Digital Commons Network^™

The Child Support "Tax" : Determining The Effect Of Child Support On The Income Growth Of Noncustodial Parents, Jesse Snook

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of child support in determining income growth. Using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model with state-level fixed effects applied to panel data from the National Study of Families and Households (NSFH), I find that having a legal agreement to pay child support has a significant and negative effect on the income growth of the noncustodial parent. Specifically, after controlling for demographic variables and the respondent’s economic circumstances in the initial time period, the OLS model with state-level fixed effects finds that having a child support obligation is associated with a 17.73 percentage point decrease in …

Spectrums, Subgroups And School-Lunch: The Linguistic Capital Of Students With Autism, Scott Belden

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to have difficulties with pragmatic language. There is, however, a subpopulation of those with ASD that exhibits a high competency with pragmatic language. It can be difficult for researchers to find natural contexts to record these high-functioning individuals and examine their spontaneous use of pragmatic language. Additionally, there is a need to move beyond analyzing the cognitive abilities of these individuals to a sociolinguistic exploration of how they use pragmatic abilities to form and navigate social groups.

The research involved in this thesis included audio-visual recordings of 14 high school students with …

Case And Pragmatic Status Markers In Embera Katío, Bethany Winter Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

In previous research on the Embera languages of the Chocó genus of Colombia and Panama, many different terms have been applied to one or all of the morphemes ba, ta and ra that frequently mark noun phrases and dependent clauses, and some of these descriptions have been conflicting. This study summarizes the previous analyses and compares them to language data from a corpus of texts and elicited material. The result is an analysis in which ba has three functions, marking ergative case, instrumental case and reason; ta marks focus on absolutives; and ra marks pragmatic topic and syntactic topics. …

Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Learning For Deaf Learners Of Foreign Sign Languages, Benjamin J. Cavaletto

Theses and Dissertations

Deaf people have as great or greater need and desire to learn foreign languages as their hearing peers. Currently it is difficult for these learners to find courses and materials that are appropriate for their learning needs. Especially difficult is finding courses or learning materials for learning sign languages, which are more motivating and more accessible for Deaf learners than spoken languages. Additionally, evidence is presented that learning a foreign sign language can act as a bridge to learning a spoken language from the same region. The study presented in this thesis tested the efficacy of a computer-assisted vocabulary learning …

Deixis In Shughni: Grammatical And Semantic Considerations, Katja S. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

Shughni is one of the best documented and described languages of the Pamirs. Linguistic research so far has focused on the verbal system of Shughni grammar but no detailed study has been done on the deictic system of the language. In this thesis I will describe grammatical and semantic aspects of the deictic system in Shughni.

During the course of the project I observed natural conversations, and listened to stories and discussions, and additionally I elicited sentences or conversations in order to clarify structures or understanding of previous observations.

In this thesis I describe the grammatical structures of Shughni deixis …

Falam Immigrants In America: Motivations For Language Use, Maintenance, And Shift, Hannah Reeves

Theses and Dissertations

Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, I explore immigrants' individual motivations for language use, language shift and language maintenance. I met with 25 immigrants to the US who are native speakers of Falam, a language from Myanmar, to learn their reasons for Falam and English usage as well as their desires for Falam usage in the US. I used the Perceived Benefit Model of Language Shift's taxonomy of motivations to classify each motivation expressed. Among Falam immigrants to America, I found that solidarity-related and communicative motivations are behind language maintenance while economic and communicative motivations are behind language shift. …

Counselor Self-Efficacy: Relationship With Mindfulness And Self-Compassion, Sinead K. Unsworth

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness training has well-documented effects on psychological and physical health (Davis & Hayes, 2011). Recent findings suggest that mindfulness may be a predictor in counselor self-efficacy (Bentley, 2008; Greason & Cashwell, 2009; Kane, 2010). However, a review of literature indicates that this relationship, along with the mediating effects of self-compassion, have not been examined quantitatively with mental health providers-in-training. This study examined the predictive relationship between mindfulness and counselor self-efficacy and the potential mediating effects of self-compassion. A total of 213 mental health providers-in-training were surveyed to determine their levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, and counselor self-efficacy. Three scales were used …

The Effects Of Nafta On Consumption, Income, And Employment, Warren Mills

Theses and Dissertations

A significant amount of concern exists in popular and political culture concerning the effects of trade liberalization on the domestic economy in the U.S. Difficulty exists in isolating the effects of a particular trade agreement due to unrelated trade policy changes that happen preceding, during, and following the signing of an agreement. This research seeks to do an analysis of the big picture involving consumption, income, and employment not with the intent of determining causation, which has proven highly problematic in previous research; instead, the focus is on whether we can exclude a negative effect by NAFTA on these measures …

Assessment Of The United States National Security Space Management And Organization, Charles G. Simpson

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes the results of the Report of the Commission to Assess the United States National Security Space Management and Organization, dated January 11, 2001 in order to determine which recommendations were beneficial, which recommendations are still in effect and what additional measures should be undertaken to continue, and even advance, our standing as a premier space power. It analyzes the potential managerial and organizational shortcomings of National Security Space within the United States Government, specifically the Department of Defense. Additionally, this paper reviews the various management and organizational force restructuring which occurred as a result of the commission’s …

Identifying Barriers To Mental Health Services For Limited And Non-English Speaking Clients In A Rural Homogenous Environment: An Approach To Reduce Barriers With Technology, Alma Torres

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the current protocols set in place by local agencies when working with limited English proficiency clients (LEP). Due to the homogenous environment in the state of North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota and the increase of immigrants, migrants and refugees to the area, the use of interpreters has become a necessity. A questionnaire was used as means of collecting data regarding the number of agencies that service limited English proficiency clients, employ interpreters, how interpreters are trained and the use of technology for interpretation purposes. Interpreter is defined for this purpose as an …