Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons^™

Social Identity And Language Learning/Teaching Trajectories: Egyptian English Teachers’ Reflections On Being Taught By Native English- Speaking Instructors, Asmaa Mohamed Badawy

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how teacher social identity is shaped by Egyptian English teachers’ past learning experiences, particularly in relation to native and non-native English-speaking teachers. It seeks to understand how these experiences influence teachers’ perceptions of themselves within English-speaking contexts and how they make sense of dominant language ideologies surrounding nativeness. The study is guided by the following research questions: how participants perceive their sense of social belonging within English-speaking contexts; how ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ English teachers understand and interpret nativeness; and how past educational and social experiences shape teachers’ sense of ownership and legitimacy. Situated within the framework of …

Between Tradition And Transition: Cultural Negotiations And Contraceptive Perceptions Among Ghanaian Students In The United States, Beatrice Amissah

Theses and Dissertations

As global mobility continues to rise, international students often encounter new cultural norms and health practices that differ from those in their home countries. While some studies have focused on contraception within the context of gender and types, less focus has been placed on diasporic populations, especially how students navigate tensions surrounding contraception within new cultural environments. This study explores how Ghanaian students in the United States interpret, negotiate, and respond to contraceptive messaging while navigating the cultural transition between their heritage and host societies. Drawing on Berry’s (1980)  Acculturation Theory, the study examines the tensions students experience, the strategies …

Reawakening Waⁿdat: Community Research & Reclamation, Darcy Allred

Theses and Dissertations

The Wyandot(te) have undergone language dormancy due to settler colonial impacts of warfare, refugee relocation, forced removals, and U.S. assimilation projects. One of the most pressing priorities among our people today is reawakening our ancestral language, Waⁿdat. The common follow-up question is: how? Through the conduit of Waⁿdat language reclamation, this project grapples with the above question in collaboration with the Wyandot(te) community, and in adherence to the tribal sovereignty of the Wyandotte Nation. The project engages with diasporic perspectives, community-based pedagogy design, and tribally specific research protocols and policies. The living collective knowledgebase with which I engage in this …

From Homeland To Hostland: Language Ownership Of Heritage Dialect And Narratives Of Third Culture Kids Of The Gulf, Maryam Aref

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to examine Arab Adult Third Culture Kids’ sense of heritage language ownership and their identity constructions in relation to their transnational Arab Gulf context. The present study has three main aims: to ascertain their sense of ownership towards their heritage dialects, to understand the basis for their claimed or denied ownership, and to investigate the positions they ascribed to themselves and others in relation to their belonging and transnational and linguistic experiences. The study aims to fill the gap where there is a scarcity of sociolinguistic research around Arab Third Culture Kids in …

Voice As Dual Striving: Spiritual Resonance And Psychological Negotiation In South Indian Musical Practices, Ramya Thiyagarajan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intricate dynamics of voice within South Indian musical traditions, examining it as both a spiritual medium resonating with the divine concept of Nāda-Brahman and a psychological instrument navigating modernity, identity, and cultural hybridity. Employing the Self-Rasa-Chakra framework, derived from Upanishadic and tantric philosophies, alongside autoethnographic narratives and case studies, it investigates how the voice serves as a site of striving. Through an interdisciplinary lens combining ethnomusicology, psychoanalysis, and sound studies, this research delves into the paradox of voice: its role in sacred surrender within Carnatic music, juxtaposed against its individualistic expression in contemporary independent music. Case …

The Tales Of Maruni, Sikuma Rai

Theses and Dissertations

Sikuma Rai journeys into the fading indigenous genre of Maruni—an eastern Nepali song and dance form—narrating letters to her late grandfather. Accompanied by her father, and a devoted folk musician from an upper-caste background, she traces echoes of memory, identity, and the fragile inheritance of indigenous culture.

The Analysis Of The Shonen Protagonist And Aragoto Warrior: The Eternal Strength Of Boyhood, Ethan J. Mcentyre

Theses and Dissertations

This paper is a breakdown of various visual and narrative elements of Kabuki and Anime, using the example of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, and One Piece. There is a broad overview of both Kabuki and Anime discussing their various tropes and styles. Following this introduction is a three-part breakdown of One Piece and its similarities to Kabuki theatre, with Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura as the reference point for specific examples.

The three-part comparison is structured by first discussing surface level similarities and potential coincidences unique to these two stories in conversation with each other, by looking at a few specific …

Cultural Identity In Mental Health Services And Helpseeking Behaviours Among African International Students, Mark Ofosu Asirifi

Theses and Dissertations

Acculturation stress impacts international students’ psychological well-being and academic success, yet research on African students remains limited. For African international students, this stress is intensified by cultural stigma surrounding mental health services, deterring help-seeking due to fears of judgment and ostracization. This identity negotiation complicates their willingness to access support, reinforcing cultural barriers to mental health care. This study explores how cultural identity shapes the mental health perceptions and help-seeking behaviors of African international students in the United States. Grounded in the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) and the Health Belief Model (HBM), the research examines how acculturative stress, stigma, …

Madurai Maavata Naatuppura Kalaivadivangalil Raamayanathin Selvaakku, Sindhiya T

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Anxious Futures: Capital, Nation And Advertising In Beirut, Lebanon, Caitlin Alais Callahan

Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary billboard advertising in Beirut fuels anxiety in Beirut’s citizens. In a city suffering from daily uncertainties caused by a devastating financial collapse in 2019, and mourning victims of the worst non-nuclear explosion to ever occur in the Port of Beirut in 2020, Beirutis are also faced with advertising which constantly reinforces uneasiness. Visual advertisements market visas to leave the country, purchasing second passports and money counting machines, forming quotidian reminders of the current state of the country. Using interviews and visual ethnographic material collected during the summer of 2023, this thesis discusses how billboards help to foster dialogue around …

Aguaaaa!!!, Cory Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

“AGUA” is a call for new models of learning and sharing, celebrating the diasporic as a place of global revolution. Salsa, rooted in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean histories, is choreographer Cory Villegas’s expression of cultural legacy. As an Afro-diasporic dance, Salsa carries the wealth and variety of African and Indigenous roots. Villegas contextualizes her thesis event “Las Leyendas: An Afro Cuban Suite,” presenting herself and her troupe Soul Dance Co. as evidence that contradicts the erasure of Latin & Caribbean Culture in US dance history. The paper uses English and Spanish, written, visual, and oral materials with an accompanying webpage.

Study On The Rights Of Parties In Live-In Relationships In India - A Case Review Approach, Prabhavathi N

Theses and Dissertations

Heterosexual live-in relationship is viewed as a stigma in Indian society. However, through a plethora of judgments, the Apex Court of India granted monetary relief and physical protections to couples in live-in relationships. While so a few High Courts had refused to grant protection to the live-in couples by stating that giving such rights and protection would destroy the country's social fabric.

View of such High Courts reflects on the opinion that our Courts indeed have different ideas while granting reliefs to persons in live-in relationships. Catena of judicial decisions explained this relationship as a "walk in and walked out" …

Investigating Language Ideologies And Attitudes Towards Dubbing Disney Movies Into Arabic, Nouran T. Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

This research delves into the analysis of online discussions surrounding the dubbing of Disney movies into two Arabic varieties: Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA). The objective is to uncover the language ideologies and attitudes taken by Disney fans online. Dubbing Disney movies into these two varieties has sparked numerous debates on social media, particularly on Facebook. The study employed stance-taking to analyze the metalinguistic comments made by Facebook users about the use of these two Arabic varieties in the context of Disney. A Verbal Guise Technique (VGT) experiment was conducted on Disney excerpts to complement the …

Tchu Tcha Tcha: The Transformative Role Of Funk, Adriane De Souza

Theses and Dissertations

Cultural disconnection and homesickness are part of expatriate life. My research investigates the transformative power of Brazilian funk, which, for me, evokes restorative memories of home and life in Rio de Janeiro.

Originating in North America, funk made an exciting leap and found a new home in Brazil, particularly in Rio de Janeiro. Over time, it has become firmly established and thoroughly Brazilianized, infused with local instruments and influences, leading to the emergence of a new genre of music known as Brazilian funk.

Transplanted again, to Qatar, this work celebrates the migration of funk through a combination of still images, …

Afl Students’ Perception Of Using Mnemonics As A Strategy To Enhance Their Vocabulary Acquisition And Retention, Elsayed Elsisi

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of language teaching and learning reveals that mnemonics is one of the most effective language learning strategies for vocabulary. Researchers like Rasiban, et al. (2019); Levin (1993); Zulfa (2019); Kayaaltu (2018) suggest that using mnemonics to learn new vocabulary has a positive effect on vocabulary retention and retrieval. Research also shows however that students’ perceptions may encourage or inhibit the usage of any learning strategy depending on their perceptions of its effectiveness. Hence the importance of detecting learner perception about any learning or teaching device. Despite the above there is limited research about students’ perceptions about …

An Analysis Of Speech Acts In Egyptian Billboard Advertising, Wissam Abdelkareem

Theses and Dissertations

The present study explores the realization of speech acts in 80 Egyptian billboard advertisements from five different locations in Greater Cairo, in an attempt to identify the most dominant types of speech acts utilized in such billboard advertising. Further examination of the linguistic elements in advertisements is conducted to identify the most salient syntactic structures constructing them. The study starts with a quantitative approach and ends with a qualitative content analysis based on framework of Searle’s (1969) Speech Act Theory. The findings of the study reveal that the most frequently employed speech act types are representatives, directives, commissives, and expressives …

Dulce Sueños De Tierra, Sweet Dreams Of Earth, Jordany Genao

Theses and Dissertations

Jordany's paper congregates their archival research into an art practice that examines the decolonial impulse to excavate the self and produce autonomy. Using ceramics to reference and re-animate Taino ritual objects found in museums, resulting in alternative museology, their work seeks to honor Caribbean ancestors by subverting colonial history.

Death Spaces And Distant Skies (Every Day We Say Goodbye), Renee Estee

Theses and Dissertations

Linking ideas and imagery of the Australian Outback, Hauntology and Orphism, my practice highlights myth-making and rituals surrounding mourning, celebration and commemoration. Operating as visual love letters and epitaphs, my paintings coalesce figuration and abstraction to conjure spaces where I can commune with the deceased and contend with future loss.

Promoting Secure Attachment In Children Without Parental Care In Egypt, Manar Nada

Theses and Dissertations

In Egypt, if not living with extended family members, the majority of children without parental care are placed in care homes. Research shows that children without parental care, particularly those raised in care homes, generally receive low-quality care. This can lead to adverse effects on their mental health, physical health, developmental growth, sense of belonging, intimacy, social and behavioral competence, and academic performance. Studies also relate institutionalization to problems in attachment and caregiver-infant relationships. The Secure Base Model is a therapeutic caregiving framework that target children who were abused and neglected or experienced loss and separation. The model has five …

El Nuevo Cuento Latinoamericano: El ‘Terror Aparente Y Externo’ Versus El ‘Terror Real E Interno’ En Pelea De Gallos Y Grita De María Fernanda Ampuero, Y Las Voladoras De Mónica Ojeda, Alejandra Anahi Gaeta

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focusses on the new Latin-American short story; the ‘obvious and external horror’ vs. the ‘real and internal horror’ found in the works of Maria Fernanda Ampuero: Pelea de gallos (2018) and Grita (2020) as well as in Monica Ojeda’s Las voladoras (2020). The analysis encompasses situations that different protagonists experience in each short story to illustrate the message that the Ecuadorian writers intend to address the reader. Ampuero and Ojeda use their platform to expose the injustice that women and minors endure through their Latin American narratives. In the short stories that belong to the horror and the …

Water Gets Lost In The Sea, Sun Gets Lost In The Desert, Rocio Paz Guerrero

Theses and Dissertations

The absence of happiness, the absence of nature, the absence of justice, the absence of absence, which is presence. My desire is to make these voids visible and sensible by connecting to and with others, from our intimate and collective life experiences, with empathy, and by sharing. Through a hybrid of sculpture, installation, and performance, I move within this tense in-between space, asking myself about that void, if it is possible for it to be filled, or if it is perhaps too big, or if it is perhaps too late.

A Methodological Approach To Utilize Egyptian Colloquial Arabic As A Source For Ancient Egyptian Linguistic Analysis, Ahmed Osman

Theses and Dissertations

Traces of the ancient Egyptian language can still be observed in modern Egyptian colloquial Arabic, which is the form of Arabic adopted by Egyptians as their native spoken language. This thesis aims to better understand the ancient Egyptian language through the analysis of its lexical survivals. It presents a new methodological approach to utilize ancient Egyptian lexical survivals as a source to study the ancient Egyptian language. A selected set of fifty-five ancient Egyptian lexical survivals was computed by matching ancient Egyptian and documented Egyptian colloquial Arabic words having the same semantic fields. While it was generally assumed that the …

≥I++ Wayward Self, Space, And Language, Mystie Do, Thu Tm Do

Theses and Dissertations

Having crossed different geographical and cultural borders, I can’t seem to position myself beyond society’s forced binaries of race, sexuality, and materiality. My personal diasporic experience drives me to bring together various presences, putting them next to one another, engaging them in dialogues. My works often share multiple space–time possibilities: a digital space, a physical site, a virtual alternity. Occupying these parallel worlds are varied ratios of mixtures of natural ecosystems, my own system of abstraction, and existing technological systems that allow us a level of individual engagement not previously available. I want to invite people to fluctuate between these …

Form Follows Culture, Nada Raafat Elkharashi

Theses and Dissertations

We all use everyday objects as part of our daily routines, but the way we use them varies from one culture to another. Using George Herbert Mead’s study of human conduct and Louis H. Sullivan’s credo, “Form follows function,” this thesis examines the cultural meanings and implications surrounding the fundamental act of drinking water. Using a methodology of iterative, exploratory making, a collection of glass vessels explores philosophical and physical manifestations of Islamic cultural principles derived from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. With the goal of restoring cultural integrity to our daily activities, the work highlights …

Colonial Education And Caribbean Literature In C.L.R. James And George Lamming, Sammantha Mccalla

Theses and Dissertations

Caribbean Literature is credited with the purpose of writing an existence for the people of the West Indies, or the Caribbean, with an identity outside of colonialism. The seminal novels by pivotal writers of the Caribbean such as C.L.R. James and George Lamming are groundbreaking texts that engage with the histories of Caribbean colonial subjects. These writers’ (among others) colonial educations are the foundation for their exiled writing and subsequent resistance to colonial education and antiblackness it spawns and fosters. In the Anglophone Caribbean, it is British colonial education that is the catalyst for this exile. This text explores the …

Contradictions Of Freedom In The Tempest And The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao, Menaka Serres

Theses and Dissertations

In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest (1610-1611) and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) the character negotiate contradictions of freedom: the entitlements that justify violence as well as oppression on the one hand and rights that grant access to emancipation from violence and imposition on the other.

Parallel Pattern: A Familial Legacy Of Care, Diana Antohe

Theses and Dissertations

My work revolves around exploring identity of the in-between, occupying the Venn diagram middle of two cultures. As a Romanian-born, American-raised artist, I want to preserve and broadcast links to the cultures of my upbringing and birthplace. In attempts to ground and define my own “in-between” identity, I look to my parents and grandparents for cues on how they made home for themselves wherever they went, reflecting their experiences with voluntary and involuntary displacement. This text connects the research and influential family practices that shaped its companion exhibition, ranging from the role of portability in emotional transnationalism to the lasting …

Creating Herstory: Female Rebellion In Arundhati Roy’S "The God Of Small Things" And "The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness", Priyanka Tewari

Theses and Dissertations

In The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness novels, the author Arundhati Roy is not only attempting to give feminist weight to the multiplicity of locations in which gender is articulated by recasting her female characters in their quest for selfhood, she is also focusing on women and women-identified characters as agents of history, thereby contributing to an ongoing project of feminist historiography.

Gender-Exclusive Language: Women’S Perception Of Linguistic Ostracism, Voice, And Power In Politics, Michelle Roxanne Grzybowski

Theses and Dissertations

Gender-exclusive language is a type of subtly sexist language that makes reference to a single gender group thereby excluding other gender groups (Stout & Dasgupta, 2011). Two studies examined how the use of gender-exclusive language impacts the experiences of women who were elected members of county boards. Specifically, the studies surveyed county board members in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin to determine whether the naturally occurring variation between the use of gender-exclusive language (e.g., using chairman to indicate both men and women) or gender-neutral language (e.g., chair or chairperson) was related to perceptions of ostracism and a sense of …

Purposeful Integration Of Literacy And Science Instruction In A 4th Grade Immersion Program, Emily Nicole Overvliet

Theses and Dissertations

Though learning content in a second language (L2) requires additional time, students in immersion classes are expected to keep up with the curricular pace of traditional classes. One possible way to secure sufficient time for both language and science content learning is to integrate language arts instruction with core curricular content. This action research study investigated the effectiveness of purposefully integrating literacy instruction with the Utah Core Standards for science with 53 fourth-grade French partial immersion students in Utah. The purpose of this study was to discover how such a model might affect students' French reading skills, science knowledge, and …