published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

This study aims to analyze three popular U.S. children’s TV shows – Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon), Maya & Miguel (PBS) and Handy Manny (Disney Channel) – in terms of their incorporation of Spanish. Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to assess the frequency and types of code switching both in the context of bilingualism and language pedagogy. The study revealed different strategies of language choice and socio-cultural objectives for each show. A close analysis of language choice in the three children’s TV programs revealed distinct approaches to TV writing in the name of raising awareness of ethnic diversity, developing cultural literacy, and brand marketing. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

電視模式（TV formats）在全球的跨文化旅行，及其如何本土化以適應在地社會政經情境，成為值得學界關注和研究的主題。作為對這一主題的回應，本文致力於研究《醜女無敵》電視劇--“醜女貝蒂“模式在中國的本土化。借由對該劇文本、生產和觀眾解讀的綜合分析，本研究從宏觀上探索符號形式與中國社會變遷的關係。具體而言，研究者聚焦於以下研究問題：在當前電視模式貿易、克隆和本土化的背景下，中國電視劇《醜女無敵》與美國電視劇《醜女貝蒂》有何異同？在中華人民共和國這一特定社會情境下，《醜女無敵》受到了怎樣的政治、經濟限制？中國觀眾如何解讀《醜女無敵》電視劇？《醜女無敵》受歡迎的原因所在，及該劇表徵了怎樣的中國現代性？ / 為回答以上問題，研究者採用了多種定質方法，即文本分析、民族志、焦點小組、檔案分析和深度訪談。其研究發現《醜女無敵》作為混雜性文本，兼有西方現代性元素和獨特的中國性。《醜女無敵》的生產受到了中國政經情境的極大限制。經濟力量有中心主導、系統地控制著生產過程。而政治力量的控制卻是散漫於整個生產者社群，并呈現去中心的狀態。中國觀眾在解讀《醜女無敵》時主要有两種模式：霸權式解讀与協商式解讀。而对抗式解读却在该剧的解读模式中呈现缺失状态。持有霸權式解讀的觀眾作為主流在諸多方面與權力中心一致，從而形成霸權效應。 / 《醜女無敵》可歸類為本研究所析霸權文本，并表徵和複製了一種中國現代（Chinese modernity）。轄制於党國，中國現代性在其三大結構性維度上都呈現高度的混雜性。就中國電視業發展趨勢而言，研究者認為全球電視模式在中國將愈加繁榮，因其有極大潛質成為霸權文本，繼而服務于權力中心。 / With the increasing transcultural flow of television formats, the localization of these formats to fit various socio-political contexts is worthy of academic scrutiny. This is a case study on the TV drama Ugly Wudi (Chounv Wudi), the Chinese version of the global Ugly Betty format. Exploring textuality, production, and reception simultaneously, my dissertation sheds light on the relationship between symbolic forms and social transition in China. Specifically speaking, the research questions initiating this study are as follows: Under current TV format cloning, trading, and borrowing, what are the similarities and differences between the Chinese Ugly Wudi and the American Ugly Betty? In the specific context of the People’s Republic of China, what are the political and economic forces that constrain the production of Ugly Wudi? What are the audience interpretations of Ugly Wudi? What accounts for Ugly Wudi’s popularity, and to what extent does it reflect a Chinese version of modernity? / Multiple qualitative methods have been applied by the researcher to explicate the research questions, including textual analysis, ethnography, focus groups, archival analysis, and in-depth interviews. It is found that Ugly Wudi is a hybridized text that combines elements of Western modernity with Chinese particularities. As for Wudi’s production, there are significant constraints arising from China’s political economy. While the economic systematically controls the production with a center, the political is a decentered control pervasively conditioning the production community. Two different readings of the Wudi show are found, namely, the hegemonic reading and the negotiated reading; while the resistant reading is absent in the show’s viewership. The hegemonic audience forms the majority, coinciding with the authorities in many respects, which shows a hegemonic effect. / Ugly Wudi is a hegemonic text that can best represent and reproduce Chinese modernity. Charted by the party-state for legitimization, Chinese modernity shows a high degree of hybridization in its three structural dimensions. The researcher contends that television formatting will be a trend in the Chinese TV industry, as it has great potential to create hegemonic texts that serve the power center. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Zhang, Xiaoxiao / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-203). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; some appendixes also in Chinese . / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iv / Table of Content --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- TV Format: A New Television Phenomenon / Chapter 1.2 --- The Ugly Betty Format: A Global Culture / Chapter 1.3 --- Significance and Contribution / Chapter 1.4 --- Chapter Outline / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1 --- Localization of Global Television Formats / Chapter 2.2 --- Political Economy in Cultural Hybridization / Chapter 2.3 --- TV Formats and Social Transition / Chapter 2.4 --- Previous Studies on the Ugly Betty Format / Chapter 2.5 --- Research Questions / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.35 / Chapter 3.1 --- Textual Analysis / Chapter 3.2 --- Ethnographic Observation / Chapter 3.3 --- Focus Groups / Chapter 3.4 --- Archival Analysis / Chapter 3.5 --- In-depth Interviews / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND POLITICAL ECONOMY CONTEXT --- p.51 / Chapter 4.1 --- Media and Hegemony / Chapter 4.2 --- Market versus State / Chapter 4.3 --- Market, Politics, and Media Competition in China / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- THE CHINESE UGLY BETTY: TV CLONING AND LOCAL MODERNITY --- p.87 / Chapter 5.1 --- Contextualizing the Two Versions / Chapter 5.2 --- The Continuity of Modernity in the Ugly Betty Formula / Chapter 5.3 --- Ethnic Invisibility and Gender Normality / Chapter 5.4 --- When the Political and the Market Align / Chapter 5.5 --- Ugliness Is at Fault, Not the State / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- PRODUCING THE CHINESE UGLY BETTY: DECENTERED POLITICAL AND CENTERED ECONOMIC CONTROLS --- p.114 / Chapter 6.1 --- TV Production in China: Indicator of Dominance / Chapter 6.2 --- Decentered Political Control / Chapter 6.3 --- Centered Economic Control / Chapter 6.4 --- When the Political and the Economic Contradict / Chapter 6.5 --- Television Formats and Hegemony / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- READING THE LOCALIZED UGLY BETTY: HEGEMONIC OR NEGOTIATED, BUT NOT RESISTANT --- p.140 / Chapter 7.1 --- A Patterned Spectatorship / Chapter 7.2 --- Values Creolization in Contemporary China / Chapter 7.3 --- The Hegemonic Reading / Chapter 7.4 --- The Negotiated Reading / Chapter 7.5 --- The Absence of the Resistant Reading / Chapter 7.6 --- Structured Polysemy in China / Chapter 7.7 --- Invitation from Television Formats / Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- TOWARD CHINESE MODERNITY? --- p.159 / Chapter 8.1 --- Four Texts in the Chinese Mediascape / Chapter 8.2 --- Ugly Wudi as a Hegemonic Text / Chapter 8.3 --- Structural Dimensions of Chinese Modernity / Chapter 8.4 --- Discursive Construction of Chinese Modernity / Chapter 8.5 --- TV Industries in China: Development and Future / REFERENCES --- p.178 / LISTS OF APPENDICES --- p.204 / Chapter Appendix 1 --- Methods Answering Research Questions / Chapter Appendix 2 --- Ethnographic Observation Schedule / Chapter Appendix 3 --- Focus Groups Schedule / Chapter Appendix 4 --- Focus Groups Participants / Chapter Appendix 5 --- Focus Groups Questionnaire / Chapter Appendix 6 --- Outline of Focus Groups Discussion (18 years old and above) / Chapter Appendix 7 --- Outline of Focus Groups Discussion (under 18 years old) / Chapter Appendix 8 --- Interviewees List

It was argued that the social psychology of person perception, mass communications and cultural studies can be related to viewers' representations of television characters. Mass communications needs to incorporate viewers' interpretations and programme structure. Social cognition could satisfy the former need and cultural studies the latter. A literature review showed little research on viewers' interpretations of television programmes. There is a considerable body of research on person perception, gender stereotypes, the effects of viewing and programme structure. A study of viewers' accounts of viewing soap opera showed that they become involved with the characters and find the programmes realistic. Soap opera plays an important role in their lives. Viewers' representations of soap opera characters were examined using multidimensional scaling. This revealed stable, replicable character representations for Dallas, Coronation Street and EastEnders. The representations were compared with the oppositions which structure the programmes, Implicit Personality Theory and Gender Schema Theory. Dallas characters were represented by themes of morality and power/activity. Power was correlated with gender, with some counter-stereotypic females. Coronation Street characters were organised around morality/potency, gender (matriarchal) and approach to life. This related to person prototypes and contrasted with interaction patterns between characters. EastEnders characters were represented by themes of morality/power, gender and approach to life/centrality. Free descriptions validated the attribute ratings and showed further features of the representation. No socio-structural group differences in representation were found. Viewers' character representations were a constructive integration of programme structure and social knowledge. The application of abstract knowledge to a structured domain was discussed. Textual analysis of a narrative identified the 'role of the reader' and textual openness. This was related to stereotypes, narrative expectancies, myth and character representation. Distinct types of divergence in viewers' interpretations of narrative were discovered. Further, a narrative containing two readings was interpreted in four distinct ways by viewers, depending on their perceived relationships with characters. The conclusions and limitations of the research were discussed. Implications for person perception, stereotyping and textual analysis were examined. A taxonomy of factors relating to the interpretation and representation of television drama was presented.

This study aimed to examine the construction of the identity of the participants within the reality TV programmes (Style Her Famous, My Celebrity Home and How Do I Look) as well as examined the representation of that identity as reflected in the change in participants from the beginning to the end of the program. Drawing on literature from fields such as postmodernism and its influence on culture, identity constructions and ordinary people as celebrities, an analysis of the three American reality TV shows Style Her Famous, My Celebrity Home and How Do I Look was conducted. An indepth content analysis with specific reference to comparative analysis further aided this study. A total of 18 episodes (six episodes for each programme) were collected and thoroughly analyzed where the ‘cut and paste identity’ of ordinary people as ‘celebrities’ constituted the hermeneutical key of the study. The episodes and programs have been scrutinized and have been systematically classified to enable an analysis of the observations. This study attempted to not only describe, but also to foster change in the representation of the identity of the participants of the above mentioned reality TV programmes. The study found that reality television plays a role in shaping the postmodern identity of ordinary people as celebrities. The study also found that the participants involved in the above mentioned programmes found it easy to make someone else’s identity their own. It appeared that the postmodern mind is easily influenced and willing to adopt an identity especially that of a celebrity. The participants involved in these programs claimed this identity as their own and then believed that the new identity was in fact who they ‘really are’ but in actual fact it is a beginning of a new sameness with somebody else. Hence the participants possessed a ‘cut and paste identity.’

Reality dating shows like "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," "Average Joe," "For Love or Money" and "Joe Millionaire" have recently attracted a growing number of viewers in the United States. As these reality dating shows pry into the most intimate corners of the lives of ordinary people, they have many people questioning their impact on society. However, there has not been extensive research on this subject. The purpose of the study was to examine the extent that exposure to reality television dating shows have on the cultivation of attitudes and perceptions of interpersonal relationships among college students in the United States. Exposure to reality television dating shows as measured by days viewed in an average week was found to be correlated with the acceptance of dysfunctional relationship beliefs. However, the effect of exposure was found to depend on the amount of perceived realism with the effect stronger for those who evaluated the shows as realistic. These results are more supportive of cognitive-functional theory, rather than cultivation theory. No effects of exposure were found on acceptance of unrealistic relational beliefs.

Lam Pui Shan, Denise. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-177). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.vii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1. --- Individual Level --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2. --- Organizational Level --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3. --- Contextual Level --- p.6 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1. --- Coercive Isomorphism --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2. --- Mimetic Isomorphism --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3. --- Normative Isomorphism --- p.15 / Chapter 3. --- Methodology --- p.26 / Chapter 3.1. --- Methods of Data Collection --- p.27 / Chapter 3.2. --- Methods Related to Different Levels of Analysis --- p.34 / Chapter 4. --- Textual Analysis 一 Overall Review --- p.40 / Chapter 4.1. --- "“Sex Education""" --- p.40 / Chapter 4.2. --- """Hyper World""" --- p.66 / Chapter 4.3. --- “Mother's Drawer is at the Bottommost，， --- p.68 / Chapter 5. --- Individual Level --- p.70 / Chapter 5.1. --- Personal Backgrounds --- p.70 / Chapter 5.2. --- Degree of Freedom Experienced --- p.73 / Chapter 5.3. --- Mechanisms of Isomorphic Forces within the Individual Level --- p.83 / Chapter 5.4. --- Control and Autonomy Sourced from the Individual Level --- p.86 / Chapter 6. --- Organizational Level --- p.88 / Chapter 6.1. --- Organizational Structure --- p.88 / Chapter 6.2. --- Organizational Missions and Goals --- p.91 / Chapter 6.3. --- Code of Rules of RTHK --- p.92 / Chapter 6.4. --- Organizational Culture --- p.95 / Chapter 6.5. --- Mechanisms of Isomorphic Forces within the Organizational Level --- p.105 / Chapter 6.6. --- "Comparisons with “Hyper World"" and “Mother's Drawer is at the Bottommost""" --- p.109 / Chapter 6.7. --- Control and Autonomy Sourced from the Organizational Level --- p.123 / Chapter 7. --- Contextual Level --- p.126 / Chapter 7.1. --- Governmental Regulations --- p.126 / Chapter 7.2. --- Suppliers of Information and Advices --- p.129 / Chapter 7.3. --- Power Relations between RTHK and Different Resources Suppliers --- p.131 / Chapter 7.4. --- Social Expectations on Sex Education --- p.137 / Chapter 7.5. --- Role Expectations from the Public Perceived by Staff --- p.140 / Chapter 7.6. --- Mechanisms of Isomorphic Forces within the Contextual Level --- p.143 / Chapter 7.7. --- Control and Autonomy Sourced from the Contextual Level --- p.149 / Chapter 8. --- Conclusion --- p.153 / Chapter 8.1. --- Control on the Production of “Sex Education ´ح --- p.153 / Chapter 8.2. --- Autonomy in the Production of “Sex Education ´ح --- p.157 / Chapter 8.3. --- Balance between Control and Autonomy --- p.165 / Bibliography --- p.168

This study seeks to use a dual-theoretical approach, through the use of para-social relationship theory and economic data analysis, to explain the success of reality television since the early 2000s. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative components to understand the growth of reality television. This study includes a literature analysis of both methodologies used. Focus groups were used to seek to find a strong level of para-social interaction in viewers of reality television. Two focus groups were conducted with participants 18-35. There were a total of 16 participants who attended the focus group sessions. The information collected suggested that viewers of reality television formed para-social relationships. It appeared that female viewers were more likely to form para-social relationships than male viewers.

RuPaul's Drag Race is one of the few realilty television shows focusing on QLGBT (queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) identified individuals that has made it into mainstream consciousness. Drag Race provides a unique perspective on the ways that gender identity, sexuality, size, class, race, and ethnicity intersect and interact in people's lives.The television show augments many of these intersedtions and the challenges related to these identities while still reflecting the daily struggles that people experience.The show works to promote messages of self-love and acceptance ; however, it also promotes many problematic and damaging stereotypes. This thesis conducts a feminist analysis in order to answer the question: How does RuPaul's Drag Race relate to hegemonic and oppressive stereotypes and roles associated with gender identity, sexual orientation, size, class, race and ethnicity? Does it challenge or reinforce such hegemonies? In order to answer these questions, this thesis examines visual imagery, narrative, and dialogue in the show, utilizes theories from cultural and women's studies, English and communications. It concludes that although Drag Race does engage in some subversive behavior, it ultimately reinforces harmful hegemonic stereotypes. / by Sarah Tucker Jenkins. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

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