This thesis reports on the development of an Australian Government English as a Second Language test for health professionals, the Occupational English Test (OET) , and its validation using Rasch Item Response Theory models. / The test contains sub-tests of the four macroskills, each based on workplace communication tasks. The thesis reports on the creation of test specifications, the trial ling of test materials and the analysis of data from full test sessions. / The main research issues dealt with are as follows: / 1. The nature of the constructs involved in communicative language testing. The term proficiency is analysed, and its relationship to a number of models of communicative competence examined. The difficulty of incorporating into these models factors underlying test performance is identified. / 2. The nature of performance tests. A distinction is introduced between strong and weak senses of the term performance test, and related to the discussion in 1 above. / 3. The content validity of the OET. This is established on the basis of a questionnaire survey, interviews, examination of relevant literature, workplace observation and test data. / 4. The role of classical and Rasch IRT analysis in establishing the qualities of the test. Classical and Rasch IRT analyses are used to establish the basic reliability of the OET sub-tests. The Writing sub-test is shown to be somewhat problematic for raters because of the nature of the writing task involved. Analysis of data from the Reading subtest demonstrates the superiority of the Rasch analysis in the creation of short tests with a specific screening function. / 5. The role of Rasch IRT analysis in investigating the construct and content validity of the test and hence of communicatively-oriented tests in general. Rasch analysis reveals that the sub-tests are satisfactory operationalizations of the constructs 'ESL listening/ speaking/ reading/ writing ability in health professional contexts. For the Speaking and Writing sub-tests, the analysis reveals that responses of raters in categories associated with perceptions of grammatical accuracy have a more important role in the determination of the candidate's total score than was anticipated in the design of the test. This finding has implications for the validity of communicatively oriented tests in general, and illustrates the potential of IRT analysis for the investigation of the construct validity of tests. / 6. The appropriateness of the use of Rasch IRT in the analysis of language tests. The nature of the debate about 'unidimensionality' in Rasch analysis is reviewed. It is argued that the issue has been substantialy misunderstood. Data from the two parts of the Listening sub-test are analysed, and statistical tests are used to confirm the unidimensionality of the data set. It is concluded that Rasch analysis is appropriate for a language test of this type. / 7. The behaviour of raters in the rating of oral and written production in a second language. The findings reported in 5 above suggest that the behaviour of raters is crucial to understanding what is being measured in a communicative test of the productive language skills. / The research demonstrates the value of Rasch IRT analysis in the empirical validation of communicatively oriented language tests, and the potential of large-scale test development projects for theoretical work on language testing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Discipline of Government and International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney, 2007. / Title from title screen (viewed 16th July, 2007). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Discipline of Government and International Relations, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney. Degree awarded 2007; thesis submitted 2006. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

This thesis takes part in the discussion of the of citizenship and what it means to be a citizen within the social aspects. In 2002, The British Overseas Act conferred British citizenship to Montserratians and other British Overseas Territories Citizens. The scope of the study is to study formal and substantive citizenship for Montserratians as British citizens. The overarching research question is to what extent citizens of Montserrat enjoy formal and substantive citizenship as part of a British Overseas Territory. This is divided into following research questions: 1)     How do the Montserratians perceive the value of their British substantive citizenship and status as British Overseas Territory?2) What views are there on the partnership between the United Kingdom and Montserrat in relation to the British citizenship?  By using Reiter’s (2013) arguments of citizenship as a relational asset and citizenship as a social role, a case study with field studies and qualitative interviews were conducted in Montserrat to explore the issues of citizenship. Results show distinctions between formal access and perception of access to services such as passport, healthcare and education. The results also point to Montserratian not enjoying substantive British citizenship, with tensions in the political system and lack of representation.

The UK Higher Education (UKHE) sector has expanded overseas student numbers in recent years bringing significant economic and financial benefits to the sector and the economy. Yet, overseas student numbers are now under threat due to international competition, UK immigration law and the recent referendum decision to leave the EU. As a result, two key challenges arise for UKHE: the need to operate effectively in an international market; and, to meet the increasing expectations of international students (Grove 2015).Chinese students form the largest overseas country group studying in the UK with 21% of all overseas students. Business studies, including accounting, is the most popular subject area with nearly 40% of all overseas students (UK Council for International Student Affairs, 2016). This DBA study explores the learning experiences of a cohort of overseas Chinese students who have transferred from two years of study at colleges in China to a professionally accredited accounting undergraduate degree programme at a Scottish university. The overarching aim is to understand the nature of the students' learning experiences in the context of the degree programme in which the study takes place. The research was conducted from a critical realist theoretical perspective and used a qualitative research method to develop an understanding of the nature of the learning experiences as perceived by participants. Research data, gathered from focus group interviews with student participants, was analysed thematically. Findings show that issues with English lead to low levels of integration with other students, resulting in participants turning towards a learning strategy of independent learning among themselves. This further restricts exposure to English, including specialised accounting vocabulary, accounting concepts and theories, and cultural experience. The findings make a contribution to knowledge in terms of how this group of overseas Chinese students perceive and respond to their learning experiences of a Scottish accounting degree programme including aspects of the specific accounting subject discipline. Recommendations offer considerations to enhance LTA practice in the wider HEI context and the accounting discipline.

The Chinese education issues in Malaysia appear frequently in political discourse, often featuring contentious discussions of language learning and national education policies. Applying an historical approach to contextualize a political discourse, this thesis examines the politics and transformation of Malaysian Chinese education, in microcosm, at the level of a renowned Chinese school, Chung Ling High School in Penang. It explores and maps the question of "Chineseness" through the examination of the history and development of Chung Ling since its establishment in 1917. This thesis also aims to elucidate the complex negotiation between multiple stakeholders of the Chinese community which took place at different historical junctures in a postcolonial and multi-ethnic nation. I discuss memorial activities for two deceased educationists, David Chen and Lim Lian Geok, which have been readapted into contemporary discourse by different factions of educationists to express their dissatisfactions toward state hegemony on education policies. Lastly, I argue that the persistent pursuit of "Chineseness" is counterproductive to the aim of safeguarding interests of Chinese schools within and outside the national education system today.

A dissertação tem por objetivo o estudo das conjunturas fiscais no Atlântico Português por meio da análise dos contratos régios arrematados no Conselho Ultramarino. O recorte cronológico se inicia no ano de 1720, com a centralização das arrematações dos contratos no Conselho Ultramarino e a crescente exploração do ouro, e tem como marco final o ano de 1807, com o fim do exclusivo metropolitano. A pesquisa analisa séries inéditas dos dízimos e dízimas das principais praças coloniais (Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais). Por meio do cruzamento desses contratos régios com outros indicadores, como preços e exportações, foi possível concluir a existência de uma conjuntura atlântica comum entre alguns ramos da economia colonial. Os resultados alcançados, por meio da análise fiscal, permitem relativizar e problematizar algumas questões recentes da história econômica colonial, como a plausibilidade de se conjecturar um mercado colonial autônomo das variações externas. / This dissertation aims to study the tax conjunctures in the Portuguese Atlantic by analyzing the royal contracts auctioned in the Overseas Council. The chronological cut begins in the year 1720, with the centralization of contracts by public sales in the Overseas Council and the increasing exploitation of gold; finishing in the year 1807 with the end of the metropolitan exclusive. This research analyzes unprecedented series of church tithes and other tithes and taxes of the main colonial squares (Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais). By crossing these regal contracts with other indicators such as prices and exports, it was concluded that there is a common Atlantic juncture between some branches of the colonial economy. The results achieved through the fiscal analysis allow us to relativize and discuss some recent issues of colonial economic history, such as the plausibility of conjecture an autonomous colonial market of external variations.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka om och på vilka sätt familjerelationer förändras genom beskrivningar från parter i familjer där utlandstjänstgöring förekommer för att bidra med ökad kunskap kring bemötandet av dessa familjer. Studiens frågeställningar är följande: hur beskriver parterna relationerna i sin familj innan, under och efter utlandstjänstgöringen och hur beskriver parterna att utlandstjänstgöringen påverkat deras liv? Den metod som valts har en kvalitativ utgångspunkt med en fenomenologisk ansats. Sju stycken intervjuer genomfördes. Analysen av intervjuerna har skett genom en empiristyrd tematisk analys. De huvudteman som utkristalliserade sig under analysarbetet är; relationer, livet borta - livet hemma och psykisk hälsa. Huvudresultatet är att det blir skillnad i familjerelationerna innan, under och efter en utlandstjänstgöring då utlandstjänstgöringen delar familjernas vardag och verkligheter. Familjearbete som vilar på systemisk grund, måste anses vara den behandlingsmetod som bäst skulle kunna motsvara dessa familjers behov av hjälp, något som stöds av familjernas egna önskemål. / The purpose of this study was to examine whether and in what way family relationships change through descriptions of family members where abroad service exists to contribute with increased knowledge of how to treat these families. The study questions are: how do the family members describe the relationships in their families before, during and after the service abroad, and how do they describe how the service abroad affect their lives? The method chosen is a method who is resting on a qualitative basis with a phenomenological approach. Seven interviews were conducted. The analysis of the interviews took place through an empiricism guided thematic analysis. The main themes that emerged from the analysis are: relationships, life gone - home life and mental health. The main result is that there will be a difference in family relationships before, during and after an overseas service because the service abroad divide the families' everyday lives and realities. Family work resting on systemic basis, must be considered the treatment that could best meet these families' need for help, which is supported by the families' own wishes.

Cette étude sur la situation économique, politique, sociale ou encore juridique des outre-mer français permet de mettreen évidence les changements apportés par la réforme constitutionnelle de 2003 avec l’entrée en vigueur des statutsPTOM-RUP et de dresser un bilan sur la portée de l’action administrative française à travers son histoire. Le processusengagé par l’UE, d’association pour les PTOM et d’intégration pour les RUP, transforme l’ensemble des décisionsadministratives locales et conditionne le degré d’autonomie institutionnel, parfois même, pour certains, le choixd’indépendance. Les politiques, nationale et européenne, menées dans les outre-mer français engagent l’action administrative à travers divers schémas institutionnels qui dénaturent la convergence des règles juridiques au sein même de la République entrainant la multiplication des contentieux administratifs et la remise en question des consensus juridique et économique des outre-mer français. Pour assurer la continuité du service public dans les milieux ultramarins, la réforme administrative est urgente et incontournable, c’est l’enjeu de la République française. / This study on the economic situation, policy, social or legal of overseas French makes it possible to high light thechanges brought by the constitutional reform of 2003 with the coming into effect of statutes PTOM-RUP and to makean assessment on the range of the French administrative action through its history. The involved process by the EU, ofassociation for the PTOM and integration for the RUP, transforms the whole of the local administrative decisions andconditions the institutional degree of autonomy, sometimes even, for some, the choice of independence.The policies, main road and European, carried out in overseas French take the administrative action through variousinstitutional diagrams which denature the convergence of the legal rules to the center even of the Republic involving themultiplication of the administrative dispute and the handing-over in question of the legal and economic consensus ofoverseas French. To ensure the continuity of the public service in the ultramarines mediums, the administrative reformis urgent and impossible to circumvent, it is the challenge of the French Republic.

Multinationals are subject to questioning about organizational legitimacy issues by foreign governments when expanding overseas. This issue has become more prevalent over the past two decades with the rapid development of emerging countries and the exponential expansion in outward foreign direct investments from the firms of these emerging countries. Many emerging-country multinationals, particularly Chinese ones, confront political challenges in overseas. Accordingly, the global marketing economy is increasingly politicized, however previous research on consumer behavior has not paid attention to this political element. Against this background, this thesis draws on signaling theory to investigate the effect of overseas political challenges suffered by Chinese multinationals on domestic consumer purchase willingness, through shaping brand awareness and brand image in the home country. This study adopts a quantitative approach and administers an online questionnaire-based survey to assess Chinese people's willingness to purchase products made by Huawei (a Chinese national brand). Through PLS-SEM analysis of the survey data consisting of 314 valid questionnaires, our results reveal that the overseas political challenges faced by Chinese multinationals does not directly influence domestic consumer purchase willingness. Instead, awareness of this international political pressure can exert a directly positive effect on brand awareness and brand image in the home country, which in turn triggers domestic consumer purchase willingness. Our study suggests that overseas political challenge delivers a positive signaling effect and is conducive to domestic consumer purchase willingness. By building a theoretical link between overseas political challenge and consumer purchase willingness, uncovering the bright side of the challenging overseas environment faced by many multinationals, this study advances research on consumer behavior and gains deeper insight into the effect of these political challenges as well as extending the application of signaling theory.

Music educators employed by the Large Overseas American School System (LOASS) at the center of this study live and work within the borders of allied host nations. Their students are dependents of military and civilian personnel stationed on bases situated on allied foreign soil. The researcher explores numerous perceptions of music educators and students who have engaged in intercultural collaboration, an unexplored activity occurring in the context of LOASS. Participants report on particular circumstances and issues surrounding activities in music education that include overseas host nation stakeholders. Contributions to the body of literature include re-envisioning the process through which one becomes intercultural, the role of antenarrative and what it comprises, as well as distinguishing unidirectional musical exchange from the activity of omnidirectional collaboration. Data sources include surveys, interviews, and historical evidence such as photos, school yearbooks and newspaper accounts. Survey results obtained from former LOASS music educators and students inform readers of the depth and breadth of the LOASS system, and the demographics of its participant pools. Interview data were manually coded, and revealed several emergent themes: motivations for initiating collaborative activities and what those activities look like; impact of collaborations on former music teachers, their students and host nation counterparts; barriers which inhibit such collaborations from taking place; strategies for overcoming those barriers, and what participants believe qualifies such collaborations as being successful. Yearbook and photographic relics provided an historical sense of overseas schools’ vision and legacy through writings and pictures archived over a 68-year continuum. In totum, these data comprise an antenarrative ‘story before the story’ from which participants’ narratives emerge and are presented in their own words. Framed within this context, the results provide a blueprint of how other members of the music education community can engage in such activities and successfully overcome any potential barriers that may inhibit them. Finally, a number of actionable alternative research methodologies are proffered to future researchers that may address peripheral issues regarding intercultural collaborations through activities in music education worldwide. In doing so, this study may encourage other like-minded music educators and their students to do the same.