DOCSLIB.ORG

Dynamic Relationships Between Beliefs and Practices: How Chinese Families Support Their Children's Biliteracy Acquisition A

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dynamic Relationships Between Beliefs and Practices: How Chinese Families Support Their Children's Biliteracy Acquisition A DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BELIEFS AND PRACTICES: HOW CHINESE FAMILIES SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN’S BILITERACY ACQUISITION A dissertation submitted to the Kent State University College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy By Shu Hui Lin May 2014 © Copyright, 2014 by Shu Hui Lin All Rights Reserved ii A dissertation written by Shu Hui Lin B.A., Bradley University, 1994 M.B.A., University of Dallas, 1995 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2014 Approved by ___________________________________ , Director, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Martha Lash ___________________________________ , Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Kenneth Cushner ___________________________________, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Vilma Seeberg Accepted by ___________________________________ , Director, School of Teaching, Learning, and Alexa L. Sandmann Curriculum Studies ___________________________________ , Dean, College and Graduate School of Daniel F. Mahony Education, Health, and Human Services iii SHU HUI LIN, Ph.D., May 2014 Curriculum and Instruction DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BELIEFS AND PRACTICES: HOW CHINESE FAMILIES SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN’S BILITERACY ACQUISITION (312 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Martha Lash, Ph.D. The purpose of this study was to understand and to describe how Chinese families’ home literacy practices support their children’s bilingualism as well as maintain their heritage language in U.S. mainstream society. This qualitative research took the form of a multiple case study in which five purposefully selected Chinese families’ home literacy practices were investigated in one Midwest community in the US. The study sheds light on the Chinese families’ sociocultural literacy practices and strategies they adopted to interact socially with their children to promote the achievement of biliteracy (Chinese– English listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Data collection and data analysis were based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. The results of the study show that Chinese parents who live in the US play important roles in the maintenance of their children’s heritage language (Mandarin Chinese) and in their learning of the English language. Several major findings revealed that first, parenting styles among Chinese immigrant parents explain their strategies. Second, parents have unique perspectives on the value of Mandarin Chinese or English or both. Third, Chinese families living in the US practice home-based involvement to promote children’s learning in school. Fourth, parents’ languages experiences impact efforts to enhance children’s acquisition of biliteracy. Fifth, social environment has more impact on the development of children’s biliteracy than physical environment. Sixth, diverse strategies implemented in informal and formal literacy practices are useful in predicting children’s oral ability in Mandarin. Seventh, dynamic relationship between beliefs and practices shapes the different roles parents play in Mandarin Chinese and English informal and formal literacy practices. The findings of this study provide suggestions and strategies for other families who face the challenge of biliteracy acquisition. The results of this study have direct implications for school personnel critically reflecting upon their practices to cooperate with parents in assisting bilingual children at home and at school. This study calls for generous support for educators, teachers, parents, and children who are working hard to face the challenges of biliteracy, heritage-language preservation, and bilingualism. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The lengthy journey of dissertation writing would have been impossible without many wonderful people contributing their time, energy, and expertise to making this happen. I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation for my advisor, committee members, participants, colleagues, friends, and family. First, I will always be grateful to my advisor, Dr. Martha Lash, for the many hours she devoted to discussing my dissertation progress, reading and responding to my numerous drafts, and giving me her insightful suggestions. Second, special thanks go to Dr. Kenneth Cushner and Dr. Vilma Seeberg for their perspectives and expertise. Moreover, I like to express many thanks to the five participating families whose insights and experiences are woven throughout the pages of this project: The Wu family, Wang family, Yang family, Lee family, and Chen family for their trust and sharing. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues and friends who encouraged, supported and shared their comments on my work: Dr. Shu-Chu Yang, Dr. Li-Chen Hsueh, Dr.Chih-Hsien Chen, Dr. Yu Hui Chou, Dr. Lang Ying Chou, and Julia Stoll. Special thanks go to Dr. Linda L. Meixner, my editor, for her prompt work. Finally, I would like to express my thanks and love to my dear family for their ongoing love and support. Their affectionate considerations and unwavering confidence in me motivated me to complete my dissertation. I appreciate my parents, father-in-law, my husband Jung Jeng, my sister, sister-in-law, and my brothers for their patience support and encouragement throughout this journey. I also give thanks to my three lovely children, who have kept me walking during my entire education. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................x LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................xiii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 Problem Statement .................................................................................................3 Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................5 Research Questions ................................................................................................6 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................7 Definition of Key Terms ........................................................................................7 Summary ..............................................................................................................10 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ......................................................................11 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................11 Development of Literacy in Bilingual Children ...................................................14 First-Language Acquisition .............................................................................16 Second-Language Acquisition .........................................................................18 Home Literacy Practices ......................................................................................22 Parental Involvement .......................................................................................22 Parental Literacy Beliefs ..................................................................................26 Home Literacy Environment............................................................................29 Chinese Families in the United States ..................................................................31 Summary ..............................................................................................................33 III. METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................................35 Introduction ..........................................................................................................35 Research Design ...................................................................................................36 Participant Selection .............................................................................................37 Gaining Entry and Participation ...........................................................................38 Research Ethics and Protection of Human Subjects ............................................41 Role of the Researcher .........................................................................................41 Data Collection Procedures ..................................................................................42 Interviews .........................................................................................................42 Home Visits and Informal Observations..........................................................44 Weekly Schedule Checklist .............................................................................45 v Parent Audio Recordings .................................................................................45 Documents and Artifacts..................................................................................46 Field Notes .......................................................................................................46 Method of Data Analysis ......................................................................................47 Data Management ............................................................................................47 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................48
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Becoming Taiwanese: Negotiating Language, Culture and Identity
    Becoming Taiwanese: Negotiating Language, Culture and Identity Ying-Chuan Chen Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a doctoral degree in Education Society, Culture, and Literacies Concentration Faculty of Education University of Ottawa © Ying-Chuan Chen, Ottawa, Canada, 2013 Abstract Between 1945 and 1987, as part of its efforts to impose a Chinese identity on native-born Taiwanese and to establish and maintain hegemony, Chiang Kai-shek‘s Kuomintang (KMT) government pursued a unilingual, Mandarin-only policy in education. This thesis studies the changing meaning of ―becoming Taiwanese‖ by examining the school experiences of four generations of Taiyu speakers who went to school during the Mandarin-only era: 1) those who also went to school under the Japanese; 2) those who went to school before 1949 when Taiwan was part of KMT-controlled China; 3) those who went to school during the 1950s at the height of the implementation of KMT rule; and, 4) those who went to school when Mandarin had become the dominant language. Two data types, interviews and public documents, are analyzed using two research methods, focus group interviews as the primary one, and document analysis as the secondary one. This research found that there is no direct relationship between how people negotiated language, hegemony and Taiwanese identity. First, as KMT hegemony became more secure, people‘s links to their home language became weaker, so their view of Taiwanese identity as defined by Taiyu changed. Second, as exposure to hegemonic forces deepened over time, people were less able to find cultural spaces that allowed escape from hegemonic influences, and this, along with other life-course factors such as occupation, had an impact on their contestations of language and identity.
    [Show full text]
  • State Senate District 12, Florida - Population and Housing Narrative Profile: 2005-2009
    State Senate District 12, Florida - Population and Housing Narrative Profile: 2005-2009 State Senate District 12, Florida Population and Housing Narrative Profile: 2005-2009 Data Set: 2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Survey: American Community Survey NOTE. Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, it is the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program that produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the nation, states, counties, cities and towns and estimates of housing units for states and counties. For more information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see Survey Methodology. HOUSEHOLDS AND FAMILIES: In 2005-2009 there were 194,000 households in State Senate District 12. The average household size was 2.6 people. Families made up 66 percent of the households in State Senate District 12. This figure includes both married-couple families (51 percent) and other families (16 percent). Nonfamily households made up 34 percent of all households in State Senate District 12. Most of the nonfamily households were people living alone, but some were composed of people living in households in which no one was related to the householder. The Types of Households in State Senate District 12, Florida in 2005-2009 Married-couple 51% families Other families 16% People living alone 26% Other nonfamily 8% households Percent of households Source: American Community Survey, 2005-2009 NATIVITY AND LANGUAGE: Fifteen percent of the people living in State Senate District 12 in 2005-2009 were foreign born. Eighty-five percent was nativeAmong people at least five years old living in State Senate District 12 in 2005-2009, 23 percent spoke a language other than English at home.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Use in the United States: 2007 (From the American
    Language Use in the United States: 2007 Issued April 2010 American Community Survey Reports ACS-12 By INTRODUCTION Hyon B. Shin and Figure 1. This report provides infor- Robert A. Kominski Reproduction of the Questions on mation on the number and Language From the 2007 American characteristics of people Community Survey in the United States in 2007 who spoke a lan- guage other than English at home. While the vast majority of the popula- tion 5 years old and over in the United States spoke only English at home (80 percent), the population speaking a language other than English at home has increased steadily for the last three decades. The number of speakers increased for many non- English languages, but not all. This changing land- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey. scape of speakers of non- English languages in the United States is highlighted been used in U.S. Census Bureau data in this report. collections (see Figure 1). The fi rst question pertains to everyone 5 years Data from the 2007 American old and over. It asks if the person Community Survey (ACS) are used speaks a language other than English to describe the language use of the at home. A person who responds “yes” U.S. population aged 5 and over. to this question is then asked to report Responses to language and English- the language. The Census Bureau speaking ability questions that were codes these responses into 381 detailed historically collected once every 10 languages. The third question asks years in the decennial census are now “how well” that person speaks English, captured every year in the ACS.
    [Show full text]
  • Immigration in Johnson County KS
    Immigration in Johnson County Immigrants from all over the world call Johnson County home, including non-citizens and naturalized citizens. Almost 48,000 Johnson county residents, or 8% of Johnson County’s current population, came to the United States from another country, according to data from the U.S Census Bureau. Approximately half of all immigrants in the community are naturalized U.S. citizens. Growth in the immigrant population has outpaced growth in the general population by more than three times over the past decade. The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that Johnson County has the largest number of immigrants in the five-county, bi-state Kansas City region. Percent Change in Population and Immigrants, 2005-2015 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Total Population U.S. Citizens Immigrants (Includes Naturalized Citizens and Non-Citizens) Johnson County’s current immigrant population come from all parts of the world. The majority are from Asian countries which include Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are also many immigrants from Latin American countries which include Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Johnson County is home to a significant concentration of immigrants from Kenya as well; 51% of the Kansas City region’s Kenyan population live in Johnson County, according to MPI. Most immigrants arrived in the United States between 2000 and 2009. Place of Birth for Immigrants in Johnson County Oceania North America Africa Europe Latin America Asia 1 Characteristics of Johnson County’s Immigrant Population Immigrants in Johnson County are contributing to the community in various ways, as indicated by five-year trend data from the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Whose History and by Whom: an Analysis of the History of Taiwan In
    WHOSE HISTORY AND BY WHOM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORY OF TAIWAN IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE PUBLISHED IN THE POSTWAR ERA by LIN-MIAO LU (Under the Direction of Joel Taxel) ABSTRACT Guided by the tenet of sociology of school knowledge, this study examines 38 Taiwanese children’s trade books that share an overarching theme of the history of Taiwan published after World War II to uncover whether the seemingly innocent texts for children convey particular messages, perspectives, and ideologies selected, preserved, and perpetuated by particular groups of people at specific historical time periods. By adopting the concept of selective tradition and theories of ideology and hegemony along with the analytic strategies of constant comparative analysis and iconography, the written texts and visual images of the children’s literature are relationally analyzed to determine what aspects of the history and whose ideologies and perspectives were selected (or neglected) and distributed in the literary format. Central to this analysis is the investigation and analysis of the interrelations between literary content and the issue of power. Closely related to the discussion of ideological peculiarities, historians’ research on the development of Taiwanese historiography also is considered in order to examine and analyze whether the literary products fall into two paradigms: the Chinese-centric paradigm (Chinese-centricism) and the Taiwanese-centric paradigm (Taiwanese-centricism). Analysis suggests a power-and-knowledge nexus that reflects contemporary ruling groups’ control in the domain of children’s narratives in which subordinate groups’ perspectives are minimalized, whereas powerful groups’ assumptions and beliefs prevail and are perpetuated as legitimized knowledge in society.
    [Show full text]
  • Social and Economic Census Data by Race
    AccessingAccessing CensusCensus DataData forfor HawaiiHawaii SocialSocial andand EconomicEconomic CensusCensus DataData byby RaceRace –– ReadyReady forfor YouYou Jerry Wong Information Services Specialist U.S. Bureau of the Census Los Angeles Regional Office CensusCensus 20002000 RaceRace CategoriesCategories NewNew FederalFederal GuidelinesGuidelines && CensusCensus 20002000 Major Changes Spanish/Hispanic/Latino asked before race Respondents could select more than 1 race American Indian & Alaska Native combined Asian & Pacific Islander category split: Asian Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander RaceRace && EthnicityEthnicity TabulationTabulation CategoriesCategories Single Race All-Inclusive Race White alone White alone or in combination Black or African Black or African American alone American alone or in combination American Indian & Amer. Indian & Alaska Native Alaska Native alone alone or in combination Asian alone Asian alone or in combination Native Hawaiian & Other Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Pacific Islander alone Islander alone or in combination Some Other Race alone Some other Race alone or in combination Two or More Races Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race) UnitedUnited StatesStates PopulationPopulation Race Alone Race in Race alone or RACE (minimum) Combination in comb. (max.) Total Population 281,421,906 281,421,906 Multiple race responses 14,168,760 288,764,438 One race: 274,595,678 White 211,460,626 5,470,349 216,930,975 Black/African American 34,658,190 1,761,244 36,419,434 Am. Indian/Alaska Native 2,475,956 1,643,345 4,119,301 Asian 10,242,998 1,655,830 11,898,828 Nat. Hawaiian & Pac. Isl. 398,835 475,579 874,414 Some Other Race 15,359,073 3,162,413 18,521,486 2 or more races 6,826,228 Hispanic or Latino (any race) 35,305,818 35,305,818 HawaiiHawaii StateState PopulationPopulation Race Alone Race in Race alone or RACE (minimum) Combination in Comb.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Use in the United States: 2011 American Community Survey Reports
    Language Use in the United States: 2011 American Community Survey Reports By Camille Ryan Issued August 2013 ACS-22 INTRODUCTION Figure 1. English is the language spoken by most people in the Reproduction of the Questions on United States. The official language of many states is Language From the 2011 American English1 and it is the language used in nearly all gov- Community Survey ernmental functions. Despite this predominance, many people in the United States speak languages other 14 a. Does this person speak a language other than than English, and there has long been an interest in English at home? these groups and in how well they are able to partici- Yes pate in civic life and interact with the English-speaking No SKIP to question 15a majority. Beginning in 1890, the U.S. Census Bureau started inquiring about the languages that people b. What is this language? spoke and, with some interruptions in the middle of the twentieth century, similar questions continue to this day. For example: Korean, Italian, Spanish, Vietnamese The primary purpose of the current questions c. How well does this person speak English? on language use is to measure the portion of the Very well U.S. population that may need help in understand- Well ing English. These data are used in a wide variety of Not well legislative, policy, and research applications as well as for legal, financial, and marketing decisions. People Not at all who speak a particular language other than English Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey. and cannot speak English “very well” can be helped with translation services, education, or assistance in President Clinton signed an executive order requir- accessing government services.
    [Show full text]
  • Languages of New York State Is Designed As a Resource for All Education Professionals, but with Particular Consideration to Those Who Work with Bilingual1 Students
    TTHE LLANGUAGES OF NNEW YYORK SSTATE:: A CUNY-NYSIEB GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS LUISANGELYN MOLINA, GRADE 9 ALEXANDER FFUNK This guide was developed by CUNY-NYSIEB, a collaborative project of the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society (RISLUS) and the Ph.D. Program in Urban Education at the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, and funded by the New York State Education Department. The guide was written under the direction of CUNY-NYSIEB's Project Director, Nelson Flores, and the Principal Investigators of the project: Ricardo Otheguy, Ofelia García and Kate Menken. For more information about CUNY-NYSIEB, visit www.cuny-nysieb.org. Published in 2012 by CUNY-NYSIEB, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10016. [email protected]. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alexander Funk has a Bachelor of Arts in music and English from Yale University, and is a doctoral student in linguistics at the CUNY Graduate Center, where his theoretical research focuses on the semantics and syntax of a phenomenon known as ‘non-intersective modification.’ He has taught for several years in the Department of English at Hunter College and the Department of Linguistics and Communications Disorders at Queens College, and has served on the research staff for the Long-Term English Language Learner Project headed by Kate Menken, as well as on the development team for CUNY’s nascent Institute for Language Education in Transcultural Context. Prior to his graduate studies, Mr. Funk worked for nearly a decade in education: as an ESL instructor and teacher trainer in New York City, and as a gym, math and English teacher in Barcelona.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Spoken at Home
    Rhode Island State Data Center Census Data Bulletin State Data Center at the Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program One Capitol Hill, Third Floor, Providence, RI 02908 September 2013 Languages Spoken at Home BY THE NUMBERS For hundreds of years, Rhode Island households have been a multi-lingual lot, from Native languages to English 1 in 5 Rhode Island residents speak a to the languages of immigrants from Europe, Africa, and language other than English at home. Asia. Today, one in five Rhode Island residents* speaks a 105,155 Rhode Island residents speak a language other than English at home. Planners must know what languages their communities speak, especially Spanish or Spanish Creole at home, including for public outreach and communication. 26,377 children ages 5-17. In addition, in 2000, President Clinton signed 11.2% of Bristol County residents speak an Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for Indo-European language other than Spanish Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), which states that people with LEP should have meaningful access at home. to federally funded programs and activities. To begin to Source: American Community Survey 2007-2011 5-yr data. comply with this executive order and its associated regulation, planners who receive federal funds (e.g. for also groups languages into four major categories: transportation) must understand the size and Spanish and Spanish Creole, Other Indo-European demographics of their LEP population. Languages (e.g. Portuguese, Italian, Hindi), Asian or Why should planners focus on language spoken at Pacific Island languages (e.g. Chinese, Hmong, home? Often this is the language that an individual feels Vietnamese), and Other Languages (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • From TCFL/TCSL Courses of the US 100K Strong Initiative to English-Taught Classes: a Case Study of Yuan Ze University
    Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8435 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.41, 2018 From TCFL/TCSL Courses of the US 100K Strong Initiative to English-Taught Classes: A Case Study of Yuan Ze University Ya-chen Chen * College of Humanities and Technology, China Medical University, 91 Hsueh-shih Road, North District, Taichung City, Taiwan * E-mail of the corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract How to categorize Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL) or Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (TCSL) courses in higher education depends on hosting institutions, national-level governmental policies, international diplomatic, overall global trends, and even economic factors. In Euro-American higher education, they belong to Asian Studies Programs, Departments of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures, or Departments of World Languages and Literatures. In Mainland Chinese higher education of the post-2010s, they are categorized as classes in College of Chinese as a Foreign Language (對外漢語學院 ). In Taiwanese higher education of the post-2010s, they are placed under the administrative umbrella of Graduate Institutes of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language (TCSL), Departments of Chinese, Language Centers, or English-taught classes all over the Taiwanese campuses. This article aims to analytically record the case study of how hosting institutions, national-level governmental policies, international diplomatic, global trends, and even economic factors gradually affected and reshaped Yuan Ze University’s TCFL/TCSL courses of the US 100K Strong Initiative and English-taught classes in the recent five-year period from 2011 to 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • CIVIC CHARITY and the CONSTITUTION in 2018, Professor Amy Chua Published a Book Titled, Political Tribes: Group Instinct And
    CIVIC CHARITY AND THE CONSTITUTION THOMAS B. GRIFFITH* In 2018, Professor Amy Chua published a book titled, Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations.1 By Professor Chua’s account, the idea for the book started as a critique of the failure of American foreign policy to recognize that tribal loyalties were the most important political commitments in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.2 But as Professor Chua studied the role such loyalties played in these countries, she recognized that the United States is itself divided among political tribes.3 Of course, Professor Chua is not the first or the only scholar or pundit to point this out.4 I am neither a scholar nor a pundit, but I am an observer of the American political scene. I’ve lived during the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember well the massive street demonstrations protesting American involvement in the war in Vietnam, race riots in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the assassinations of President John F. * Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This Essay is based on remarks given at Harvard Law School in January 2019. 1. AMY CHUA, POLITICAL TRIBES: GROUP INSTINCT AND THE FATE OF NATIONS (2018). 2. See id. at 2–3. 3. Id. at 166, 177. 4. See, e.g., BEN SASSE, THEM: WHY WE HATE EACH OTHER—AND HOW TO HEAL (2018); Arthur C. Brooks, Opinion, Our Culture of Contempt, N.Y. TIMES (Mar. 2, 2019), https://nyti.ms/2Vw3onl [https://perma.cc/TS85-VQFD]; David Brooks, Opinion, The Retreat to Tribalism, N.Y.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Guns Kelcie Politicaldiscourse.Pdf
    THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH POLITICAL DISCOURSE AND TWITTER KELCIE GUNS SPRING 2018 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for baccalaureate degrees in English and Journalism with honors in English Reviewed and approved* by the following: Scott Smith Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature Thesis Supervisor Xiaoye You Associate Professor of English and Asian Studies Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i ABSTRACT This study examines the use of political discourse, partisan language, and gendered language in the media, specifically focusing on the social media platform Twitter. Language can be used to persuade, manipulate, and alter the public’s perception of events and people. Twitter is a new phenomenon that changes and provides new examples of political discourse every day. Within the past few years, the political functions of this social media site have increased drastically, being used by government officials to disseminate information in a unique and unprecedented way. Findings reveal the serious implications of these language choices on the public, and the way that specific tweets can incite political movements. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... v Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................
    [Show full text]