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Lived experience in the initial period of adaptation: a longitudinal multi-case study of the experience of recent immigrant students at a Canadian secondary school Mansfield, Earl Alfred
Abstract
While educators have recognized that students from other countries often face traumatic experiences in their initial period of adaptation to the receiving country's schools and society, little attention has been devoted to understanding the nature or educational significance of these experiences. Traditionally, educators have equated adaptation difficulties with host language deficits, while other, possibly more consequential dimensions of the adaptation experience have gone unrecognized, and have not been represented in educational policy and funding decisions. Accordingly, this study is directed toward providing a more comprehensive understanding of the adaptation experiences of adolescent students who have recently arrived in Canada from other countries, and addresses a critical need for understanding these experiences from the perspectives of the students themselves. Inquiry is advanced within a descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory study which predominantly utilizes a phenomenological, qualitative methodology. The study's principal methodology builds upon Edmund Husserl's philosophical foundation by incorporating the existential perspectives of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the life-world social dimensions of Alfred Schutz, and the historical-contextual and interpretive elements of Max van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology. Fieldwork occurred over a six month period in a suburban Canadian secondary school. Study findings and recommendations derive from analysis of interviews, observations, and self-reports of three male and three female grade 10 students who arrived in Canada not more than 20 months prior to the outset of the study. Initial adaptation experiences of study participants point to three principal findings. The study's finding that despite adaptation challenges, students from abroad often achieve at or above receiving society norms within a short period after arrival, suggests that educators should consider how successful academic patterns of newcomers might be adopted by receiving society members. Participant experience indicates that host language acquisition is but one dimension of a multidimensional adaptation experience, and that it is seldom the student's most critical adaptation concern, even in terms of host communication skills. Participants experienced establishing friendships as their most critical and difficult adaptation concern, and looked to friendship to provide uncertainty reduction, access to and inclusion in the receiving society.
Item Metadata
Title |
Lived experience in the initial period of adaptation: a longitudinal multi-case study of the experience of recent immigrant students at a Canadian secondary school
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1995
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Description |
While educators have recognized that students from other countries often
face traumatic experiences in their initial period of adaptation to the
receiving country's schools and society, little attention has been devoted to
understanding the nature or educational significance of these experiences.
Traditionally, educators have equated adaptation difficulties with host
language deficits, while other, possibly more consequential dimensions of the
adaptation experience have gone unrecognized, and have not been represented in
educational policy and funding decisions. Accordingly, this study is directed
toward providing a more comprehensive understanding of the adaptation
experiences of adolescent students who have recently arrived in Canada from
other countries, and addresses a critical need for understanding these
experiences from the perspectives of the students themselves.
Inquiry is advanced within a descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory
study which predominantly utilizes a phenomenological, qualitative
methodology. The study's principal methodology builds upon Edmund Husserl's
philosophical foundation by incorporating the existential perspectives of
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, the life-world social dimensions of Alfred Schutz, and
the historical-contextual and interpretive elements of Max van Manen's
hermeneutic phenomenology. Fieldwork occurred over a six month period in a
suburban Canadian secondary school. Study findings and recommendations derive
from analysis of interviews, observations, and self-reports of three male and
three female grade 10 students who arrived in Canada not more than 20 months
prior to the outset of the study.
Initial adaptation experiences of study participants point to three
principal findings. The study's finding that despite adaptation challenges,
students from abroad often achieve at or above receiving society norms within
a short period after arrival, suggests that educators should consider how
successful academic patterns of newcomers might be adopted by receiving
society members. Participant experience indicates that host language
acquisition is but one dimension of a multidimensional adaptation experience,
and that it is seldom the student's most critical adaptation concern, even in
terms of host communication skills. Participants experienced establishing friendships as their most critical and difficult adaptation concern, and
looked to friendship to provide uncertainty reduction, access to and inclusion
in the receiving society.
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Extent |
17949977 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-04-23
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0054791
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1995-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.