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After the Financial Crisis: Heterogeneity of Consumer Optimism and Investment in Risky Assets
(2016) Choi, Daewoung; Kim, Kyung Tae
We examined the effects of heterogeneous optimism on risky asset investment in the period following the 2008 financial crisis by distinguishing between the micro and macro levels of individuals’ optimism in data provided by the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The baseline logit model showed that the general measure of optimism, which ignores the heterogeneity of one’s’ beliefs in micro and macro levels of optimism, was associated negatively with stock holdings in the period following the financial crisis. This result is in contrast to the findings of prior studies of household optimism. Using the distinct levels of individuals’ optimism, we found that households that are optimistic only about their future income growth are more likely to have directly held stocks in their financial portfolio, and this effect held continuously during the post-crisis period. However, households that are optimistic only about the future economy are less likely to invest directly in stocks during this period. This opposite effect of macro optimism may offset the positive role of individuals’ optimism on risky asset investment that has been documented in previous literature. Results of multinomial logit models indeed indicated that households that possessed macro optimism held a lower portion of stocks at most.
Blurring lines: Reconstituting the third culture kid identity
(2016) Swindle, Jean
Third Cultures Kids (TCKs) are lauded for their international travel, ability to speak multiple languages, and global perspective but have also been identified as plagued by a sense of cultural homelessness, difficulty upon repatriations, and a lack of positive affect (Pollock & Van Reken, 2003; Dewaele & van Oudenhoven, 2009; Peterson & Plamondon, 2009). Research on TCKs has unquestionably used the Pollock and Van Reken definition of a TCK and relied on the characteristics noted in the seminal text to formulate a list TCKs characteristics. This paper challenges these assumptions and use Derridian deconstuctivist and Deleuzian lenses to interrogate the dominant way in which the denominated TCK has been socially- and scholarly-constructed. There is the potential for a broader reading of how international experiences constitute a child's identity. Using data from an ethnographic pilot study, the life stories and descriptive narratives of four TCKs between the ages of 18-40 and survey data from an additional 32 participants are used to explore the TCK identity through the aforementioned theoretical lenses. The findings present titillating possibilities for different sorts of knowledge production on TCK research and lead to asking different sets of questions that expand the TCK dialogue beyond merely understanding context and causality to adding to the growing discourse of identity constitution and multidimensionality.
The Effect of Goals and Goal Setting in the Spanish Language Classroom
(2016) Miller, Alyssia M.
Knowing how to foster linguistic development is an important aspect of second language acquisition (SLA) research. Research has shown that there are many factors that affect SLA, but one factor that has not been studied extensively is that of goals and goal setting. Therefore, the purpose of this study is: (i) to investigate what types of goals second languages (L2) learners set; and (ii) to determine whether the type of goal that learners set has an effect on their academic achievement. In order to investigate this relationship, this study focuses primarily on Achievement Goal Theory and implements key components from Goal-Setting Theory. 58 students in an intermediate-level Spanish course participated in this study. Students were given a survey to determine their personal goal orientation. Based on these results, students were given a list of possible goals that matched their goal orientation and were asked to choose one. After each chapter quiz, students were given feedback on their goal. Finally, students’ final grades were compared to their goals. This study found that students come to their L2 course with different personal goals ranging from performance to mastery goals. Results indicate that students who set goals had statistically significantly higher course grades compared to those who did not set goals, (p = 0.013). Therefore, results infer that goal setting plays an important role in L2 acquisition and can aid in the academic achievement of L2 learners.
Speaking English: Breaking out of Chinatown
(2016) Wang, Min
This case study explores the perspectives of one TESOL instructor towards her Chinese students in an ELI setting at a Southeastern U.S. university.
Treatise Online, no. 2, Part E, Revised, Volume 4, Chapter 5: A list of Upper Paleozoic–Mesozoic stromatoporoid-like genera; and excluded taxa
(Paleontological Institute, 2011-01-18) Stearn, Colin W.; Stock, Carl W.