Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to ... more Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to describe subgroups in society. For youth they are a tool for bullying and a way of describing bullies. They are also mundane styles that describe qualities about all of us in some limited capacity. This case study reflects upon online research methods used to examine subcultures in the Israeli context. The study included five phases of research: 1) a review of online blogs and other digital media, 2) a literature review, 3) questionnaire development, 4) data collection with high school students, and 5) analyses. This case study reviews the topic of subcultures and history of subculture theories, alongside the theory of subcultures that developed from this study. We outline how we conducted the study, including tools we used for analyzing and visualizing the results. We then discuss the papers that were written about specific topics. Finally, we provide advice for future researchers who plan to conduct studies about subcultures using online and digital methods.
Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to ... more Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to describe subgroups in society. For youth they are a tool for bullying and a way of describing bullies. They are also mundane styles that describe qualities about all of us in some limited capacity. This case study reflects upon online research methods used to examine subcultures in the Israeli context. The study included five phases of research: 1) a review of online blogs and other digital media, 2) a literature review, 3) questionnaire development, 4) data collection with high school students, and 5) analyses. This case study reviews the topic of subcultures and history of subculture theories, alongside the theory of subcultures that developed from this study. We outline how we conducted the study, including tools we used for analyzing and visualizing the results. We then discuss the papers that were written about specific topics. Finally, we provide advice for future researchers who plan to conduct studies about subcultures using online and digital methods.
Path analysis provides social science researchers with a powerful tool for conducting theory guid... more Path analysis provides social science researchers with a powerful tool for conducting theory guided empirical studies with multiple variables. This case presents a step-by-step description of how we used path analysis to examine immigrants' acculturation in multicultural societies. We describe a series of papers we published based on two distinct research studies that used a common instrument. The process of building a path analysis model is explained, specifying how to utilize a theory, build a questionnaire, and develop a model with your data. The case ends with a discussion of some of the lessons learned in our prior research and suggests how to continue this research in the future.
Acculturation experiences of different migrant groups have been shown to vary as a function of s... more Acculturation experiences of different migrant groups have been shown to vary as a function of such factors as their strength and status in the host society (Giles and Johnson, 1987) and the magnitude and character of their cultural divergence from the dominant host group, as manifested, for example, in racial, religious and cultural differences (Schwartz et al., 2006). Although the waves of immigration from the FSU and Ethiopia coincided temporally, Russian immigrants to Israel constituted a strong group demographically and their pride in their ethnic culture is apparent (Kheimets and Epstein, 2001), while the immigrants from Ethiopia constitute a small community with limited economic and socio-cultural resources. A theoretically-based model was used as a template to create 'fitted' models best describing the contributory impact of identity on language orientation for diverse ethnic communities within the broader theoretical framework of the migration process (Golan- Cook and Olshtain, 2011). The models derived through Structural Equations Modeling (SEM) for each of these immigrant groups in two independent studies are described in this chapter, allowing us to examine similarities and differences between the acculturation processes of students from these two ethnic communities in Israel.
Abstract
The Israeli educational system faces the specific challenge of teaching Hebrew as a seco... more Abstract The Israeli educational system faces the specific challenge of teaching Hebrew as a second language to new immigrants from Ethiopia, who are illiterate in their mother tongue. Despite good will and substantial efforts, the success of these immigrants in achieving literacy in the Hebrew language has been limited. To better meet their social and vocational needs, we revised the existing model of literacy teaching for adults and developed an alternative communicative-multicultural-neuropsychological model. This approach is based on cultural-historical approaches developed by Vygotsky and Luria and cultural neuropsychology. The analysis of neuropsychological aspects of illiteracy and changes in brain function related to literacy acquisition allowed us to suggest adding exercises that seek to train phonological awareness and visual perception to processes of learning to read and write. Forty-five students of the experimental (Orit) program had significantly better scores than a group who received an equivalent amount of literacy classes (175 h). This overall effect of the program was reflected by mean improvements in word and sentence production from pictures and letter recognition and increased self-efficacy for language learning. Such a program can be used as a research platform to teach a second language for illiterate adults who lack formal schooling. Keywords: Luria, education, culture, illiteracy, new language learning, adult literacy acquisition.
Migrants' perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host society are bel... more Migrants' perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host society are believed to be central to identity reconstruction (Giles and Johnson, 1987). Previous research validates this position in the case of immigrant students from Ethiopia in Israeli colleges (Golan-Cook et al., 2014), where ethnic identity increased as a function of perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality- a measure used to measure 'group status' in the social milieu. However, in the case at hand, the objectively low-vitality status of the Ethiopian community in Israel, coupled with perceptions of racial discrimination, creates challenges for migrants who eagerly adopt the dominant Israeli identity while striving to maintain their indigenous identity. The impact of subjective experiences of discrimination on identity reconstruction and overall well-being of migrants have been well-documented in migration research (e.g., Liebkind et al., 2004). The migrants’ perceptions of ethnic identity, subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, and need for social change were examined through Simultaneous Equations Modeling (path analysis), taking into account such demographic variables as age at migration. A "best fit" model is presented, which shows how Ethiopian Israelis who maintain their indigenous identity perceive greater group inequalities, and those amongst them with more tenure in the country express greater expectations for social change.
Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to ... more Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to describe subgroups in society. For youth they are a tool for bullying and a way of describing bullies. They are also mundane styles that describe qualities about all of us in some limited capacity. This case study reflects upon online research methods used to examine subcultures in the Israeli context. The study included five phases of research: 1) a review of online blogs and other digital media, 2) a literature review, 3) questionnaire development, 4) data collection with high school students, and 5) analyses. This case study reviews the topic of subcultures and history of subculture theories, alongside the theory of subcultures that developed from this study. We outline how we conducted the study, including tools we used for analyzing and visualizing the results. We then discuss the papers that were written about specific topics. Finally, we provide advice for future researchers who plan to conduct studies about subcultures using online and digital methods.
Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to ... more Stereotypes about subcultures (e.g. Freaks, Nerds, Stoners) have become increasingly utilized to describe subgroups in society. For youth they are a tool for bullying and a way of describing bullies. They are also mundane styles that describe qualities about all of us in some limited capacity. This case study reflects upon online research methods used to examine subcultures in the Israeli context. The study included five phases of research: 1) a review of online blogs and other digital media, 2) a literature review, 3) questionnaire development, 4) data collection with high school students, and 5) analyses. This case study reviews the topic of subcultures and history of subculture theories, alongside the theory of subcultures that developed from this study. We outline how we conducted the study, including tools we used for analyzing and visualizing the results. We then discuss the papers that were written about specific topics. Finally, we provide advice for future researchers who plan to conduct studies about subcultures using online and digital methods.
Path analysis provides social science researchers with a powerful tool for conducting theory guid... more Path analysis provides social science researchers with a powerful tool for conducting theory guided empirical studies with multiple variables. This case presents a step-by-step description of how we used path analysis to examine immigrants' acculturation in multicultural societies. We describe a series of papers we published based on two distinct research studies that used a common instrument. The process of building a path analysis model is explained, specifying how to utilize a theory, build a questionnaire, and develop a model with your data. The case ends with a discussion of some of the lessons learned in our prior research and suggests how to continue this research in the future.
Acculturation experiences of different migrant groups have been shown to vary as a function of s... more Acculturation experiences of different migrant groups have been shown to vary as a function of such factors as their strength and status in the host society (Giles and Johnson, 1987) and the magnitude and character of their cultural divergence from the dominant host group, as manifested, for example, in racial, religious and cultural differences (Schwartz et al., 2006). Although the waves of immigration from the FSU and Ethiopia coincided temporally, Russian immigrants to Israel constituted a strong group demographically and their pride in their ethnic culture is apparent (Kheimets and Epstein, 2001), while the immigrants from Ethiopia constitute a small community with limited economic and socio-cultural resources. A theoretically-based model was used as a template to create 'fitted' models best describing the contributory impact of identity on language orientation for diverse ethnic communities within the broader theoretical framework of the migration process (Golan- Cook and Olshtain, 2011). The models derived through Structural Equations Modeling (SEM) for each of these immigrant groups in two independent studies are described in this chapter, allowing us to examine similarities and differences between the acculturation processes of students from these two ethnic communities in Israel.
Abstract
The Israeli educational system faces the specific challenge of teaching Hebrew as a seco... more Abstract The Israeli educational system faces the specific challenge of teaching Hebrew as a second language to new immigrants from Ethiopia, who are illiterate in their mother tongue. Despite good will and substantial efforts, the success of these immigrants in achieving literacy in the Hebrew language has been limited. To better meet their social and vocational needs, we revised the existing model of literacy teaching for adults and developed an alternative communicative-multicultural-neuropsychological model. This approach is based on cultural-historical approaches developed by Vygotsky and Luria and cultural neuropsychology. The analysis of neuropsychological aspects of illiteracy and changes in brain function related to literacy acquisition allowed us to suggest adding exercises that seek to train phonological awareness and visual perception to processes of learning to read and write. Forty-five students of the experimental (Orit) program had significantly better scores than a group who received an equivalent amount of literacy classes (175 h). This overall effect of the program was reflected by mean improvements in word and sentence production from pictures and letter recognition and increased self-efficacy for language learning. Such a program can be used as a research platform to teach a second language for illiterate adults who lack formal schooling. Keywords: Luria, education, culture, illiteracy, new language learning, adult literacy acquisition.
Migrants' perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host society are bel... more Migrants' perceptions of intergroup relations and ethnic group status in the host society are believed to be central to identity reconstruction (Giles and Johnson, 1987). Previous research validates this position in the case of immigrant students from Ethiopia in Israeli colleges (Golan-Cook et al., 2014), where ethnic identity increased as a function of perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality- a measure used to measure 'group status' in the social milieu. However, in the case at hand, the objectively low-vitality status of the Ethiopian community in Israel, coupled with perceptions of racial discrimination, creates challenges for migrants who eagerly adopt the dominant Israeli identity while striving to maintain their indigenous identity. The impact of subjective experiences of discrimination on identity reconstruction and overall well-being of migrants have been well-documented in migration research (e.g., Liebkind et al., 2004). The migrants’ perceptions of ethnic identity, subjective ethnolinguistic vitality, and need for social change were examined through Simultaneous Equations Modeling (path analysis), taking into account such demographic variables as age at migration. A "best fit" model is presented, which shows how Ethiopian Israelis who maintain their indigenous identity perceive greater group inequalities, and those amongst them with more tenure in the country express greater expectations for social change.
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Papers by Shmuel Cook
The Israeli educational system faces the specific challenge of teaching Hebrew as a second language to new immigrants from
Ethiopia, who are illiterate in their mother tongue. Despite good will and substantial efforts, the success of these immigrants
in achieving literacy in the Hebrew language has been limited. To better meet their social and vocational needs, we revised the
existing model of literacy teaching for adults and developed an alternative communicative-multicultural-neuropsychological
model. This approach is based on cultural-historical approaches developed by Vygotsky and Luria and cultural neuropsychology.
The analysis of neuropsychological aspects of illiteracy and changes in brain function related to literacy acquisition allowed
us to suggest adding exercises that seek to train phonological awareness and visual perception to processes of learning to read
and write. Forty-five students of the experimental (Orit) program had significantly better scores than a group who received an
equivalent amount of literacy classes (175 h). This overall effect of the program was reflected by mean improvements in word
and sentence production from pictures and letter recognition and increased self-efficacy for language learning. Such a program
can be used as a research platform to teach a second language for illiterate adults who lack formal schooling. Keywords: Luria,
education, culture, illiteracy, new language learning, adult literacy acquisition.
Books by Shmuel Cook
The Israeli educational system faces the specific challenge of teaching Hebrew as a second language to new immigrants from
Ethiopia, who are illiterate in their mother tongue. Despite good will and substantial efforts, the success of these immigrants
in achieving literacy in the Hebrew language has been limited. To better meet their social and vocational needs, we revised the
existing model of literacy teaching for adults and developed an alternative communicative-multicultural-neuropsychological
model. This approach is based on cultural-historical approaches developed by Vygotsky and Luria and cultural neuropsychology.
The analysis of neuropsychological aspects of illiteracy and changes in brain function related to literacy acquisition allowed
us to suggest adding exercises that seek to train phonological awareness and visual perception to processes of learning to read
and write. Forty-five students of the experimental (Orit) program had significantly better scores than a group who received an
equivalent amount of literacy classes (175 h). This overall effect of the program was reflected by mean improvements in word
and sentence production from pictures and letter recognition and increased self-efficacy for language learning. Such a program
can be used as a research platform to teach a second language for illiterate adults who lack formal schooling. Keywords: Luria,
education, culture, illiteracy, new language learning, adult literacy acquisition.