Digital Commons Network^™

Street Photography: An Approach To Strangers: Casual, Close And Personal Encounters, Flavia M. Schuster

Theses : Honours

Street photographers can either camouflage or reveal their identities to the strangers they photograph. By choosing to remain anonymous, photographers often create images in which only their subjects are exposed. By unveiling their identities however, they often create images in which their interaction becomes evident in the resulting images. Casual Encounters looks at the mechanisms employed by photographers that choose to remain anonymous in contrast to the myth of the flâneur. Close Encounters looks at the mechanisms employed between strangers to deal with their daily interactions in urban environments. Personal Encounters serves to explain my own approach to the strangers …

Tauhid And Tasawwuf: Indonesian Sufism In Search Of Unity, Natasha Ryan

Theses : Honours

The Islamic principle of Tauhid (Divine Unity) is foundational to Islam and Tasawwuf, better known to us as Sufism. Within the Indonesian consciousness of Islam, Tauhid can also mirror Indonesia's national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), its understanding of tolerance reverberating with the purity of Islam. The recent renewal of Sufism in Indonesia may provide a Sufi paradigm shift to help relieve some tension surrounding an emergent Islamist intolerance, thereby smoothing the rising waters of uncertainty flowing alongside the current Islamic resurgence. While it is generally rare for Australians to take an interest in Indonesia's mystical Islamic culture, …

Un Voyage Vers Une Photographie Feminine: The Gender Politics Of Body And Space, Panizza Ruth Allmark

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In 1999 I embarked on a photographic journey to various cities around the world. The photographs produced are the results of my critical attention as a woman and a feminist to the issues concerning gender, travel and landscape aesthetics. This dissertation is an analysis of my documentary photographs. I am interested in ways in which my photographs correspond with the French feminist theories of Helene Cixous and Lucy Irigaray on ecriture feminine. Their work on the politics of the body has been influential in my journey towards a photographie feminine. 'Moreover, I also incorporate the feminist work of …

Does The Computer Helpdesk Vocational Training Course Change Attitude About Customer Service?, Anthony Wethereld

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this research was to determine whether The Computer Helpdesk vocational computing course, in conjunction with The Virtual Workplace simulation computer program, changed attitude about customer service. Thirty-seven adult female students at Fujairah Women's College of the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates took part in the study. To assess possible attitude change, a combination of observation, interview and survey techniques were used. The Likert scale customer service attitude survey, which measured beliefs and perceptions about customer service, fanned the primary data gathering instrument. Qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated, and quantitative results were analysed …

Mother What Art Thou? : A Study Of The Depiction Of Mother Figures In Recent Australian And New Zealand Fiction For Teenagers, Jane Siddall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is a study of the representations of mothers and mother figures as found in five contemporary (published between 1984 and 1999) novels for teenagers. The focus is on western constructions of motherhood, as both normalising and universalising discourses. Utilising a variety of critical approaches this thesis examines the socio-cultural issues present in the novels in conjunction with western models of maternity. This study argues the category of mother is interdependent upon the category of child. As children's literature often focuses on the development of the child, the mother figures are often read as the “unconscious” of the texts. …

A Study Of Subject Omission In The Spoken Language Of Indonesian Primary School Children Aged 6 To 12 In Jakarta, Endang Sutartinah Soemartono

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigates the occurrence of subject omission in spoken Indonesian spoken as a first language by primary school children in grades one to six and aged between six and twelve years in Jakarta. It also investigates the developmental stages of subject omission, and the effects of age, gender and degree of formality on the occurrence of empty or null subjects. Since the acquisition of language is ongoing during the students' primary schooling, this study also considers how null subjects in Indonesian may have an impact on learning and teaching at school. The omission of subjects occurs independent or matrix …

Fame, Sex And Other Types Of Criminality, Rob Finlayson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis consists of two parts. First, a novel manuscript titled 'Fame, Sex and Other Types of Criminality' and, second, an essay discussing ideas used in the creation of the novel.

The novel uses ironic and satiric devices to explore aspects of the culture of narcissism in contemporary Australia. The plot sees a group of characters set out to write a television show in order to achieve their individual goals. An underlying crime subplot results in the characters' desires being thwarted. The novel makes extensive use of references to philosophical, psychoanalytical and political texts to explore issues surrounding desire, the …

Storying The Body : Women's Narratives Through The Lens Of Breast Cancer, Janet A. Griffin

Theses : Honours

What can women's narratives contribute to our understanding of breast cancer and to feminist theories of the body? This thesis explores the meanings women construct to make sense of embodied experiences of breast cancer, and the profound experience of breast loss. Rich contextual data was elicited from in depth, guided conversations with five premenopausal women who have undergone mastectomy. Adopting feminist methodology, biographic-narrative was used to place the body at the heart of inquiry. This thesis explores the personal and theoretical meanings of mastectomy, embedded in the larger story of how these five women experience their breasts, throughout their lives. …

Phonological And Syntactic Processing, And The Role Of Working Memory In Reading Comprehension Among High School Students, John V. Holsgrove

Theses : Honours

The performance of 60 year8 students was examined on tasks measuring phonological processing, syntactic processing, and reading comprehension. The students were also administered several measures of working memory relating to the phonological loop and the central executive. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that phonological processing and syntactic processing were both predictors of reading comprehension, and that the presence or absence of the latter distinguished good and poor comprehenders respectively. The phonological loop was found to play a small but significant role in the processes involved in reading comprehension, but not the central executive. Gender differences suggested that boys …

Les Illuminations D'Arthur Rimbaud : Reflexions Sur Neuf Traductions En Anglais (1946-2002), Brian R. Rundgren

Theses : Honours

The aim of the thesis is to analyse nine translations of the Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud including the latest translation by Wyatt Mason. The objective is to highlight certain difficulties confronted by all translators of poetic texts. The work will highlight some of the qualities and defects in the nine translations. The thesis also aims to give some insight into the extraordinary variety of techniques used by these nine translators. The nine translations of the Illuminations that we have studied in the thesis are those by: Louise Varese (1946,1957), Olivier Bernard (1962,!997), Wallace Fowlie (1966), Enid Rhodes Peschel (1973), Bertrand …

The Practice Of Homework : A Critical Ethnography : The Story Of Four Families, Jacqueline Hubbard

Theses : Honours

This thesis explores the homework experiences of four students and their families through the lens of critical inquiry. The stories of the participants are told through conversational interviews with students and their parents/caregivers, as well as their classroom teacher, in a bounded study. Drawing on these stories, the issue of homework is 'problematised', and analysed in light of issues such as institutional power and hegemony. A critical review of the literature reveals a significant gap in the existing research on homework in relation to the inclusion of student and parent voices. The study addresses this silence by listening to the …

Boys' Perceptions And Experiences Of Their Placement In A Secondary School Remedial Program : An Examination Of Self-Esteem, Attitude, Motivation And Reading Achievement, Angela Milmoe

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Remedial EngIish education has long focused on the development of students reading and writing skills, but research suggests that greater emphasis may need to be placed on affective factors such as self-esteem, motivation, attitude and perception. The influence of such 'non-cognitive' factors on any adolescent student's literacy development is often underestimated. For students experiencing difficulties in literacy, the interaction between perceived ability of degree of success in literacy and the affective factors often impact negatively on self-esteem, attitude and motivation. The relationship between self-esteem, attitude, perception, motivation and literacy needs to be explored, especially when dealing with students with literacy …

An Exploration Of Relationships Between Environmental Change And Place Identity: An Analysis Of Personal Stories From The South Coast Of Western Australia, Ruth E. Rogan

Theses : Honours

The complex relationships between people and places have been investigated by philosophic and scientific writers of the 19th and 20th centuries and more recently by researchers within the discipline of environmental psychology. A plethora of concepts have been developed to describe the relationship between people and their environments, including place identity and place attachment. Complex relationships exist between place identity, place attachment and the physical environment. Despite this, research situated within the discipline of environmental management, which addresses changes within the biophysical environment, rarely considers the psychological impacts of such change on individuals interacting within those environments. This study investigates …

A Study In Teacher's [Sic] Perceptions And Understandings Of Their Pastoral Care Role And An Exploration Of How Social Workers Can Work Collaboratively With Teachers Within Pastoral Care Systems, Kirsty R. Shalders

Theses : Honours

This inquiry examines teacher's pastoral care roles in a government secondary school. Its purpose is to determine firstly what pastoral care is for teachers within these positions and secondly to articulate why pastoral care is needed in schools, and to discover how teachers and social workers can work together in school to find a common ground within pastoral care. The study explores both the individual experiences of the teachers as they enact this role within the school, but also examines the broader structural factors that are related to pastoral care in schools. The literature acknowledges the importance of pastoral care …

T(H)Ree Rhizome(S) On 'Close/Open' Encounters With Kinsella's Pastoralism Of The 'Radical' Kind, Klyth Tan Soo-Hong

Theses : Honours

In his elaborative Landbridge 'statement of intent', Western Australian and International poet John Kinsella - whose phenomenal rise since the '90s is now a worldwide literary success story that needs no introduction - asserts a profound interest for the 'pastoral radical' (Kinsella, ed. Kinsella, Landbridge, 1999): “I'm particularly interested in the 'pastoral radical'- in blending the so-called pastoral tradition with the lingui.stically innovative. This 'hybrid' ironises the pastoral construct but allows for genuine movement through rural spaces. Landscape is central to my project - ways of seeing, questions of occupation and space, the position and relevance of the so-called 'lyrical …

Aboriginal English Genres In Perth, Ian G. Malcolm

Research outputs pre 2011

Aboriginal Australia has a unique heritage of oral literature and Aboriginal people of all ages take delight in yarning. Despite the richness and contemporary relevance of this heritage, little is known in the wider Australian society about the oral discourse skills that are taken for granted in Aboriginal communities.

Although the art of oral narrative has developed over countless generations and by medium of Indigenous languages, previous studies (Malcolm 1994a, b; Malcolm and Rochecouste 2000; Rochecouste and Malcolm 2000) have shown that it is vigorously maintained in Aboriginal English.

The lack of general awareness of the verbal art of Aboriginal …

The Representation Of Aboriginal English In School Literacy Materials, Ian G. Malcolm, Ellen Grote, Louella Eggington, Farzad Sharifian

Research outputs pre 2011

Australian education systems have, as a whole, had limited success in attempting to impart literacy in standard English to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. One measure of the magnitude of the problem is shown in the national figures relating student achievement at various levels to agreed benchmarks. It has been shown that the Year 3 benchmarks have been achieved by fewer than two thirds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, whereas they have been achieved by nearly 90% of the national school population overall (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 1999). With respect to reading, …

Taking Your Values Shopping: Conversations About Values And Fulfilment: Dialogue And Engagement With Customer Stakeholders In The Body Shop, Western Australia, Patricia Morrigan, Megan Paull

Research outputs pre 2011

The specific contribution to this field of study is about customer 'engagement', their values and fulfilment. In this research we wanted to have a conversation with customers of The Body Shop Australia (TBS) about taking their values shopping. We found that TBS customers were remarkably clear and passionate about their own personal values and had no trouble expressing them in a conversation with us. Customer stakeholders in this research expressed values that were 'postmaterialist', concerned with the environmentally human choice and self -expression, gave importance to belonging among family and friends and showed a marked lack of trust in global …

A Study Of The Cultural Appropriateness Of Service Delivery Models In The Australian Mental Health System, Mong L. Connell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study is an attempt to examine the cultural appropriateness of the mental health system in relation to the Vietnamese refugee community in Australia. Culture and mental health, as widely acknowledged in the field of transcultural psychiatry, are closely linked. No aspect of the diagnosis or treatment methods can be justified without reference to the cultural traditions of the mental health system and the client. In a country like Australia, where multiculturalism is a dominant feature of the society, the need is even greater in incorporating culture into every aspect of the mental health system, if it desires to provide …

Familiarity With Task And Its Effect On The Way Children Negotiate For Meaning, And Provide And Use Implicit Negative Feedback, Alec P. Kanganas

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research involves an examination of the effects that familiarity with a task may have on the way young ESL children negotiate for meaning, and provide and use implicit negative feedback to each other. The focus of this research is the interactions that occur between pairs of young primary school children between the ages of 7.0 to 8.6 years. Two studies were carried out. The first study investigated the effect of familiarity with a type of task, whilst the second examined the effects of familiarity with the content (or subject domain). A stratified random sampling procedure was used to select …

The Use Of Scaffolding To Improve Student Learning With Interactive Multimedia Programs In Chemistry, Brian T. Grimes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The process of balancing and interpreting chemical equations involves the consideration of an abstract, non-observable phenomenon coupled with multi-level representation. Students find it conceptually demanding to visualise the particulate level of matter and hence experience difficulty in balancing chemical equations with understanding. Interactive multimedia with dynamic computer graphics can provide students with accurate, concrete representations of the particulate nature of matter. Such tools, when coupled with appropriate implementation strategies, have the potential to improve learning about chemical reactions. The study investigated the use of scaffolding techniques to enhance and direct student learning when using an interactive multimedia software (IMM) program, …

An Exploration Of The Transcending Experience In The Art-Making Process, Veronica Aldous

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explored the transcending experience as described by visual artists that sometimes occurs during the art-making process. The exploration was conducted within a philosophical framework informed by the researcher's practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM). From this perspective, transcending is related to personal, inner (subjective), and ephemeral aesthetic experiences which never-the-less make a powerful contribution to the visual artist's experience of the creative process and to a lesser extent, the final product. The focus of the study was on the identification and documentation of the personal and subjective aspects of art-making. The study consisted of two parts; (a) this written …

Yoghurts For Fruit-Time : A Narrative Study Of Language Learning In The Kindergarten, Denise Lindsay

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study focuses on how a group of seven Kindergarten teachers perceive their practices to support the language learning of young children. From a socio-cultural perspective, developing language competency at Kindergarten is a priority because of its pivotal role across all learning areas and the opportunity it creates for all children to add to their linguistic capital in an informal setting prior to formal schooling. This study is based on a collaborative, participatory model built on a mutually beneficial relationship between researcher and participants. It uses a narrative methodology to foreground the teacher's voice. Teacher participants in the study contribute …

Conceptual-Associative System In Aboriginal English : A Study Of Aboriginal Children Attending Primary Schools In Metropolitan Perth, Farzad Sharifian

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

National measures of achievement among Australian school children suggest that Aboriginal students, considered as a group, are those most likely to end their schooling without achieving minimal acceptable levels of literacy and numeracy. In view of the fact that many Aboriginal students dwell in metropolitan areas and speak English as a first language, many educators have been unconvinced that linguistic and cultural difference have been significant factors in this underachievement. This study explores the possibility that, despite intensive exposure to non-Aboriginal society, Aboriginal students in metropolitan Perth may maintain, through a distinctive variety of English, distinctive conceptualisation which may help …

Year One Children's Literacy Behaviours And Perceptions Of Literacy Learning In The Classroom And Reading Recovery Contexts, Fiona Callaghan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigates the ways in which four Year One children engage in the literacy events of their regular and Reading Recovery classrooms. It explores how these children perceived their beginning reading instruction and possible relationships between the children's perceptions and the ways in which they ‘did' literacy in each setting. The study draws on research in beginning reading instruction from both a psychological and socio-cultural perspective, as well as research into withdrawal programs for children experiencing difficulty in learning to read and the Reading Recovery program itself. A case study approach was used in this study and data collection …

Insertion Of English Acronyms & Single Words/Terms In Arabic Translation, Mohammad M. Mousli

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Insertion of source text (henceforth: ST) acronyms and single words/terms (henceforth: item/s) into target text (henceforth: TT) is relatively, so far, a neglected issue in translation studies. In the case of translating a text from English into Modern Standard Arabic (henceforth MSA) in Australia, we are dealing with the issue of inserting an item of a source text (English source text, henceforth EST) into a target text (Arabic target text, henceforth ArTT). The ArTT has newly introduced items in their Roman Letters (henceforth R.I), The ArTT has newly introduced items in their Roman letters (henceforth R.I), transliterated and/or translated with …

Students' Needs And Attitudes: Efl Education In Japanese High Schools, Michelle Perche

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Much of the literature on EFL education in Japan describes a system that is fraught with problems. Over the last decade the Japanese Education Ministry (Monbusho) has introduced a number of reforms and introduced some new EFL courses into Japanese schools. The stated aim of the new courses has been to focus on the development of students' communicative abilities in English. However, the effectiveness of these reforms has been questioned particularly at the senior high school level. According to a number of commentators, difficulties occur because of a back wash effect of the university entrance examinations. Others criticise the teachers …

Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: Politeness For The Customer In Spoken Aspects Of Service In The Restaurant In Australian English And Japanese, Chieko Imaeda

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In listening to members of different cultures, it is possible to feel bad, even while recognising that the speaker is trying to speak politely. Sometimes we do not feel very comfortable with someone else’s speech, even though their expressions might be very polite with the choice of specific linguistic forms to show a high level of formality such as terms of address and specific types of formulaic expression such as ' I (don 't) think ... ' or ' I (don't) believe' . The speaker may be intending to speak politely in a considerate way. But the hearer's reaction may …

Anglo-Indian Women In Western Australia: Past, Present And Future Identities, Erica Lewin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Anglo-Indian community and Anglo-Indian women in particular have been described as 'mixed-race' and 'hybrid'. This study seeks to explore the identity of Anglo-Indian women through the process of migration and settlement in Australia, by following the lives of twenty-six women. Twenty of these women emigrated from India between 1963 and 1977; one arrived in Australia significantly earlier in 1947 and another significantly later, in 1996. Four women were Australian-born. This study traces their identity through their memories of life in India and the process of migration and settlement for themselves and their children, some of whom were born in …

An Auto/Ethnographical Study On The Effect Of Context On The Experience Of Being A Volunteer With Refugees, Fran Price

Theses : Honours

This study uses a critical social and feminist framework to explore the effect of context on the experience of being a volunteer with refugees. It is presented in an auto/ethnographical style, blending my own storying with the stories of other volunteers. My interest in this topic evolved as a result of my own personal experiences in volunteering with refugees in which I perceived certain contextual aspects to have had an impact on my identity and volunteering experiences. This study is therefore an attempt to make sense of my own experiences and to share in the experiences of other volunteers. Informal …