This study examines the expatriate spouses’ cross-cultural adjustment to the host country. The cross-cultural adjustment experience of the expatriate spouse differs vastly from that of the expatriate. Literature was consulted to understand the cardinal role that the spouse portrays during an expatriate assignment and to highlight the importance of a well-adjusted spouse. This study engaged in qualitative research methodology using five expatriate spouses residing in Rome, Italy. Spouses were from two different countries and represented different age groups. Data collection methods included interviews and a focus group session to gain an in-depth understanding of spouses’ cross-cultural adjustment experiences. Results showed that spouses arriving in the host country experienced a loss of identity. Identity in this study was divided into three categories namely personal, situational and social. Once spouses went through a period of identity reformation they were able to become well-adjusted spouses. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This investigation explored the unique experiences of expatriates who have taken the proverbial first step into the novel and unknown. The main purpose of this study was to bring to the fore the importance of these experiences in a human resources management context. Through the application of the qualitative research methodology based on grounded theory, these experiences were unearthed, analysed and discussed. Various personal and contextual factors that contributed to the experience of success were identified and further elucidated. This study ultimately illustrated the need for organisations to develop adjustment programmes that would assist the expatriation process to provide insights and skills that could empower the individual to achieve true personal fulfilment in pursuit of career success.

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie studie handel oor derdekultuur-kinders in Suid-Afrika met die fokus daarop om die fenomeen aan ouers, kinders, onderwysers, sielkundiges en ander belangstellendes bekend te stel. Derdekultuur-kinders is die term wat geskep is om kinders te benoem wat vir 'n tydperk tydens hulle ontwikkelingsjare saam met hulle ouers in die buiteland deurbring en hul daar vestig, maar weer na hul vaderland terugkeer. 'n Derdekultuur word geskep indien die kinders dele van hul ouers se kultuur en dele van die kultuur van die gasheerland integreer ten einde geredelik in die gasheerland te funksioneer. Die probleem ontstaan egter wanneer hierdie kinders na hul vaderland terugkeer, aangesien hulle dan nie meer binne hul portuurgroep inpas nie. Die aantal derdekultuur-kinders in Suid-Afrikaanse konteks het sedert 1994 met rasse skrede vermeerder, aangesien al hoe meer internasionale maatskappye Suid-Afrikaners in die buiteland in diens neem en Suid-Afrikaanse ambassades in bykans elke land in die wêreld gevestig is. Die tendens om gesinne saam op die internasionale plasing te neem, veroorsaak dat kinders in verskeie lande gevestig word en in hierdie tydperk aan 'n internasionale en bevoorregte leefwyse blootgestel word. In hierdie studie word 'n literatuurstudie onderneem om die profiel van derdekultuur-kinders, hul kulturele identiteitsvorming en omgekeerde kultuurskok met hul terugkeer na hul land van oorsprong, te ondersoek. 'n Empiriese studie is onderneem om te bepaal tot watter mate die profiele en omgekeerde kultuurskok waaraan Suid-Afrikaanse derdekultuur-kinders blootgestel word, vergelyk met dié soos beskryf in die literatuurstudie. Op grond van die inligting verkry uit vraelyste en individuele onderhoudvoering, en inligting verkry uit die literatuurstudie, is riglyne vir 'n hulpprogram saamgestel waarmee ouers hulle derdekultuur-kinders tydens hulle terugkeer na Suid-Afrika kan ondersteun. Terapeute sonder internasionale ondervinding sal ook hierdie hulpprogram nuttig kan vind. Die studie bevestig dat: * die profiel van Suid-Afrikaanse derdekultuur-kinders grootliks met dié van ander lande ooreenstem; * Suid-Afrikaanse derdekultuur-kinders problematiese her-aanpassing by hul terugkeer na hul paspoortland ondervind; * ouers en terapeute bemagtig moet word om derdekultuur-kinders met hul heraanpassingsprobleme te ondersteun. / This study deals with Third Culture Kids in South Africa, focusing on introducing the phenomenon to parents, children, teachers, psychologists and other concerned parties. “Third Culture Kids” is the term used to describe children who have spent a number of their developmental years with their parents abroad, after which they return to their country of origin. A third culture is created when children integrates the culture of their parents together with the culture of the host country in order to function readily in the host community. The problem arises when the children return to their home country as they then encounter problems adapting and fitting into the local community. The number of Third Culture Kids in the South African context has increased dramatically since 1994, as international companies employed more South Africans abroad and many new South African Embassies were established all over the world. The tendency of having the family accompanying the parents to other countries results in the children residing in various countries and being exposed to an international and privileged lifestyle This study consists of a literature study of the profile and cultural identity-formation of Third Culture Kids, as well as the reverse culture shock they experience on their return to their country of origin.An empirical study is conducted to establish how South African Third Culture Kids‟ profiles compare with that of the literature and whether they are affected by reverse culture shock upon their return to South Africa. The information, gathered by means of a survey and individual interviews and from the literature study, was then used to compile guidelines for a programme with which parents would be able to assist their Third Culture Kids during the repatriation to their country of origin. Therapists without international experience would also be able to benefit from using this programme to assist Third Culture Kids. The study confirms that: the profiles of South African Third Culture Kids have commonalities with those described in the literature; South African Third Culture Kids experience problems on re-entry adapting to the culture of the country of origin; parents and therapists should be empowered to assist and support Third Culture Kids with problems relating to their return to their passport country / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkundige)

This study examines the expatriate spouses’ cross-cultural adjustment to the host country. The cross-cultural adjustment experience of the expatriate spouse differs vastly from that of the expatriate. Literature was consulted to understand the cardinal role that the spouse portrays during an expatriate assignment and to highlight the importance of a well-adjusted spouse. This study engaged in qualitative research methodology using five expatriate spouses residing in Rome, Italy. Spouses were from two different countries and represented different age groups. Data collection methods included interviews and a focus group session to gain an in-depth understanding of spouses’ cross-cultural adjustment experiences. Results showed that spouses arriving in the host country experienced a loss of identity. Identity in this study was divided into three categories namely personal, situational and social. Once spouses went through a period of identity reformation they were able to become well-adjusted spouses. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Thesis (MA (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, / This study presents conceptions for a German learner's dictionary ("Lemworterbuch"), aimed at the needs of the foreign language learner as recipient. The requirements set and proposals made for such a dictionary are aimed at improving the linguistic competence of the learner when he/she uses the language as recipient, in other words when he/she reads a German text or hears the spoken language (e.g. in conversation, on the radio, television, film etc.). III The target users are persons whose mother tongue is not German, but whose mastery of the language is at a fairly advanced level. Such users, who have mastered the basic grammatical rules of the German language and already have a good basic vocabulary, will nevertheless experience difficulties in using existing German explanatory dictionaries such as DUDEN and WAHRIG. These dictionaries present information in such a complicated way that it remains inaccessible to the average foreign language speaker. The propositions made in this thesis are directed at creating a dictionary that could overcome the existing gap between the bilingual translating dictionary with German as target language and the monolingual explanatory German dictionary. This study proceeds on the assumption that it is impossible to compile a dictionary without the consistent application of theoretically expounded principles (regarding linguistics, typography etc.). The subtlest detail regarding typographical layout is also emphasized, since the presentation of information determines how easily information can be retrieved from the dictionary. Proposals are made for a user friendly arrangement of material, which will enable the user to retrieve desired information easily and immediately. Two language aspects that are of the utmost importance to the recipient, flexion and definition, are examined. The way in which these two aspects are currently dealt with in monolingual dictionaries is investigated. From this investigation it is evident that flexion and defmition are inadequately dealt with for the specific needs of the foreign language learner. Suggestions are made to improve weaknesses and inconsistencies in order to make the dictionary more suitable for the language learner. Finally, the principles required by a German learner's dictionary for recipients are demonstrated by means of various entries. This serves as an example of how the dictionary could finally look. ;The entries are presented in both the printed and the electronic medium. The potential of both these media is utilized to show how the presentation of information can improve the user friendliness and accessibility of the dictionary.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Human resources are one of the most valuable assets of any country’s economy. Countries invest millions in the education and development of their citizens to improve knowledge, skills and productivity that will sustain and enhance their economic growth. Previously governments regarded money spent on education and training of its current and potential workforce as a ‘safe’ investment, but the situation has changed drastically in the past 50 years. Today, many highly skilled professionals are leaving their native country to work and live in another.

Šiame darbe nagrinėjamas socialinės apsaugos priemonių nedarbo rizikos atveju taikymas. Atskleidžiama nedarbo, kaip socialinės rizikos, samprata ir neigiama įtaka valstybės ekonominei raidai ir gerovei. Apžvelgiamas valstybės garantuojamos socialinės apsaugos nedarbo atveju teisinis reguliavimas Lietuvos Respublikos ir tarptautiniuose teisės aktuose. Aptariami šio instituto teisinio reglamentavimo trūkumai. Darbe analizuojama ne tik Lietuvos, bet ir užsienio valstybių patirtis taikant socialinės apsaugos priemones nedarbo rizikos atveju. Remiantis Statistikos depatamento pateiktais 2010-2011 metų Lietuvos gyventojų emigracijos duomenimis, tyrimo objektu pasirinktos Didžiosios Britanijos, Airijos ir Norvegijos valstybių socialinės apsaugos sistemos, kadangi šių šalių teikiamos garantijos ypač aktualios ten gyvenantiems ir dirbantiems Lietuvos piliečiams. Išsamiai apžvelgiamos Lietuvos ir minėtų užsienio valstybių teikiamos aktyvios ir pasyvios socialinės apsaugos priemonės nedarbo rizikos atveju, analizuojamas jų turinys, apimtis, efektyvumas, trūkumai, apžvelgiami naujausi priimtų teisės aktų, reglamentuojančių socialinę apsaugą nedarbo atveju, pakeitimai, juos įtakojusios aplinkybės. Atsižvelgiant į šių ekonomiškai stiprių užsienio valstybių patirtį taikant socialinės apsaugos priemones, pateikiami pasiūlymai dėl Lietuvos socialinės apsaugos sistemos tobulinimo. / This paper analyses application of social protection measures in relation to risk of unemployment. Conception of unemployment as of a social risk is exposed together with its negative effect on economic development and welfare of the state. Legal regulation of the state guaranteed social protection in case of unemployment provided for in legislative acts of the Republic of Lithuania and international legislative acts is reviewed. Drawbacks of legal regulation of this institute are discussed. The paper analyses not only Lithuanian experience, but also experience of foreign countries in applying social protection measures in relation to risk of unemployment. Invoking the data provided by the Statistics Lithuania on emigration of Lithuanian residents over years 2010-2011, social security systems of Great Britain, Ireland and Norway were chosen for survey, because social guarantees provided by those countries are especially relevant to Lithuanian citizens who work or reside there. Thorough review of active and passive social security measures in relation to risk of unemployment provided by Lithuania and the aforementioned countries is made, analyzing its content, amount, effectiveness, drawbacks; new amendments of adopted legislative acts, regulating social security in case of unemployment are reviewed together with circumstances that conditioned the amendments. Considering the experience of these economically strong foreign counties in application of social protection measures... [to full text]

The focus of interest in this thesis is the social and personal trajectories of men and women who were born in the Soviet Union in the 1970-1980s and then, after growing up in post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s in an atmosphere of change and uncertainty, decided to exploit the opportunities to go abroad to study and work that started opening up in the early and mid-1990s. The thesis analyses these moves as the individual strategies of either escaping or waiting on the career insecurities in Russia, or consciously enhancing one's social standing and professional and educational capital. It traces their social and professional trajectories, showing that, apart from developing the desired expertise and gaining experience, these Russians went through intensive changes in their self-identifications and senses of belonging, including the acquisition of new habits of mobility, international social networks and cosmopolitan dispositions. This thesis argues that, while their Soviet-Russian cultural past and their belonging to a particular social group of 'Soviet intelligentsia' was still important to them, they continuously acquired new social, cultural and cosmopolitan forms of capital that influenced their coming back to Russia as different persons from their contemporaries who had stayed in the country. They brought with them new dispositions and new social practices resulting from their active comparisons of their lives in Russia and Britain, and in many respects they actively maintained their differences in creating clubs for returnees. While able to integrate successfully into the emerging Russian middle classes, they still expressed the cultural and intellectual heritage of the past Soviet intelligentsia, now reborn in the guise of Westernizing attitudes and practices, different degrees of cosmopolitan patriotism, intellectual pursuits, a quest for education and self-development, interest in world travel, an ethical concern for sustainability, opposition to excessive consumerism in Russia and conspicuous practices of status performance. The materials for this research were mainly gathered through the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews, one third of them longitudinal, with informants talking to the researcher several times during the course of fieldwork between 2007 and 2012. Some additional participant observation has been conducted in informal Russian circles in the UK and among returnees from Britain in Russia. This research consists of an ethnography with elements of a biographical approach. This has made the researcher attentive to the inclusion of a certain event within a person's whole biography, aimed at putting the period researched within the context of the past and future lives of the informant. The participants of this research were aged between 22 and 40 and belonged to a transition cohort generation (Miller 2000), as they had all passed their childhoods in the Soviet Union, their adolescence and teenage years coinciding with the period of dissolution of the USSR, with the transitional break up of one system and the formation of another, while their young adulthood developed in post-Soviet Russia. They were mainly single when they initiated their move to Britain, and had various professional profiles within the broadly defined groups of 'highly skilled' and 'highly educated', the latter term being preferred in this research. The dissertation includes an introduction, four ethnographic chapters, a conclusion and one appendix. The introduction presents the historical and research context, the methodology and the design of the study. The first chapter traces the professional and educational trajectories of participants, while the second chapter focuses on informants' spatial mobility and habits of extensive travel acquired during the move to Britain. The third chapter deals with the negotiation of informants' belonging to a particular cultural and social past, which is associated both with Russian-Soviet culture and with their social status as the children of Soviet-era intelligentsia. The fourth chapter argues that, while belonging to Soviet intelligentsia families was still important for informants' self-identifications in Britain, new social, cultural and cosmopolitan forms of capital were acquired during this period, resulting in new cosmopolitan dispositions, ethics and moral values, and new practices socially remitted (Levitt 2001) from Britain. The conclusion places this ethnography within the state-of-the-art research on the mobilities of Russians to the UK.

"July 2004" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-68) / 257, 68 leaves : ill. (some col.), map ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of English, 2004

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Psychology