Supervisor

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to God Almighty, because without Him, this work would not have come to fruition. Secondly, I would like to sincerely appreciate my thesis committee: Dr. Suzanne Dansereau, Dr. Anthony O'Malley and Dr. Anne Marie Dalton. Dr. Dansereau consistently provided me with invaluable feedback throughout this work and propelled me, often patiently, in the right direction. I would further like to thank Dr. Dansereau for her support, concern and encouraging words during a trying period; your concern helped me to no small extent. Dr. O’Malley provided very useful inputs along with a helpful supply of relevant literature, and for that I remain grateful. Dr. Dalton was equally immensely helpful in her astute corrections and suggestions. I would not forget Dr. John Reid who chaired my thesis defence beautifully, I remain grateful. I would like to thank the FGSR for the scholarship I got; it went a very long way in helping me complete this programme. I would equally like to thank Jenny Harrison, Heather Taylor and Shane Costantino for their prompt and helpful response each time I needed assistance from their offices