scholarly journals The effects of modality, English language proficiency, and length of stay on immigrants' learning from American news about politics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Yulia Medvedeva
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
News Media ◽  
English Language ◽  
Television News ◽  
The United States ◽  
Symbol Systems ◽  
Political News ◽  
Print News ◽  
The U.S

This dissertation explored how well immigrants in the United States learn from American political news. Predictions in this online experiment were based on a 1990 survey in which Korean Americans with lower language proficiency and shorter length of stay in the U.S. demonstrated higher political knowledge scores when they reported relying on television news instead of print news. To test the findings of the 1990 study, news media were operationalized through modality as two symbol systems: words, which need to be learned to be understood, and pictures, which need to be recognized. One-hundred-forty-six individuals born in 52 countries completed the study in which each participant was exposed to one of the three conditions representing either television or radio or print news. Data demonstrated that immigrants with lower self-reported language proficiency correctly recognized more multiple-choice answers to questions about stories from television news in comparison to print news. This finding establishes a causal relationship between the presence of pictures in television's two-channel stream and better outcomes of memory about news for immigrants with weaker English language skills. Years of education in the U.S. emerged as the only reliable predictor of comprehension. Furthermore, in the television condition, immigrants with higher language proficiency correctly recognized about half-an-answer fewer than did immigrants with lower language proficiency. Findings suggest that television news is indeed beneficial for immigrants' learning about American politics, yet it becomes less beneficial once immigrants' competence increase.

scholarly journals The effect of English language proficiency on length of stay and in-hospital mortality

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ava John-Baptiste ◽  
Gary Naglie ◽  
George Tomlinson ◽  
Shabbir M. H. Alibhai ◽  
Edward Etchells ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Hospital Mortality ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency

Integration

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Matovina
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Parochial Schools ◽  
Church Congregations ◽  
European Immigrants ◽  
Hispanic Ministry ◽  
Ministry Leaders ◽  
Daunting Challenge ◽  
The U.S

This chapter demonstrates how national parishes and their parochial schools were among the societal institutions that most effectively fostered the integration of European immigrants and their offspring. Attitudes of forced assimilation can lead to frustration and thwart newcomers' desire to integrate. Yet church congregations and organizations remain a refuge for many emigres and can help them and their children and grandchildren adapt to life in the United States. While across generations English language use and other influences of the U.S. milieu are inevitable, the relative success or failure of Latinos' incorporation into the U.S. Catholic Church enhances or inhibits that process. Within the Catholic fold itself, the progression from hospitality to homecoming remains a daunting challenge that many Hispanic ministry leaders concur has only begun to be addressed.

Poor Kids versus Bad Teachers: Vergara v. California and the Social Construction of Teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Jeanne M. Powers ◽  
Kathryn P. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Spectacle ◽  
The Public ◽  
Print News ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
The Social

Background In the past decade, the laws governing teachers’ employment have been at the center of legal and political conflicts across the United States. Vergara v. California challenged five California state statutes that provide employment protections for teachers. In June 2014, a California lower court declared the statutes unconstitutional because they exposed students to “grossly ineffective teachers.” Purpose The purpose of the article is to document and analyze how Vergara was presented in the print news media. It is important to understand how the print news media presents education policy debates to the public, because the print news media shapes the general public's understanding of education and other public policy debates by providing frames and themes for interpreting the issues in question and people associated with them. Research Design Using the social construction of target populations and political spectacle as conceptual lenses, we conducted a content analysis of print news media articles on the Vergara case published between June 2012 and November 2014. We provide a descriptive overview of the full corpus of articles published during this period and a thematic analysis of the 65 unique news articles published in the aftermath of the decision. The latter focuses on news articles because they are intended to provide more objective coverage of the case than opinions or editorials. Findings In the print news media coverage, the word “teacher” was often paired with a negative qualifier, which suggests that Vergara was an effort to change the relatively advantaged social construction of teachers. Similarly, metaphors and the illusion of rationality associated with political spectacle were used in ways that bolstered the plaintiffs’ claims. While Vergara consumed a substantial amount of philanthropic and public dollars, ultimately it did not change the policies that govern teachers’ employment in California. Vergara may have been more successful in shaping the general public's perceptions of teachers and the conditions of teachers’ employment in the period following the trial.

Latinx and Immigrant Heritage Language Maintenance

2021 ◽  
pp. 165-181
Author(s):  
Alejandra Sanmiguel-López
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Heritage Language Maintenance ◽  
Family Language ◽  
The U.S

Research shows that children who speak a language other than English in Latinx and immigrant households make up a significant portion of schoolchildren in the United States and the process of developing and maintaining the heritage language (HL) is complex when that language is distinct from their classroom's language. This chapter explores the motivations parents have in maintaining the home language and the effect this has on Latinx and immigrant English language learners (ELLs) children. The motivations for preserving home language for Latinx and immigrant families are to maintain ties to Latinx cultural values and sustain cultural identity while also providing academic support for Latinx and immigrant ELLs students in the U.S. schools. Research on previous works of literature documents that through family language policy (FLP) practices and HL maintenance, Latinx and immigrant ELLs children can maintain and carry on their cultural values while simultaneously advancing academically in the U.S. schools.

Capturing Cruelty

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon T. Grugan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
General Public ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Print News ◽  
Nonhuman Animals

AbstractThe news media has long been identified as one of the primary sources for factual crime information for the general public, but not much is known about media coverage of cruelty against nonhuman animals, specifically. This study is a content analysis of media-presented themes in 240 print news articles that reported incidents of cruelty against companion animals in the United States in 2013. Seven thematic presentations of cruelty are identified and include: neutrality, condemnation, sympathy for the animal, drama, advocacy, humor, and sympathy for the offender. These themes are not mutually exclusive, with many articles including aspects of more than one theme. Themes are discussed in detail in regard to expanding the understanding of how specific forms of crime are presented by the news media based in news-making criminology.

Spanish Language Television News Portrayals of Youth and Violence in California

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Chavez ◽  
Lori Dorfman
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Television News ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Local Television ◽  
Local Television News ◽  
Share Information

Language is central to Latino1 culture and to the current multicultural multilingual realities of the United States. This exploratory study takes those who may be unfamiliar with Spanish language television news through a comparative analysis of television portrayals of youth and violence. Findings from this ethnographic content analysis reveal that local Spanish language television news stories on youth and/or violence are framed thematically (with a social, political, and economic context) three and a half times more often than English language local television news. This study highlights the importance of engaging the Spanish media in the future health promotion efforts. Public health advocates can share information related to the socioeconomic factors associated with violence and outline policy and programmatic solutions with Spanish language journalists.

English fever and American dreams

English Today ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinhyun Cho
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
English Fever ◽  
Language Capital ◽  
Historical Examination

The current paper examines how English has evolved to become valued language capital in South Korea (henceforth ‘Korea’). Since the late 20th century, Korea has experienced the phenomenon of ‘English fever’, which refers to the frenetic and at times over-zealous pursuit of English-language proficiency across Korean society (J. S. Y. Park, 2009). Researchers have examined ‘English fever’ through various prisms, including education (Park & Abelmann, 2004; J. K. Park, 2009), neoliberalism (Piller & Cho, 2013; Cho, 2015; Lee, 2016), and local socio-politics (Shim & Park, 2008). Rarely has the phenomenon been approached from a historical point of view. Considering the fact that a historical examination of language can provide critical insights into the local processes through which distinctive ideologies of language have been shaped and popularized (Cho, 2017), this paper traces the historical evolution of English in Korean society by focusing on three key periods, i.e. Japanese colonization (1910–1945); the post-independence period and modernization (1945–1980); and military dictatorship and globalization (1980-present). Drawing on the theoretical framework of global centre-periphery divisions embedded in Orientalism (Said, 1979), the analysis focuses specifically on the influence of the United States on the rise of English in Korea. In doing so, I show that ‘English fever’ is not a recent phenomenon but has its roots in historicity through which the seeds for the ongoing phenomenon of ‘English fever’ were planted in Korean society.

scholarly journals Locking Out the Mother Corp: Nationalism and Popular Imaginings of Public Service Broadcasting in the Print News Media

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Service ◽  
News Media ◽  
English Language ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Print News ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Société Civile ◽  
Media Choices

Abstract: Early promoters of public-service broadcasting (PSB) in Canada emphasized its democratic and nationalist merit. Of these twin pillars, only nationalism appears to still be standing. In this article, the author surveys the vision of PSB that emerged in the national English-language print media during the 2005 CBC/Radio-Canada lockout and suggests that our peculiar brand of multicultural nationalism (which underestimates the divisions within civil society) has subsumed democratic values. Yet, she argues democratic principles—particularly those of access, participation, and publicness—are critically important to defending the relevance of PSB in the current environment of seemingly endless media choices and borderless technology. Résumé : Les premiers promoteurs de la radiotélédiffusion de service public au Canada mettaient l’accent sur ses mérites démocratique et nationaliste. Aujourd’hui, de ces deux piliers, il semble que le mérite nationaliste soit le seul qui tienne bon. Dans cet article, l’auteur analyse la vision de la radiotélédiffusion de service public que l’on retrouve dans la presse écrite nationale de langue anglaise au cours du lock-out de CBC/Radio-Canada en 2005 et elle suggère que notre type spécifique de nationalisme multiculturel (qui sous estime les divisions de la société civile) a englobé les valeurs démocratiques. Toutefois, l’auteur affirme que ces principes démocratiques—en particulier ceux d’accessibilité, de participation et de valeurs publiques—sont extrêmement importants lorsqu’il s’agit de défendre la pertinence de la radiotélédiffusion de service public dans le contexte actuel de soi-disant choix infinis de médias et de technologies sans frontières.

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