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Us v. them: the construction of fan authority in the online defence of Batman v Superman : Dawn of justice
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliopography: pages 80-93.Introduction --- Chapter 1. Literature review -- Chapter 2. Fans against critics -- Chapter 3. Against rival fans -- Chapter 4. Against the mainstream -- Conclusion -- List of references -- Filmography.This thesis explores how fans of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film franchise construct their critical authority online in response to the negative critical reaction to 2016 DC Comics/Warner Bros. film Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice (dir. Zack Snyder). By observing public Facebook fan pages this thesis argues that DCEU fans construct their authority by defining themselves against and through three ‘others’ : official criticism, rival fans and the mainstream. Focusing on the twenty-four months surrounding the release, the research deploys discourse analysis to investigate online fan responses, including moderator posts and comment sections. This study will also analyse other fan responses such as Internet memes; their visual rhetoric will be appraised through a modal analysis. While the current trend of comic book movies has been explored academically, this particular subset of fans remains underanalysed. What is at stake for DCEU fans is the respect of popular culture and social media at large, their reputation damaged by the film’s critical failure.This thesis explores how fans’ sense of self and value is part of what they consume, and how media technologies have expanded these fan practices, allowing them to claim authority over and ownership of Dawn of Justice.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ix, 95 pages) colour illustration
The negotiated contract?: An ethnography of adolescent reading and ideology
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 281-308.Introduction : reading, ideology and the negotiated contract -- Chapter One. Literature review and outline of method -- Chapter Two. Reading, ideology and taste -- Chapter Three. Reading, ideology and meaning -- Chapter Four. Reading, ideology and institutions -- Conclusion : surprises, regrets and possibilities -- List of references -- Appendix.The Negotiated Contract? An Ethnography of Adolescent Reading and Ideology investigates an intensely theorized and debated yet often elusive area of culture: adolescent reading. This thesis investigates adolescents’ attitudes towards the books they read, how they use those books and the nature of their reading performances. Ideology is fundamental to this understanding of young people’s book culture. This thesis argues that adolescent reading is a site of ideological negotiation that is fundamentally ambivalent, a site where young adult readers are neither ideological dupes, nor autonomous actors. Through interviews conducted with twenty teenage girls in a comprehensive Catholic girls’ high school in Sydney, Australia, this thesis examines three main aspects of this ideological dimension of reading: ideology and taste; ideology and meaning; and ideology and institutions. This thesis demonstrates that reading tastes in popular book series such as Twilight, Vampire Academy and Harry Potter are utilized by teenagers as part of a performance of ideologies of gender, sexuality and as a conduit for subcultural capital whereby they define themselves against an ideologically constructed mainstream. Textual meaning in these series is identified as a site of ideological struggle in which teenagers demonstrate that they read in highly complex, idiosyncratic, yet distinctively ideological ways. Finally, institutions such as school, Church and family also shape this ideological dimension of adolescent reading. In all of these areas, adolescent reading is a domain where ideological negotiations are messy, inconsistent and fundamentally ambivalent.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vi, 309 pages
Mediated communication in bi- and multilingual health in Korea: perceived roles of healthcare interpreters in Korea
No full textTheoretical thesis."The research was conducted at International Healthcare Center in Soonchunhyang University Hospital, Seoul" -- title page.Bibliography: pages 76-81.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Results and data analysis -- Chapter 5. Discussion -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.It was only in 2008 that the concept of community interpreting was introduced in Korea, and 2009 when that of healthcare interpreting was introduced (Kwak, 2010). In addition to the short history of healthcare interpreting in Korea, the fact that the majority of those who currently provide healthcare interpreting in hospitals are not professional interpreters raises questions about the quality of healthcare interpreting services in Korea. Ozolins' (2000) continuum of responsiveness to need places healthcare interpreting in Korea at the ad hoc stage with some instances of generic services in evidence. Due to a dearth of research, little is known about current practices. However, since Korea is witnessing a rapid increase in the number of migrants, it is essential that initiatives be taken to move closer to "comprehensiveness" in healthcare interpreting.Based on observations undertaken during data collection at Soonchunhyang University Hospital1 in Korea in August 2017, the role of healthcare interpreters is ill-defined and the interpreting was often undertaken by bilingual hospital staff who are playing dual roles. For example, bilingual nurses serve as interpreters when needed. The Korean healthcare system is essentially private and therefore inevitably commercialised. Hospitals prefer to hire bilingual staff rather than professional interpreters for the sake of cost-effectiveness (Kwak, 2010). This has resulted in a broadening of the role of the healthcare interpreter to encompass the role of medical coordinator or vice versa. Under the circumstances, clearly defining roles will serve as a stepping stone towards developing tailored training, an accreditation system, and comprehensiveness in the provision of healthcare interpreting in Korea.1 online resource (108 pages) table
Mimicry in the ant attended leafhopper species Eurymela rubrolimbata
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 46-54.1. Introduction -- 2. Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion -- Appendix.Mimicry is a diverse and well-studied topic. However, little literature exists regarding why animals adopt mimicry over other defence strategies. Juvenile Eurymela rubrolimbata leafhoppers both mimic Dolichoderus clarki ants, and provide them with honeydew in return for protection. Interestingly, other ant attended species have not been described to resemble their ant partners. Considering this, I first determined whether E. rubrolimbata mimics D. clarki or just displays similar aposematic colouration. To do so I took a multi-trait approach applying recently developed techniques and incorporating multiple life stages and backgrounds. This approach revealed that E. rubrolimbata display mimetic colour and colour distribution at size appropriate instar stages, possess a more ant-like shape due to background interactions and move rapidly like D. clarki. To understand why mimicry may be displayed, I assessed E. rubrolimbata’s relationship with D. clarki and with key resources. Like other species, the mimic and model display a strong relationship. However, E. rubrolimbata regularly travels between spatially separated resources, setting it apart from other ant attended species which are primarily stationary. Hence, I propose movement requirements contributed to E. rubrolimbata evolving mimicry. Indeed, the need for movement may be a determining factor in the evolution of mimicry among other species.1 online resource (v, 61 pages : illustrations
Accommodating Sharia: : A Feminist Institutionalist Analysis of Sharia law in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 267-294ABSTRACT - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - INTRODUCTION -- SECTION ONE: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS AND BACKGROUND TO STUDY -- Chapter One: Multiculturalism versus Feminism -- Chapter Two: Legal Pluralism and Reasonable Accommodation -- Chapter Three: Sharia Law -- Chapter Four: Muslim Women, Choice and Agency -- Chapter Five: New Institutionalism and Feminist Institutionalism -- SECTION TWO: POLITICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT IN CANADA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND AUSTRALIA -- Chapter Six: The Political and Legal Landscape in Canada -- Chapter Seven: The Political and Legal Landscape in the United Kingdom -- Chapter Eight: The Political and Legal Landscape in Australia -- SECTION THREE: INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS -- Chapter Nine: The State, Law, and Multiculturalism -- Chapter Ten: Church-State Relations and Informal Networks -- CONCLUSION -- BIBLIOGRAPHYThe debates around Sharia law in Western multicultural societies are ongoing, and often draw on feminist arguments opposing multiculturalism to illustrate the "perils" of accommodating minority religious groups. An alternative focus of Sharia discussions is to consider the possibilities of legal pluralism within the state, and whether accommodation of minority religious laws is even possible. Whilst interesting, these debates do not adequately address how and why Sharia councils and tribunals have seemingly flourished in the United Kingdom, but not so in the comparable multicultural contexts of Australia and Canada. This thesis moves beyond the existing discussions of legal pluralism and the normative value of multiculturalism to examine the competing political interests that arise in debates around accommodating religious laws (specifically Sharia law), and the issues of gender equality. Drawing on theories of feminist institutionalism, I will offer a comparative analysis of the political conditions within Australia, Canada, and the UK. The key questions explored are: how has each institution influenced the experience with Sharia in each state; and what are the outcomes for women that arise within the institutional landscape. This institutional discussion will focus on two formal institutions, the legal structures of each state, and state multicultural policies; as well as two informal institutions, the influence of dominant Christian religious groups, and informal networks of men. These formal and informal institutions are examined to provide context, and better understand the development of the Sharia debate and experience in each country, as well as the outcomes for women. State law is often positioned within these debates as the "best" alternative for gender justice, as it is considered secular and "neutral". However, this fails to account for the reality that institutions, such as the law, are gendered. By adopting a feminist institutionalist approach, this thesis aims to move beyond the liberal rights framework that is typically used to discuss Muslim women and Sharia in the West. By doing so, we are better able to understand the institutional nuances that shape the experience with Sharia within countries such as Australia, Canada and the UK.1 online resource ( viii, 294 pages
Temperature, humidity and vegetation density affect eggshell pigmentation across a continent
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pagesIntroduction -- Materials and methods -- Results -- Discussion -- Conclusion.The distinctive evolutionary shift from white reptilian eggs to pigmented eggs in a majority of avian species, has stimulated much thought and research, but has yet to be completely explained. Pigments in eggs may serve a variety of structural or signalling functions, which are not mutually exclusive. This research focuses on the variability of Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen) eggs, and the possible drivers of such variability. Using a dataset of 283 clutches from the Australian continent we used a range of methodologies to assess the degree of inter-clutch variation in egg pigmentation in relation to genetic divergence, environmental factors, and brood parasitism. We found little evidence for divergence between subspecies, however the Tasmanian subspecies did differ significantly from most of the others. The analysis of environmental parameters revealed that maximum temperature and the interactions between maximum temperature, relative humidity and leaf area cover explained variation for background colour patterning. The presence of a brood parasite in about one third of the magpie's distribution was related to a small degree, not significantly so, to the variation in colour and patterning. The results from our study add to the body of evidence that environmental drivers have an impact on pigment deposition.1 online resource (iii, 49 pages : illustrations, maps
The impact of bilingual subtitles on attention distribution and cognitive load: an eye tracking study
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 94-101.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Results -- Chapter 5. Discussion -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.This study investigated the impact of subtitle mode on viewers’ visual attention distribution, cognitive load and overall comprehension of the video’s content. Twenty Chinese native speakers watched four videos with English narration, each in a different condition: with English subtitles (intralingual subtitles), with Chinese subtitles (interlingual subtitles), with both Chinese and English subtitles (bilingual subtitles), and without subtitles. Their eye movements were recorded by means of a remote eye tracker while watching the video. After watching each video, they were asked to complete a post hoc Likert scale questionnaire to self-report three types of cognitive load and mental effort in information acquisition. A free recall test was also used to evaluate viewers’ comprehension of the video. Results showed that viewers’ visual attention to L1 subtitles was more stable than that to L2 subtitles and less sensitive to the increased visual competition in the bilingual condition, which could be attributed to the language dominance of their native language. Bilingual subtitles did not create more cognitive load or produce more cognitive gain than monolingual subtitles. However,compared with the no subtitles condition, bilingual subtitles were found to be more beneficial as they provided linguistic support to make the video easier to comprehend and facilitate the learning process.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ix, 116 pages) colour illustration
Using English as a medium of instruction in higher education in Vietnam: a case study of a physics degree program
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 57-72.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Results and discussion -- Chapter 5. Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.In response to globalization as well as regionalization, the government of Vietnam has officially adopted English-medium instruction (EMI) at selected universities since 2014. This study examines an EMI degree program – which was among the pilot programs of EMI at that time – in a Physics Department at a university in Vietnam. Using questionnaires, interviews and classroom observation, it investigates teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the program’s practicality, including how these perceptions are reflected in their teaching and learning practices, as well as factors influencing their teaching and learning processes. The preliminary results indicate that despite the fact that the current EMI program has been operating for more than ten years, there is still room for improvement in its teaching and learning processes.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vii, 152 pages) diagrams, graphs, table
Varieties of food capitalism?: a political economy of food provisioning in the United Kingdom, France, and Australia
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 210-232.Introduction -- Chapter 1. Explaining food policy and food regimes : literature review -- Chapter 2. Analytical framework and research design -- Chapter 3. Applying the policy regime to the world of food -- Chapter 4. United Kingdom -- Chapter 5. France -- Chapter 6. Discussion -- Chapter 7. The Australian story -- Conclusion -- References.Most scholarship in the traditions of anthropology and sociology of food has advanced that cultural forces and social structures govern food practices. This thesis expands beyond the cultural realm of food practices to enquire as to how and why the cross-national variations in the social and political organisation of food provisioning of selected advanced economies developed and persisted. It aims to tie a historical perspective on the importance of political and social origins of modern food capitalisms to the current debate for an integrative food policy analysis instigated by Lang, Barling, and Caraher’s (2009) influential text, Food Policy. This thesis aims to explain why national food provisioning from production to consumption, continue to follow distinct developmental trajectories with no sign of convergence towards a single and unique model.The thesis uses the policy regime construct as an interpretive framework to span the analytical lens over the, usually independently studied, policy domains of food production, transformation, and consumption in three advanced economies – the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. The thesis demonstrates that focusing on the interplay between ideas, interests, and institutional arrangements — the 3’I’s that define a policy regime — shaping the pollical economy of food provisioning, can not only enrich Lang et al.’s (2009) integrative food policy analysis but also provide greater insights into the historical meta-analysis offered by the food regime theory (Friedmann & McMichael, 1989).The research concludes that two major influences shaped the developmental logic of national food provisioning over time — the extent to which domestic capitalism gained ascendency over traditions of localism, and the extent to which global logics took precedence over national policy autonomy. Historical and structural factors relevant to the initial subordination of agriculture to industry, the nature of state activism and agency, and the degree of national autonomy and ‘policy space’ within the global scene describe and explain the distinct dynamics of national food capitalism along alternative pathways. Food systems that developed out of the need to negotiate politically and socially the extent of the commodification of food provisioning as it was the case in France, came to be underpinned by very different sets of ideological and institutional arrangements than those where the integration of agriculture into the capitalist mode of production encountered less initial resistance.The thesis also proposes to distinguish national policy logics as a question of explicit or implicit emphasis. Just as France’s food policy environment makes the social relations of food explicit with well-defined systemic policy responses, the liberal economies of both the UK and Australia conceive the organisation of food provisioning in more implicit terms, creating a political distance between the policy issue and the sites of policy decision. Overall, the study confirms that today’s ‘varieties of food capitalism’ find their origins in the social and political dynamics present at the time of transitioning to a capitalist democracy, and finds little evidence for the convergence of national food policies.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 232 pages) table
Conceptualisations, beliefs and practices: investigating technology integration in Australian early learning environments through practitioner inquiry
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 271-283.Chapter 1. Introduction and background to the study -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Presentation of findings and discussion part 1 -- Chapter 5. Presentation of findings and discussion part 2 -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Glossary -- References -- Appendices.Digital technologies are becoming more prevalent every day and increasingly impact upon childrens lived experiences (Chaudron, 2015; Palaiologou, 2014). However, research indicates that diverse yet interrelated factors create an antipathy towards the integration of technology in play-based curriculums which poses a challenge for early childhood educators (Nikolopoulou & Gialamas, 2015a; Palaiologou, 2016).This study investigated educator beliefs and practices in relation to technology integration in their early learning services. Additionally, this research investigated practitioner inquiry as a professional learning model to support educators to integrate technology within a play-based curriculum. Rogoff’s (1990; 1995) sociocultural framework underpinned the study and was utilised to examine understandings of technology and how these impacted upon pedagogical practice.The research comprised of a collective case study of educators at three early learning services in New South Wales, Australia. At each of the early learning services one group took part in the study. This predominantly included two educators and the cohort of children they worked with as well as the service director or manager. Children were three to five years of age, and each group accommodated up to 20 children per day with regular, ongoing attendance pattern. The case studies included two phases, implemented over a 10-month period. The first phase examined the beliefs and practices of educators. This knowledge of educators and their specific contexts then informed the practitioner inquiry projects conducted in the second phase of the study.Findings from this research indicated that technology integration can be a paradox within early learning services and continues to be dichotomised between those who support it and those who disapprove of technology use by young children in early learning curriculums. A number of complex and interwoven factors impact upon educator beliefs and practices, and the subsequent integration of technology in their curriculums. Concomitant viewing of these factors acknowledged the relationships and connections that impact on educator beliefs and practices at personal, interpersonal and contextual levels.Findings also highlighted the importance of defining and reconceptualising technology integration—moving beyond more limited ideas of technology to consider the broader experiences children and educators have in their everyday lives. Acknowledgement of variations in educator conceptualisations of technology underpinned the practitioner inquiry process. Accordingly, professional learning content was adapted to be contextually relevant and responsive to interests, abilities, needs and resources within each service. A number of factors were identified as supports and inhibitors to technology integration with the practitioner inquiry process.This study identifies a need for further opportunities for professional discourse, critical reflection and professional learning to support educators to consider diverse conceptualisations of technology and to investigate possibilities for integrating technology within play-based pedagogies.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xi, 320 pages) diagrams, table