Digital Commons Network^™

Contemporary English In The Usa, Melissa Axelrod, Joanne Scheibman

English Faculty Publications

Indigenous and immigrant speakers from a variety of linguistic and sociocultural backgrounds have in different ways contributed to the development of present day American English, as have the geographical and social dimensions of the country. This paper provides a survey of contemporary usage of American English by describing and illustrating linguistic features documented for social and regional groups in the United States. The focus on variation in pronunciation, grammar, and meaning in American English highlights the diversity of dialects and styles in the U.S. as well as the centrality of sociocultural identities to language use. We group examples of variation …

Picking Up The Mantle Of “Expert”: Assigned Roles, Assertion Of Identity, And Peer Recognition Within A Programming Class, Deborah A. Fields, N. Enyedy

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Changing an established role in a classroom is difficult. It involves constructing a new set of relations within a community. In this article we investigate how students with newly developed interest and experience in programming developed outside the classroom pick up and establish their roles as experts in programming within the classroom community. More specifically, we focus on how two 11-year-old software designers shifted their established roles in their classroom to gain status as expert programmers. We use an identity lens to understand how peer expertise was established in the context of a classroom community, adopting a multifaceted perspective of …

A Sign Of The Times: Contemporary American Post-Holocaust Imagery And Post-Jewish Identity, Stacy Rebecca Schwartz

Master's Theses

The construction of American Jewish identity has historically balanced efforts to reconcile acceptance into majority culture with maintaining traditional Jewish heritage. Expression of Jewish identity in a "diasporic community" has often been anchored in communal rituals and sociopolitical events, especially the Holocaust, uniting an increasingly diverse community. Beginning in the late twentieth century, the figure of the "post-Jew" and post-Jewish identity emerged alongside pluralist multiculturalism as an alternate identity framework recognizing the hybrid character of Jewish American identity as a combination of inherited and selected elements.

This thesis examines the manifestation of post-Jewish identity in artistic responses to the Holocaust …

Indigenous Belonging: A Commentary On Membership And Identity In The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous People, Shin Imai, Kate Buttery

All Papers

The recognition of indigenous peoples’ right to determine their own membership is crucial to the survival of indigenous groups and for their ability to meaningfully exercise their right to self-determination. This chapter will begin with a discussion of who indigenous peoples are, and will then proceed to review the specific provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration) as they pertain to indigenous-determined group membership and duties: Articles 9 (right to belong), 33 (right to determine membership), 35 (right to determine responsibilities of members), and 36 (right to maintain relations across borders). Together, these …

Heirlooms, Candace Gayle Wiley

Theses and Dissertations

This creative thesis is a collection of poems and an essay that explores the concept of defining the self through the influence of personal and cultural heirlooms. It is particularly concerned with the inheritances that children receive, whether they are a pair of stockings or a political atmosphere. This collection consists of five sections, submitted in partial fulfillment of University of South Carolina's Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.

An Exploration Of Social Media Use Among Multiply Minoritized Lgbtq Youth, Alfie Leanna Lucero

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study responds to a need for research in a fast-growing and significant area of study, that of exploring, understanding, and documenting the numerous ways that multiply marginalized LGBTQ youth between the ages of 14 and 17 use social media. The primary research question examined whether social media provide safe spaces for multiply minoritized LGBTQ youth to express and explore issues of sexuality and gender. In addition, the study explores and categorizes multiple ways that the participants interact with social media and makes comparisons to prior work with more general populations. The study provides descriptions of the participants in terms …

A Case Study Of Peer Review Practices Of Four Adolescent English Language Learners In Face-To-Face And Online Contexts, Oksana Vorobel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Peer review is a complex collaborative activity, which may engage English language learners in reading, writing, listening, and speaking and carry many potential benefits for their language learning (Hu, 2005). While many research studies focused on peer review practices of adult language learners in academic settings in the USA or abroad in language classes (Grami, 2010; Zhao, 2010), little attention was paid to adolescent L2 writers participating in peer review in face-to-face K-12 and online contexts. This multiple case study aimed at describing and explaining peer review practices of four adolescent ELLs in face-to-face and online contexts from the ecological …

The Influence Of Informal Music Education In Teacher Formation: An Autoethnography, Rohan Nethsinghe

The Qualitative Report

In this paper I explore how my musical background, teaching skills, understanding and knowledge as well as music-making abilities and skills, have formed my current self as musician, teacher and researcher. An autoethnographical method is used to investigate my background, including the different modes of music education I received. From this qualitative study, it was possible to find that my interests along with the methods of interpretations I practice in the field of multicultural music are influenced by and formulated through my appreciation and understandings of and beliefs gained from education. Most importantly, they are shaped by the social context, …

Langue Et Identité Chez Leïla Sebbar. Vers Une Filiation Renégociée, Cécilia W. Francis

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In Je ne parle pas la langue de mon père (2003), L’arabe comme un chant secret (2010a), as well as in other components of her intimate prose, Leïla Sebbar reflects on her sense of dispossessed identity due to linguistic exile and an unknown heritage, resulting from ruptures in her paternal filiation. Drawing from the works of Jacques Derrida, Régine Robin and Simon Harel, which form the basis of our argumentation, we examine various dimensions of the severed parental bond. The article proposes to examine how Sebbar’s autobiographical writings, which incorporate scenarios dealing with legacy transmission expressed in terms of auditory …

Other And Self-Representation: A Pentadic Criticism Of Kosovar Muslim And Roma Identity As Represented In Photographs By James Nachtwey And Djordje Jovanovic, Melody S. Follweiler

College of Communication Theses and Dissertations

This is an interdisciplinary study that integrates the fields of visual rhetoric, media, and identity. This study seeks to gain a better understanding of photojournalism as the medium of rhetorical messages and communicative power in terms of representing the identity, experience, and perspective of Kosovar Muslims and Roma in Other and self-representations. By applying Kenneth Burke’s theory of dramatism and pentadic criticism, I seek to illustrate and analyze how an outsider, James Nachtwey, uses rhetorical appeals to represent Kosovar Muslims during the Kosovo War of 1999 and how an insider, Djordje Jovanovic, uses rhetorical appeals to represent Kosovar Roma during …

Writing To Understand Our Lives And Languages: A Case Study Of An Immigrant Women's Writing Group, Jessica D. Swan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Writing groups have empirical support for their ability to give voice to stories, improve language skills, and result in personal and social transformations. However, the research into their effectiveness among English Language Learners (ELLs) is limited. This case study of an immigrant women's writing group in Memphis, Tennessee, examined the effects of participation on the language skills, identities, and communities of the women. Ten (10) women who were all non-native English speakers participated in a writing group held over the course of ten (10) weeks for two (2) hours each week. The structure of the writing group allowed for personal …

“I Am An American”: Communicating Refugee Identity And Citizenship, Brett J. Craig

Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research

This study examines the messages in a citizenship preparation class being utilized by refugees and instructors. Through an ethnographic study of a citizenship class at an urban community center in a Midwestern city, an examination of these messages reveals assimilationist expectations and norms for refugees adjusting to American society. Responses from the refugees reveal how these messages are being either accepted or resisted as they negotiate new identities. A contradiction was found between what the citizenship class teaches and the perceptions of refugees regarding the meanings of American citizenship. In particular, refugees reported to often face a difficult situation in …

I'M Polynesian Too: Philosophy Of Assimilation, Cosmopolitanism, Colonialism, Race, & Culture, Aaron Hire

Senior Theses

Finding identity is difficult for mixed race and culture Polynesian Americans because there is no full integration into either racial/cultural side. For many Polynesian Americans (mixed race or not), finding an ethnic, cultural, and philosophical identity is a life-long struggle that constantly toils in matters tied to their souls and well being: issues of right and wrong, gender roles, morals/ethics, acceptance, and what it means to be human. For Polynesians and mixed race Polynesians, tribulation and alienation stem from the assimilation model that is present in the world today. “American Consumerist Cosmopolitanism,” as descended from colonialism, has impacted the well-being …

Authenticity And Identity-Making In A Globalized World: Capoeira In Boston And New York, Madeline L. Bishop

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Not You/Like You, With You: Toward A Praxis Of Love, Learning, And Liberation In Teaching Efl Writing — On Zombies, De-Colonial Feminisms, And Freire In Efl Contact Zones, Jessmaya Morales

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores EFL writing as a critical contact zone in which identity and subjectivity are found, denied, contested, de/constructed and occupied. The author opens with an account of a dream, utilized as a metaphor to examine EFL learning through the analytical lens of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The paper’s first section is a self-reflexive discussion of Freire’s pedagogy and why his unambiguous analyses of power, subjectivity, and the “banking system of education” are vital to the field of ELT. In the second section, the author discusses subjectivity, identity, and intersectionality as rooted in the work of …

Rhetoric And Composition Constructs “The Veteran”: An Examination Of The Student Veteran Identity As Found In Ccc And Tetyc Since September 11, 2001, Linda Gail Smith

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Drawing on David L. Wallace’s assertion that the field of rhetoric and composition needs to interpret and present our research into cultural communities in ways that no longer tacitly assume our rhetorical choices are neutral, I present a critique of 19 articles from College Composition and Communication and Teaching English in the Two-Year College that contained one or more instances of five keywords and direct references to student veterans. Using a theoretical framework built from theory by James Berlin, Thomas Huckin, and Marguerite Helmers, I expose various stereotypical and problematic tropes we rely on and re-create in our scholarly writing …

Nonprofit Ethos And Identity: An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals' Websites, Jessica Marie Kokinos-Havel

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of nonprofit studies tells us that nonprofit organizations have the inherent ability to provide communities with a distinctive kind of social capital in the form of collective identity and group participation. This identity function is one of the defining characteristics of the nonprofit sector. This study involves a rhetorical analysis of four websites maintained by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Each website (PETA.org, PETA Prime, peta2, and PETAKiDS) is aimed at reaching different age groups. This provides us with a unique rhetorical perspective into how the ethos of a nonprofit organization can …

The Journey To Peace And Healing: Discovering Identity Through Culture, Tradition, And Indigenous Knowledege, Vanessa Baíz Soto

Ethnic Studies

An accurate account of U.S. history is that of imperialism and colonization that includes the systematic extermination of indigenous populations, development of capitalism supported by slavery, and the exploitation of labor of oppressed populations, all supported by racist ideologies and practices. These ideologies and practices have been perpetuated and continue to plague the current state of colonized peoples. History has perpetuated itself and colonized peoples remain in a state of siege in which identities have been lost and cultures, traditions, and knowledge appropriated—all contributing to the loss of peace and balance within our lives and communities. This has been my …

Vol. 35 No. 1/2 (2012): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies Brigham Young University–HawaiʻI

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 35, No 1/2-April-August, 2012 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Vol. 35 No. 1/2 (2012): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies Brigham Young University–HawaiʻI

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$26.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

The French Community At Uri: A Study Of Cultural And Linguistic Identity, Kayla L. Butts

Senior Honors Projects

The French Community at URI: A Study of Cultural and Linguistic Identity

Kayla Butts

Sponsor: Karen DeBruin, French

Growing up in a bi-racial family has always brought upon me the question of identity. To which culture do I belong and which values do I adopt? To make matters even more complex, I have fallen in love with the French culture and language and have chosen to major in it. Am I allowed to feel a part of this culture as well?

Whether it is part of ones ethnic background or not, human beings question if it is possible to truly …

Rhoda Stertzer, Noel Weeks

Oral Histories

Rhoda M. Stertzer was born in a small village as part of the Athabaskan tribe in Alaska. She dropped out of school in tenth grade to get married and moved to Ohio for economic/survival reasons in 1980.

The Death Of The The Dream: The Experience Of The Loss Of A Central Identity Among Professional, Maria Anderson

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Using Norman Goodman's (2001) outline for a research program on the effect of a failure in a central identity for a person's sense of self, and Daniel Levinson's (1978) focus on the concept of 'The Dream' as an important element of adult identity, I have undertaken a preliminary research study of how professional athletes experience the transition away from their strong central identity at the end of their professional sports careers. Using survey data from former professional baseball and football players as well as lengthy follow-up interviews, I sought to identify factors that influence this transition process and determine whether …

Theories Of Culture, Identity, And Ethnomusicology: A Synthesis Of Popular Music, Cultural, And Communication Studies, Alyssa Santos

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Self-Esteem And Identity: A Case Study Of Two Bilingual Education Students, Julia Gomez Montalvo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This qualitative study focused on the self-esteem, sociocultural identity, and academic performance of transitional and dual language students as they moved through their respective programs. A case study was conducted on two randomly selected students, one from the transitional program and one from the dual language program. The two students attend the same school and have participated in their respective programs for 12 years in the same school district. Both students were asked to complete surveys on self-esteem and participate in an interview where they were asked various questions about their self-esteem, sociocultural identity, and academic performance. Data collected from …

Public Parks And Private Ideologies: Building Nineteenth-Century British National Identity Through Landscape, Laura Swaim Witherington

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project examines how nineteenth-century landscape theories shaped national identity and were influenced by it. Predominant is an investigation of how the desire for a more egalitarian class structure underlies the changes in British landscape design from an attachment to classical exclusivity through pastoral tropes to a limited acceptance of middle and working classes within public landscapes that represented patriotic values. Although poetic works inform the study, novel-length fiction and non-fiction prose and periodicals are also a primary source of consideration. Novels demonstrate how fictional geography generates the constructs of national ideology, and although canonical works typically referenced in studu …

Public Performance: Free People Of Color Fashioning Identities In Mid-Nineteenth-Century Cuba, Jacqueline Grant

Open Access Dissertations

Free people of color held an ambiguous place in Caribbean slave societies. On the one hand they were nominally free, but the reality of their daily lives was often something less than free. This work examines how free people of color, or libres de color, in nineteenth-century Cuba attempted to carve out lives for themselves in the face of social, economic, and political constraints imposed on them by white Cubans and Spaniards living in the island. It focuses on how through different Afro-Cuban associations some libres de color used public music and dance performances to self-fashion identities on their own …

Korean Americans And Multiculturalism: Beyond The Demographics, Gabrielle Kim

Global Tides

Samuel P. Huntington and the theory of the political good claim that any interactions between different religious and ethnic groups will bring about conflict. Therefore, “multiculturalism” only connotes the existence of more than one culture, with no hybridization between them. However, with increasing globalization and migration, it is becoming more difficult for a state to maintain one political identity. Through the example of Koreans in America and Korean-Americans, it will be shown that multiculturalism is not just a source of conflict, but actually connotes the harmonious combination of multiple cultures in one entity, becoming an identity itself.

National Identity And The Education Of Immigrant Youth In Spain, Kathleen C. Mautner

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the present-day educational policies enacted by Spain in response to the country’s growing immigrant populations, specifically by comparing the policies implemented in two of Spain’s distinct autonomies. The thesis ultimately argues that the regions’ differing conceptualizations of national identity and their distinct relationships to the central Spanish state play a fundamental role in their motivations to enact comprehensive and effective policies that promote immigrants’ educational and social success.

How I Was Saved: Christian Faith Narratives In Contemporary Society, Allison Berg

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Recent studies indicate that Christian membership numbers have declined in the last few decades. At the same time, polls record that Americans are becoming more religiously diverse. Some scholars suggest that these changes in American society are also leading to changes in the ways that Christians talk about their faith. Since Christian theology and tradition demands that Christians continue to share their faith with others, it is necessary to understand the ways that Christians talk about their faith today. Of interest to this study are faith narratives: stories about one's faith journey and experiences. Through sharing stories about their faith …