Active civic participation of immigrants in Portugal

Portugal’s historical past strongly influences the composition of the country’s immigrant population. The main third-country foreign nationals in Portugal originate traditionally from Portuguese-speaking African countries (namely Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea Bissau, and S. Tomé e Príncipe) and Brazil. In 2001, a newly created immigrant status entitled “permanence” authorization uncovered a quantitative and a qualitative change in the structure of immigrant population in Portugal. First, there was a quantitative jump from 223.602 foreigners in 2001 to 364.203 regularized foreigners in 2003. Secondly, there was a substantial qualitative shift in the composition of immigrants. The majority of the new immigrants began coming from Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, and the Russian Federation. Thus, European countries outside the E.U. zone now rank second (after African countries) in their contribution of individuals to the stocks of immigrant population in Portugal. The differences between the new and traditional immigration flows are visible in the geographical distribution of immigrants and in their insertion into the labour market. While the traditional flows would congregate around the metropolitan area of Lisbon and in the Algarve, the new migratory flows tend to be more geographically dispersed and present in less urbanized areas of Portugal. In terms of insertion in the labour market, although the construction sector is still the most important industry for immigrant labour, Eastern European workers may also be found in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The institutional conditions that encourage immigrants’ civic participation are divided at three different levels: the state, the local, and the civil society levels. At the state level, the High Commissioner for Migrations and Ethnic Minorities is the main organizational structure along with a set of interrelated initiatives operating under specific regulatory frameworks, which act as mediators between state officials and the Portuguese civil society, and more specifically, immigrant communities. At the local level, some municipalities created consultative councils and municipal departments aiming at encouraging the participation and representation of interests from immigrant groups and association in local policies. In the civil society sphere, the main actors in Portugal spurring immigrants civic participation are immigrant associations, mainstream associations directed toward immigration topics, and unions. The legal conditions framing immigrants’ access to social housing, education, health, and social security in Portugal are also considered to be positive. Conditions restricting immigrants’ civic participation are mainly normative and include the Portuguese nationality law, the regulations shaping the political participation of immigrants, namely in what concerns their right to vote, and employment regulations restricting immigrants’ access to public administration positions. Part II of the report focuses on the active civic participation of third country immigrants. First, reasons for the lack of research on this issue in Portugal are explained. On the one hand, the recent immigration history and the more urgent needs regarding school and economic integration kept this issue out of the research spotlight. On the other hand, it was just in the beginning of the 1990s that immigrants took the very first steps toward collective mobilisation. Secondly, the literature review of Portuguese bibliography covers research on third country immigrants’ associative movement, research on local authorities’ policies and discussion about ethnic politics and political mobilisation of immigrants in Portugal. As political mobilisation of these groups has been made mainly through ethnic and/or migrant organisations, a brief history of immigrants' associative movement is given. Immigrant associations develop multiple roles, covering the social, the cultural, the economic and the political domains. Political claiming for the regularisation of illegal immigrants has been a permanent and important field of intervention since the mid-1990s. Research results reveal the com5 plex relations between ethnic mobilisation and the set of legal and institutional frameworks developed by local and national governmental authorities targeted to the incorporation of minority groups. Case studies on the Oeiras district and on the Amadora district are then presented. Conclusions underline that the most active immigrant groups are those from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, since these groups have constituted a higher number of ethnic associations, give priority to political claiming and present a more politicised discourse. Reflecting on the future of research on civic participation of third country immigrants in Portugal, the authors state that it would be interesting and relevant to compare the Portuguese situation with those of other European countries, with an older immigration history, and analyse how the Portuguese immigrants’ associative movement will be affected by a changing legal framework and the emergence of new opportunities within the set of structures regarding the political participation of minority groups.

English as a world language: its role as a lingua francaa sociolinguistic profile of students of secondary schools in Santiago Island, in the Archipelago of Cape Verde

Esta tese centra-se em aspectos relevantes do inglês como uma língua universal, no actual contexto globalizado e examina possíveis mudanças relacionadas com o seu uso, em especial no continente africano, particularmente no caso de Cabo Verde, no sentido de ponderar eventuais alternativas nas pedagogias linguísticas no ensino desta língua que impliquem uma adaptação à realidade contemporânea. Uma vez que, nos nossos tempos, o inglês é a língua de eleição para a comunicação intercultural entre povos com várias experiências culturais e linguísticas, o conhecimento deste idioma torna-se, a cada dia que passa, impreterível e indispensável, na interacção intercultural. Em África, as funções desempenhadas pelo inglês são complexas; além da língua inglesa ser usada para comunicação entre etnias, com o estatuto de língua franca, também tem o papel de preservar a identidade nacional e de estabelecer a unidade entre os povos da mesma nação. Por conseguinte, é de considerar talvez ainda com mais pertinência, a adopção de uma nova filosofia de pedagogia de ensino que permita dotar os seus cidadãos de capacidades que lhes possibilitem comunicar de forma inteligível com povos de outras culturas e línguas. O primeiro capítulo aborda aspectos teóricos relacionados com a expansão, comunicação e mudança associadas à língua inglesa e suas implicações no ensino em países onde esta não é língua nativa (L1). O segundo capítulo reflecte, em primeiro lugar, sobre a situação linguística em África e as línguas francas predominantes no continente, incluindo a língua inglesa. Considera também questões relacionadas com o multilinguismo e a identidade, bem como assuntos relacionados com as implicações da diversidade linguística para a educação dos povos africanos.

A Percepção da População Local Sobre os Impactos Económicos do Turismo na Ilha de São Vicente

A actividade turística só faz sentido, e torna-se viável, quando se proporciona uma experiência qualitativa aos principais agentes envolvidos, isto é, quando haja a optimização da experiência turística, a conservação ambiental e cultural e a inclusão social, pela participação activa das comunidades locais. Assim, esta monografia debruça-se sobre a análise de um desses pilares, mais concretamente, a população local, e como tal, objectiva-se analisar a sua percepção sobre os impactos económicos do turismo no desenvolvimento da ilha de São Vicente. Contudo, para dar uma resposta coerente à problemática deste estudo, que é identificar os impactos económicos do turismo percebido pelos residentes, recorreu-se à uma abordagem económica do turismo, tendo em conta as nomenclaturas desenvolvidas no âmbito da Conta Satélite do Turismo. Na avaliação dos impactos, fez-se a aplicação de um inquérito por questionário, dirigido aos residentes das zonas de Norte Baía, Ribeira de Calhau, São Pedro e o Centro da Cidade. Definiu-se uma amostra representativa de 200 indivíduos, analisando a relação entre o turismo e um conjunto de variáveis económicas tais como o emprego, o rendimento, as receitas governamentais, as infra-estruturas, a sazonalidade, os investimentos, e a inflação. Pelos resultados obtidos, concluiu-se que o turismo contribui positivamente para aumentar o emprego, o rendimento, melhorar a qualidade de vida, o aparecimento de novas empresas, o aumento do Produto Interno Bruto e ainda contribui para o desenvolvimento económico da ilha. Contudo, os resultados permitiram concluir que a ilha não depende, do ponto de vista económico, exclusivamente do turismo. Touristic activity only makes sense and becomes profitable when it brings a qualitative experience to the parties involved, i.e. when it results in an improvement of the touristic experience, with an environmental and cultural protection and social inclusion, through the active participation of the local communities, we developed this monograph based on the analysis of the people´s perception about the economic impact of the tourism in the development of São Vicente island. However, in order to have a coherent answer to the issues this document is concerned with, i.e to identify the economic impact of the tourism on people´s live, we went through an economic approach of the tourism, taking in consideration the nomenclature developed in the sphere of Tourism Satellite Account. For the evaluation of the impact we resorted to an enquiry to the residents of Norte Baía, Ribeira de Calhau, São Pedro, and Mindelo. A representative sample of 200 individuals has been defined, to analyze the relationship between the tourism itself and several economic targets, such as: employment, profits, infrastructure, season, investment, inflation. According to the analysis we concluded that the tourism has positively contributed to the uprising of new enterprise, to the increasing of the gross domestic product, to rise up the employment rate, to increase family´s incomes and consequently a better life quality and also to the economic development of São Vicente Island. Nevertheless we also concluded that economically São Vicente does not depend only on the tourism incomes.

Soil and Water Conservation Strategies in Cape Verde (Cabo Verde in Portuguese) and Their Impacts on Livelihoods - An Overview from the Ribeira Seca Watershed

Severe land degradation has strongly affected both people’s livelihood and the environment in Cape Verde (Cabo Verde in Portuguese), a natural resource poor country. Despite the enormous investment in soil and water conservation measures (SWC or SLM), which are visible throughout the landscape, and the recognition of their benefits, their biophysical and socioeconomic impacts have been poorly assessed and scientifically documented. This paper contributes to filling this gap, by bringing together insights from literature and policy review, field survey and participatory assessment in the Ribeira Seca Watershed through a concerted approach devised by the DESIRE project (the “Desire approach”). Specifically, we analyze government strategies towards building resilience against the harsh conditions, analyze the state of land degradation and its drivers, survey and map the existing SWC measures, and assess their effectiveness against land degradation, on crop yield and people’s livelihood. We infer that the relative success of Cape Verde in tackling desertification and rural poverty owes to an integrated governance strategy that comprises raising awareness, institutional framework development, financial resource allocation, capacity building, and active participation of rural communities. We recommend that specific, scientific-based monitoring and assessment studies be carried out on the biophysical and socioeconomic impact of SLM and that the “Desire approach” be scaled-up to other watersheds in the country.

The Importance of Using Games to Teach English in the 3rd Cycle

The title of this thesis is “The importance of using games to teach English in the 3rd Cycle”. I choose this topic because I think that games are important in the process of learning and because in my opinion not only students but people in general are more motivated to learn when they are having fun or when they are doing something that is interesting. Some authors argue that games stimulate learners to practise, to activate and extend their English vocabulary, and that most students feel more motivated to learn and learn more easily when they are having fun. Games make demands on learners’ intelligence and imagination and calls for active participation. That is exactly what 3rd Cycle students and teachers need in order to have success in their studies and work respectively. The 3rd Cycle students have covered the majority of the grammar and functions contents of the English curriculum in the previous Cycles (the 1st and 2nd Cycle) and in the 3rd Cycle the students need most of their time to put into practice what they have learned before. Games are an effective method to put in practice what they have learned before and also through games they have several contexts and different situations to explore in order to show their knowledge or their vocabulary. The 3rd Cycle students need methods that motivate them to learn and to participate in class and since they already study a specific language function. If the teacher uses an enjoyable method like games students will not get bored and they will be more motivate to participate in class.

Increasing Students Vocabulary in Efl Class

After reviewing the literature, this work tries to show the importance of teaching vocabulary fõr students’ literacy skills, especially, reading comprehension. Many researchers suggest that the greatest amount of vocabulary growth occurs through incidental word learning in wide reading, and, research indicates that vocabulary instruction is an important vehicle for vocabulary learning. (Anderson& Nagy, as cited in Harmon, 1992, p.306). Word knowledge is one of the best ways of successful reading and comprehension. “Reading enhancement correlates with reader’s vocabulary” (Im, 1994, p.12). Therefore, today’s language teachers and researchers have realized the important role of vocabulary in reading comprehension. A survey carried out on 10th, 11th and 12th grade students, regarding their reading comprehension, shows that unknown words is one of the factors which influences their ability to read and comprehend a passage. It also shows that students feel the need to be instructed on strategy when encountering new words and consequently improving their vocabulary. This inhibits their understanding of a reading selection. As a result it is crucial that teachers equip students with methodological tools to be employed when they encounter unknown words. There are a lot systematic approaches for discerning which skills and words a teacher should focus on and meaningful classroom activities to reinforce the words and strategies that teachers can use to help students increase their word knowledge. Finally research indicates that developing students’ vocabulary correlates with success in all areas of curriculum (Edger, 1999, p.14). The success of vocabulary development depends on students’ active process of learning and strategies used by teachers.

An ASsessment of Relationship between Students' Perception of Social Studies and their Academic Performance in Colleges of Education in Kaduna State

The objective of this study was to find out the relationship between students’ perception of Social Studies and their academic performance in the subject in Colleges of Education in Kaduna State. The respondents of the study comprised NCE 2 and NCE 3 students of Social Studies at the Federal College of Education in Zaria and the Kaduna State College of Education in Gidan Waya. The data for the study was collected using a questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.87. The Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the hypotheses formulated for the study. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance with df = 232. The findings were as follows: 1. The Social Studies students in colleges of education in Kaduna State do not record high academic performance in the subject. 2. Students’ perception of the Social Studies curriculum does affect their academic performance in the subject 3. Students’ perception of relevance of Social Studies education has no bearing on their academic performance in the subject. 4. Students’ perception of public attitude towards Social Studies has no impact on their academic performance in the subject. 5. Students’ general perception of Social Studies does not affect their academic performance in the subject. Based on these findings the following recommendations were proffered for Social Studies researchers and policy makers. a. There is need for further research in order to determine the actual cause of students’ failure to display high performance in Social Studies. b. The NCE Social Studies curriculum should be reviewed in terms of volume and difficulty.