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Dissertation Information for Alison Louise Imbens Bailey

NAME:
- Alison Louise Imbens Bailey

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Education

SCHOOL:
- Harvard University (USA) (1995)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Oral proficiency and literacy in an ancestral language: Implications for ethnic identity

Abstract: "The impact of ancestral language oral proficiency and literacy skills on the ethnic identities of 66 Armenian-American children and adolescents (ages 8-15 years) is assessed. Armenian language and literacy were assessed and two aspects of identity, ethnic affinity and attitude towards the ethnic and mainstream American cultures, were measured. Ethnic affinity, the children's sense of belonging to the Armenian community was measured by relative preference for first person pronouns I or we in personal narratives about Armenian activities. Attitudes towards both cultures were measured by the proportion of positive and negative lexical usage in personal narratives and responses to open-ended questions about language and culture.

The major research questions were: (1) Is there a relationship between Armenian oral proficiency of children of Armenian descent and (a) their degree of affinity with the Armenian community, and (b) their attitude towards their bicultural experiences, controlling for background characteristics? (2) Does the addition of literacy skills in Armenian contribute to the prediction of (a) degree of affinity with the Armenian community, or (b) attitudes towards both cultures over and above oral proficiency alone? (3) What is the nature of the relationship between Armenian oral proficiency in Armenian and literacy skills?

Greater oral proficiency and literacy skills in Armenian were associated with greater affinity with the Armenian-American community, controlling for gender and parental ethnic identity. Literacy in Armenian adds significant information to the prediction of ethnic affinity over and above that of oral proficiency alone. Greater oral proficiency is also related to more favorable attitudes towards the Armenian and mainstream American cultures, controlling for gender and parental ethnic identity. However, literacy is not significantly related to attitude once oral proficiency is controlled for. A strong positive relationship between oral proficiency and literacy skills was found and results were suggestive of a threshold effect of oral proficiency for acquisition of literacy skills. A composite score for all language-based skills was related to degree of Armenian schooling, controlling for generation of immigration and parental ethnic identity. The impact of the findings on children, their parents, the ethnic community and wider American society is discussed."

MPACT Scores for Alison Louise Imbens Bailey

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:30:57

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