Abstract Population movement is one of the very natures of economic geography in the era of globalisation. The paper aims to map out the new geographical contours of Taiwan from which the Southeast Asian population immigrates particularly after 1990s, with perspectives of the foreign labours, spouse moves and the Diaspora. Thus this thesis is structured by the conceptual framework of globalization, geographical imagery and identity. This study has then successfully conducted in-depth interviews to 36 samples of foreign laborers and spouse movers and 6 samples of policy makers in Taiwan. The results show firstly that the movement is mostly concerned with economical and environmental dynamics. The economical factor includes the worse working terrains and shortage of employment, and the latter embraces, due to the political conflicts in their native home, the seekings of better quality of life and better job imagination. Cultural identity is then the second motivation: Taiwan here is without conversely the homeland for overseas Chinese, the diaspora, to returning back to. Next, gaps between the imaginary and real economic geography are discussed due to the differentiation of working situations, multiculturalisms and inequalities. Thirdly, mediated by the mass media and previous immigrants, the condition of agencies for the concrete actor network of the immigrants is unraveled. Fourthly, the population trafficking and crackdown are found via the process of immigrant spouses. Finally, the domino effect on subsequently ¡¥spinning immigration¡¦ is recently significant and then scrutinized. After drawn out the lucid curves of immigration issues, policies of implementation are suggested to the agent and the policymakers of government interview mechanism, and immigrant policy.

Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations are usually characterized as one of the most important reasons for Chinese students’ educational attainment and achievement. However, the understanding of the nature and formation of Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations is limited. It is important to examine Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations to gain a better understanding of their living and schooling experiences in Canada, in light of the fact that Chinese immigrants are one of the fastest growing ethnic minority group in Canada. This research is a qualitative multiple case study of twelve selected Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations. The research purposes include: to give detailed description and interpretation of Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations; to identify and analyze the factors affecting the formation of educational expectations in Chinese immigrant families; and to explore and summarize Chinese parents’ and children’s plans and strategies to fulfill their educational expectations. Semi-structured in-depth interviews was the main method to collect the data including the voices both from Chinese immigrant parents and children. I analyzed the data in three phases: refining and open coding, building categories and themes, and cross-case comparison and analytical generalization. The data were presented in six categories covering Chinese immigrant families’ experiences from the general living experiences of immigration to the detailed schooling experiences in Canada and then to their specific thoughts regarding educational expectations. The findings of this study revealed the complexity and variability in how educational expectations were constructed in Chinese immigrant families’ life course of immigration. There were two levels of meanings included in Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations: the specific expectations regarding children’s academic achievement and the general expectations regarding what kind of people children should become. Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations were affected by different factors: Chinese cultural values, acculturation gap, parents’ life experiences and perception of Canadian society, family’s social status, age of immigration, length of residence, immigrant status, gender, personalities, and peer influence. Different factors and different combinations of these factors would influence Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations in different ways. How Chinese immigrant parents transmitted their educational expectations to their children and actualized the expectations through parenting had an enormous impact on children’s eventual school performance and academic achievement. Chinese immigrant families’ cultural identification and acculturation were the most salient elements to explain how they formed their educational expectations and their practices to fulfill the expectations in Canada. Chinese immigrant families tried transplanting instead of uprooting Chinese culture, and acculturating instead of assimilating into Western culture. Chinese immigrant families chose to lean towards Chinese or Western culture according to specific situations and personal perceptions. Folk theory of Chinese immigrant families’ educational expectations was constructed in Chinese cultural model because the way Chinese immigrant parents and children “see” things and “do” things regarding educational issues in Canada were strongly influenced by Chinese cultural model. Implications for policy makers and educators were presented in the following aspects: improve the connections between parents and schools through multiple conversation channels and partnerships; promote a variety of occupation choices in different ethnic populations; pay more attention to Chinese immigrant students’ psychological health and well-being; and provide instructions that are meaningful and affirming to the cultural identities of students with diverse immigrant backgrounds. Future research directions were suggested concerning what might be done to continue improving the understanding of immigrants’ educational expectations in a wider and deeper sense.

For immigrant adult learners, learning English is not only for survival and functioning in the target language (TL) culture, but it is also a means of being able to successfully deal with the inequitable power structures in place in the larger society which deny them access to the culture's social, economic, and political resources (Norton, 2000). In the United States, the computer is a culturally valued resource and tool used by TL speakers, yet this valued resource is not easily accessible to immigrant adults due to their limited language ability, lack of experience with computers, and/or financial reasons; thus, putting them at an immediate socioeconomic disadvantage in this country. Nevertheless, researchers have argued that today's language learners must know how to read, write and communicate through electronic mediums due to the computer's prevalence in many aspects of modern life (Warschauer, 2005).The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of technology on adult immigrant learners as they learn how to use computers formally for the first time within an English as a Second Language curriculum. Specifically, the study seeks to discover which factors contribute to successful computer literacy acquisition, the impact of computer literacy acquisition to their identities, and which pedagogical practices are best suited for this population. The research project took place at a local community college and looked at 25 students, focusing in on five case-profile learners. Using Lave & Wenger's (1991) Situated Learning Theory and Norton's (1995) Theory of Investment, Social Identity and Power as a means of examining the above issues, the findings provide evidence that teachers need to consider learners' identities when designing and implementing a computer literacy curriculum. This research also calls attention to the necessity of implementing a computer literacy course within an ESL curriculum so that students can learn language and computer literacy in an ESL supportive environment attentive to their specific needs. Moreover, the study points to the need for instructors to be more aware of their own cultural and learning style biases and how they affect learner participation in this population of students.

This paper investigates how the immigration ratio affects the subjective well-being of native-born Canadians. I use microdata from the Canadian Community Health Survey during the period 2009 to 2010 and employ ordered probit and OLS models to examine this question. The results show that the geographic concentration of immigrants in Canada has a negative effect on native-born Canadians’ subjective well-being. Specifically, an increase of one standard deviation in the immigrant share in each health region is estimated to decrease life satisfaction by 1.28 standard deviation unit for natives. In addition, the effect of the immigration ratio on the life satisfaction of immigrants is significantly negative as well. Results indicate that the current immigrant selection policy in Canada does not benefit both natives and immigrants in the context of subjective well-being. / the effect of immigration on the life satisfaction of native-born Canadians.

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Over the past fifteen years, Manitoba’s aggressive immigration strategy has brought thousands of newcomers to the province, many of whom relocated with spouses and families. The proposed study aims to explore the struggles and successes that immigrant women face when they relocate to Manitoba primarily for their partners’ work opportunities, with the intention of informing education and settlement services for these women. The study adopts gender role theory as the main theoretical framework, exploring assumptions and the impact they might have on the relationships and decision making of couples who immigrate to Manitoba (Mincer, 1978). Data collection techniques include a semi-structured interview and email communication. The findings will illuminate the experiences and perspectives of immigrant women who relocate with their partner or spouse to Manitoba, and may inform the work of educators, policy makers, settlement services, and dual-career consultants who support this population.

The purpose of this study was to find out what some young adults who have grown up in Husby themselves for perception of the area, what do they think they brought with them of their childhood there, and find out what they think others do not live in Husby has view of the area. In our study we also tried to find out what the young adults raised in Husby think about the media's influence on public perception of the area Husby, and what they think about the neighborhood's future. The main results that we believe we have come up with is that the media seems to have a big role in the creation of our beliefs. The respondents indicate that they think the media portrays an unfair picture of the suburb and its inhabitants. We believe it is very important that people meet to avoid the categories "us" and "them" to be formed. We have also seen that the boys stamp as suburban guys have both advantages and disadvantage depending on context. Several of the guys expressing a frustration that they sometimes needs to take responsibility for the actions of others just because of their appearance or the area they live in. They also tell that they mostly have negative reactions when they say that they come from Husby. Sometimes they feel that they are not beeing seen for the person they are. Some positive things they have brought with them from their childhood in Husby is the multicultural mix and they have learned to meet people from different cultures. Other benefits they have brought with them is the love and the community that childhood was marked by. There are different opinions about Husby's future in our interviews. Everyone likes the area but many of the interviewees say that they do not want to live there in the future when they start families. because they want their children to grow up in a more integrated setting than what they think Husby is today.

This research outlines studies about the relationship between social integration process of Japanese immigrants in Sweden and how social media assists in this process. The purpose of this research includes: To find out the reasons of migration to Sweden for six Japanese immigrants, any difficulties that they faced at the beginning of their immigration process and/or any positive qualities that they found in living in Sweden, whether they have accessed social media since they have moved in, if they do so, how the social media has been used and also, whether the social media has had a role to play in contributing to help their social integration process. In addition, it has been considered whether the participants have plans to return to Japan. In Sweden, there is relatively small Japanese migrant population. This social science research paper is the first in Sweden which explores the immigration process of Japanese migrants into Sweden. This research will help to deepen the understanding of Japanese migrants’ experiences and contributes in assisting the social services community as well as other migrants.

Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 108. Thesis director: Adam Winsler. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 9, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-107). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-121).