Localization Provision in New Zealand: Arabic Speakers' Preference for Different Paralingual Webpage Layouts.

This research is designed to test Arabic speakers’ preference for different paralingual webpage layouts to assist newcomers to New Zealand such as international students,refugees and immigrants who have inadequate English language proficiency to access vital information available on governmental websites. Paralingual is coined from the prefix ‘Para’ (which means side by side or together in Greek), and ‘lingual’ meaning language such as in bilingual (grasp of two languages). Mixed and triangulation methods were used to collect data consisting of an online websurvey; an eye tracking experiment; and participants’ interviews. The results show: a) That the mainstreams of Arabic speakers prefer English text on the left and the Arabic translation on the right as a paralingual webpage layout; b) That inadequate English language proficiency discourages Arabic speaking newcomers from accessing governmental websites; c) That paralingual web design could be used as an educational tool; d) That paralingual web design is easier to read; and e) That paralingual web design increases trust in the government. There have been limitations such as the participation of refugees and immigrants in the eye tracking experiment and the participants’ interviews. There have been recommendations such as the use of paralingual web design in governmental websites for maternity and medical health

Emerging identities in virtual exchange

This book explores how identities emerge and are negotiated by young people in online facilitated dialogue, a form of virtual exchange. It offers a framework for this type of exploration based on the assumption that both the situated context and the technologies mediating online interactions influence, but do not necessarily determine, the interactions taking place and the participants\u2019 identity orientations. Identity is viewed not as fixed and static, but rather multiple and fluid as interactants position themselves in relation to one another. This framework is then applied to the analysis of one specific virtual exchange context, and the interactions over several weeks of a group of participants from a wide range of backgrounds

Young Baltic graduates living and working in London: from peripheral region to escalator region in Europe

This paper examines recent migration from three little-studied EU countries, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, focusing on young, early-career graduates who move to London. It looks at how these young migrants explain the reasons for their move, their work and living experiences in London, and their plans for the future, based on 78 interviews with individual migrants. The wide-ranging theoretical context draws on notions of core-periphery, youth transitions, ‘easy’ transnationalism, ‘liquid’ migration, and London as an ‘escalator’ region for career development. Also relevant in shaping these migration flows are EU accession in 2004 and the recent financial crisis. Findings indicate that these highly educated young adults from the EU’s north-eastern periphery migrate for a combination of economic, career, lifestyle and personal-development reasons. They are ambivalent about their futures and when, and whether, they will return-migrate

Gender Differences in SMS Code-Switching by Lebanese Undergraduates

Aquest estudi investiga les diferències de gènere en l'alternança lingüística (code-switching) entre l'àrab i l'anglès en els missatges SMS d'estudiants libanesos de diferents universitats, diferents classes socials i diferents religions. Un corpus de 1680 missatges SMS es va recollir de 58 estudiants: 34 dones i 24 homes, amb 1013 missatges de dones i 667 d'homes. Es van dur a terme anàlisis qualitatives i quantitatives, i també es van administrar qüestionaris i entrevistes. Els resultats indiquen que l'alternança lingüística s'utilitza àmpliament en aquests missatges SMS i que les diferències de gènere s'entrellacen amb un conjunt de variables sociolingüístiques. Es detecten diferències significatives de gènere en relació amb la classe social i la religió del emissor, l'edat del receptor, i la naturalesa intra- o inter-gènere de la comunicació. A més, les diferències de gènere interactuen amb la freqüència de l'alternança, el percentatge de diferents idiomes en els missatges amb alternança, i el percentatge d'idiomes utilitzats en els missatges que no tenen alternança. En tots aquests aspectes, les dones són més actives que els homes. Les dones no només utilitzen l'alternança lingüística significativament més en diferents entorns, sinó també el percentatge d'alternances tendeix a ser més gran quan es tracta de les dones, ja sigui com a emissors o com a receptors. L'estudi també mostra que les dones són innovadores en el sentit que són les usuàries més freqüents de noves variables lingüístiques i són més creatives en la forma en que fan servir el llenguatge per produir certs efectes lingüístics.Esta investigación estudia las diferencias de género que se manifiestan en la alternancia lingüística (code-switching) entre el árabe y el inglés en los mensajes SMS de estudiantes libaneses de diferentes universidades, diferentes clases sociales y diferentes religiones. Se recolectó un corpus de 1680 mensajes SMS de 58 estudiantes universitarios: 34 mujeres y 24 hombres. Del total, 1013 mensajes fueron enviados por mujeres y 667 por hombres. Se realizaron análisis cualitativos y cuantitativos, y también se administraron cuestionarios y entrevistas. Los resultados indican que la alternancia lingüística se utiliza ampliamente en estos mensajes SMS y que las diferencias de género se entrelazan con un conjunto de variables sociolingüísticas. Se detectan significativas distinciones de género con respecto a la clase social y la religión del emisor, la edad del receptor y la naturaleza intra- o inter-género de la comunicación. Además, las diferencias de género interactúan con la frecuencia de las alternaciones, el porcentaje de idiomas diferentes en los mensajes con alternancia y con el porcentaje de idiomas utilizados en los mensajes que no tienen alternancia. En todos estos aspectos, las mujeres son más activas que los hombres. No sólo las mujeres cambian de idioma significativamente más en diferentes entornos, sino que también el porcentaje de alternancias tiende a ser mayor cuando las mujeres participan, ya sea como emisores o como receptores. El estudio también demuestra que las mujeres son innovadoras en el sentido de que son usuarias más frecuentes de nuevas variantes lingüísticas y son más creativas en la forma en que usan el lenguaje para producir ciertos efectos lingüísticos.This study investigates gender differences in code-switching between Arabic and English in the SMS messages of Lebanese undergraduates from different universities, social classes and religions. A corpus of 1680 SMS messages was collected from 58 undergraduates: 34 women and 24 men; there were 1013 messages from women and 667 from men. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted; a questionnaire and an interview were administered. The results indicate that code-switching is used extensively in these SMS messages and that gender differences are interwoven with a set of sociolinguistic variables. There are significant gender distinctions with regard to the social class and religion of the sender, the age of the recipient, and the intra- or inter-gender nature of the communication. In addition, gender differences interact with the frequency of switches, the percentage of different languages in the messages with code-switching, and the percentage of languages used in the messages that have no code-switching. In all of these respects, women are more active than men. Not only do women code-switch significantly more in different settings, but also the percentage of code-switching tends to be higher whenever women are involved, either as senders or as receivers. The study also shows that women are innovators in the sense that they are more frequent users of new linguistic variables and are more creative in the way they use language to produce certain linguistic effects

The impact of social network applications on societies of the MENA region (Egypt as a case study)

Despite the importance of promoting socially responsible citizenship in Internet age with the global massive spread of IT consumption, there is a paucity of research for scrutinizing the impact of ICT tools such as Social Networking Sites on citizens of the Middle East and North Africa region and/or investigating their tendency toward digital transformation. In the information age, Internet and its applications are creating a ‘network state’ due to the continuous interaction of SNS by people on their daily personal and professional lives; which made it a rich data bank for researchers to analyze and predict people’s behavioral, cultural and societal change. This research focused on the digital impact of SNS on various aspects of life in the society of Egypt and the forecast of its subsequent normal progression over time. The research questions were; what are the factors affecting the usage of SNS and its impact on the society of Egypt? In addition to, How SNS usage and IT developments are likely to affect future changes in Egypt’s culture and societal behaviors in the arena of human computer interaction and information communication technology? Hence, the research investigated those questions on recent years where there is still not enough complete specialized analysis nor mature socio-technological researches have been developed about the online society of Egypt. In specific, it concerned with studying the interaction of human practices with information network applications and the latter role in changing human cultures and societal behaviors from personal, governmental and business perspectives. This study is an example of interdisciplinary research, linking cultural theories and social networking phenomena with human-mediated informational technology and communication studies contributing to the emerging field of Internet studies. Therefore, this research’s best matching philosophy is interpretivism, the research approach is inductive and the utilized research strategy was grounded theory and surveys through four employed quantitative and qualitative research methods over two phases. Phase one implemented observational study, survey questionnaire and focus group sessions; while interviews were accomplished in phase two. Outcomes are reached through applying descriptive statistics of structural equation modeling via using SPSS 20.0, AMOS 20.0.0, Tableau 10.4, and MS 2010 Excel; in addition to, qualitative content analysis using NVivo 11. Findings of interweaved data collection methods supported in investigating the research questions and testing the hypotheses of the research proposed SDR model. Consequently, these research findings deduced that the Egyptian online society is affected by SNS forming a pre-digitalization stage. In addition to the research’s major offering of the SDR model, there were four others emerged contributions to knowledge base. One of the main challenges of research in this domain is the dynamic pace of both technological developments and users’ preferences. Hence, this research study impacts the growing knowledge repository with five contributions about the significant role of SNS in transforming people’s daily activities which can shed lights of more novel questions for other neighboring countries as well as regarding other ICT tools for future studies

Cultural effect on electronic consumer behaviour: the effect of uncertainty avoidance on online trust for the Egyptian Internet users

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The ubiquitous nature of e-commerce demands an innovative conceptualization of consumer behaviour that responds to various cultural preferences. Culture has been identified as an underlying determinant of consumer behaviour, and this extends to ecommerce. This research investigates this phenomenon for the Egyptian consumer. This research designed a plausible, integrated framework for investigating the target phenomenon, especially for un-explored cultures. To help to identify salient components of the phenomenon, a three-study exploratory phase, that included: interviews, a survey, and card sorting sessions, was undertaken. The exploratory results highlighted the roles of trust, uncertainty avoidance, Internet store familiarity, and reputation as the main salient factors affecting the perception of the targeted group toward e-commerce. The research hypotheses were then developed based on the exploratory results. Finally, a model testing phase to empirically assess the research hypotheses through a laboratory experiential survey with 370 Egyptian Internet users was undertaken. The experiential survey results support the significant role of the Internet store’s perceived familiarity and reputation as the main antecedents of online trust. The relationship between trust and its two antecedents are found to be culturally sensitive; the high uncertainty avoidance of the consumer is found to be associated with a stronger effect of the store’s reputation on trust, and a stronger effect of store’s familiarity on trust. The research also highlights the significant effect of trust on the attitude towards and the willingness to buy from an e-commerce site. This research, by providing an understanding of the cultural drivers of e-commerce, contributes to building a theory of consumer’s cultural trust within an Internet store context. The research reports on the development of an integrated cultural trust model that highlights recommendations for expanding the adoption of e-commerce. The systematic research framework, introduced by this research, can be a robust starting point for further related work in this area

Universe-Cities as Problematic Global Villages continuities and shifts in our academic worlds

Edição: 1st ed. Editoria: Florianópolis: PGET/UFSC; Tubarão: Copiart, 2014. Páginas: 284 p. Língua da publicação: Inglês Referência ABNT: Lambert, José; Iliescu Gheorghiu, Catalina (Eds.). Universe-Cities as Problematic Global Villages continuities and shifts in our academic worlds. 1st ed. Florianópolis: PGET/UFSC; Tubarão: Copiart, 2014. 284 p