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    Multicultural children : their cultural identities as communicated by their parents : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Communication and Journalism at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2007) Ogawa, Erina
    Parents from different cultural backgrounds may often lack information on helping their multicultural children to develop healthy cultural identities. The views and strategies of twenty parents regarding the cultural identities communicated to their children are presented in this interview-based case-study in the greater Tokyo area of Japan. Seventeen respondents are non-Japanese with children to Japanese partners; two are non-Japanese with a non-Japanese partner with a different cultural background; and one is Japanese married to a non-Japanese partner. Six respondents chose to identify their children as Japanese; another six chose a Combined identity; and eight chose a Global identity. Six major factors in the development of a healthy cultural identity emerged: language, visits to parents' home countries, schooling and/or peer groups, religious and/or cultural activities, names, and physical appearance. Suggestions are made to parents of multicultural children to develop linguistic abilities, to facilitate immersion in target cultures, to develop awareness of relevant cultural activities, and to provide culturally-appropriate names. Parents are encouraged to combine different cultural aspects in different areas of their children's lives, to teach their children about their own cultures, and to remember that each child is unique. In addition, the iceberg metaphor of culture presented by Ting-Toomey and Chung (2005) has been adapted to illustrate multicultural identities. This study has confirmed the need for further qualitative and quantitative studies on the development of cultural identities in multicultural children.
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    Chinese immigrant parents as home teachers : maintaining and developing children's heritage language in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Arts and Language at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Lu, Lin
    This research investigated Chinese immigrant parents as home teachers maintaining and developing children's heritage language in New Zealand. The case study approach was employed to enable rich information to be obtained. Data was collected from eight recent Chinese immigrant families and their children by means of non-participant observations and interviews. From my research, I found Chinese immigrant parents defined bilingualism as both their children's first and second language. I also found that these immigrants who immigrated to New Zealand under the Points System were highly educated in China and maintained a strong subconscious belief in the Confucian ideas. As the descendants of Confucianism, Chinese immigrant parents have positive attitudes towards their children's bilingualism and highly value education. They set up a home Chinese teaching and learning context so they can pass on the Chinese language and culture. A major finding of this study is that children have a positive attitude towards their heritage language maintenance and development, even though there is a strong influence from the reality of living in an English dominated country and receiving English formal education. The main reason for this outstanding result seen in these children's bilingual development is because of their parents' great efforts to offer teaching in Chinese at home. The results are illustrated as a tree to demonstrate that the traditional Chinese Confucian ideas, and the impact of Chinese parents' perceptions of bilingualism and reality in New Zealand. The Confucian ideas are shown as the roots of the tree that support and nurture the expectations of Chinese parents' perceptions. The trunk illustrates the contribution from the parents as home teachers. The three main branches stand for parents' opinions, and the outcome of the children's attitudes is presented by the leaves surrounding the branches.
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    Bilingualism in German-born immigrant children in New Zealand : a case study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of M.A. in Second Language Teaching at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1995) Walker, Ute
    This study investigates the bilingualism of four German-background children in New Zealand. The aim of the research was to gain more in-depth information about the processes involved in a language contact situation to complement findings already made at the macro level with a focus on groups. A case study approach enabled the collection of rich qualitative data from a variety of sources which were examined from a sociolinguistic as well as a psychosocial perspective in order to address the questions of language choice and distribution, language attitudes and language and identity. The subjects' successful L1 maintenance after one to eight years in the host country did not correspond with the trend of rapid language shift found among many immigrant children. This was explained as a consequence of the availability of domains of language use where language choice was revealed to be predominantly participant orientated. Family members in particular were shown to have a strong influence on the choice of German as a code of shared intimacy that also extended into settings outside the home. While the children displayed social interaction patterns that indicated successful integration into the dominant culture they also maintained social networks with German speakers across domains which increased their exposure to L1 and ensured its continued use. This complementary distribution of German and English appeared to be supported by both the children's and parents' positive attitudes towards being bilingual and to the L1 itself. As a consequence, the children's situation was characterised by dual group membership and L1 maintenance instead of assimilation and total language shift to L2.
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    Development of foreign language capability as a valued human resource asset within the military : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Master of Business Studies in Human Resource Management at Massey University, Palmerston North
    (Massey University, 2012) Smith, Fiona
    English has held the status as a global language for many years, and has been the language in which the corporate and military sectors conduct their international operations. However, due to globalisation, technological advances and challenging economic times, the environments in which businesses and defence forces operate have evolved considerably. Defence forces are increasingly involved in nontraditional operations, in non-traditional geographical locations, working alongside non-traditional international security partners. In light of the changing role and expectations of the military, Conway (2005) suggests that the military sector has been guilty for too long of assuming that English, the traditional language of international diplomacy, politics, economics and military operations, will remain the prevalent language. While the corporate sector has recognised foreign language capability as a human resource asset, its importance and operational relevance is largely unacknowledged within the military sector. The aim of this study was to examine how modern English speaking defence forces, such as the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), are addressing the issue of „linguistic complacency‟ (Crystal, 2003), and what plans are in place to develop human resources as foreign language capable assets. For the NZDF, the concept is new. Consequently, a preliminary investigation into one of the single Services, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), was undertaken. It identified Mandarin Chinese, French, Hindi and Japanese as the foreign languages of greatest applicability to the Service. Census survey results of RNZN uniformed personnel indicated that over half of respondents had some second-language ability (of varying proficiency level) across more than forty languages. Despite the reported foreign language capacity, the results, when compared with the Service‟s desired skills sets, suggested that there are a number of gaps between the ideal and current capability requirements. A United States Department of Defense model for developing foreign-language capability was discussed as a blueprint for how the RNZN and NZDF could look to bridge these gaps through the strengthening of educational ties with defence partners.
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    Language, migration and continuity of being : notions of migrant language proficiency and self-concept among multilingual migrants in Aotearoa-New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2004) Walker, Ute Gerda
    Migration entails adjustment and change, a process crystallized in the way language use patterns, proficiencies and identifications change. Although migrants are often bi/ multilingual, their language proficiency tends to be associated with fluency in the host language. Such a monolingual approach is fundamentally at odds with the ethnolinguistic diversity in migration contexts and has prevented a more holistic approach to the dynamic realities of bi/multilinguals. It has also perpetuated a view of linguistic proficiency as technical skill, judged according to idealized monolingual norms. Little is known of speakers' own notions of proficiency in their existing migrant languages (ML) and the impact on their socialpsychological makeup as their linguistic repertoire undergoes changes in use, function and status. This research investigated proficiency as a matter of conceptualization through its users, including its role for migrants' continued sense of self in the face of sociolinguistic discontinuities. A three-phase research design involving focus groups, a postal survey and follow-up interviews was used with a sample of migrants from a wide range of ethnolinguistic backgrounds. The study found evidence for a multidimensional conceptualization of migrant language proficiency (MLP) with a complex range of underlying motivations and a strong emotional attachment to ML, revealing ML as a linguistic resource crucial for self-construction. The present study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic nature of these matters to contribute to a socio-culturally grounded view of proficiency and self-concept to help reveal some of the complex processes associated with migrants' social, cultural and psychological wellbeing. The study proposes bi/multilingualism as a settlement target to facilitate this outcome and to foster a sense of self that accommodates multiple identities. Investment in languages promotes an inclusive society of global citizens and complements New Zealand's official Māori/English bilingualism.