182 results
Search Results
2. Patterns of reading behaviour in digital hypertext environments.
- Author
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Hahnel, Carolin, Ramalingam, Dara, Kroehne, Ulf, and Goldhammer, Frank
- Subjects
HYPERTEXT systems ,LANGUAGE & languages ,POPULATION geography ,MATHEMATICS ,SOCIAL classes ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,READING ,HIGH school students ,SCIENCE - Abstract
Background: Computer‐based assessment allows for the monitoring of reader behaviour. The identification of patterns in this behaviour can provide insights that may be useful in informing educational interventions. Objectives: Our study aims to explore what different patterns of reading activity exist, and investigates their interpretation and consistency across different task sets (units), countries, and languages. Three patterns were expected: on‐task, exploring and disengaged. Methods: Using log data from the PISA 2012 digital reading assessment (9226 students from seven countries), we conducted hierarchical cluster analyses with typical process indicators of digital reading assessments. We identified different patterns and explored whether they remained consistent across different units. To validate the interpretation of the identified patterns, we examined their relationship to performance and student characteristics (gender, socio‐economic status, print reading skills). Results and Conclusions: The results indicate a small number of transnational clusters, with unit‐specific differences. Cluster interpretation is supported by associations with student characteristics—for example, students with low print reading skills were more likely to show a disengaged pattern than proficient readers. Exploring behaviour tended to be exhibited only once across the three units: It occurred in the first unit for proficient readers and in later units for less skilled readers. Major Takeaways: Behavioural patterns can be identified in digital reading tasks that may prove useful for educational monitoring and intervention. Although task situations are designed to evoke certain behaviours, the interpretation of observed behavioural patterns requires validation based on task requirements, assessment context and relationships to other available information. Lay Description: What is already known about the subject matter?: Students differ in how they read, comprehend and use digital information.Indicators from process data provide insight about how students engage with digital reading tasks. What does this paper add to the subject matter?: Based on multiple process indicators, a small number of clusters indicating different behavioural activity can be distinguished.These clusters can be described as on‐task, passive, hasty, exploring, disengaged, persistent and lost interest.A meaningful interpretation of the clusters must consider the requirements of the underlying tasks. Implications for practice and/or policy: Knowledge of how students engage with digital resources may provide useful feedback for teachers to guide students' learning or intervene when they struggle.Educational monitoring: The high comparability of country‐specific results suggests an invariant set of solution strategies in the digital reading assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Towards a critical translanguaging biliteracy pedagogy: the 'aha moment' stories of two Mandarin Chinese teachers in Canada.
- Author
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Jin, Jing and Liu, Yina
- Subjects
CHINESE teachers' writings ,TEACHERS ,ONLINE education ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
Learning Mandarin Chinese as a heritage or additional language at Chinese complementary schools has long been a tradition for many Asian Canadians. However, research that looks at teachers' experiences and perceptions in Canadian settings, especially the power dynamics embedded in biliteracy development at complementary schools, is scant. Moreover, the COVID‐19 pandemic brought challenges and opportunities to Chinese complementary schools. In this paper, we, as two Mandarin teachers and literacy researchers, used collaborative autobiographical narrative inquiry to tell our stories to unfold (1) how power dynamics regarding biliteracy/multiliteracy were enacted and reflected in a Chinese complementary school during the pandemic and (2) our re‐understanding of Mandarin teaching and learning from critical literacy and translanguaging perspectives. Although the pandemic is over, racial discrimination and social inequity continue to remain in our lives. By analysing our teaching moments and reflections, we hope this study could provide some insights into how critical literacy and translanguaging can be integrated into language and literacy education in multilingual and multimodal settings in the pandemic and post‐pandemic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Parallel digital monolingualism: A Canadian case study of language ideologies and hashtags in multilingual digital discourse.
- Author
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Vessey, Rachelle
- Subjects
MONOLINGUALISM ,TAGS (Metadata) ,IDEOLOGY ,LANGUAGE & languages ,MULTILINGUALISM ,DISCOURSE analysis ,CRITICAL discourse analysis - Abstract
This paper examines the role of hashtags in the formation of affinity spaces linked to divergent linguistic cultures in the Canadian digital context. The linguistic cultures tend to accommodate certain language ideologies, which manifest through distinct forms of practical and discursive consciousness. The coexistence of divergent linguistic cultures that address shared topics in different ways is labelled "parallel digital monolingualism," a form of multilingualism that has not been accounted for in previous research. This multilingualism exists because of the transfer of offline experiences (which, in Canada, are based on language and geography) into the affordances of digital contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Active learning for active ageing: Chinese senior immigrants' lifelong learning in Canada.
- Author
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Zhu, Yidan and Zhang, Weiguo
- Subjects
LEARNING assessment ,AGING ,PSYCHOLOGY ,CHINESE people ,CONCEPTUAL structures ,CONTINUING education ,CULTURE ,HEALTH ,HISTORY ,IMMIGRANTS ,INTERVIEWING ,LANGUAGE & languages ,LEISURE ,TEACHING aids ,PATIENT participation - Abstract
This paper explores the intersection between migration, aging and lifelong learning with the aim of expanding our understanding of how lifelong learning enhances older migrants' active aging in a foreign land. Our study also offers insights into the learning activities of older immigrants in general. In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a conceptual framework of active aging, which has greatly influenced aging policies and seniors' everyday practices. Yet, there is a paucity of research that explicates and fully integrates lifelong learning into active aging discourse, and focuses on senior immigrants' lifelong learning in an aging society. Based on interviews, textual materials, and participatory observation in five Chinese seniors' immigrant associations in Toronto, we explore how Chinese senior immigrants' learning has been (re)shaped and practised through re-settling in Canadian society. Five categories of learning are explored, including a) learning language and computer skills, b) learning culture and history, c) learning civic engagement, d) learning leisure, and e) learning health. We argue that 'active learning' can be used as a dynamic conceptual framework that interacts with active aging theory, demonstrating how senior immigrants actively participate in the lifelong learning project for participation and integration in Canada. This paper provides insights to the understanding of culturally sensitive policy-making on integration, health, and lifelong learning of older immigrants in Canada and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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6. Transition to adulthood of refugee and immigrant children in Canada.
- Author
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Yoshida, Yoko and Amoyaw, Jonathan
- Subjects
TRANSITION to adulthood ,IMMIGRANTS ,REFUGEES ,AGE distribution ,FAMILIES ,INTELLECT ,LABOR market ,LANGUAGE & languages ,CULTURAL pluralism ,TIME ,CHILDREN - Abstract
The majority of refugees are children and youth and their integration and life-course transitions are a research priority. This paper examines the timing of refugee children and youths' entrance into the labour market and family formation (marriage/common law union and parenthood). It does so by examining how admission category, knowledge of a host country's official languages, and age at arrival shape their transition to adulthood. Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Immigration Database and Heckman selection estimation, the paper finds minimal variation in refugee children and youths' entry into the labour market compared to children of other immigrant streams. It also finds that refugee children and youth start forming families at a younger age than children of economic class immigrants, but at an older age than family class children. The analysis also shows limited effects of knowledge of official language prior to arrival while age at arrival has a robust impact on their adulthood transitions. These findings shed light on the unique patterns of life-course transition among refugee children and youth and contribute to a better conceptualization of their experiences relative to children and youth of other immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020
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7. Canadian Slavonic Papers at Fifty.
- Author
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Ilnytzkyj, Oleh S.
- Subjects
- *
PERIODICALS , *SOCIAL sciences , *HISTORY , *LANGUAGE & languages , *LITERATURE , *EDITORS - Abstract
The author reflects on the fiftieth volume of the periodical "Canadian Slavonic Papers". The author ackowledges all the editors and contributors of the issue referred to as a milestone, a testimonial piece that depicts the periodical's contribution in history, language, literature, and social sciences in Canada and across the globe.
- Published
- 2008
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8. Exploring the links between slang and sexual and gender-based violence among university students in a Canadian city.
- Author
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Orchard, Treena and Sangaraganesan, Doreen Mathura
- Subjects
- *
CULTURE , *MASCULINITY , *SCHOOL environment , *RACISM , *PSYCHOLOGY of college students , *RESEARCH methodology , *VIOLENCE , *LANGUAGE & languages , *INTERVIEWING , *GENDER , *ATTITUDES toward sex , *SEX crimes , *TERMS & phrases , *LGBTQ+ people , *RESEARCH funding , *JUDGMENT sampling , *THEMATIC analysis , *STUDENT attitudes , *SECONDARY analysis - Abstract
Despite decades of research and education, sexual and gender-based violence remain distressingly prevalent on university and college campuses globally. The taboos associated with sex, gender inequity, and living in a patriarchal world where misogyny is glorified and criminalised are key socio-cultural determinants driving these forms of violence. Less is known about the ways in which sexual slang or terminology impact how students experience and talk about these events. This paper reports on findings from a participatory action study that explored sexual slang use among female and male undergraduate students (n = 23) with the aim of creating more responsive sexual and gender-based violence policies and practices. The terms identified (n = 59) provide a window into the daily lives of these young people, who display remarkable socio-linguistic adaptation and creativity. They also demonstrate how cultural appropriation, the exclusion of queer students, toxic masculinitycontribute to ongoing incidents of sexual and gender-based violence on campus. These findings contribute new insights into sexual terminology among post-secondary students, particularly in the Canadian context where few studies of this nature exist. They also acknowledge the critical role universities can play in making meaningful structural change to prevent traumatic events from occurring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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9. PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC EVIDENCE FOR STEM STRUCTURE IN OJI-CREE.
- Author
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Slavin, Tanya
- Subjects
FIRST Nations of Canada ,PHONOLOGY ,SYNTAX (Grammar) ,LANGUAGE & languages ,LINGUISTICS - Abstract
Following work by Bloomfield (1946; 1958), the primary verb stem in Algonquian is traditionally described in terms of a template of three elements: initial, medial, and final. However, both Bloomfield himself and the subsequent scholarship (e.g., Rhodes 1976, Goddard 1988; 1990, and O'Meara 1990) have also recognized that the structure of the stem is more complex than the simple template might suggest. In this paper, I build on these insights, taking them one step further. Drawing on Oji-Cree, I propose a distinction between two types of stems, based on the complexity of their internal structure. A simple stem is formed by combining a root and a verbal head, while a complex stem involves an intermediate constituent that is salient at the phonological and syntactic level. I adduce phonological and syntactic evidence for the distinction between the two stem types and then focus on the properties of complex stems, arguing that they are subject to predictable syntactic restrictions. The analysis developed in this paper helps situate the Algonquian stem within a broader syntactic theory as well as accounts for a number of puzzling facts about the verb stem. The analysis also provides support for the view (Brittain 2003, Hirose 2003, Piggott and Newell 2006, and Mathieu 2008) that a significant portion of word formation in Algonquian takes place in syntax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
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10. Exploring community capacity: Karen refugee women's mental health.
- Author
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Clark, Nancy
- Subjects
COMMUNITY health services ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,FOCUS groups ,HEALTH promotion ,HEALTH services accessibility ,INTERPROFESSIONAL relations ,INTERVIEWING ,LANGUAGE & languages ,RESEARCH methodology ,MENTAL health ,PSYCHOLOGY of refugees ,STATISTICAL sampling ,SEX distribution ,PSYCHOLOGICAL stress ,WOMEN'S health ,ETHNOLOGY research ,SOCIAL support ,SOCIOECONOMIC factors ,WELL-being ,HEALTH literacy ,DATA analysis software ,HEALTH & social status - Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe Karen refugee women's experience of resettlement and the factors which structured community capacity to support their mental health and well-being. Design/methodology/approach - A postcolonial and feminist standpoint was used to bring Karen women's voice to the knowledge production process. Data were collected through ethnographic field observation, in-depth semi-structured individual and focus group interviews with Karen women as well as healthcare and social service providers. Findings - Three interrelated themes emerged from the data: Karen women's construction of mental health as "stress and worry"; gender, language and health literacy intersected, shaping Karen women's access to health care and social resources; flexible partnerships between settlement agencies, primary care and public health promoted community capacity but were challenged by neoliberalism. Research limitations/implications - Karen women and families are a diverse group with a unique historical context. Not all the findings are applicable across refugee women. Practical implications - This paper highlights the social determinants of mental health for Karen women and community responses for mitigating psychological distress during resettlement. Social implications - Public health policy requires a contextualized understanding of refugee women's mental health. Health promotion in resettlement must include culturally safe provision of health care to mitigate sources of psychological distress during resettlement. Originality/value - This research brings a postcolonial and feminist analysis to community capacity as a public health strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
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11. Transcendence/religion to immanence/ nonreligion in assisted dying.
- Author
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Beaman, Lori G. and Steele, Cory
- Subjects
ASSISTED suicide laws ,ASSISTED suicide ,COURTS ,CHRISTIANITY ,COMPARATIVE studies ,DIGNITY ,DISCOURSE analysis ,LANGUAGE & languages ,METAPHYSICS ,RELIGION ,TERMINALLY ill ,ATTITUDES toward death - Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the ways in which the Supreme Court of Canada has shifted away from transcendent/religious to nonreligious conceptualizations of assisted dying. Design/methodology/approach - A discourse analysis of a Supreme Court of Canada case on assisted dying and the facta of the 26 associated interveners. Findings - The research points to a shift away from religious to nonreligious understandings in the way the Court conceptualizes suffering, pain, illness and assisted dying. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the understanding of nonreligion as a social phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
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12. Please Pass the Translanguaging: The Dinner Table Experience in the Lives of Newcomer Canadian Deaf Youth and Their Families.
- Author
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Weber, Joanne Catherine, Jones, Chelsea Temple, and Atwal, Abneet
- Subjects
DEAF youth ,MEALS ,METAPHOR ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
While translanguaging occurs in the homes of deaf people and their hearing family members who do not sign or possess limited signing skills, in this article we argue that translanguaging alone does not explain the complex, domestic-sphere language experiences of three young, newcomer artists in Saskatchewan, Canada. We frame our inquiry around the "dinner table experience" phenomenon, wherein deaf family members receive partial or little access to conversational exchanges. At the dinner table, which is both a literal setting and a metaphor for exclusion experienced by deaf people in audiocentric cultures, many deaf family members report feeling loved yet disconnected. However, translanguaging serves to expand linguistic repertoires among hearing and deaf interlocutors amidst the dinner table experience. We draw from three interviews with deaf youth who describe the dinner table experience through both dialogue and art making, including descriptions of ways in which communication is facilitated or not facilitated, thereby highlighting available and unavailable translanguaging practices in the domestic sphere. The interview data suggest that the dinner table experience is a significant setting for translanguaging, and that promoting accessible and equitable translanguaging practices in the home remains a significant challenge, especially when combined with newcomer lived experience that does not always match current descriptions of translanguaging. We posit that translanguaging is a necessary practice among hearing and deaf persons at the table that can and should be expanded to consider the intersectional experiences of communicators in this literal and metaphorical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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13. Reshaping understandings of disability associated with age-related vision loss (ARVL): incorporating critical disability perspectives into research and practice.
- Author
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McGrath, Colleen, Rudman, Debbie Laliberte, Trentham, Barry, Polgar, Jan, and Spafford, Marlee M.
- Subjects
BIOLOGICAL models ,REHABILITATION of blind people ,CRITICAL theory ,FUNCTIONAL assessment ,LANGUAGE & languages ,SOCIAL participation ,VISION disorders ,GERIATRIC rehabilitation ,ATTITUDES toward aging ,ATTITUDES toward disabilities ,DISEASE complications ,OLD age - Abstract
Purpose:In this paper, we have sought to stimulate a critical dialog regarding the ways in which disability has been largely conceptualized and studied in literature addressing age-related vision loss (ARVL). We suggest an expansion of this largely biomedically informed research area to include alternative frameworks, namely critical disability perspectives. Method:To demonstrate the potential contributions of adopting a critical disability approach to enhance understandings of ARVL, this article outlined the primary tenets of the biomedical and social models of disability; the key aims, emphases, and assumptions of critical disability perspectives; and provided examples of how such an approach would lead to new research foci in the study of ARVL. Results:The paper highlighted four qualities of critical disability perspectives that future ARVL research should ascribe to, including (a) a focus on interdependence over traditional notions of independence; (b) a broader conceptualization of 'normalcy'; (c) the influence of language as a means of describing or labeling disabled persons; and (d) the influence of the socio-political environment in the creation and sustainment of disability. Conclusions:This paper encouraged the incorporation of critical disability perspectives to provide new ways of conceptualizing, researching, writing about, and practicing in relation to ARVL. Implications for RehabilitationThe application of critical disability perspectives to expand the boundaries of low vision research can broaden low vision rehabilitation services (LVRS) in ways that more effectively attend to environmental features shaping and perpetuating disability for clients with age-related vision loss (ARVL).Low vision research, informed by critical disability perspectives, would inform a shift away from the exclusive focus on independence towards an acknowledgment of interdependence.The integration of participatory research approaches in ARVL research could generate new insights to inform rehabilitation by enhancing space and respect for the stories and knowledge of older adults aging with vision loss.Greater attention in low vision rehabilitation should be paid to how older adults’ experiences of disability are tied to both the environmental context in which they exist and by the limitations caused by their impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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14. GOALS FOR ACADEMIC WRITING: ESL STUDENTS AND THEIR INSTRUCTORS.Alister Cumming (Ed.). Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2006. Pp. xii + 204. $42.95 paper.
- Author
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Barbara Kroll
- Subjects
ENGLISH language education ,ACADEMIC discourse ,LANGUAGE & languages ,COLLEGE teachers ,ENGLISH grammar education - Abstract
GOALS FOR ACADEMIC WRITING: ESL STUDENTS AND THEIR INSTRUCTORS.Alister Cumming (Ed.). Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2006. Pp. xii + 204. $42.95 paper.In universities throughout the world, faculty engage in discussions related to the writing performance of their students—with many concerned about challenges second language (L2) students face in achieving competence in academic writing tasks. Yet, most studies in the field of L2 writing focus on a single area of concern within the learning and teaching spectrum; the collective results of these explorations must often be pieced together by an individual who reviews a large number of separate studies. Cummings edited volume stems from a more ambitious and data-rich approach; its chapters derive from a 2-year project in which the contributors investigated and compared the learning and teaching goals of several dozen L2 writers and a number of their teachers as the students moved from an intensive English as a second language (ESL) program in Canada to their first year at several Canadian universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
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15. Revelation of Self in Selected Stories of Alice Munro.
- Author
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Sirisha, I.
- Subjects
WOMEN ,AUTHORS ,PARENTS ,SIBLINGS ,HUSBANDS ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
A woman writer presents her parents, siblings, her husband and the other close members of her family through her characters when she wants to describe her life. A woman's identity is always attached to the people; she never has her independent life to exhibit. Women's autobiographies deal mainly with the emotional disturbance chained with men and their marginalized social position. Alice Munro has become the master of short fiction of Canada for exclusively writing short stories and stick on to the only genre of short story. Alice Munro's work is translated into 20 languages and she has the distinction of having each new book sell better than the preceding one. Her perception on life makes each of her stories memorable to the reader. Alice Munro's readers are unaware of the fact that her own life history can be traced out by reading the stories which she has penned down through her works. She describes the close surroundings, rumours and present minute incidents about her hometown on paper and portrays in her stories recalling her own neighbourhood and her own people in her stories. This paper aims at describing Munro's expression of inner feelings, trauma and her personal experiences through her characters in the stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
16. Challenges in cross-linguistic corpus-assisted discourse studies.
- Author
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Vessey, Rachelle
- Subjects
SIMILARITY (Language learning) ,CORPORA ,DISCOURSE analysis ,LANGUAGE & languages ,MULTILINGUALISM ,LANGUAGE policy - Abstract
In this paper, I present some of the challenges and benefits arising from the use of cross-linguistic (i.e., involving comparable, non-parallel corpora of different languages) corpus-assisted discourse studies. Since corpus linguistics and discourse analysis ultimately focus on 'real' language use rather than theoretically constructed examples, it follows that the content of a corpus will be as varied as the population it is intended to represent; and this is true to an even larger extent when the population is ethno-linguistically diverse. Data for corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS) research, then, can present numerous issues to researchers, particularly if they are drawing on multilingual data. In this paper, four examples of cross-linguistic CADS challenges are drawn from two cases in Canada, a country that contains a diverse population that is indexed by two official languages, English and French. I conclude this paper by suggesting solutions for each of these issues and call for more research into the comparative nature of cross-linguistic CADS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
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17. Consumer language preferences in service encounters: a cross-cultural perspective.
- Subjects
CUSTOMER services ,CONSUMER preferences ,CROSS-cultural studies ,LANGUAGE & languages ,CUSTOMER relations ,CONNOTATION (Linguistics) - Abstract
Purpose - The importance of the mutual interaction between consumers and the company in service encounters is widely recognised, but researchers have usually presumed that both parties are able to interact with each other. That is not always the case. If they do not share a common language, it may have consequences for the service encounter. This paper aims to analyze consumer language preferences across four language groups. Design/methodology/approach - Quantitative and qualitative studies are conducted among bilingual speakers of four languages (English/French and Finnish/Swedish) in two countries (Canada and Finland). Study 1 is a quantitative analysis of the degree of importance that respondents in the various language groups attach to the use of their first language in a variety of service encounters. Study 2 is a qualitative examination of the factors that determine the preferences expressed in Study 1. Findings - Use of first language in service encounters is preferred by consumers in all four language groups. However, the reasons for preferring first-language use differ between countries. Language is shown to have emotional connotations for consumers that go beyond mere communication. Originality/value - This is the first study of the role of language in service encounters among consumers from different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
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18. Chinese Students' Enculturation Into an MBA Program: Issues of Empowerment.
- Author
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Raymond, Patricia M. and Parks, Susan
- Subjects
MODERN language education ,SECOND language acquisition ,ENGLISH language acquisition ,LANGUAGE & languages ,CHINESE students in foreign countries - Abstract
Based on a 20-month qualitative study in a Canadian university, the present paper reflects on how issues of empowerment emerged for Chinese students, who following study in English for Academic Purposes, registered for a Master of Business Administration program. These issues are addressed in relation to: (a) the literacy demands and socialization processes enacted within the educational institution, particularly with regard to professors' epistemological stances, (b) students' resistance in regard to certain aspects of their graduate program, and (c) education as commodity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
19. 'It's Like Chicken but Bigger': Effects of Communication Strategy in the ESL Classroom.
- Author
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Rossiter, Marian J.
- Subjects
COMMUNICATION ,LANGUAGE & languages ,SECOND language acquisition ,IMMIGRANTS ,PARAPHRASE - Abstract
This paper reports the effects of communication strategy instruction on second language performance (communicative success, speech rate, message abandonment) and on the use of communication strategies (paraphrase). Two classes of adult immigrants, enrolled in a full-time intermediate proficiency ESL program at a post-secondary institution in Canada, participated in this study. One class received 12 hours of direct communication strategy training, and the second served as a comparison group. Speaking tasks (picture story narratives, object descriptions) were administered as pre-tests at Week 1, immediate post-tests at Week 5, and delayed post-tests at Week 10. Post-test results showed a direct effect in favour of the communication strategy condition on range of strategies used in the object description task, which was more effective than the narrative in eliciting communication strategies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the ESL classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
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20. Internationally educated nurses in Canada: predictors of workforce integration.
- Author
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Covell, Christine L., Primeau, Marie-Douce, Kilpatrick, Kelley, and St-Pierre, Isabelle
- Subjects
EMPLOYMENT of nurses ,HUMAN capital ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,DEMOGRAPHIC surveys ,ACCULTURATION ,CLINICAL competence ,DEVELOPING countries ,EMPLOYMENT ,EMPLOYMENT in foreign countries ,LANGUAGE & languages ,NURSES ,NURSING ,NURSING education ,NURSING services ,POPULATION ,RESEARCH funding ,SURVEYS ,JOB qualifications ,LOGISTIC regression analysis ,CERTIFICATION ,SOCIAL support ,PROFESSIONAL licenses ,CROSS-sectional method - Abstract
Background: Global trends in migration accompanied with recent changes to the immigrant selection process may have influenced the demographic and human capital characteristics of internationally educated nurses (IENs) in Canada and in turn the assistance required to facilitate their workforce integration. This study aimed to describe the demographic and human capital profile of IENs in Canada, to explore recent changes to the profile, and to identify predictors of IENs' workforce integration.Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational survey design was used. Eligible IENs were immigrants, registered and employed as regulated nurses in Canada. Data were collected in 2014 via online and paper questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the data by year of immigration. Logistic regression modeling was employed to identify predictors of IENs' workforce integration measured as passing the licensure exam to acquire professional recertification and securing employment.Results: The sample consisted of 2280 IENs, representative of all Canadian provincial jurisdictions. Since changes to the immigrant selection process in 2002, the IEN population in Canada has become more racially diverse with greater numbers emigrating from developing countries. Recent arrivals (after 2002) had high levels of human capital (knowledge, professional experience, language proficiency). Some, but not all, benefited from the formal and informal assistance available to facilitate their workforce integration. Professional experience and help studying significantly predicted if IENs passed the licensure exam on their first attempt. Bridging program participation and assistance from social networks in Canada were significant predictors if IENs had difficulty securing employment.Conclusions: Nurses will continue to migrate from a wide variety of countries throughout the world that have dissimilar nursing education and health systems. Thus, IENs are not a homogenous group, and a "one size fits all" model may not be effective for facilitating their professional recertification and employment in the destination country. Canada, as well as other countries, could consider using a case management approach to develop and tailor education and forms of assistance to meet the individual needs of IENs. Using technology to reach IENs who have not yet immigrated or have settled outside of urban centers are other potential strategies that may facilitate their timely entrance into the destination countries' nursing workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
21. Diet and Blood Pressure Control in Chinese Canadians: Cultural Considerations.
- Author
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Zou, Ping
- Subjects
BLOOD pressure ,HYPERTENSION ,FOOD habits ,ANTIHYPERTENSIVE agents ,CULTURE ,CHINESE Canadians ,ACCULTURATION ,DIET ,LANGUAGE & languages ,HEALTH literacy ,DASH diet ,CHINESE medicine - Abstract
Hypertension is highly prevalent in Chinese Canadians and diet has been identified as an important modifiable risk factor for hypertension. The current anti-hypertensive dietary recommendations in hypertension care guidelines lack examination of cultural factors, are not culturally sensitive to ethnic populations, and cannot be translated to Chinese Canadian populations without cultural considerations. Guided by Leininger's Sunrise Model of culture care theory, this paper investigates how cultural factors impact Chinese Canadians' dietary practice. It is proposed that English language proficiency, health literacy, traditional Chinese diet, migration and acculturation, and Traditional Chinese Medicine influence Chinese Canadians' dietary practices. A culturally congruent nursing intervention should be established and tailored according to related cultural factors to facilitate Chinese Canadians' blood pressure control. In addition, further study is needed to test the model adapted from Sunrise Model and understand its mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Trial and error: attending to language barriers in child welfare service provision from the perspective of frontline workers.
- Author
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Maiter, Sarah, Alaggia, Ramona, Chan, Adrienne S., and Leslie, Bruce
- Subjects
IMMIGRANTS ,CHILD welfare ,LANGUAGE & languages ,RESEARCH methodology ,PERSONNEL management ,RESEARCH funding ,HEALTH facility translating services - Abstract
This paper reports on a qualitative study that used focus groups to gather data from the perspective of child protection workers on their experiences in providing services to clients with limited English proficiency (LEP). The goals of the study were to understand processes of relationship building and service provision that could contribute to improved practice. Focus groups are ideal in obtaining data on how a group deals with particular situations and for understanding their decision‐making processes. Measures to ensure rigour and trustworthiness were taken throughout the study. Findings provide rich and multilayered insights into the complexity of providing services for families with LEP showing that agencies use bilingual workers as well as interpreters for services. Participants noted, however, that services continued to be inconsistent with unclear guidelines and training about how and when to access interpreters. Lack of training for bilingual workers was also identified. Confidentiality issues, barriers to engaging with clients, problems with the quality of interpretation and role confusion together with benefits including interpreters being cultural and language ‘conduits’ and links to culturally specific services; enhanced communication decreasing the possibility of inaccurate assessments and lessening power differentials; and help with workload were noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Language and socioeconomic status in Quebec: measurement, findings, determinants, and policy costs.
- Author
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Vaillancourt, François
- Subjects
LANGUAGE & languages ,FRENCH language ,SPEECH & social status ,SOCIOLINGUISTICS ,ECONOMICS - Abstract
This paper presents the various measurement tools used by economists to ascertain the socioeconomic status of French and Francophones in Quebec since 1960 and the findings thus obtained It then examines the nature and role of the determinants of this status and its evolution over time. This choice of emphasis and issues was made since it allows us to present tools that can be used by sociolinquists studying various languages situations. They can refer to a society, Quebec, where there has been major changes in the economic and legal status of the two main languages, English and French, since 1960. The paper is divided in four sections. In the first we examine the status of Quebec's language groups, and in the second the status of the languages themselves. In the third, explanations are offered for recent changes in their relative status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1996
24. Ethnolinguistic pluralism as scapegoat: the lessons of the Canadian experience for US Latinos.
- Author
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Zentella, Ana Celia
- Subjects
LANGUAGE & politics ,LANGUAGE & languages ,GROUP identity ,NATIONALISM - Abstract
This article presents the authors' comments on the paper by John Edwards which details the recent history of the Canadian language situation. Because the Edwards paper is organized into two sections that are not linked to each other in direct ways, I had difficulty in understanding exactly what the Canadian story exemplifies in terms of topics discussed in the first section. I am left wondering how the views in the first section, especially benign neutrality, favorable disposition towards nationalism vary inversely with level of education, and language is not an essential component of identity, are corroborated by the Canadian experience specifically. The benign neutrality position, that is, it may be that, in many ethnic matters, the best policy is none at all, coupled with that tolerance already mentioned, seems to ignore in the first place, that tolerance itself may sometimes have to be legislated. Second, Glazer's benign neutrality position is in itself a policy, and one that can countenance and even encourage intolerance. The author's statement that favorable dispositions toward nationalism vary inversely with the level of education contradicts the preceding five references that he cites as proof that it is intellectuals who value nationalism and that ordinary group members do not figure prominently in nationalist movements.
- Published
- 1994
25. English Quebec: demographic and cultural reproduction.
- Author
-
Caldwell, Gary
- Subjects
SOCIOLINGUISTICS ,LINGUISTIC demography ,LANGUAGE & culture ,LANGUAGE & languages ,SOCIAL groups ,ENGLISH-speaking Canadians - Abstract
The subject of this paper is the present state of anglophone Quebec. However, before embarking on an exegesis of anglophone Quebec it is necessary to ask what is the social substance, in terms of a social group distinguished by culture, to which the language indicator presumably refers. This done, this paper will then offer summary demolinguistic and cultural profiles of the English Quebec thus delimited. Without a doubt, the term contraction is what best describes English Quebec. Negative natural increase, out-migration, and the dying up of in-migration streams are resulting in contraction in numbers and in the territory inhabited. The aftershocks of the present constitutional crisis in Canada, the third after the election to power of the Party Québécois in 1976 and the referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980, may catalyze a hemorrhage like the one experienced during the intercensal period 1976-1981 from which there was a respite in the period 1981-1986. If such is the case, it will hasten the geographical contraction of English Quebec to the western bilingual zone comprising the Ottawa valley, the Montreal area, and the Eastern Townships. However, this reduced English Quebec will result from fewer newcomers, and, in the eventuality of a renewed federalism as opposed to the accession of Quebec to independence, fewer leavers.
- Published
- 1994
26. Canada's official language communities: an overview of the current demolinguistic situation.
- Author
-
De Vries, John
- Subjects
LINGUISTIC demography ,SOCIOLINGUISTICS ,LANGUAGE & culture ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
This paper analyzes the major demolinguistic trends that affected Canada's official language communities between 1971 and 1991. This overview of the period 1971-1991 has revealed some broad trends with regard to the demolinguistic structure of the Canadian population. Overall, there was a slight increase in the proportion of the population with English as mother tongue. This increase affected primarily the French mother-tongue population, which declined from 27 percent in 1971 to 24 percent in 1991. International migration has favored the English language community. The low levels of fertility in the Canadian society as a whole had a stronger impact on the French language than the remainder of the population. Finally, language shift toward English affected especially the French peripheral minorities very strongly. A second development noted during this period was the increasing territorial segregation between Canada's official language communities. As a consequence, declining proportions of the total Canadian population were living in minority environments. Between 1971 and 1991, the proportion of the Canadians belonging to the official language minorities fell from 8 percent to 6 percent.
- Published
- 1994
27. The decline of official language minorities in Quebec and English Canada.
- Author
-
Beaujot, Roderic P.
- Subjects
LANGUAGE & languages ,FRENCH people ,ENGLISH people ,ETHNICITY ,LANGUAGE policy ,NATIVE language - Abstract
Copyright of Canadian Journal of Sociology is the property of Canadian Journal of Sociology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 1982
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. Effects of Parents on Ethnic Language Retention by Children: The Case of Chinese in Urban Canada.
- Author
-
Cheung, Yuet-Wah
- Subjects
ETHNIC groups ,MULTICULTURALISM ,GROUP identity ,LANGUAGE & languages ,FRENCH-Canadian literature - Abstract
This paper examines the effects of parents an ethnic language retention by children in five Chinese communities in urban Canada Parents' direct promotion of ethnic language is found to explain 44 percent of the total variance of children's language retention, indicating that the family is an important language retaining agent. Parents' direct promotion is related positively to their ethnic community involvement and negatively to their knowledge of English/French. Surprisingly, parents' ethnic identification and their length of time in Canada have no significant relationships with the above variables, suggesting that, among Canadian-Chinese parents, ethnic identification is not a determinant of ethnic life, and their levels of assimilation have remained rather stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1981
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
29. 'It is an Issue of not Knowing Where to Go': Service Providers' Perspectives on Challenges in Accessing Social Support and Services by Immigrant Mothers of Children with Disabilities.
- Author
-
Khanlou, Nazilla, Haque, Nasim, Sheehan, Sinead, and Jones, Gail
- Subjects
HEALTH services accessibility ,PSYCHOLOGY of immigrants ,INTERVIEWING ,LANGUAGE & languages ,PSYCHOLOGY of mothers ,PARENTS of children with disabilities ,RESEARCH funding ,SOCIAL workers ,SOCIAL support ,COMMUNICATION barriers - Abstract
In Canada little is known about the challenges immigrant mothers of children with disabilities encounter in accessing formal and informal social support. This paper presents the perspectives of service providers on the mothers' challenges. Data was collected from 27 service providers in Toronto, Canada in 2012 through in-depth interviews. The interview guide was informed by published literature on families of children with special needs. Level one analyses entailed descriptive analyses; and level two consisted of applying House's 4 domains of social support to organize the themes. Following House's domains, challenges to (1) Structural support, (2) Instrumental support, (3) Emotional support, and (4) Perception of support were identified. Among providers who work with families of children with disabilities there is recognition of the mothers' particular challenges in light of their immigration status. Language and communication are significant barriers for immigrant mothers in accessing social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
30. Living arrangements and loneliness of South Asian immigrant seniors in Edmonton, Canada.
- Author
-
NG, CHEUK FAN and NORTHCOTT, HERBERT C.
- Subjects
IMMIGRANTS ,ACCULTURATION ,CHI-squared test ,COMMUNICATION ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,STATISTICAL correlation ,INTERGENERATIONAL relations ,INTERVIEWING ,LANGUAGE & languages ,LONELINESS ,MARITAL status ,PHENOMENOLOGY ,RESEARCH methodology ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH funding ,LOGISTIC regression analysis ,ACTIVITIES of daily living ,FAMILY relations ,HOME environment ,DATA analysis software ,ODDS ratio ,OLD age - Abstract
This paper examines the relationships between self-reported loneliness and living arrangements. A structured questionnaire with some open-ended questions was administered face-to-face in English, Hindi or Punjabi to a sample of 161 elderly South Asian immigrants 60 or more years of age living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2003. The majority of respondents said that they never felt lonely. More than one in three (37.3%) respondents indicated that they felt lonely occasionally, frequently or all of the time. Those living alone were significantly more likely to report feeling lonely at least occasionally than were those living with others, especially those living with their spouse in an extended family. The fact that South Asian immigrant seniors typically lived with others, often in an extended family with or without their spouse, and rarely lived alone protected them to some extent from loneliness. However, our findings showed that among those living with others, it was the amount of waking time spent alone at home and the quality of family relationships rather than living arrangement per se that significantly predicted self-reported loneliness. Nevertheless, living in a larger household was associated with spending less time alone. We discuss plausible influences of culture on expectations regarding family and social relationships and on the meaning of being alone, as well as practical implications for addressing loneliness in a multi-cultural society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
31. LES DYNAMIQUES LINGUISTIQUES DE L'ESPACE FRANCOPHONE DE LA CAPITALE À L'AUNE DE L'IMMIGRATION.
- Author
-
GILBERT, Anne and RAY, Brian
- Subjects
LINGUISTICS ,FRENCH-Canadians ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,IMMIGRANTS ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
Copyright of Recherches Sociographiques is the property of Recherches Sociographiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2020
32. Borrowed words, mock language and nationalism in Canada.
- Author
-
Vessey, Rachelle
- Subjects
CORPORA ,CANADIAN French ,CANADIAN English language ,NATIONALISM ,NEWSPAPERS ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
Copyright of Language & Intercultural Communication is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
33. Factors influencing the fertility choices of child immigrants in Canada.
- Author
-
Adsera, Alicia and Ferrer, Ana
- Subjects
IMMIGRANTS ,FERTILITY ,LANGUAGE & languages ,CENSUS ,ASSIMILATION (Sociology) ,ADOPTION ,EMIGRATION & immigration ,SOCIAL history - Abstract
We analysed the fertility of women who migrated to Canada before reaching age 19, using the 20 per cent sample of the Canadian censuses from 1991 to 2006. Fertility increases with age at immigration, and is particularly high for those immigrating in late adolescence. This pattern prevails regardless of the country of origin, and of whether the mother tongue of the migrants was an official language in Canada. The fertility of those for whom it was an official language is always lower on average than of those for whom it was not, but there does not seem to be a critical age at which the fertility of the former and the latter starts to diverge. Formal education has an effect: the fertility of immigrants who arrived in Canada at any age before adulthood and who were or became college graduates is similar to that of their native peers. An appendix to this paper is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2013.802007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
34. UPGRADING THE PROFILE OF THE LEGAL TRANSLATOR IN THE EU, CANADA AND SWITZERLAND.
- Author
-
RĂDULESCU, ADINA
- Subjects
LANGUAGE & languages ,TREATIES - Abstract
Legal translators at the International Court of Justice at The Hague are called 'legal secretaries'; in Canada, specialists in bilingual legislative drafting are called 'legislative counsel' or 'jurilinguists'; in the European Union legal translators are called 'lawyer-linguists' (French: 'juristes-linguistes'). The category of 'authoritative' legal texts (constitutions, statues, codes, treaties, conventions, contracts etc.) are legally binding instruments, in other words texts vested with the force of the law. Consequently, the legal translator is required to take on both legal and linguistic decisions. The paper focuses on pointing out the new upgraded linguistic and legal responsibilities that shape the profile of the legal translator in different cultural spaces (Canada, Switzerland, European Union) nowadays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
35. SUPPORTING DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNING: A PROGRAM FOR PRESCHOOLERS FROM REFUGEE BACKGROUNDS.
- Author
-
MACLEOD, ANDREA A. N., MEZIANE, RABIA SABAH, and PESCO, DIANE
- Subjects
PRESCHOOL children ,REFUGEE families ,COMMUNITY organization ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
Copyright of Canadian Diversity / Canadian Diversité is the property of Association for Canadian Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2020
36. Antecedents of Underemployment: Job Search of Skilled Immigrants in Canada.
- Author
-
Guerrero, Laura and Rothstein, Mitchell G.
- Subjects
LABOR market ,ABILITY ,STATISTICAL correlation ,IMMIGRANTS ,LANGUAGE & languages ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH evaluation ,RESEARCH funding ,SELF-efficacy ,STRUCTURAL frame models ,MATHEMATICAL variables ,TRAINING ,THEORY-practice relationship ,CULTURAL competence ,CROSS-sectional method ,DATA analysis software ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics - Abstract
We investigate factors that skilled immigrants can improve in order to have better job search outcomes, in particular to avoid underemployment. We test an unfolding model which considers barriers faced by skilled immigrants during their job search (language and cultural barriers, and the lack of social support in the receiving country), job search constructs and job search outcomes (including underemployment). We collected data through an online questionnaire and obtained 357 usable responses from skilled immigrants in Canada. The hypotheses were tested with partial least squares (PLS). Language fluency and cultural knowledge were positively related to both job search clarity and job search self-efficacy. Social support was only related to job search self-efficacy. Job search clarity was related to job search intensity. Job search intensity was related to the number of interviews, which in turn, was related to the number of job offers. Finally, the number of job offers was negatively related to underemployment. Our paper contributes to the understanding of the job search of skilled immigrants by examining factors that can help them overcome obstacles and obtain better job search outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
37. Culture and international trade: evidence from Canada.
- Author
-
Yeganeh, Hamid
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL trade ,LANGUAGE & languages ,BILATERAL treaties ,INTERNATIONAL economic relations - Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of culture on international trade. Design/methodology/approach – A measure of the cultural distance is incorporated into the Gravity model to test the marginal effects of cultural variables on bilateral trade between Canada and 53 other countries. In addition to the cultural distance and economic factors, other control variables such as religion and language commonalities are included. Findings – After controlling for the size of GDP and linguistic commonality, the effects of culture on international trade are found to be insignificant. The empirical analysis shows that while the linguistic commonality has positive implications for international trade, the cultural distance and religion commonality do not seem important. Research limitations/implications – What is true for the Canadian international trade may not be true for other countries, especially for developing nations. Moreover, this study is limited to the Schwartz's cultural dimensions. Practical implications – Managers should not stay away from culturally dissimilar partners as long as trade is economically beneficial. Instead, they should pay attention to training bilingual agents and standardizing trade procedures in order to streamline the negative effects of linguistic dissimilarity. Originality/value – This study refutes the generally accepted idea that culture is subversive to any cross-border business activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Preparing students for international exchanges: Canadian/EU experiences.
- Author
-
Schwartz, Karen, Kreitzer, Linda, Lacroix, Marie, Barlow, ConstanceA., McDonald, Laurie, Lichtmannegger, Susanne, Klassen, Michael, Orjasniemi, Tarja, and Meunier, Dominque
- Subjects
COMPARATIVE studies ,EXCHANGE of persons programs ,EXPERIENCE ,FOCUS groups ,HOUSING ,INTERNSHIP programs ,LANGUAGE & languages ,LONGITUDINAL method ,RESEARCH methodology ,RESEARCH funding ,SATISFACTION ,SOCIAL workers ,STUDENTS ,TRAVEL ,INFORMATION resources ,SOCIAL support ,PRE-tests & post-tests - Abstract
Copyright of European Journal of Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
- Published
- 2011
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. The Myth and Reality of Official Bilingualism in Canada.
- Author
-
Aito, Emmanuel
- Subjects
COMMUNICATION ,LANGUAGE & languages ,SOCIOECONOMICS ,LANGUAGE policy - Abstract
This paper purposefully exceeds the restrictive description of language as a mere instrument of communication. Language is the pre-eminent implement in the construction of various realities, to wit economic, social or political. Consequently, in a polity such as Canada, in which English and French have, by force of law and practice, the status of official languages, language ineluctably mediates the forging of identities, allegiances, a sense of history, the future and place in the often complex political processes that underpin democratic values and practices. Language is therefore essential to nation building. The interactions and ethos that arise from participating in the attendant political and cultural processes, coupled with the exercise of rights and the perceived effects or curtailments on defined lifespaces (in reference to the mental, physical and cultural constructs of territoriality) often provoke tensions and confusion. As well, opposing positions, taken through the prisms of languages spoken, have considerable impact on issues of national and local importance. Thus, although language is in the first instance a privileged instrument of communication, its deeper roles consist of fostering excellent inter-group relations, or causing divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. The future of Inuktitut in the face of majority languages: Bilingualism or language shift?
- Author
-
SHANLEY ALLEN
- Subjects
INUKTITUT language ,INUIT languages ,CHILDREN ,BILINGUALISM ,LANGUAGE & languages - Abstract
Inuktitut, the Eskimo language spoken in Eastern Canada, is one of the few Canadian indigenous languages with a strong chance of long-term survival because over 90% of Inuit children still learn Inuktitut from birth. In this paper I review existing literature on bilingual Inuit children to explore the prospects for the survival of Inuktitut given the increase in the use of English in these regions. Studies on code mixing and subject realization among simultaneous bilingual children ages 2–4 years show a strong foundation in Inuktitut, regardless of extensive exposure to English in the home. However, three studies of older Inuit children exposed to English through school reveal some stagnation in childrens Inuktitut and increasing use of English with age, even in nonschool contexts. I conclude that current choices about language use at the personal, school, and societal levels will determine whether Inuit are able to reach and maintain stable bilingualism, or whether Inuktitut will decline significantly in favor of majority languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity.
- Author
-
Heller, Monica
- Subjects
- *
COMMODIFICATION , *LANGUAGE & languages , *SOCIOLINGUISTICS , *ECONOMICS , *GLOBALIZATION , *FRENCH language - Abstract
The globalized new economy is bound up with transformations of language and identity in many different ways (cf., e.g. Bauman 1997; Castells 2000; Giddens 1990). These include emerging tensions between State-based and corporate identities and language practices, between local, national and supra-national identities and language practices, and between hybridity and uniformity. Ethnolinguistic minorities provide a particularly revealing window into these processes. In this paper, I explore ways in which the globalized new economy has resulted in the commodification of language and identity, sometimes separately, sometimes together. The paper is based on recent ethnographic, sociolinguistic research in francophone areas of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. Editorial.
- Author
-
Lapkin, Sharon and Vandergrift, Larry
- Subjects
LANGUAGE & languages ,COMMUNICATION ,COMPARATIVE grammar ,FOREIGN language education ,LANGUAGE & education - Abstract
The editorial comments on several research articles on languages and language studies published in the June 2004 issue of "The Canadian Modern Language Review" periodical. The issue features an annual exchange article reprinted from the Winter 2003 issue of "The Modern Language Journal" that offers an exploration of the relevance of the Flow Theory, a theory of motivation not previously explored in applied linguistics literature. The editorial also credits several members of the editorial board for their help in selecting the exchange article. Attention was also drawn to the 'Best Paper by a Graduate Student' competition.
- Published
- 2004
43. Disability: A Rose by Any Other Name? "People-First" Language in Canadian Society.
- Author
-
Titchkosky, Tanya
- Subjects
- *
LANGUAGE & languages , *DISABILITIES , *SOCIOLOGY of disability , *PEOPLE with disabilities - Abstract
Thıs paper examines the representatıon of dısabılıty that ıs generated by, and supports, "people-fırst language." The paper first describes the ubıquitous formulation of disabled people as "just people." Second, the current ıdeology that stresses that disabled people are simply "people wıth dısabılitıes" ıs examıned ın one of its concrete manıfestations: a recent government document entıtled In Unıson: A Canadıan Approach to Disabılıty Issues By making use of Dorothy Smıth's concept that language ıs socıal organization, the author shows how dısabılıty is organızed ın this document as a medıcalızed and ındivıdual matter and, as such, takes shape as abnormal limıtatıon and lack of functıon that some people-four mıllıon Canadıans-"just happen to have." Finally, the paper concludes that people-first language is best understood as part of an ongoıng process that removes the possıbility of understandıng disabılity as a socıal, and thereby complex, polıtıcal phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2001
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Access to mental health care in Canada.
- Author
-
Faber, Sonya C., Osman, Muna, and Williams, Monnica T.
- Subjects
PREVENTION of racism ,RESEARCH ,STATISTICS ,HEALTH services accessibility ,ONE-way analysis of variance ,AGE distribution ,RACE ,LANGUAGE & languages ,T-test (Statistics) ,GENDER identity ,INCOME ,CHI-squared test ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,RESEARCH funding ,DATA analysis ,MENTAL health services ,EDUCATIONAL attainment - Abstract
There has been ongoing national discourse about barriers to mental health care services in Canada. The purpose of the study is to better understand these barriers, with a focus on Canadians of color. To that end, this study surveyed 1501 adults representative of the general population, collected by the Angus Reid Institute. Over half of the respondents had sought out mental health care and experienced barriers to access. People of color (visible minorities and Indigenous people) had more difficulty accessing care, as did younger adults and those with lower incomes. The most common difficulties were largely structural: long waitlists (62%), financial barriers (58%), lack of resources/professionals in the area (47%), difficulty finding specialists (41%), and difficulty accessing in-person care during the pandemic (34%). Many noted negative experiences with mental health professionals (35%). More English-speaking than French-speaking Canadians reported barriers to care overall. Race/ethnicity was related to difficulties when trying to access mental health care, as many could not find someone of the same group (25% of Black respondents), someone who spoke their preferred language (22% of South Asian respondents), or they had prior negative experiences (50% of Indigenous respondents). We discuss the implications of these findings, including the critical need to increase the supply and diversity of mental health providers across Canada. This study is one of the first to provide quantitative data on the perceived barriers faced by Canadians in accessing mental health care while exploring the role of language, race, and ethnicity as variables that may influence access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Census language questions in North America.
- Author
-
Chiswick, Barry R. and Miller, Paul W.
- Subjects
LANGUAGE & languages ,SOCIAL surveys ,IMMIGRANTS ,SOCIAL science research - Abstract
This paper analyzes the questions on dominant languages and minority languages included in the 1990 U.S. Census and the 1991 Canadian Census. These questions have served as the basis of much research on the determinants and socioeconomic consequences of language usage and proficiency among immigrants and linguistic minorities. The questions and coding procedures for both countries are presented and discussed. The socioeconomic correlates of the language variables are discussed for both countries, indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the various language questions for policy analysis. An alternative set of language questions that would enhance the quality of social science research on the determinants and consequences of language proficiency is presented and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1998
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
46. The limits of settlers' territorial acknowledgments.
- Author
-
Asher, Lila, Curnow, Joe, and Davis, Amil
- Subjects
- *
INDIGENOUS peoples , *DECOLONIZATION , *LANGUAGE & languages , *EDUCATION , *SOLIDARITY , *UNIVERSITIES & colleges - Abstract
Territorial acknowledgments of Indigenous peoples, places, and settler-colonial histories have become a common practice among settlers in Canadian universities and activist spaces. While these territorial acknowledgments are assumed to be a move toward reconciliation, no research examines what the practice accomplishes pedagogically amongst participants. In this paper, we trace the development of territorial acknowledgments in a campus-based environmentalist organization and ask what pedagogical work their territorial acknowledgments did over the span of two years. We argue that while the territorial acknowledgments worked against the daily erasure of Indigenous people on Turtle Island and unsettled settlers, they failed as a decolonial pedagogy, in that they often served as a move to innocence through containment and using decolonization as a metaphor, and did not attend to the rematriation of Indigenous land, language, and lifeways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
47. CANADIAN AND AMERICAN ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM.
- Author
-
Adams, Michael
- Subjects
CANADIAN politics & government ,PUBLIC opinion ,LANGUAGE & languages ,COMMUNICATION - Abstract
This paper compares the attitudes of Canadians and Americans toward their governments and selected aspects of the private enterprise system. It examines some of the historical differences between the two countries and hypothesized that these differences will be reflected in current attitudes. Further, it hypothesizes that Canada's two main linguistic groups -- the English and the French -- will be closer in attitude to each other than either will be to the American sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1990
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
48. Que todo el pluralismo es sueño, y los sueños, vida son: ethnolinguistic dreams and reality.
- Author
-
García, Ofelia
- Subjects
ANTHROPOLOGICAL linguistics ,LANGUAGE & languages ,GROUP identity ,IDENTITY (Psychology) - Abstract
This article comments on John Edwards' paper on language and group identity, and the ethnolinguistic problem between Quebec and the rest of Canada. If language were solely an instrument for synchronic communication and if ethnic groups were monolithic and static, then of course, as Edwards points out, one's original group language would not be necessary for continuity of group identity. But as Edwards also points out, identity changes and is fluid. One's identity is shaped not only by contemporaries in experience, but also by those who came before and who came after. Furthermore, language with its written as well as oral mode, is also an instrument for diachronic as well as introspective communication. Language is not only a system of signs for direct communication at one point in time and space, but in multiple times and spaces. And it is this dynamic quality of language that makes it an essential component of a whole identity, and identity shaped by experiences not only in relation to that of a different group with which it finds itself in conflict. but also in relation to itself in time and space. Edwards is also right to conclude that language is mutable; it does not remain static throughout the years.
- Published
- 1994
49. Bilingualism, language shift, and institutional support for French: the case of the Franco-Ontarians.
- Author
-
Mougeon, Raymond and Beniak, Edouard
- Subjects
SOCIOLINGUISTICS ,LANGUAGE & culture ,LANGUAGE & languages ,CODE switching (Linguistics) ,DIGLOSSIA (Linguistics) - Abstract
This paper provides some background information on Ontario's French-speaking minority and examines patterns of bilingualism and shift to English among that community and identifies the sociolinguistic conditions favoring such a shift. Following this, the article will document and reflect upon a relatively recent sociopolitical development that could play a crucial role in the fight against linguistic assimilation, namely the expansion of French into the official domains of Ontarian society. From a sociohistorical perspective, the Franco-Ontarian community's transition from monolingualism to bilingualism is to be seen as a useful and probably inevitable adaptation to the surrounding English-speaking environment, since it allows better integration into it, a reality that Franco-Ontarians readily acknowledge themselves. Given that they emigrated to their new host environment out of a desire to improve their lot in life, that they relocated in localities where French often does not rank high on prestige, usefulness, and visibility, and that they are in the process of losing their traditional French-Canadian identity, it is perhaps not hard to understand why an increasingly large proportion of Franco-Ontarians go one step further and do not transmit French to their children, all the more if they enter into a linguistically mixed marriage.
- Published
- 1994
50. The Acadians of New Brunswick: demolinguistic realities and the vitality of the French language.
- Author
-
Landry, Rodrigue and Allard, Réal
- Subjects
LINGUISTIC demography ,SOCIOLINGUISTICS ,LANGUAGE & culture ,LANGUAGE & languages ,ACADIANS - Abstract
This article examines the demolinguistic realities of the Francophone population of the Acadians of New Brunswick and the vitality of the French language from a theoretical model perspective. The article is divided into four parts. The first presents a brief sociohistorical overview of the Acadian people in order to familiarize the reader with the evolution of the first French colony in America. The second part describes a sociopsychological model of bilingual development. This model shows how language maintenance or language loss at the individual level can be largely determined by the ethnolinguistic vitality of the person's language group. In the third part of the paper, the ethnolinguistic factors identified by the model are analyzed as they apply to the sociolinguistic realities of the Francophone population of New Brunswick, which is where the largest group of Acadians now resides. In the fourth part, selected data from a large-scale study designed to test the theoretical model will be presented. The data will illustrate social and psychological factors that influence language development and language behavior in five Francophone communities of New Brunswick, which range from moderately high to moderately low in ethnolinguistic vitality.
- Published
- 1994
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