Digital Commons Network^™

Forgotten Voices: Japanese War Orphans In China, Feimo Zhu

Theses - ALL

Research on World War II (WWII) history has predominantly focused on the European theater, with limited attention given to the war’s events in Asia. The scarcity of in-depth studies conducted by Asian historians necessitates an investigation into the complex events that unfolded in this region during this significant period in world history. This study aims to shed light on the often-neglected history of Japanese war orphans in China during WWII and their lives in the post-war era. To provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the war’s impact on the lives of ordinary individuals, this study follows the historical timeline …

Perceptions Of "Southern" In Utah English, Chad M. Huckvale

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, two experiments are conducted to study language regard of Utah English. Experiment 1 is a draw-a-map study wherein participants were asked to mark areas on a map to of Utah where people speak differently (Preston 1989; Bucholtz et al. 2007). Experiment 2 uses a new research method, referred to here as a "perceptual audio survey". With this method, participants are asked to listen to recordings of native English speakers and identify where in Utah the speaker is likely from (Preston 1996:320-328; Cramer & Montgomery 2016:11). Crucially though, the speakers used in this experiment were from throughout the …

The Effect Of Shadowing With Text Presentation On Intermediate-Level Esl Learners' Pronunciation, Mishelle Kehoe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to replicate previous studies (Foote et al., 2017; Martinsen et al., 2017) investigating the technique of shadowing and its impact on English language learners’ oral fluency and intelligibility. The target population for this study was intermediate-level English language learners as prior shadowing research has focused on advanced learners (Foote et al., 2017) and beginner learners (Lu, 2021). The study involved both a control group (n=10) and a treatment group (n=10), with each group participating in a semester-long class at Brigham Young University’s English Language Center (ELC). Both groups participated in pre and post testing …

L2 English And Language Anxiety: Accuracy, Comprehensibility, And Speech Rate Across Three Communication Tasks, W. Cole Thorpe

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how second language (L2) English learners differ in their amount of language anxiety across three communication tasks: a formal academic speaking test, an informal casual interaction with a classmate during an activity in pairs, and a formal interview with an unfamiliar native speaker. It also addressed whether and how their language anxiety across the three tasks affected their accuracy, comprehensibility, and rate of speech. Thirty-seven intermediate-high L2 English learners participated in the three communication tasks. They also completed a general language anxiety questionnaire and three anxiety inventories--one before each task. Results demonstrated that the speaking exam caused …

Covid-19 Pandemic’S Impact On Online Sex Advertising And Sex Trafficking, Coxen O. Julia, Vanessa Castro, Bridgette Carr, Glen Redin

Articles

Disruptive social events such as the COVID-19 pandemic can have a significant impact on sex trafficking and the working conditions of victims, yet these effects have been little understood. This paper examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on sex trafficking in the United States, based on analysis of over one million sexual service advertisements from the online platform Rubratings.com, using indicators of third-party management as potential proxies for trafficking. Our results show that there have been measurable changes in online commercial sexual service advertising, both with and without third-party management indicators, in the United States, with a significant decrease …

Body Appreciation Around The World: Measurement Invariance Of The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Bas-2) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, And Age, Viren Swami, Ulrich S. Tran, Stefan Stieger, Toivo Aavik, Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, Reza Ahfami, Oli Ahmed, Annie Aimé, Marwan Akel, Hussam Al Halbusi, George Alexias, Khawla F. Ali, Nursel Alp-Dal, Anas B. Alsalhani, Sara Álvares-Solas, Ana Carolina Soares Almaral, Sonny Andrianto, Trefor Aspden, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset – with data collected between 2020 and 2022 – to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has …

Ensuring Quality In Qualitative Research: A Researcher's Reflections, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

This reflective paper is the outcome of my qualitative research engagement aligned with quality standards. I began with autoethnography in my master's research in mathematics education (see Dahal, 2013), then moved on to narrative inquiry in my MPhil research (see Dahal, 2017), and collaborative autoethnography in my doctoral research (see Dahal, 2023). With the above, this paper aims to clarify the quality criteria used in autoethnography, narrative inquiry, and collaborative autoethnography based on my experiences to evaluate the robustness of qualitative research from various ontological and epistemological vantage points. Likewise, this article offers a comprehensive overview of the key elements …

The Directional Effect Of Target Position On Spatial Selective Auditory Attention, Heesung Park

Dissertations, 2020-current

Spatial selective auditory attention plays a crucial role in listening in a mixture of competing speech sounds. Previous neuroimaging studies have reported alpha band neural activity modulated by auditory attention, along with the alpha lateralization corresponding to attentional focus. A greater cortical representation of the attended speech envelope compared to the ignored speech envelope was also found, a phenomenon known as 'neural speech tracking’. However, little is known about the neural activities when attentional focus is directed on speech sounds from behind the listener, even though understanding speech from behind is a common and essential aspect of daily life. The …

Opportunity Discrimination: Resettlement Efforts Made By Ngos In The United States, Sarah Rauf

Capstone Collection

Social identity plays a key aspect in life. This research tests whether homogeneity between refugees and their host communities correlates to the immigration process and resettlement success. The analysis helps form a conclusion that people want to help those who look like themselves before those who appear more foreign. This is related to the central theories of social identity and prejudice stemming from stereotyping. Data collection comes from interviews with staff at a number of NGOs in the United States. The immigration and resettlement policies of these NGOs have been researched, and members were interviewed on the reformation of their …

Advancing Kidney Health In Hispanic/Latino Communities In The Us: Promotoras, Health Education, And Food Security, Estefania Huerta

Master's Projects and Capstones

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is not only a public health concern that affects the health of people living in the United States, but also a global health concern affecting millions worldwide. Diabetes is the leading cause of CKD and when CKD is not managed, it can turn into a life-threatening condition known as End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) where life is not sustainable without dialysis or a kidney transplant. Although CKD is prevalent among all populations in the United States, the Hispanic/Latino population suffers the most complications (Desai et al., 2019). In 1973, Congress extended Medicare services to people with ESRD …

The Effect Of Speaking Context On Articulatory Kinematics In Habitual And Clear Speech, Lauren Elizabeth Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of speaking contexts on articulatory kinematics in habitual and clear speech conditions. Ten male and 10 female participants (ages 18"“29) completed speaking tasks in three contexts and two conditions. The contexts were word, phrase, and passage, with both mid-sentence and end of-sentence stimuli in the phrase and passage contexts. The two conditions were habitual and clear speech. Participants had sensors attached to the mid-tongue, jaw, lower lip, and upper lip, and an electromagnetic articulograph tracked their movements. Three tokens for each stimulus were analyzed for duration, displacement, and velocity. Articulatory coordination was measured through absolute …

Health Risks Of Herbal Medicine In The Us: Recommendations To Improve Awareness And Advance Safety, Darya Sinkevich

Master's Projects and Capstones

Adults in the U.S. use herbal medicine as an alternative and in conjunction with conventional healthcare, in many cases because of cultural and economic considerations. With insufficient governmental regulation of the content of herbal supplements, and limited education of healthcare providers on the potential risks and benefits consumers can experience unexpected and potentially harmful health impacts from using herbal medicine.

The health risks associated with these products include but are not limited to, herbal and prescription drug interactions and heavy metal toxicity. For this project, a scoping literature review was conducted using multiple databases to identify the prevalence, health risk, …

Vested Patents And Equal Justice, Adam Macleod

Catholic University Law Review

In a time of renewed interest in equal justice, the vested patent right may be timely again. Vested patent rights helped marginalized Americans to secure equal justice earlier in American history. And they helped to make sense of the law. Vested patent rights can perform those tasks again today.

The concept of vested rights render patent law coherent. And it explains patent law’s interactions with other areas of law, such as property, administrative, and constitutional law. The vested rights doctrine also can serve the requirements of equal justice, as it has several times in American history. Vested rights secure justice …

Partner Or Participant? Parent Experiences Within Pre-Referral Meetings, Mason R. Folk

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Existing research on parent experiences in school-based problem-solving team meetings has focused on the special education process; however, the pre-referral process precedes this and may influence future collaborative efforts. This study investigates parents' experiences in pre-referral meetings and explores their perceptions of participation, factors influencing their involvement, and barriers they face. A convergent mixed methods approach was utilized to analyze parents’ quantitative and qualitative responses to an online survey; frequency of response to survey items and thematic analysis were used to present a holistic depiction of parents’ personal experiences. Results suggested that although parents report positive experiences within their meetings, …

Normalizing Nonsense: The Political Subversion Of Covid-19, Matthew Mcguirk

Master’s Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Generalizability Of Proposed Theoretical Factor Models For Common Assessments For Specific Learning Disability In Reading Using A Community Sample, Sean B. Vanhille

Theses and Dissertations

Specific learning disabilities (SLD) are among the most diagnosed developmental disorders in children, with specific learning disability in reading (SLDR) as the most common. SLDR typically occurs due to deficits in phonological processing that can negatively impact decoding and/or reading comprehension skills. Reading deficits are often diagnosed using formal assessments such as the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP-2), the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT-5), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V), and the Woodcock Johnson Achievement Battery (WJ-IV-A). I did not find any research in which the theoretical factor models proposed in the technical manuals of these assessments were …

Bidirectional Interference Between Speech And Mathematical, Language, Or Visuospatial Tasks In Younger And Older Adults, Chanelle Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined interference between three non-speech tasks and concurrent speech performance. The non-speech activity consisted of computer-based mathematical, language, and visuospatial tasks. The speech tasks included a procedural discourse monologue and a conversation. Participants included 60 adults in two age groups with 30 participants each. The younger adults were aged from 18 to 30 years and older adults from 55 to 82 years. Each participant completed the non-speech tasks in isolation, the speech tasks in isolation, and then each of the speech tasks concurrently with each of the three non-speech tasks. Speech acoustic measures included the mean and standard …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Directors Of Masada Exhibit Offer Helpful Pocket Guide

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Marti Lu Allen, Associate Director of the BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures and codirector of the exhibit The Story of Masada: Discoveries from the Excavations, currently on display in the BYU Museum of Art, has written a brief guide to the exhibit. Major sections of The Story of Masada: A Pocket Guide to the Exhibition cover "The Historical Backdrop," "Herod the Great," "Jews at Masada," "The Roman Conquest," and "The Moral of the Story."

Journal Offers Artistic, Linguistic, And Statistic Studies

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Whether you fancy yourself a Mayanist or an Egyptologist, a linguist or an artist, the latest issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies has something for you. It also provides subject and citation indexes for all previous issues of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Masterful Scholarly Tool Is Updated And Improved

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The definitive bibliography in the field of transoceanic crossings, John L. Sorenson's and Martin H. Raish' s Pre-Columbian Contact with the Americas across the Oceans: An Annotated Bibliography, has been revised, expanded, and made more useful for researchers. More than 40% of the 5000 entries are new in this second edition. A new detailed index of 1400 terms makes the bibliography even easier to use.

Scripting The Meaning: The Influence Of Brand Name Script On Brand Meaning And Brand Attitude, Olga Roshchupkina, Gi-Du Kang

Asia Marketing Journal

The present study examines the role of the script used for the graphical representation of a brand name in creating brand meaning. The study results demonstrate that each script contributes to forming different aspects of the brand meaning in multi-script environments. However, the process of meaning transfer is also influenced by the context of the product category, which can impact some of the aspects of meaning related to norms and familiarity. Furthermore, the study indicates that if the brand meaning aligns with the product category schema, it positively impacts brand attitude. This study adds to the branding literature by introducing …

Helpful Or Harmful? The Effect Of Heritage Language Use On Perceived Maternal Closeness In United States Immigrant Families, Catalina Valdez

Theses and Dissertations

Language use patterns and parent-child relationship quality in immigrant families are both subject to change over time, and past research on the impact of immigrant children's heritage language use on various measures of well-being yields mixed results. Extending scholarship on heritage language use and immigrant family dynamics, I examine the association between different language patterns in U.S. immigrant families and mother's reports of parent-child closeness. I analyze data from 1,142 mothers when their children are in kindergarten, third grade, and fifth grade using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study "“ Kindergarten Cohort of 2010-2011. I find little variation in perceived maternal …

Addressing Barriers To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Massachusetts Community Mediation, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Jarling Ho, Shino Yokotsuka, Karina Zeferino

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

This report presents over three years of systematically engaging, documenting and analyzing the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) needs/gaps and assets of state funded community mediation centers in Massachusetts. The report was compiled by researchers and an in-house DEI expert at the statutory state office of dispute resolution, the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The office has been serving as a neutral forum and state-level resource for over 30 years.

The report is based on qualitative research that falls into the category of community based participatory research conducted through a series of community …

From La Cosa Nostra To La Cultura Del Narcisismo: Psychoanalysis As Public Philosophy In The Sopranos, Thomas Patrick Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The aims for this thesis are to further investigate the show’s use of Tony’s psychotherapy as a narrative device in building the relationship between the work of art and the spectator. This device, I argue, possesses a Brechtian character: it not only breaks up the narrative action, but it also comments upon it. Most importantly, this device grounds spectators in a psychoanalytic outlook which enables the spectator to analyze the show’s central anti-hero, interpret the series of events around him, as well as the criticize the American climate he is a symbol for. I advance the thesis that The Sopranos, …

Ecofeminism Reimagined: Discourse & Embodiment In Young Adult Literature, Laurel Krapivkin

Theses and Dissertations

In this project, I will begin to develop a reimagined ecofeminist lens that is informed by a careful attention to the relationship between discourse and embodiment. The field of children’s literature would benefit from additional guidance on how to think complexly about ecofeminist tenants in young adult literature. While the novels I’ve chosen to analyze in this project certainly contain ecofeminist themes such as care, reciprocity, discussion of embodiment, depictions of nature and the relationships between humans and the environment, this project’s scope is not to create a definition for what constitutes an ecofeminist young adult text. Rather, I intend …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Review Surveys Mixed Bag Of Publications

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The newest issue of the FARMS Review of Books (volume 10, number 2) surveys a diverse crop of recent publications, some inviting high praise, others substantial refutation, and some a mixture of both.

Journal Of Book Of Mormon Studies Redesigned To Serve The Needs Of A Broader Audience

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

When the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies was launched in the fall of 1992, the aim of its editor, Stephen D. Ricks, was to produce "a journal dedicated solely to the serious and faithful study of the Book of Mormon in its historical, linguistic, cultural, and theological context."