DOCSLIB.ORG

Our Beautiful Family”: a Study of English Language Learners’ Dual Language Identity Texts and Linguistic Identity in a Family Literacy Program

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Our Beautiful Family”: a Study of English Language Learners’ Dual Language Identity Texts and Linguistic Identity in a Family Literacy Program University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-01-11 “Our Beautiful Family”: A study of English Language Learners’ dual language identity texts and linguistic identity in a family literacy program Bajt, Allison Bajt, A. (2019). “Our Beautiful Family”: A study of English Language Learners’ dual language identity texts and linguistic identity in a family literacy program (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109464 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY “Our Beautiful Family”: A study of English Language Learners’ dual language identity texts and linguistic identity in a family literacy program by Allison BaJt A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN LANGUAGES, LITERATURES AND CULTURES CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY, 2019 © Allison BaJt 2019 Abstract This study investigates how three families characterize their linguistic identity while co- authoring dual language identity texts in Arabic and English. As a community-engaged research project, it also seeks to determine how facilitators of family literacy programs can use dual language identity texts to better address the learning needs of both young and adult learners. The Linguistic Portrait Silhouette task provides insights concerning how children and parents relate to their languages in terms of expertise, affiliation and inheritance. The findings suggest that the participants are in the process of constructing an identity as Arabic and English speakers and point to the importance of children’s school experiences and contextual factors (i.e., being a primary caregiver), in shaping their identity. Lastly, interview data indicate that such projects can increase the personal relevance of learning tasks, promote accountability, address issues of accessibility for newcomers, encourage collaboration, and provide a tool for documenting families’ growth. Keywords: Dual Language Learners, English language learning, literacy, home literacy, culturally sensitive pedagogy, community-engaged research, action research ii Preface This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, A. BaJt. The study reported in Chapters 2-5 was covered by Ethics ID number 17-1720 by the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board (CFREB) for the proJect “The Effect of Authoring Dual Language Identity Texts on Dual Language Learners’ Literacy Skills in Arabic and English and Linguistic Identity” on January 2, 2018. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Mary Grantham O’Brien for her superb guidance over the past three years. It is difficult to put into words how immensely grateful I am for your unwavering support and encouragement, input, advice and feedback. If it is possible, I feel more admiration for you today than I did when I first met you as an undergraduate student. I truly would not be the learner, teacher or researcher I am had you not been my mentor and role model all these years. Thank you for setting the bar high—your belief in me has helped me to achieve more than I ever thought possible! I would also like to thank my committee for offering their time and expertise and for providing me with their feedback. To Dr. Dressler in particular, I have been lucky to have had your insight at various stages in my study, and my thesis certainly would not be what it is today without your help and previous work in this field. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to both the project translator and a colleague in the Arabic department at the University of Calgary for their invaluable help with translating the families’ texts and putting together the dual language books. Last but not least, to my co-researchers, the children, families, and staff of the family literacy program: confidentiality and anonymity prevent me from acknowledging you by name, but I hope you know how much you mean to me, and how indebted I am to you. Thank you for welcoming me wholeheartedly and unreservedly into your homes and lives, celebrating your stories, and being my teachers! iv Dedication My dedication is threefold. First, I dedicate this thesis to the three families with whom I worked to conduct this research. Their warmth, honesty and authenticity were both inspiring and a lesson in humility. It is fair to say that their positivity and resilience kept me going at a difficult time in my personal life and have undoubtedly changed the course of my professional life. Second, I dedicate this thesis to the three family literacy facilitators and program director who made this research possible. Their experiences and insights formed the basis for my work and have left me with no doubt of the immense care and expertise they bring to the field of family literacy. Lastly, I dedicate this thesis to Nolia Hack-Nanninga. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Preface ............................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iv Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vi List of Figures and Illustrations ....................................................................................... x List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature ....................................................... xi Epigraph ........................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 International Migration .......................................................................................... 1 1.3 Focus of the Study ................................................................................................... 4 1.3.1 Definition of important terms. ....................................................................... 5 1.4 Structure of the Thesis ............................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................ 9 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 9 2.2 Challenges to Learning English as an Additional Language ............................ 10 2.3 Adult English Language Learners ....................................................................... 13 2.3.1 EAL literacy learners. ................................................................................... 15 2.3.2. Language, literacy and social integration. ................................................. 16 2.4 Multimodality and Multiliteracies Pedagogy ...................................................... 19 2.5 Dual Language Identity Texts .............................................................................. 22 2.5.1 Rethinking power relations and expertise. ................................................. 23 2.5.2 Linguistic transfer, Cummins’s Common Underlying Proficiency .......... 25 hypothesis, and metalinguistic awareness. ........................................................... 25 2.5.3 The Literacy Expertise and Engagement frameworks. ............................. 28 2.6 Gaps in the Literature ........................................................................................... 30 vi 2.6.1 The Language Portrait Silhouette task. ...................................................... 31 2.6.2 A novel setting: family literacy programs. .................................................. 34 2.7 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 35 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................. 37 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 37 3.2 Setting of the Study ............................................................................................... 38 3.2.1 Local setting. .................................................................................................. 38 3.2.2 Community setting. ....................................................................................... 39 3.3 Timeline of the Study ...........................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • What Role Does Type of Sponsorship Play in Early Integration Outcomes? Syrian Refugees Resettled in Six Canadian Cities
    Document generated on 09/25/2021 9:34 a.m. Refuge Canada's Journal on Refugees Revue canadienne sur les réfugiés What Role Does Type of Sponsorship Play in Early Integration Outcomes? Syrian Refugees Resettled in Six Canadian Cities Michaela Hynie, Susan McGrath, Jonathan Bridekirk, Anna Oda, Nicole Ives, Jennifer Hyndman, Neil Arya, Yogendra B. Shakya, Jill Hanley and Kwame McKenzie Private Sponsorship in Canada Article abstract Volume 35, Number 2, 2019 There is little longitudinal research that directly compares the effectiveness of Canada’s Government-Assisted Refugee (GAR) and Privately Sponsored Refugee URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1064818ar (PSR) Programs that takes into account possible socio-demographic differences DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1064818ar between them. This article reports findings from 1,921 newly arrived adult Syrian refugees in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. GARs and PSRs See table of contents differed widely on several demographic characteristics, including length of time displaced. Furthermore, PSRs sponsored by Groups of 5 resembled GARs more than other PSR sponsorship types on many of these characteristics. PSRs also had broader social networks than GARs. Sociodemographic differences Publisher(s) and city of residence influenced integration outcomes, emphasizing the Centre for Refugee Studies, York University importance of considering differences between refugee groups when comparing the impact of these programs. ISSN 0229-5113 (print) 1920-7336 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Hynie, M., McGrath, S., Bridekirk, J., Oda, A., Ives, N., Hyndman, J., Arya, N., Shakya, Y., Hanley, J. & McKenzie, K. (2019). What Role Does Type of Sponsorship Play in Early Integration Outcomes? Syrian Refugees Resettled in Six Canadian Cities.
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of the 15Th SIGMORPHON Workshop on Computational Research in Phonetics, Phonology, and Morphology, Pages 1–10 Brussels, Belgium, October 31, 2018
    SIGMORPHON 2018 The 15th SIGMORPHON Workshop on Computational Research in Phonetics, Phonology, and Morphology Proceedings of the Workshop October 31, 2018 Brussels, Belgium c 2018 The Association for Computational Linguistics Order copies of this and other ACL proceedings from: Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) 209 N. Eighth Street Stroudsburg, PA 18360 USA Tel: +1-570-476-8006 Fax: +1-570-476-0860 [email protected] ISBN 978-1-948087-76-6 ii Preface Welcome to the 15th SIGMORPHON Workshop on Computational Research in Phonetics, Phonology, and Morphology, to be held on October 31, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The workshop aims to bring together researchers interested in applying computational techniques to problems in morphology, phonology, and phonetics. Our program this year highlights the ongoing and important interaction between work in computational linguistics and work in theoretical linguistics. This year, however, a new focus on low resource approaches to morphology is emerging as a consequence of the SIGMORPHON 2016 and CoNLL shared tasks on morphological reinflection across a wide range of languages. We received 36 submissions, and after a competitive reviewing process, we accepted 19. Due to time limitations, 6 papers were chosen for oral presentations, the remaining papers are presented as posters. The workshop also includes a joint poster session with CoNLL, on the CoNLL–SIGMORPHON 2018 Shared Task: Universal Morphological Reinflection. We are grateful to the program committee for their careful and thoughtful reviews
    [Show full text]
  • Citizenship Revocation in the Mainstream Press: a Case of Re-Ethni- Cization?
    Citizenship RevoCation in the MainstReaM pRess: a Case of Re-ethni- Cization? elke WinteR ivana pRevisiC Abstract. Under the original version of the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (2014), dual citizens having committed high treason, terrorism or espionage could lose their Canadian citizenship. In this paper, we examine how the measure was dis- cussed in Canada’s mainstream newspapers. We ask: who/what is seen as the target of citizenship revocation? What does this tell us about the direction that Canadian more often critical than supportive of the citizenship revocation provision. However, the press ignored the involvement of non-Muslim, white, Western-origin Canadians in terrorist acts and interpreted the measure as one that was mostly affecting Canadian Muslims. Thus, despite advocating for equal citizenship in principle, in their writing and reporting practice, Canadian newspapers constructed Canadian Muslims as sus- picious and less Canadian nonetheless. Keywords: Muslim Canadians; Citizenship; Terrorism; Canada; Revocation Résumé: Au sein de la version originale de la Loi renforçant la citoyenneté cana- dienne (2014), les citoyens canadiens ayant une double citoyenneté et ayant été condamnés pour haute trahison, pour terrorisme ou pour espionnage, auraient pu se faire révoquer leur citoyenneté canadienne. Dans cet article, nous étudions comment ce projet de loi fut discuté au sein de la presse canadienne. Nous cherchons à répondre à deux questions: Qui/quoi est perçu comme pouvant faire l’objet d’une révocation de citoyenneté? En quoi cela nous informe-t-il sur les orientations futures de la citoy- enneté canadienne? Nos résultats démontrent que les journaux canadiens sont plus critiques à l’égard de la révocation de la citoyenneté que positionnés en sa faveur.
    [Show full text]
  • Ali Salam, from Pierre Trudeau to Justin Trudeau
    From Pierre Trudeau to Justin Trudeau – comparing Immigration and Refugee policy then and now Thank you Margaret. First of all, I’d like to acknowledge the brilliant panelists that have been assembled today and make it clear that I feel very inadequate to be amongst you all. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t thank Tom Axworthy for his hard work in putting these events together. I was lucky enough to have studied under Tom once upon a time and for those of you who’ve had the pleasure of having Tom in your life, you know that his generosity and ability to challenge you are a perpetual gift, so thanks Tom. Today, I’m going to be speaking to the actions and perceptions of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Justin Trudeau Governments on immigration broadly and refugees specifically, including how both have been progressive as it can be defined relative to their times, but also politically pragmatic when managing public expectations from Canadians. When considering such a broad period of time and such an expansive subject, it is often best to consider the pertinent events as a series of moments. Not in the temporal sense of a moment, but more as a fork in the road where a choice was made, and one can look back and clearly trace our nation’s journey from there to here in the present day. In this case we’ll look at two sets of moments, one from each government. I would encourage you all to consider the impact that different choices would have had on the Canadian fabric, and related to that, the Canadian foreign and development policy decisions noted by the other panelists today.
    [Show full text]
  • Do Heiban and Talodi Form a Genetic Group and How Are They Related to Niger-Congo?
    Do Heiban and Talodi form a genetic group and how are they related to Niger-Congo? SUBMITTED FOR AN EDITED VOLUME FROM THE NUBA MOUNTAINS LANGUAGES CONFEREMCE, PARIS 2014. N. QUINT ED. [DRAFT CIRCULATED FOR COMMENT -NOT FOR CITATION WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE AUTHOR] Roger Blench McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge Kay Williamson Educational Foundation Correspondence address: 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/ Ans 0044-(0)1223-560687 Mobile worldwide (00-44)-(0)7847-495590 E-mail [email protected] http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm This printout: August 8, 2016 Roger Blench Heiban-Talodi and their links with Niger-Congo Circulated for comment TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 1 2. The Heiban languages................................................................................................................................. 1 3. The Talodi languages .................................................................................................................................. 1 4. Is Heiban-Talodi a single branch of Kordofanian?.................................................................................. 4 4.1 General 4 4.2 Lexicon 4 4.3 Noun class affixes 5 4.4 Polysemy 6 5. How far do Heiban-Talodi affixes correspond to the remainder of Niger-Congo? .............................. 6 6. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Ridrissue5 1..74
    First Session Première session de la Forty-second Parliament, 2015-16 quarante-deuxième législature, 2015-2016 Proceedings of the Standing Délibérations du Comité Senate Committee on sénatorial permanent des Human Rights Droits de la personne Chair: Président : The Honourable JIM MUNSON L'honorable JIM MUNSON Wednesday, May 11, 2016 Le mercredi 11 mai 2016 Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Le mercredi 18 mai 2016 Issue No. 5 Fascicule nº 5 Consideration of a draft agenda (future business) Étude d'un projet d'ordre du jour (travaux futurs) and et First and second meetings: Première et deuxième réunions : Study on steps being taken to facilitate the integration of Étude sur les mesures prises pour faciliter l'intégration des newly-arrived Syrian refugees and to address the challenges réfugiés syriens nouvellement arrivés et les aider à they are facing, including by the various levels of surmonter les difficultés qu'ils vivent, notamment par les government, private sponsors and non-governmental divers ordres de gouvernement, les répondants du secteur organizations privé et les organismes non gouvernementaux APPEARING: COMPARAÎT: The Honourable John McCallum, P.C., M.P., Minister of L'honorable John McCallum, C.P., député, ministre de Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship l'Immigration, des Réfugiés et de la Citoyenneté THE THIRD REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE LE TROISIÈME RAPPORT DU COMITÉ (Special Study Budget (Integration of Newly-arrived (Budget pour étude spéciale (Intégration des réfugiés Syrian Refugees) 2016-2017) syriens nouvellement arrivés) 2016-2017) WITNESSES: TÉMOINS : (See back cover) (Voir à l'endos) 52579-52611 STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMITÉ SÉNATORIAL PERMANENT DES HUMAN RIGHTS DROITS DE LA PERSONNE The Honourable Jim Munson, Chair Président : L'honorable Jim Munson The Honourable Salma Ataullahjan, Deputy Chair Vice-présidente : L'honorable Salma Ataullahjan and et The Honourable Senators: Les honorables sénateurs : Andreychuk Hubley Andreychuk Hubley * Carignan, P.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Citizenship Revocation in the Mainstream Press: a Case of Re-Ethni- Cization?
    CITIZENSHIP REVOCATION IN THE MAINSTREAM PRESS: A CASE OF RE-ETHNI- CIZATION? ELKE WINTER IVANA PREVISIC Abstract. Under the original version of the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (2014), dual citizens having committed high treason, terrorism or espionage could lose their Canadian citizenship. In this paper, we examine how the measure was dis- cussed in Canada’s mainstream newspapers. We ask: who/what is seen as the target of citizenship revocation? What does this tell us about the direction that Canadian citizenship is moving towards? Our findings show that Canadian newspapers were more often critical than supportive of the citizenship revocation provision. However, the press ignored the involvement of non-Muslim, white, Western-origin Canadians in terrorist acts and interpreted the measure as one that was mostly affecting Canadian Muslims. Thus, despite advocating for equal citizenship in principle, in their writing and reporting practice, Canadian newspapers constructed Canadian Muslims as sus- picious and less Canadian nonetheless. Keywords: Muslim Canadians; Citizenship; Terrorism; Canada; Revocation Résumé: Au sein de la version originale de la Loi renforçant la citoyenneté cana- dienne (2014), les citoyens canadiens ayant une double citoyenneté et ayant été condamnés pour haute trahison, pour terrorisme ou pour espionnage, auraient pu se faire révoquer leur citoyenneté canadienne. Dans cet article, nous étudions comment ce projet de loi fut discuté au sein de la presse canadienne. Nous cherchons à répondre à deux questions: Qui/quoi est perçu comme pouvant faire l’objet d’une révocation de citoyenneté? En quoi cela nous informe-t-il sur les orientations futures de la citoy- enneté canadienne? Nos résultats démontrent que les journaux canadiens sont plus critiques à l’égard de la révocation de la citoyenneté que positionnés en sa faveur.
    [Show full text]
  • House of Commons Debates
    House of Commons Debates VOLUME 146 Ï NUMBER 248 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 41st PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Tuesday, May 7, 2013 Speaker: The Honourable Andrew Scheer CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 16379 HOUSE OF COMMONS Tuesday, May 7, 2013 The House met at 10 a.m. EXPANSION AND CONSERVATION OF CANADA'S NATIONAL PARKS ACT Hon. Peter MacKay (for the Minister of the Environment) moved that Bill S-15, an act to amend the Canada National Parks Act Prayers and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act and to make consequential amendments to the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, be read the first time. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS (Motion agreed to and bill read the first time) Ï (1005) *** [English] PETITIONS GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO PETITIONS GENETICALLY MODIFIED ALFALFA Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of Mr. Earl Dreeshen (Red Deer, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I rise today the Government in the House of Commons, CPC): Mr. Speaker, to present a petition regarding genetically modified alfalfa. It is pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both signed by constituents in my riding and the surrounding area. official languages, the government's response to 13 petitions. NUCLEAR FUEL PROCESSING LICENCE *** Mr. Andrew Cash (Davenport, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I have two NAVIGABLE WATERS PROTECTION ACT petitions to present today. Mr. Craig Scott (Toronto—Danforth, NDP) moved for leave to Several months ago, the people in my riding of Davenport in introduce Bill C-506, an act to amend the Navigable Waters Toronto awoke to the fact that for 50 years now, GE Hitachi has been Protection Act (Don River).
    [Show full text]
  • Core 1..142 Hansard
    House of Commons Debates VOLUME 146 Ï NUMBER 197 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 41st PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Wednesday, December 12, 2012 Speaker: The Honourable Andrew Scheer CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 13203 HOUSE OF COMMONS Wednesday, December 12, 2012 The House met at 2 p.m. country. They were nominated by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs for this well-deserved and prestigious honour. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is a non-partisan Prayers organization, implementing strategies to improve the quality of Jewish life in Canada and abroad, increase support for Israel and strengthen the Canada-Israel relationship. Ï (1405) [English] I reviewed the accomplishments of these outstanding citizens and I can attest to the dedication and commitment they have to their The Speaker: It being Wednesday, we will now have the singing communities, their province and their country. One common trait the of the national anthem led by the hon. member for Toronto Centre. recipients share is their long-standing dedication to volunteerism and [Members sang the national anthem] devotion to their fellow citizens. They are an example for all citizens, and most deserving of this honour. I ask all members of the House to join me in expressing our STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS congratulations to the these distinguished recipients and our thanks for their continued service to Canada. [English] *** ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS Mr. Bruce Hyer (Thunder Bay—Superior North, Ind.): Mr. SEASONS GREETINGS Speaker, the first nations of northwestern Ontario are concerned that Mr. Joe Comartin (Windsor—Tecumseh, NDP): Mr. Speaker, it their rights have been trampled by Bill C-45, the government's is one of life's most beautiful ironies that at this darkest, coldest time omnibus budget bill.
    [Show full text]
  • Sudan Country Report
    SUDAN COUNTRY REPORT April 2004 Country Information & Policy Unit IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE HOME OFFICE, UNITED KINGDOM Sudan April 2004 CONTENTS 1. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 - 1.7 2. GEOGRAPHY 2.1 - 2.3 3. ECONOMY 3.1 - 3.2 4. HISTORY 1989 - April 2004: The al-Bashir Regime 4.1 - 4.3 Events of 2002 - 2004 4.4 - 4.19 5. STATE STRUCTURES The Constitution 5.1 - 5.2 The Political System 5.3 - 5.5 Political Parties 5.6 - 5.7 The Judiciary 5.8 - 5.17 Military Service and the Popular Defence Force 5.18 - 5.26 Conscription 5.27 - 5.32 Exemptions, Pardons and Postponements 5.33 - 5.36 Internal Security 5.37 - 5.38 Legal Rights/Detention 5.39 - 5.43 Prisons and Prison Conditions 5.44 - 5.47 Medical Services 5.48 - 5.55 HIV/AIDS 5.56 - 5.60 Mental Health Care 5.61 - 5.62 The Education System 5.63 - 5.64 Sudanese Nationality Laws 5.65 - 5.68 6. HUMAN RIGHTS 6.A. HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES Overview 6.1 - 6.12 Freedom of Speech and the Media 6.13 - 6.17 Newspapers 6.18 - 6.21 Television, Radio and the Internet 6.22 - 6.24 Freedom of Religion 6.25 - 6.37 Forced Religious Conversion 6.38 - 6.39 Freedom of Assembly and Association 6.40 - 6.46 Meetings and Demonstrations 6.47 - 6.49 Employment Rights 6.50 - 6.52 Trade Unions 6.53 - 6.58 Wages and Conditions 6.59 - 6.62 People Trafficking 6.63 - 6.66 Slavery 6.67 - 6.71 Freedom of Movement 6.72 - 6.75 Passports 6.76 - 6.77 Exit Visas 6.78 - 6.81 Airport Security 6.82 - 6.83 Returning Sudanese Nationals 6.84 - 6.87 Arbitrary Interference with Privacy 6.88 - 6.91 6.B.
    [Show full text]
  • Uvic Thesis Template
    Identity voyage: An investigation into how homeland conflict affects the identities of immigrants to Canada by Anna Melinda Press Bachelor of Arts, York University, 2010 Bachelor of Education, York University, 2010 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Public Administration Anna Melinda Press, 2014 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Identity voyage: An investigation into how homeland conflict affects the identities of immigrants to Canada by Anna Melinda Press Bachelor of Arts, York University, 2010 Bachelor of Education, York University, 2010 Supervisory Committee Dr. Catherine Althaus-Kaefer, (School of Public Administration) Supervisor Dr. Thea Vakil, (School of Public Administration) Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Catherine Althaus-Kaefer, (School of Public Administration) Supervisor Dr. Thea Vakil, (School of Public Administration) Departmental Member This thesis aims to address the challenges faced by immigrants to Canada from countries in conflict, namely Turkey and Israel. Through the use of a conceptual framework, this research study identifies how context, conflict and identity impact upon each other and are expressed through insightful narratives. Data collection was conducted in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada, using semi-structured interviews and reflective journals. Findings indicated that regardless of physical proximity to conflict in one’s homeland, it can continue to have an effect – in many cases through familial (sentimental) attachments rather than concern for the country. As well, identity should be considered permeable but also overlapping; emigration does not necessarily entail disengagement from the homeland (or its conflicts).
    [Show full text]
  • Refugee Health and Resettlement: Lessons Learned from the Syrian Response
    RESEARCH SUMMARY REPORT REFUGEE HEALTH AND RESETTLEMENT: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE SYRIAN RESPONSE INTRODUCTION plan was to accomplish this ambitious commitment by the end of 2015. e e Syrian Civil War, according to the UN deadline was later extended to early spring Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad of 2016. Advocacy groups and community al Hussein, has become “the worst agencies continued to rally the Canadian [human-made] disaster the world has seen government to increase the Syrian resettle- since World War II” (United Nations News ment numbers. By mid-2017, a total of Services, 2017). Over 6.5 million people 40,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled have been internally displaced within Syria in Canada (Government of Canada, 2017). (UNHCR, 2016), and 5 million have ed Syria and are living as refugees in Turkey, Resettling this large cohort of Syrian Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and other refugees to Canada within a short amount North African countries (UNHCR, 2017b). of time was an extraordinary and complex Almost one million Syrians have requested undertaking. e last time Canada under- asylum in European countries (UNHCR, took such a rapid and large scale refugee 2017a). resettlement was in 1979, when we resettled 60,000 refugees from South East Asia In line with our humanitarian tradition, (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) within a Canadian government and Canadian period of two years. In the case of Syrian citizens stepped in with a nationwide refugee resettlement process, several inter- commitment to resettle Syrian refugees. e national organizations and all levels of widely shared story of the tragic loss of government in Canada were involved.
    [Show full text]