Thesis (M.S.)--Rowan University, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Behavioral and Neural Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 254-271).

This doctoral thesis explores the relationship between politics, Islam and the news media in the UK. Using the theory of mediatisation as a framework for understanding media power, it argues that the relationship between politics and the media cannot be fully appreciated without a consideration of the role of public relations practice within it. Drawing on Bourdieusian field theory, it utilises textual analysis and 31 semi-structured interviews with public relations practitioners, representatives of Muslim organisations and others with professional experience of Islam and the media to establish whether public relations can be understood as a distinct field, how it mediates between the political and journalistic fields and what the implications of this might be for Muslim organisations seeking to shape news media content.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

This study is a qualitative and quantitative examination of the teacher preparation and professional development of ESL specialist teachers in British Columbia. Data were collected through survey questionnaires and the findings were then compared with the qualifications that were espoused as essential preparation by the experts in the research literature to determine if discrepancies existed between best practice guidelines gleaned from the research literature and extant preparation of ESL teachers in BC. The findings of this research revealed that in general, the participants in this survey possessed the general levels of ESL preparation that were commensurate with the criteria recommended by the research literature and the criteria established by the British Columbia Ministry of Education ESL Policy Guidelines. Those who were situated in urban settings had the most access to and participated in the most ESL-related professional development workshops. They also had completed the most ESL courses and felt the most efficacious. Conversely, those participants situated in rural settings had the least access to and participated in the least number of ESL-related professional ESL Preparation and Pro-D iv development activities. They also completed the fewest ESL courses and felt the least efficacious. The majority of participants in this study felt more efficacious in the skills development elements of teaching ESL than in the cultural/social aspects of teaching ESL. Many participants voiced concerns with the lack of quality ESL services offered to ESL students in their respective districts and felt that there was insufficient preparation in the various teacher pre-service teacher education programs in British Columbia to teach ESL students. Further studies could examine why teachers view cultural/social knowledge as secondary to the skills development when experts in the field have asserted that both are essential for teaching ESL; why accessibility to ESL workshops and courses for rural teachers is still a challenge with the available technology; how the various stakeholders in education view ESL and what they foresee as changes to accommodate the demographics of the student population; and how ESL specialist teachers impact the graduation rates of ESL students and the BC Foundation Skills Assessment scores.

A pedagogy of multiliteracies, which has been advocated by numerous literacy specialists working in the field of literacy education, attributes literacy as multiple, dynamic and socially situated. Further, a pedagogy of multiliteracies stresses the multimodal features of communication, and students instructed from this pedagogical perspective explore the visual, gestural, spatial and auditory modes, as well as the linguistic ones of speech and writing. Finally, a pedagogy of multiliteracies was developed with the goal of creating a more equitable education system, in which learner diversity can be represented in the literacies of the English Language Arts classroom. In consideration of this goal, a multiliteracies pedagogy prompts teachers to include those literacy practices that students engage with outside of school in the English Language Arts classroom. The purpose of this research was, firstly, to learn about the literacies which secondary teachers are exploring with their students in the English Language Arts, teachers’ motivation for doing so, and how these literacies are being instructed. Secondly, factors that influence the enactment of this pedagogy in the English Language Arts as seen in the literature on the topic were explored. These factors were standardized tests, teacher education, access to resources and finally, teacher culture. The design of case study was used to answer the research questions, and qualitative research methods were employed to collect and analyze data provided by participants, all practicing English Language Arts teachers at the secondary level. The types of data collected included interviews, observations, field notes taken during the interviews and observations and finally, teaching artifacts such as assignment sheets. The findings of my study suggested that although many teachers are incorporating a range of literacies in their classes, the features of these literacies and the literacy skills needed to interpret multiple modes were not often addressed in the classroom. Participants noted the inclusion of a variety of literacies in their programs as a means to engage students in the skills and materials traditionally featured in the English Language Arts, or to expand on themes apparent in literature and connect these themes to contemporary culture. In addition, few participants considered the ideological elements inherent in literacy education in their integration of multiliteracies in their classes, nor did many of these teachers describe the need for students to develop critical literacy skills. The impediments that appeared to limit the enactment of this pedagogy were entrenched teachers’ views about literacy learning, lack of education in the foundational theory of this pedagogy, and lack of time for professional development, collegial sharing, and amassing resources that could support teachers towards incorporating a range of literacies in their programs. Despite the identification in much of the literature of standardized tests as a major impediment to the realization of this pedagogical approach in the classroom, such tests did not appear to significantly influence the participants’ implementation of multiple literacies in their classes. The findings of this study suggest that the teachers were incorporating a range of literacies in their English Language Arts programs, yet the teachers making these inclusions were not motivated by a desire to achieve the aims of increased equity in literacy education or to develop students’ understanding of the multimodal features of communication. Consequently, many of the goals of this pedagogy were not being realized in the English Language Arts classrooms of the research participants.

Habilitationsschrift--Heidelberg. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-208).

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

This research explores the potential of image and visual literacy in the postsecondary second language classroom to contribute to learners’ motivation towards the acquisition of the second language. The pedagogical approach used in this project is based on the research on multiliteracy, and the learning model adopted is implied by the activity theory. The intervention took place over a period of six weeks, with 39 students registered in two different first year French courses at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. The research hypothesis was that analysis, interpretation and fabrication of images would engage and motivate the participants towards their second language acquisition (SLA). Data gathered from participants’ comments suggest that more than two thirds of them, that is to say 71%, have supported my hypothesis. A series of comparative analysis indicated that the research experience was more appreciated by the group Fren 195, probably because of specific expectations regarding the nature of their course. Another series of comparative analysis suggested that the sub-group immersion Fren 155 had least appreciated the research experience, due to the conventions on linguistic hybridity, creative process and choices. Finally, since the activity theory is comprised of an ensemble of interactive components, the research also investigated the impact of each component on the participants’ motivation towards SLA.

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.