This thesis conceptualizes and documents transformations underlying the contemporary condition of Canadian political membership. Through an examination of recent changes in Canadian immigration policy underwritten by the neoliberal reconfiguration of the state, the imperatives of ‘skills discourse’ and the exigencies of economic globalization, this thesis interprets the effect of globalization on the state and state-based membership as a process referred to by Saskia Sassen as ‘incipient denationalization’. / Graduate

The diploma thesis deals with the book genre Erstlesebuch (book for beginner readers) as educational material in the context of foreign language education at the levels of Basic Users (A0/1-A2). In the context of first language teaching, this specific genre belongs to the field of literature, the didactic of literature, and the didactic of reading. The goal of this diploma thesis is to present different possibilities of didactic activities with Erstlesebuch in the context of second language teaching and to formulate criteria for choosing an appropriate text. The theoretical part describes the context of foreign language education and the role of literature in this context, with consideration for the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The theoretical part also presents the specifics of the book genre Erstlesebuch itself. The empirical part of this thesis is based on several investigations: firstly on a complex analysis (readability and text structure) of six Erstlesebuch and secondly on empirical research in reading with schoolchildren at higher grades of an elementary school (children at the age of 13-15). These results are compared to the results of similar research done with Austrian beginner readers (children between the ages of 7 and 9). The final part of the thesis concludes...