This paper explores how practitioners in a hostile context make sense of continuing professional development (CPD). Critics worldwide question the professional status of human resources seeing the function as an underdog to well-established professions. The study uses an interpretivist approach to examine the conceptual interweaving of learning…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the occupational downgrading experiences of six adult immigrants. Occupational downgrading happens when an individual's occupation post immigration does not match his or her education credentials and previous professional experiences. The goal was to make sense of the participants' narratives…

This study addresses study abroad and second language acquisition. The number of U.S. students studying abroad is increasing. However, students' cultural and linguistic immersion experiences abroad can be disconcerting, challenging their sociocultural identities, values, learning objectives, and expectations. This study employed critical race…

In this article the notion of "community" is examined through a lens which focuses on the way people interact and communicate in and around a Panjabi complementary school. Analysis of linguistic ethnographic data contributes to understandings of how identities are produced and reproduced, and how belonging becomes naturalised. The…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Iranian women's gendered identities and language learning through the theoretical frameworks of feminist poststructuralism of gender and language, imagined communities, and communities of practice. Additionally, these theoretical constructs were linked to the concepts of agency…

Drawing on linguistic anthropological notions of language ideologies and sociolinguistic approaches to stance, this study examines the meaning-making resources through which Spanish heritage language (HL) learners orient toward ideological perspectives on language value and linguistic expertise in classroom interaction. Part of a larger…

This article contrasts a common conceptualization of the interview in applied linguistics, referred to as an "interview as research instrument" perspective, with an alternative, referred to as a "research interview as social practice" orientation. It illustrates implications of the two perspectives on interviews by contrasting…

There is a lack of longitudinal research linking adolescent career aspirations to adult outcomes other than career and income attainment. Drawing on Nurmi's (2004) and Salmela-Aro, Aunola, and Nurmi's (2007) life-span model of motivation and using quantitative survey data at ages 16, 23, 33, 42, and 50 years, combined with retrospective interview…

This article investigates the language attitudes, language practices and identity construction of a group of ethnic minority students in a secondary school in Hong Kong. Drawing on data from focus group and individual interviews, this research shows that the ethnic minority students negotiate and contest their heritage identity by utilizing their…

We tested a model considering the manner in which mothers' use of their own social relationships and efforts to facilitate their children's school-based social relationships were associated with two distinct types of school-based competence: academic achievement and levels of stress experienced within the school environment. Fourth grade children…

Examined past efforts to improve the Indian elderly's quality of life, summarized mental health issues, critically reviewed relevant literature, and reported results from a needs assessment survey of Indian elderly. Journal availability: see RC 503 481. (DS)

This is a study of discrimination as it was experienced by blacks and Japanese- Canadians living in Hamilton, Ontario. The report was based on 204 interviews conducted during the summer of 1964. In the interviews the respondents discussed their experiences in housing, work, and public accommodations. Respondents were encouraged to elaborate on any…

Presents data collected in the late 1980s about a shift in the locus of the self among college students from a self anchored in institutionalized roles and statuses to one lodged in affect, preferences, and styles of behavior. Compares findings with those produced in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. (JS)

Focuses on the self-perception of Native Americans and the perception of the views of non-Native Americans about them. The article presents results from a collection of oral interviews with 16 Native Americans of various tribes. Interviewees point to the Bureau of Indian Affairs policies and practices holding them back from full participation in…

This study investigated the development of children's perceptions of clothing, particularly as a form of nonverbal communication. Sixteen boys and sixteen girls at five grade levels (kindergarten, second, fourth, sixth and eighth grades) were interviewed individually. A series of six questions was asked to determine whether the children used…