Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how isolated immigrant adolescents seek and use necessary information when they are not able to use significant information sources--their peer groups--in the period of transition before new peer groups are established. Method: To achieve the study's purpose, sixteen recently arrived (three years or less) Korean immigrant adolescents (12 and 18 years old) were recruited through snowballing and convenience samplings. For data collection, a mixed method including survey and in-depth interview was employed through three research phases. First, participants' demographic profiles and their information use environments [IUEs] were described through survey and interview (Phase I: Survey/In-depth Interview). Second, participants' isolated status was measured with three measurement scales and the motivation and contextual backgrounds of the survey results were analyzed via interview (Phase II: Surveys/In-depth Interview). Third, isolated Korean immigrant adolescents' migration journey and their information needs and seeking behaviors were described in interviews (Phase III: In-depth Interview). Finding: In analyzing the study participants' everyday life information seeking and their contextual features, such as their isolated condition and motivation for migration, a preliminary understanding of isolated adolescents' information world was gained: how they interpret their current situations and daily hassles, seek (or do not seek), and utilize information to cope with their daily life problems, and evaluate their use of information, including library systems and interpersonal sources. In particular, three main information needs were found: ELIS Need 1--English language skills to facilitate learning activities in school in the United States; ELIS Need 2--Social skills to facilitate making friends and to become accustomed to American culture and normative behaviors; ELIS Need 3--Study skills to facilitate academic success in highly competitive educational environments in Korea. To fulfill their cognitive needs--ELIS Need 1 and ELIS 3--the participants usually sought parents, teachers, Internet sources, and DIY. For their socio-affective needs--ELIS Need 2, they used guidance or counseling from their parents or selected passive coping strategies, such as the ignorance of their reality or information-avoiding. Their main information needs were usually satisfied through the information sources provided by their family members--parents. Conclusion: Five main emergent themes were analyzed from the findings (six categories of findings) and pertinent theories/models to interpret these unique features were suggested and discussed: Parents attachment in information seeking and uses (Theme 1); Dependence on interpersonal information sources (Theme 2); Information Ground (Theme 3); Two-step flow (Theme 4); Passive information-seeking, information-avoiding and ignorance (Theme 5). Also, this study suggested some empirical alternatives and implications to improve isolated immigrants' information world: (1) Peer-mentoring program; (2) Immigrant parents' school involvement/parents' education; (3) Teachers' education of cultural competence skills; (4) Library PR; (5) Library outreach to whole immigrant family members as a unit. Finally, the contributions of the study in several key areas, the limitation of this study and future studies--to supplement the limitation of this study and to interpret the emergent unique social and information phenomena--were suggested and discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Communication and Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 7, 2013. / Adolescent, Everyday Life Information Seeking, Information Behavior,
Information-Seeking, Isolation, New Immigrant / Includes bibliographical references. / Melissa Gross, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeannine Turner, University Representative; Mia Liza A. Lustria, Committee Member; Paul Marty, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183780 |
| Contributors | Koo, Joung Hwa (authoraut), Gross, Melissa (professor directing dissertation), Turner, Jeannine (university representative), Lustria, Mia Liza A. (committee member), Marty, Paul (committee member), School of Library and Information Studies (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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