This study examined the academic achievement, academic self-concept, and academic motivation of 573 immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents in two public secondary schools in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Multivariate analyses revealed statistically significant differences between immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents with respect to their academic achievement, academic self-concept, and academic motivation. In addition, supplemental exploratory analyses indicated significant ethnic group differences in academic achievement, academic self-concept, and academic motivation. Surprisingly and importantly, analyses showed the absence of statistically significant gender differences among immigrant adolescents in terms of their academic achievement, academic self-concept, and academic motivation. Results from multiple linear regression analyses provided support for the Self-Description Questionnaire II as a measurement to be used with both immigrant and non-immigrant adolescents. In contrast, support for the Academic Motivation Scale, which is based on the Self-Determination Theory, was not adequately substantiated in the current research for either immigrants or non-immigrants. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2007-11-20 10:34:07.043

In the last few decades the focus of immigration flows has been predominantly toward member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Immigration is a process full of challenges, and perceiving as being discriminated by host country natives is one of the biggest difficulties for the immigrants. This challenge is especially represented in immigrant adolescent population due to their higher sensitivity of perception of others. Thus, perceived discrimination characterized as being a significant negative consequence resulting internalizing mental health outcomes for immigrant adolescents. Therefore, the aim of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review in order to identify and discuss the findings of the existing studies that focus on the consequences of perceived discrimination on internalizing mental health outcomes for immigrant adolescents in OECD countries. The systematic review included 16 studies for data extraction. The results showed that perceived discrimination has significant negative consequences on internalizing mental health outcomes for immigrant adolescents in OEDC countries resulting in higher levels of: depression, anxiety, psycho-somatization, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsession-compulsion symptoms. However, within this relationship, there are also moderating and mediating variables. Self-esteem, familism and cognitive appraisal of discriminatory events were characterized as mediators. Parental support, adherence to traditional family values, acculturation, transcultural identity, older age, higher socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnic identity were characterized as moderators. It is recommended that the negative consequences of perceived discrimination on internalizing mental health outcomes should be taken into consideration on societal levels and in mental health fields when planning interventions and therapies for immigrant adolescents. Additionally, further research in this field should be conducted in other OECD countries with different immigrant groups in order to increase the generalizability of the findings.

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Research has shown that late-arriving teen English language learners (ELLs) are deeply rooted in the sociocultural and educational system of their home country for a majority of their schooling time (Duff, 2001; Minichello, 2001). In their transition to a new society in North America, this group encounters sociocultural and linguistic differences in their daily lives. Through a lens entitled Critical Multiple Social Spaces, which combines the Multiple Worlds Model (Phelan et al., 1991), the concept of Third Space (Bhabha, 1994) and a sociocultural perspective on language use (Fairclough, 2001; Pennycook, 2010), this qualitative case study focuses on 10 Chinese ELL adolescents who came to Canada after the age of 15, and examines their cross-trajectory experiences of English practice in their daily lives and their language identities. At the time of this study, they were at the stage of completing high school and applying for admission to higher education institutions. Findings showed that this group’s language use in daily life is full of conflicts, negotiation and consolidation, not only at school as a usual space of contested language practice, but also at home, with peers and in other spaces. At school, social division existed both in and out of class, yet such social division was not merely due to ELLs’ reluctance to integrate. Participants positioned themselves differently in English Literature courses and core classes in accordance with their perceived proficiency. Home, generally regarded as a traditionally stable space of language practice, became another site of complex dynamics. Peer networks also emerged as embodying similar complications. In addition to racial and ethnic factors, age on arrival and length of residence played a significant role in social interaction, impacting both same-ethnic and cross-ethnic peer networks. Based on these findings, four categories are identified pertaining to participants’ cross-trajectory language experiences, in which English spaces are positioned differently in relation to other spaces. Equally noteworthy are the dynamics between social spaces, social relations and language use, which shape – and are shaped by – symbolic power, investment and language identities. The implications of these findings on ELL adolescents’ language use in a broader migration space are also discussed.

Research has shown that late-arriving teen English language learners (ELLs) are deeply rooted in the sociocultural and educational system of their home country for a majority of their schooling time (Duff, 2001; Minichello, 2001). In their transition to a new society in North America, this group encounters sociocultural and linguistic differences in their daily lives. Through a lens entitled Critical Multiple Social Spaces, which combines the Multiple Worlds Model (Phelan et al., 1991), the concept of Third Space (Bhabha, 1994) and a sociocultural perspective on language use (Fairclough, 2001; Pennycook, 2010), this qualitative case study focuses on 10 Chinese ELL adolescents who came to Canada after the age of 15, and examines their cross-trajectory experiences of English practice in their daily lives and their language identities. At the time of this study, they were at the stage of completing high school and applying for admission to higher education institutions. Findings showed that this group’s language use in daily life is full of conflicts, negotiation and consolidation, not only at school as a usual space of contested language practice, but also at home, with peers and in other spaces. At school, social division existed both in and out of class, yet such social division was not merely due to ELLs’ reluctance to integrate. Participants positioned themselves differently in English Literature courses and core classes in accordance with their perceived proficiency. Home, generally regarded as a traditionally stable space of language practice, became another site of complex dynamics. Peer networks also emerged as embodying similar complications. In addition to racial and ethnic factors, age on arrival and length of residence played a significant role in social interaction, impacting both same-ethnic and cross-ethnic peer networks. Based on these findings, four categories are identified pertaining to participants’ cross-trajectory language experiences, in which English spaces are positioned differently in relation to other spaces. Equally noteworthy are the dynamics between social spaces, social relations and language use, which shape – and are shaped by – symbolic power, investment and language identities. The implications of these findings on ELL adolescents’ language use in a broader migration space are also discussed.

Diese Dissertation untersucht individuelle Unterschiede in der Adaptation von Jugendlichen und fokussiert auf jugendliche Immigranten. Sie postuliert ein übergreifendes Rahmenmodell, das entwicklungs-, akkulturations-, und intergruppenpsychologische Ansätze integriert, um ein umfassendes Verständnis der Adaptationsprozesse zu erlangen. Von diesem Rahmenmodell werden zwei Forschungsfragen abgeleitet. Die erste Frage lautet, wie ist das Zusammenspiel von Entwicklungs- und Akkulturationsaufgaben? Die zweite Frage lautet, wie ist das Zusammen-spiel dieser Aufgaben mit den Beziehungen zu der Familie und den Gleichaltrigen? Die Dissertation basiert auf drei empirischen Studien, die längsschnittliche Daten von Schülern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund verwendeten. Studie 1 zeigte, dass eine gut funktionierende Familie und die Beteiligung an der Herkunfts- und Aufnahmekultur Selbstwirksamkeitserwartungen und ethnische Identität vorhersagten. Studie 2 ergab, dass soziometrische Beliebtheit in der In- aber nicht der Outgroup Selbstwert von Jugendlichen vorhersagte, was durch selbstwahrgenommene Beliebtheit mediiert wurde. Studie 3 zeigte, dass soziometrische Beliebtheit bei Klassenkameraden ohne, aber nicht bei solchen mit, Migrationshintergrund ein geringes persönliches Diskriminationserleben in jugendlichen Migranten vorhersagte. Zusammenfassend hat diese Dissertation das Rahmenmodell erfolgreich angewendet, in dem sie gezeigt hat, dass positive Beziehungen mit der Familie und Gleichaltrigen Ressourcen für das Bewältigen von Entwicklungs- und Akkulturations-aufgaben darstellten, die miteinander verwoben waren. Die wesentliche Implikation ist, dass jede der beiden Kulturen und sozialen Gruppen eine Quelle unterschiedlicher Risiken und Ressourcen ist, die alle wichtige Aspekte der Adaptation sind. Diese Dissertation ist ein wichtiger Schritt in Richtung eines kontextualisierten und integrativen Verständnisses der Adaptation von Jugendlichen in einer modernen Gesellschaft. / This dissertation examines individual differences in the adaptation of adolescents and focuses on the case of immigrant adolescents. It proposes a guiding framework that integrates developmental, acculturative, and intergroup approaches in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the processes underlying adaptation. From this framework, I derive two core research questions that guide the three empirical studies of this dissertation. First, what is the longitudinal interplay of developmental tasks and acculturative tasks? Second, what is the longitudinal interplay of either of these two tasks and the quality of adolescents’ relationships with family and peers? This dissertation is based on three studies that used the same longitudinal data set of immigrant and host-national students. Study 1 showed that family functioning and involvement in host and ethnic cultures predicted immigrant adolescents’ self-efficacy and ethnic identity. Study 2 revealed that sociometric peer likability by ingroup but not outgroup classmates predicted self-esteem of both immigrants and host-nationals, which was fully mediated by their self-perceived likability. Study 3 demonstrated that sociometric peer likability by host-national but not by immigrant classmates predicted low perceptions of personal discrimination in immigrant adolescents. In summary, this dissertation successfully applied the proposed integrative framework by demonstrating that positive relationships with family and peers represented resources for adolescents’ mastery of their acculturative and developmental tasks, which in turn were intertwined. The main implication is that each of the two cultures and societal groups presents immigrant adolescents with different risks and resources that are all important aspects of their adaptation. In sum, this dissertation is an important step toward a more contextualized and integrative understanding of the adaptation of adolescents in a modern society.

Le bien-être des élèves en milieu scolaire est un enjeu qui suscite de plus en plus d’intérêt depuis quelques années. Les adolescents de première génération d’immigration identifiés comme EHDAA et scolarisés en classe d’adaptation scolaire fermée, eux, sont susceptibles de vivre des enjeux inhérents à leur statut particulier qui peuvent grandement affecter leur bien-être. Alors que 67,1% des élèves dans les écoles de Montréal sont issus de l'immigration (Réseau Réussite Montréal, 2019), les données quant à leur présence dans les classes d’adaptation scolaires, elles, sont difficilement accessibles, bien que des études antérieures aient dénoncé une surreprésentation de certaines communautés au sein des effectifs ÉHDAA de la province (McAndrew et al., 2011). Les difficultés liées à l’adolescence à et au contexte migratoire, conjuguées à un statut EHDAA sont des croisements peu étudiés au sein des écrits (Collins et Borri-Anadón, 2021), d’autant plus qu’aucune étude ne s’est attardée, à notre connaissance, à leurs impacts sur le bien-être de ces jeunes. Cette étude de cas multiple, réalisée auprès de trois adolescents issus de première génération d’immigration scolarisés en classe d’adaptation scolaire a pour but de documenter et de décrire les répercussions du processus de catégorisation, du modèle de service ainsi que de l’approche catégorielle sur le bien-être des élèves. Nos données témoignent d’un processus de catégorisation vécu d’une manière somme toute positive, alors que l’annonce de la catégorisation et du changement de modèle de service, elle est vécue comme un choc. Des sentiments d’exclusion, de discrimination, d’injustice et des enjeux d’estime de soi et de relations interpersonnelles ont également été relevés. / The well-being of adolescent students has become an increasingly important issue in recent years. First-generation immigrant adolescents identified as having disabilities or learning difficulties (EHDAA) and enrolled in closed special education classes are likely to experience challenges inherent to their particular status that can greatly affect their well-being. While 67.1% of students in Montreal schools come from immigrant backgrounds (Réseau Réussite Montréal, 2019), data regarding their presence in special education classes is difficult to access, although previous studies have highlighted an overrepresentation of certain communities within the EHDAA population in the province (McAndrew et al., 2011). The challenges associated with adolescence and the migratory context, combined with an EHDAA status, are intersections that have received limited attention in the literature (Collins and Borri-Anadón, 2021), particularly as no study, to our knowledge, has specifically examined their impact on the well-being of these young individuals. This multiple case study, conducted with three first-generation immigrant adolescents enrolled in special education classes, aims to document and describe the repercussions of the categorization process, the service model, and the categorical approach on students' well-being. Our data indicates that the categorization process was generally experienced in a positive manner, whereas the announcement of categorization and the change in the service model was perceived as a shock. Feelings of exclusion, discrimination, injustice, as well as self-esteem and interpersonal relationship issues were also identified.