directly related to the respondent's rate of adaptation. The respondents described their ability to cope with a profound strength and conviction that reflected their perceptions of self-reliance, optimism, and competence. The results of this study indicate the critical role and influence of culture on coping and adaptation in parents of children with disabilities. The implications of these findings for policy, research and practice in early intervention are presented.

Over the last 15 years, approximately 12,000 Somali immigrants and refugees have settled in the capital region of Ottawa-Carleton. According to a study of Somali youth (Ali, 1995), about seventy percent (70%) of the Somalis in Ottawa-Carleton are between 1 and 17 years old. The Ottawa Board of Education reported that in 1993, thirty three percent of all immigrant and refugee students were Somalis. While schools have been successful in helping a significant portion of these students to succeed in their learning, evidence shows that many are disconnected from productive learning. As establishing constructive connections between the home environment and the school environment is an important and crucial step to improve the educational opportunities for students who are at risk of failure, a study of the parents' perceptions is warranted. The main purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the Somali parents' perceptions of the school and non-school learning conditions that help or hinder the education of their children in Ottawa high schools. A survey questionnaire was used to collect the data from a sample of diverse Somali parents. The diversity of the sample is in terms of gender, level of education, employment, marital status, number of years in Canada, and number of children. Specifically, four research questions guided this study: (1) What do Somali parents consider to be the school and non-school learning conditions that help the education of their children who are succeeding in their learning? (2) What do Somali parents consider to be the school and non-school conditions that hinder the education of their children who are at risk of failure in learning? (3) What are parents perceptions of the school personnel's willingness to involve immigrant parents in educational decision-making? (4) What recommendations do Somali parents make to improve learning conditions for all children? Data were drawn from the survey responses of 85 Somali parents whose children attend high schools in Ottawa. Findings indicate that parents are concerned about the lack of diversity and multicultural instructional materials in schools. While parent responses regarding the treatment of their children in schools vary widely, there is a consensus among the parents that guidance counselors are not sensitive to the needs of immigrant students. Findings also indicated that parents expressed the schools' limited effort and interest in involving immigrant parents in school committees. Lack of effective communication is an other concern raised by parents. Most of participating parents stated that the only time they get a call from school is when there is a problem. Some expressed the schools unwillingness to communicate with parents even when a parent takes the initiative and visits the school of his or her child.

Responsiveness to a diverse population is a pressing issue for higher education today. The need to develop more connections with users from all areas is of growing importance in college and university libraries, especially in areas of computer access and skills. In an attempt to learn of the attitudes and experiences of Latino college students toward learning and using computer applications in an academic library, a two year, primarily qualitative study was conducted with Latinos as participants at one university. As a precursor to this research, a pilot study was conducted using in-depth phenomenological interviewing to learn what it was like for Latinos to use an academic library. Following the analysis of the pilot study, further research was conducted and data were gathered from field notes, observations, group discussions and e-mail journal responses from Latinos enrolled in two courses: an introductory course, Internet for Latino Studies, taught by a Latino professor, and an introductory Essentials of Library Research course, which I taught. Supporting data were gathered through 14 interviews and a survey questionnaire. Out of 137 questionnaires distributed to classes with a high concentration of Latino students, 129 were returned completed. The data were analyzed according to themes and findings are discussed in terms of their implications for librarians and educators. Findings include the following: (1) Social class and cultural capital were found to be more significant than ethnicity or language dominance in library use, comfort in the library, and asking for assistance from library personnel. (2) Latinos, in general, reported performing better and being more motivated when there was a supportive environment with a caring teacher/librarian who treated them as “a friend.” (3) Latinos reported the need for information to be presented in a way that was personally or culturally relevant to them. (4) Latinos were found to use nonverbal communication as an important means for transmitting and interpreting messages. Included in the final chapter of this study are implications and suggestions for improving library instruction to better accommodate differences in computer experience, learning styles, classroom environment and communication.

Temperament has been found to be consistently and significantly associated with externalizing and internalizing behavior in children. However, this relationship is in modest to moderate range, suggesting that there are some other factors in child's environment contributing to his/her externalizing and internalizing behavior. Moreover, these direct link (correlational) studies do not explain how the relationship between child temperament and externalizing and internalizing behavior is moderated by other factors. Indian immigrants' children have not been represented in studies on externalizing and internalizing behavior of young children in North America. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate, first, the role of child temperament and mothers' parenting styles in externalizing and internalizing behavior of young children of Indian immigrants, and second, how mothers' parenting styles moderate the relationship between these two variables. The sample comprised 160 first grade and kindergarten children and their Indian immigrant mothers. Child Behavior Checklist, Temperament Assessment Battery for Children-Revised, and Parenting Styles and Dimensions questionnaires were used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings suggest that child impulsivity, negative emotionality, lack of task persistence, and inhibition were associated positively with externalizing and internalizing behavior of children. Activity level was associated positively with externalizing but not with internalizing behavior. Authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were associated positively, whereas, authoritative parenting style was associated negatively with both externalizing and internalizing behavior. The relationship between child temperament and externalizing behavior was moderated by mothers' parenting styles. High authoritative parenting style weakened the relationship between impulsivity and externalizing behavior in children, whereas high authoritarian and permissive parenting styles strengthened this relationship. The relationship of child negative emotionality and lack of task persistence with internalizing behavior of children was not moderated by parenting styles. However, parenting styles made significant contributions in explaining the variance in internalizing behavior of children beyond what was already explained by negative emotionality and lack of task persistence. In terms of relationship between child temperament, parenting styles, and externalizing and internalizing behavior of children, the results of the current study were similar to the findings of the studies conducted on the main stream population in North America.