The intention of this thesis in political science is to understand how the European Union fights and prevents discrimination against the Roma minorities in Sweden and Romania, and how the implementation works in reality.   The study consists of defining what it means to be objectively discriminated, what ethnicity really means and how the implementation process consist of a comparison and statement has been made by the national governments and comparing how two socioeconomically different member states handle EU directives and implement them in Sweden and Romania.   The main findings of this study was that EU policies lack the capital and explicitness that is needed for great results to be accomplished and that the governments in both countries have different issues with implementing the protection of the human rights and Roma culture, and that EU needs to be more practical and develop in a faster pace.

The presence of Allophone students in French-language secondary schools in Ottawa is gradually increasing. While the politique d’aménagement linguistique (PAL) insists on the use of French within the school, one may begin to wonder which language Allophone students are speaking. French? English? Their native language(s)? This qualitative case study of four multilingual Allophone students explores their language repertoire use in relation to their desired linguistic representation, their linguistic proficiency in French, English, and their native language(s), and their perceptions of language prestige. The results indicate that students spoke a significant amount of English, some French (particularly with their teacher or Francophone classmates), and minimal amounts of their native language. Recommendations are suggested to increase the effectiveness of PAL within a Francophone minority context and to ensure that the policy’s objects are attained.

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive analysis was to increase the knowledge base on an under-researched topic and population. The study population was comprised of first- and second-generation Canadian, visible-minority, immigrant/refugee women. Nine women of different visible-minority, ethno-racial backgrounds participated in the study. The interviews were in-depth and conducted one on one. The women reflected on how they created their sexuality as youth into adulthood, based on their experiences of Canadian culture as well as their particular culture of origin. The ingenuity they demonstrated in their successful integration into Canadian society as well as in their current status as adult women and mothers will be explored in the study findings. The recommendations these women offered the next generation, with a hope for a better future for all Canadians, will also be discussed.

This study investigated the developing identities of first generation Canadian female adolescent women. Using qualitative methodology, it seeks to illuminate the intersectionalities of race, gender and sexuality in its analysis. Transnational feminist frameworks are used as theoretical lenses from which to critically examine the ways in which identity development research has been portrayed in psychology, child and youth care, and related disciplines. This analysis was used as a means to complicate objective, hierarchical models of identity development as they apply (or do not apply) to the stories of first generation Canadian women. Five women between the ages of 19-26 of Chinese, Latin American, Vietnamese and Indian decent participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, covering family background and traditions, gender role negotiation, sexuality and identity development. Findings support transnational feminist notions of multiplicity, hybridity and fluidity in identity development. They provided context and storied analysis to issues of identity development that are often silenced in traditional psychology literature. The stories of first generation Canadian women are important contributions to identity development research. They highlight the need for situated knowledges and the need for anti-racist research frameworks in psychology, child and youth care, and social science disciplines.

This study examined English and French literacy skills among language minority children in French immersion. Forty children with a first language other than English (non-English L1) and forty-one native English-speaking (EL1) children were examined on phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, word reading, and English vocabulary at the beginning and end of Grade 1. They were also examined on phonological awareness, word reading, and French vocabulary at the end of the year. Non-English L1children experienced greater growth in English expressive vocabulary, and similar growth in English receptive vocabulary, to that of EL1 children. There was a cross-language transfer of phonological awareness and word reading from English to French, and cross-language relationship between English receptive vocabulary and French receptive vocabulary for both groups. Non-English L1 children do not lag behind in early English skills, even when their English exposure is limited in a French immersion setting.

This study examined English and French literacy skills among language minority children in French immersion. Forty children with a first language other than English (non-English L1) and forty-one native English-speaking (EL1) children were examined on phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, word reading, and English vocabulary at the beginning and end of Grade 1. They were also examined on phonological awareness, word reading, and French vocabulary at the end of the year. Non-English L1children experienced greater growth in English expressive vocabulary, and similar growth in English receptive vocabulary, to that of EL1 children. There was a cross-language transfer of phonological awareness and word reading from English to French, and cross-language relationship between English receptive vocabulary and French receptive vocabulary for both groups. Non-English L1 children do not lag behind in early English skills, even when their English exposure is limited in a French immersion setting.

The Roma as a minority in the mainstream schools: from a threat to a hope for the future. The purpose of this study is to investigate, describe and analyse how the relationship between the Romani minority and the Swedish majority has developed from the middle of the 20th century until the present time with regard to the school situation for the Roma. In order to discuss the changes in the relationship between the majority and the Romani minority, it has been important to analyse the concepts of culture and ethnicity, how these concepts have been used to define the Roma, and how, in turn, this definition has influenced how the Roma have been portrayed in the literature. The study is based on three types of data: texts, interviews and observations, that have been organised to cover three different periods. Three autobiographies and two theses cover the first period, from the middle of the 20th century to the 1970s, when the Roma were allowed into schools. The interviews cover the second period, from the 1970s to the year 2000, when the Roma were recognized as a national minority. The participant observations and the interviews cover the third period that deals with the present and the future with regards to education of the Roma. An interpretive hermeneutic approach has been used to analyse the data. The analysis takes the school as one order of discourse in which different discourses attempt to dominate. Both ethnicity and culture are discussed in relation to power relationship between the Roma and majority society. A “chain of consequences” approach has been used to analyse the situation of the Roma in schools, where one event in the chain results in certain consequences, for example the Romani child is present in school but without support from school or home. The consequence is school failure and marginalisation. One of the main themes that emerge from this analysis, is how schools gradually transferred the responsibility for educating the Romani children to the families, thus abdicating their role as providers of academic development. The other theme is how the school took a deficit perspective in relation to the Romani families and, rather than taking responsibility for the education of the Romani children, they blamed the failures on the Romani group and its culture. The study concludes that the institutional discrimination of the Roma and the total exclusion of the Romani culture in school still has far reaching consequences. One of consequences is that, in order to be accepted in school, some of the Romani children begin to undercommunicate their ethnic identity. Since the recognition of the Roma as a national minority, there has been a remobilisation and revitalisation by the group and their demand for more inclusion in education. This thesis suggests an intercultural approach as an alternative i.e., a change of perspective and a revision of the image of Sweden as a monocultural and monolingual nation.

Since 1994, tourism has become one of the most benefited industries among the overall of the South African economy. However, the industry is still far from being an example of transformations. The tourism industry in South Africa is still dominated by white-owned large enterprises, leaving limited space for the development of black-owned small tourism businesses. The existing literature identifies that government support represents a key variable regarding small tourism business development, specifically among black entrepreneurs. This study evaluated the role of provincial government support in the development of black-owned small tourism businesses in the South Africa, with a focus on Cape Town.

Minority languages, bilingualism and linguistic integration among youth have gained a great dealof attention in research especially in times of migration, globalization and other activities crossingthe borders of nation-states. In this thesis the aim is to investigate different meanings associatedwith the mother tongue when this language is another than the majority language in the place ofresidence. This task is approached from a social geographical perspective. In the study, the termmother tongue is used in its widest sense, mostly defined by the choice of the informant. In the introduction the concept mother tongue is on the one hand, looked upon and discussedin terms of a minority language in regard to the nation state and on the other, seen as a bordercrossing transnational speech community. In this way, a wide range of meanings can be illuminated.The analytical framework is discourse analysis, inspired by the work of Potter and Wetherellamong others, in the field of discursive psychology. The empirical data is made up by the transcriptsof semi-structured interviews with 13 students at two schools in the area of Stockholm,Sweden. The result of the study is presented as five interpretative repertoires, showing the mother tongueas (1) belonging, (2) background, (3) heritage, (4) carrier and (5) everyday practice. The fiverepertoires are later analyzed for their spatial content in four spatial contexts: the national, themulticultural, the transnational and the diasporic context. They are defined and used as discursivelandscapes in which the different meanings of the repertoires are identified. The five repertoires areidentified in all spatial contexts except for the national context. The findings show that the different meanings of the mother tongue represented by a certainindividual are negotiated in sometimes quite contradictive pieces of discourse. One implication isthat a specific meaning of the language does not equal an individual’s personal attitude or belief.The students seem to be very flexible in the association of different meanings to their mother tongue.The result further shows the value of a multi-scalar approach to investigations of the socialgeography of language. The ignorance of one social or spatial context will lead to the loss of a vitalpart of the language. This is crucial when discussing the mother tongue as a minority language oras a transnational speech community. Finally, there are reasons to be attentive of putting bilingualyouth in any social or spatial trap: national, multicultural, transnational or diasporic.

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 1999