scholarly journals Refugees without Assistance: English-Language Attainment and Economic Outcomes in the Early Twentieth Century

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Abramitzky ◽  
Leah Boustan ◽  
Peter Catron ◽  
Dylan Connor ◽  
Rob Voigt
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Outcomes ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Accented Speech ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
American Society ◽  
Oral History Interviews ◽  
Immigrant Language

The United States has admitted more than 3 million refugees since 1980 through official refugee resettlement programs that provide temporary assistance. Scholars have highlighted the success of refugee groups to show the positive impact of governmental programs on assimilation and integration. In the past, however, refugees arrived without formal selection processes or federal support. We examine the integration of historical refugees using a large archive of recorded oral history interviews to understand linguistic attainment and economic outcomes of migrants who arrived before 1940. Using detailed measures of vocabulary, syntax and accented speech, we find that refugee migrants achieved higher levels of English proficiency than did economic migrants, a finding that holds even when comparing migrants from the same country of origin or religious group. This study improves on previous research of immigrant language acquisition, which typically rely on self-reported measures of fluency, and on studies of refugees, which typically assign refugee status based on country-of-birth alone. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that refugees, being unable to immediately return to their origin country, may have had greater incentive to learn or be exposed to English, which increased their linguistic attainment. Our results provide an optimistic historical precedent for the incorporation of refugees into American society.

scholarly journals Military Narratives and Profiles in Russian Influence Operations on Twitter

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Weinberg ◽  
Jessica Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Information Warfare ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Government Ideology ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
American Society

Since 2016, Russia has engaged in a dedicated influence operation against the United States. Although distinctly modern in its use of social media platforms, the current methods align with old Soviet doctrine using information warfare to gain a strategic edge over competitors. Using the WARP framework, a heuristic tool for understanding narrative weaponization for mobilization and radicalization, we focus on Russia’s use of narratives to exacerbate existing cleavages in American society and to undermine US national security. Using data from Twitter’s comprehensive data archive of state-backed information operations, we find that military and patriotic narratives constitute one of the most frequently deployed narrative sets (second only to Trump), comprising 12.9% of the 1,357 million English-language tweets. The Russians weaponized these narratives and profiles to support or smear a variety of political actors and to escalate the urgency of various social causes. Moreover, these narratives actively recruited audiences to embrace New War cultural identity, an anti-government ideology focused on defending their families from an increasingly hostile state and world. Using a variety of persuasive strategies, the Russians leveraged these narratives to deliver emotionally resonant signals about allies and perceived enemies, both foreign (e.g. Muslims and immigrants) and domestic (e.g. government officials and the media), and to set the groundwork for potentially violent mobilization. Impersonating military profiles increased message resonance, and posturing as credible sources may have aided normalization and legitimization of New War cultural identity and divisive messaging. We conclude the Russians used military and patriotic narratives and profiles to wrap anti-government sentiment in patriotic trappings and to set the stage for Americans to engage in armed domestic conflict.

Early Chinese-American Society as Portrayed in Chinese Letters of the Ah Louis Family of San Luis Obispo, California, usa早期美国华侨社会：美国加州,圣路易斯-奥比 斯波市-黄安家族的中文信件

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-215
Author(s):  
Joel Fetzer
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Report ◽  
San Luis ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
American Society

This research report presents the English-language translations of several hand-written, Chinese-language letters from the overseas-Chinese Ah Louis family of San Luis Obispo, California. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, when these letters were written, this medium-sized town on the Pacific coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles was home to hundreds of Cantonese immigrants. As unofficial “mayor” of San Luis Obispo’s Chinatown, the Guangdong-born Ah Louis interacted with a wide variety of merchants, employees, friends, family members, and officials. These documents discuss commerce in Chinatown, a legal case about local Chumash Indians, migration between China and the United States, family life in rural Guangdong Province, and labor relations in California, providing a near-unique window into ordinary Chinese-American life around the turn of the twentieth century. Extensive footnotes also place the letters in their historical and cultural context.

Diabetes Education Impact on Hypoglycemia Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Evidence and Gaps in the Literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline LaManna ◽  
Michelle L. Litchman ◽  
Jane K. Dickinson ◽  
Andrew Todd ◽  
Mary M. Julius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
English Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Diabetes Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Knowledge Gain ◽  
Case Control Studies ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The primary purpose of this study is to report a systematic review of evidence and gaps in the literature among well-conducted studies assessing the impact of diabetes education on hypoglycemia outcomes and secondarily reporting the impact on other included target outcomes. Methods The authors used a modified Cochrane method to systematically search and review English-language titles, abstracts, and full-text articles published in the United States between January 2001 and December 2017, with diabetes education specified as an intervention and a directly measurable outcome for hypoglycemia risk or events included. Results Fourteen quasi-experimental, experimental, and case-control studies met the inclusion criteria, with 8 articles reporting a positive impact of diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) on hypoglycemia outcomes; 2 of the 8 reported decreased hypoglycemia events, and 1 reported decreased events in both the intervention and control groups. In addition, 5 studies targeted change in reported hypoglycemia symptoms, with all 5 reporting a significant decrease. DSMES also demonstrated an impact on intermediate (knowledge gain, behavior change) and long-term (humanistic and economic/utilization) outcomes. An absence of common hypoglycemia measures and terminology and suboptimal descriptions of DSMES programs for content, delivery, duration, practitioner types, and participants were identified as gaps in the literature. Conclusions Most retained studies reported that diabetes education positively affected varied measures of hypoglycemia outcomes (number of events, reported symptoms) as well as other targeted outcomes. Diabetes education is an important intervention for reducing hypoglycemia events and/or symptoms and should be included as a component of future hypoglycemia risk mitigation studies.

scholarly journals The Benefits of Nature-based Writing for English Language Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiri L. Manookin
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
South Central ◽  
Added Benefit ◽  
Nature Deficit

This paper explores the value of ecopedagogies and ecojustice education in an increasingly nature-deficit and attention-directed world, and does so through the lens of place-based education. More specifically, this paper explores the positive impact nature-based writing in the Department of English Language Learning at Utah Valley University (UVU) has on English language learners (ELLs). The ecopedagogical program at UVU includes multiple opportunities for conducting environmental/economic research and writing in several relevant genres, but this paper primarily focuses on qualitative data retrieved from semester-long Nature Journals and a Wilderness Writing Workshop held during a four-day department-sponsored excursion to Capitol Reef National Park in south-central Utah in the United States. The benefits of nature-based writing include greater engagement and increased desire to write, improved vocabulary and language skills, more poetic writing, less reported stress, and a greater sense of connection to all other living beings. As added benefit, English language learners at UVU have also had opportunities to participate in civic-minded conferences, have been interviewed with the author on public radio, and are expected to have work published in an upcoming anthology.

scholarly journals Faculty Perspectives on Research Collaborations between the U.S. and Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. p63
Author(s):  
Hilda Cecilia Contreras Aguirre ◽  
Elsa Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
International Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Research Collaborations ◽  
And Mathematics

The transfer of knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) across countries is a common practice in academia, which is both timely and useful to achieve research collaborations. Through a qualitative research approach, using interviews and observations, five STEM Mexican professors shared their experiences and expectations in leading the research collaborations where professors and students participated. This qualitative inquiry utilized Sargent and Water’s (2004) academic research collaborations framework, which highlights the interactive phases for achieving successful collaborations. The findings revealed that: 1) institutional support through department chairs’ encouragement along with professors’ leadership to expand research collaborations in both countries are favorable and 2) more resources to fund students’ participation in international research collaborations and better climate that help students feel socially included and academically integrated to a new setting seem necessary. The article concludes with perspectives and implications for strengthening the research exchanges between the United States (U.S.) and Mexico. Among them, highlighting the positive impact that international research collaborations have for universities in both countries, the need to expand the funding for students’ mobility overseas, and the improvement of English language training to strengthen students’ connections, and, consequently, collaboration.

Dissecting the act of god: an exploration of the effect of religiosity on economic activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Francois Carpantier ◽  
Anastasia Litina
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Church Attendance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Economic Outcomes ◽  
Second Step ◽  
Persistent Effect ◽  
Per Capita

Abstract This research explores whether religiosity has a persistent effect on economic outcomes. We follow a three-step analysis. First, we use a sample of migrants in the United States to establish that religiosity in the country of origin has a lasting effect on the religiosity of migrants. Second, by exploiting variation in the inherited component of religiosity of migrants and controlling only for a baseline set of controls, we uncover a causal link between several aspects of religiosity and income level. The empirical findings of the second step suggest that i) church attendance has a positive impact on income; and ii) stronger faith is associated with a higher income. Finally, we augment the set of controls included in the measure of inherited religiosity in order to capture the effects of social capital, education, and of traits conducive to income growth. When controlling for social capital, the effect of religious attendance on economic outcomes vanishes, and when controlling for the presence of traits conducive to growth, the effect of intensity of faith vanishes as well. We therefore conclude that when properly accounting for unobservables, religiosity does not affect per capita income.

scholarly journals Evolution of the Novel in the United States

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Egnal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Key Words ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
American Society ◽  
Modern Era

This article examines the evolution of the novel in the United States using a remarkable new source, the Ngram database. This database, which spans several centuries, draws on the 15 million books that Google has scanned. It allows researchers to look at year-to-year fluctuations in the use of particular words. Using one of the available filters, the article is based on English-language books published in the United States between 1800 and 2008. But making sense of these data requires a framework. That framework is provided by the four periods that emerge from much recent writing on the novel. Four epochs—the sentimental era (1789–1860), the genteel era (1860–1915), the modern era (1915–60), and the postmodern era (1960–)—define the evolution of the novel and, more broadly, changes in American society and values. The article argues that a study of key words drawn from the Ngram database confirms the existence of these periods and deepens our understanding of them.

Cut from the Same Cloth

2007 ◽  
pp. 220-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark H. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Indians ◽  
English Language ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Boarding School ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Bureau ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
American Society ◽  
United States Federal Government

The construction and implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) within the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is yet another attempt to assimilate American Indians into the greater American society. Historically, the BIA collaborated with Christian missionaries to assimilate indigenous Americans. The United States federal government implemented the reservation and boarding school systems, and promoted the English language and Christianity while effectively suppressing indigenous languages and religions. Today the BIA collaborates with new missionaries who are distinctly technical and corporate. This particular BIA/GIS implementation strategy can have homogenizing and universalizing impacts upon American Indian cultural landscapes, geographic knowledge and native languages.

scholarly journals Death under Control: The Portrayal of Death in Mass Print English Language Magazines in Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juanne Nancarrow Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Life Extension ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
North Americans ◽  
Social Motivations ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Right

The purpose of this article is to discuss the portrayal of death in modern North American society in the highest circulating English language magazines available in Canada and published either in the United States or in Canada, in 1991, 1996, and 2001. The prevailing underlying frame/discourse of which there were a number of sub-variants, was the notion of the control of death. Stories focused on people taking control of death by 1) passive and active euthanasia, 2) suicide with political and social motivations and messages, 3) suicide deaths among celebrities and the families of celebrities, 4) dramatic murders, 5) issues in the “right to die movement,” and 6) new techniques and technologies for life extension. There was a very small minority of articles on miscellaneous issues such as death rates and their variation across geographic region, social class, environmental condition, and cause. The article ends with discussion of the ways that this portrayal of death obfuscates the real lack of control most North Americans, particularly those who are poor or “racialized,” have over the timing, or circumstances of death. In addition, as a critical discourse analysis, it discusses the interests that are served by this perspective.

Pre-Referral Procedures: Meeting Unique Needs of English Language Learners

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Joanna Burton ◽  
Betsy Wendt
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
School System ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public School System ◽  
Language Difference ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
School Team

An increasingly large number of children receiving education in the United States public school system do not speak English as their first language. As educators adjust to the changing educational demographics, speech-language pathologists will be called on with increasing frequency to address concerns regarding language difference and language disorders. This paper illustrates the pre-referral assessment-to-intervention processes and products designed by one school team to meet the unique needs of English Language Learners (ELL).

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