Explaining What Trump is Trying to do with Immigration

Someone asked me to explain what Trump is doing or trying to do with the United

States immigration policies. There has been a lot of talk of this in the news lately.

Trump wants to change our immigration policies.

Many other people do not want them changed. Exactly how changes in

US immigration law happen is complicated. Because Trump is president sometimes

he can do things to change the way the US government works. However, a President

cannot just do anything he wants. There are laws on what he can do and what he

cannot do. So sometimes he cannot do what he wants. Sometimes he can try to get

Congress and the House of Representatives to make changes. Then the people in

Congress and the House of Representatives vote on whether or not they want to

make the changes.

So no really knows what changes will happen and if Trump will be able to do

what he wants.

If he gets his changes then if you are a US Citizen or have a Green Card you can still stay.

HOWEVER, if he gets his changes it will become more difficult for you and other people

to bring new people here from your country, this includes family members who live

overseas.

Trump is also looking at many groups who were allowed to stay here temporarily and

trying to send them home.

For instance, there was a terrible earthquake in El Salvador, a small country south of

Mexico many years ago. Because of the Earthquake many El Salvadoreans were told

they could stay until things got better in their country.

But actually nobody really told them it was time to go home. The government just

let them stay. Now Trump is telling them to go home.

A second group that you will here about are called "DACA recipients"

DACA means "Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals."

These are people whose parents came here against the law, usually from Mexico or

South America but brought their children with them.

Their children did not choose to come here against the law and grew up here, and

Trump said, basically, although they are here against the law, it's not their fault, and

they can stay until we decide on a good policy about what to do with them.

Now Trump is saying he wants to send them home.

Honestly, Trump has the idea that the USA should build a big, expensive wall with

Mexico to try to keep more people out. (I do not think this wall is a good idea.)

He is crazy about this idea and really, really wants it, and he's basically told a lot of

people he might agree to let some of these people stay and stop trying to send them

home if people let him build his wall.

But the basic idea is if he gets his changes, you, your family, and other immigrants

and refugees who have green cards or are citizens can stay but it will be more difficult

to invite friends or family from Asia to come here.

And even if these things do happen they might change back when we get our next

president.

If you wish to do something about this and live in Albany, Schenectady or Rensselaer

County you should probably contact Paul Tonko's office. He is your government representative and he works in Washington DC to help make national laws and policies.

He likes to know how people feel about things and sometimes changes his vote after

people talk to him.

https://www.facebook.com/reppaultonko/

Peter Huston

Here are some news articles that discuss these things.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/us/politics/trump-immigration-meeting-anatomy.html

6 Dramatic Moments in Trump’s Unusual Immigration Session

The West Wing met The Apprentice when President Trump presided over a meeting,

later broadcast on television, of lawmakers from both parties debating immigration

policy in the cabinet room.

nytimes.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-chain-migration-became-a-target-in-trumps-immigration-agenda/2018/01/02/dd30e034-efdb-11e7-90ed-77167c6861f2_story.html?utm_term=.c3578f0cce98

Family ties drive U.S. immigration. Why Trump wants to break the ‘chains.’

An irony of the president’s effort is that liberal reformers of the 1960s wanted a merit-based model, too.

Clarke, Asimov, and Heinlein -Three Classic Science Fiction Writers of the Golden Age

Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Robert Heinlein are three of the most prolific science fiction writers of the golden age of science fiction.

Arthur C Clarke lived from December 16, 1917 until March 19, 2008. He was a prolific writer and is known for many classic short stories and novels as well as a strong interest in technology, particularly communications technology, and space flight. He was British but spent most of his adult life living in Sri Lanka. 

For a quick, entertaining, and not terribly serious introduction to his work and appeal the TV Tropes wiki is a great start: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/ArthurCClarke

One of his most famous stories is called The Nine Billion Names of God.
http://downlode.org/Etext/nine_billion_names_of_god.html 

Robert A Heinlein is another classic science fiction writer. 

It's difficult to find his work online but one of his classic stories, The Menace from Earth is including in the online pdf of this classic magazine. http://www.luminist.org/archives/SF/FSF.htm  (August 1957 ) 

For a quick, entertaining, and not terribly serious introduction to his work and appeal the TV Tropes wiki is a great start: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/RobertAHeinlein

To many Libertarian types, Heinlein is seen as an important thinker and philosopher. The following quote is typical of his ideas and the beliefs of his characters, self reliant, independent, survivors. 

Isaac Asimov is well known for not just his science fiction but also his popular science articles and ablity to explain complex ideas smoothly and simple to the interested public.  

 For a quick, entertaining, and not terribly serious introduction to his work and appeal the TV Tropes wiki is a great start:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/IsaacAsimov 

It can be difficult to find Asimov's fiction online but if you use this index you can find where it was first published. Often you can then find a copy of the original magazine shared online and read it there. : http://www.asimovonline.com/oldsite/short_fiction_guide.html

Pete Teaches Science Fiction --Class #3

The Early Magazines  --

"The Pulps" 

This site provides an excellent introduction to the "pulp" magazines that were such an important part of early science fiction: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15f12ccdc5ad3bc9

While there, do not hesitate to browse and explore the archives. Many of the early pulp magazines are on the web in different places.


This is the first issue of Astounding Stories (now called Analog), an important magazine in the history of science fiction.

You can find the full text of the magazine at Project Gutenberg:  http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41481

We will also continue our discussion of pulp stories and early magazine stories with Leslie F Stones "Conquest of Gola" --this is in the book but if you wish to see the actual magazine it came in (with editorials and other stories, as well as fascinating ads, you may look here: 

http://www.pulpmags.org/collections/pdf/won19310400.pdf

In fact, a collection of on-line copies of all of the issues of "Wonder Stories" magazine from 1931 are here: http://www.pulpmags.org/content/view/issues/wonder-stories.html 

If you'd like to know more about Leslie Stone, http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/stone_leslie_f

Finally, I'd be curious to get your take on the issue of Edgar Rice Burroughs and sexism or lack thereof. 

There are ten and a half books in ERB's "Barsoom" (Mars) series, easily his most popular series after Tarzan and his most popular SF series.

This is the fourth one and dates from 1916. In the first three books, John Carter, a master swordsman and civil war veteran comes to Mars (Barsoom) through mysterious means where he discovers that due to the low gravity he has super strength. Skipping ahead, he makes friends with the savage four armed green martians who soon capture him and then rescues Dejah Thoris, a proud Barsoomian princess from a nation called Helium. They get married and have a son named Carthoris (should you wonder, Tarzan and Jane got married and had a son name Korak). 

In this book, Carthoris, now an adult, meets Thuvia, a proud Martian princess who has the power to control the Martian lions called "Banths" and well  . . . problems happen and he sets out to rescue her.  

Just read as much as you want but please try to read at least the first scene of the book. (It starts much faster than the first three. I think in the first one, it takes a couple chapters before John Carter gets to Mars, chapters in which ERB carefully explains how he met John Carter and acquired the manuscript and in which John Carter explains how he wound up on Mars after going to Arizona where he was chased by Apaches into some mysterious ruins that transported him to the red planet.

Description of book with 1916 cover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuvia,_Maid_of_Mars

A more modern depiction of Thuvia painted by Brian Justo.

Images of Thuvia

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&biw=1366&bih=662&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=thuvia+maid+of+mars&oq=thuvia+ma&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0j0i24k1l2.1271501.1273034.0.1275554.9.9.0.0.0.0.277.1865.0j5j4.9.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.9.1861...0i67k1.0.-y-Twq7ZE-8

The full text of the book is available online. 

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72

Teaching English 101 to low ability student, Part Two: English Punctuation is Important

In my last post, I described how I had come to teach English 101 at a for-profit vocational college that specialized in taking first generation college adult, often minorities, often with low academic ability and poor academic background and motivation, and hooking them up with loans and then enrolling them in its programs. What I've been told is that people like these programs because they often feature good good hands-on training in skills needed for different vocations. Unfortunately English 101, despite my attempts to make it relevant to real life, really didn't fit that bill particularly when many of the students were at the end of their programs, thereby making English 101 nothing more than a requirement to finish the program.


STEP ONE --THE PLAN

So what did I do on the first class? First, I decide to emphasize that one important aspect of good writing is that it is clear in meaning and comprehensible.

And one key to making English writing comprehensible is to use proper punctuation. Therefore, I did some google searching and found some entertaining.

I am offering these here for the benefit of others.


Domestic Examples:

20 Images That Prove Grammar and Punctuation Are Important


A Humorous Look at The Importance of Punctuation

29 Photos That Prove Punctuation Is VERY Important



Foreign examples

31 Brilliant examples of Engrish fails...


There was also this example from the humorous website Engrish.com that deals with Japanese and Asian examples of badly used English.



Having used some examples of bad English produced by Asians, I decided to avoid or reduce the likelihood of charges of racism (or "culturalism"? or "Anglocentrism"? Although I admit it is problematic and potentially offensive when one makes fun of usage of one's own language by non-native speakers, it is not necessarilly "racist" by the strict definition of "racism" now is it? Just saying.) by providing some exampes of bad Asian language usage by Westerners.

The most common example of where we see this is in tattoos using (or misusing) Chinese characters (or weird squiggles that are supposed to be Chinese characters). Since this is a subject that has interested me for years, it was easy enough to throw these in.


Google Search on bad Chinese tattoo fails


These presentations were followed up with showing a Cambodian language pop music video and asking students to write about it and a homework assignment. Before the next class, the students were to find one example of good writing and one example of bad writing.


STEP TWO --ASSESSING HOW THE LESSON WENT

This is a bit more problematic, but, of course, just as important if not more important than the actual lesson itself. What I often found, must to my surprise, was that many of the students read at such a low level that they were not able to grasp the lesson.  In other words, their knowledge of punctuation was such that the students were often unable to tell if a sentence were ambivalent or not.

I'm not sure how this should have been dealt with.

The obvious two solutions were to either assign homework that would focus on remedial punctuation or begin class with a lesson on remedial punctuation.

However, neither of these solutions worked well because the students who needed it the most, did not arrive in class on time nor did they do homework.

A hard nosed approach of "Do your homework or I will fail you," was tried and the administration was quick to tell me that they did not approve of this approach. (This is a common criticism of for-profit schools. Student happiness and retention of return customers is valued over academic rigor or standards.)

Teaching low level, low motivation students is not easy. It's an area where I hope to improve and am making efforts to improve and develop my teaching skills.

An Introduction to Teaching English composition to low level adults -- My experiences.

In January of 2017, I was given the chance to teach English 101, Academic Writing and Research, at the local for-profit, vocational college. Although accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, this is one of those places that specializes in recruiting from often first generation, often minority, generally low academic level students who would not do well at other institutions, arranging for federal and other loans for them to enable them to complete their studies, and then running them through various programs focused on job and vocational training. The college also offers two year programs and, although English 101 is being phased out and replaced with a course oriented towards vocational and job needs than academic needs. 

At the time, however, not only did it exist, but it was a required course for some students who needed it to graduate in their programs. Curiously, unlike a normal college where students take English 101 first semester to develop the skills required to complete their studies and finish their program, at this school the majority of my students were in their last semester and had already completed the majority of their classes. This was particularly interesting as many of them showed serious academic deficits.  

At the last minute their previous English 101 instructor was unable or unwilling to continue and I was hired as a last minute replacement. In fact, they came to me, unsolicited, without my ever having applied to work at the school. 

Over the next few months, I found myself teaching academic writing to a small group of usually college age adults. There were ten students in the class, at the start, although one was later expelled, reducing the student load to nine. These students were all first college and their background proved a challenge to teaching. 

Over the next semester, I learned that in my class none of the students were aware of what a master's degree was, what a standardized test was, what the SAT's were, or who Steve Bannon, the controversial adviser to recently elected President Donald Trump, was. Nor, generally speaking, did they consider it abnormal or unusual that they didn't know these things, and generally had little interest in learning who or what they were.

Clearly, this was not the typical group of college students. And they had special challenges.

Most read at a low level. In many cases, they were not able to comprehend texts and newspaper articles unless given assistance, assistance they would often not ask for or seek out. It didn't help that the assigned textbook, as well as the verbiage on the syllabus, was far above their reading level, thus making the (quite expensive) textbook virtually useless for teaching. Although I can't discuss the exact rationale behind the inappropriate textbook or the syllabus, they both seemed to have been written for someone other than my students (and probably was). 

Why? It's difficult to say. Ability to use and write in standard English was also a challenge. One had a non-Western, South-West Asian language as his native language (he was also the hardest working and most studious student in the class.) Two others were Hispanic and although their English was at a high conversational level, I suspect one had problems stemming from his bilinguality. (To achieve in an academic setting, a student must be able to write and communicate at a sufficient level in the language of instruction, in this case English. This level is higher than that required for must mundane, day to day, workplace and social interactions. If a person has this level of ability in one language, for instance, most Chinese who come to the USA to study, they can often acquire it through education and study in a second language. With some bilingual students, they function at a non-academic level in two languages and then bringing them up to an academic level in either is a challenge that should ideally be addressed before placing them in a classroom. However in this case it had not been addressed.) The other attended class so rarely that I never did get a chance to really assess her English level thoroughly.  Another, although a native English speaker, spoke a "non-standard" Caribbean dialect of English as her native tongue,  

Which left six students who were native English speakers, but even these often showed problems. For instance, when I began my class with an assessment I like to use ( see: Assessing students writing through using Cambodian language pop music ) , two students, both White, native English speaking American women who spoke "working class English" turned in papers that included the line "Her and her friends were dancing." (as opposed to the more "standard"   "She and her friends were dancing.") 

For the next 15 weeks, each Wednesday for three hours I taught my class. Although I think my instincts were good, and I adjusted as time went on and I became more familiar with the expectations and restrictions of the administration and the abilities and level of motivations of the students, it was not an easy teaching assignment. 

To add to the challenges, while at most colleges English 101 -Academic Writing and Research is required in the initial semester or year so that the students develop an introduction to the skills that they will need to use to acquire their degree, in this case the course was being taken by many students near the end of their degree, students who expected to be entering fields where they would not need to do much academic research or writing, and who thus felt they had little practical need for the skills that were taught in the course.

Classes were often skipped, often attended late if at all, homework left undone, and the administration's approach to the problem was keep the students happy, do not confront them, and if they fail, well, they can take the class a second time --and be billed for it twice. 

More Christmas Specials and Movies for English Language Learners and Foreign Students

Last time on this blog, I shared a few of the more common American Christmas specials. This time, I'll add a few more, as well as a couple of the best known Christmas films. These are all iconic Christmas specials well known in the USA and I introduced them in my advanced class a couple weeks ago.

# 5 -- A Charlie Brown Christmas 

Charlie Brown is most certainly an American icon. Seems like this should be included.

# 6 -- A Christmas Story

Last month in this class, as discussed in a post a few weeks ago on movies, I showed the Thanksgiving film, "Pieces of April," spread over a few weeks. I seriously considering give this film, "A Christmas Story," the same treatment and only decided against it as I did not wish to repeat myself with the same kind of class, two months in a row. Undoubtedly a good film for foreign folks wishing to understand American culture. --or at least American culture of a few decades ago.

#7-  It's a Wonderful Life 

A true classic and a well known one. Surely it can't help for people wishing to understand our culture to check this one out, can it?

# 8 - A Miracle on 34th Street 

The story of a "real" Santa Claus in New York City. Another classic worth checking out.

#9 -- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians  

Okay, here I might be pushing it. I admit this strange and bizarre classic in "bad" movies has a special place in my heart. On the other hand, I did show it to my students in the advanced class, a group primarily composed of educated, middle class Asian housewives and they seemed to consider the brief exposure ten minutes well spent.

An Introduction to Christmas Special for "New Americans," Foreign Students, and ESL Students --Part One

Once a week, I teach an advanced ESL class where most of the students are wives of highly educated foreign workers, often from the tech industry. They generally speak English well and much of the class is cultural enrichment. 

What follows is a list of Christmas Specials that I introduced my students to this week. 

I began by explaining that Christmas is a religious holiday celebrated only by those who are at least nominally Christian and introduced the concept of separation of church and state. Nevertheless, I said, Christmas is clearly and important time of year and the separation of Church and State is not 100% (for better or worse) as evidenced by such things as "In God we Trust" on the money. 

So, with no further ado, a list of Christmas specials for ESL and Foreign Students. 

#1 --Frosty the Snowman

Although technically not a Christmas special, per se, this does tend to get shown around Christmas time. Therefore I began the class with it, perhaps to alleviate fears that I was going to push my religious beliefs or offend Muslims.   

Like many of these I began with the song on which the television special was based, and explained the vocabulary and concepts in it. Therefore I began with this song.    

 

I then followed up with the trailer for the TV show (or as close to the trailer as I could find. I am not convinced, despite the label, that this is really the TV show trailer.) 

#2 --Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer 

Again, I began with the song, explaining lyrics and vocabulary and cultural references. As an aside, and a piece of self criticism, this was not a terribly interactive lesson and was a bit lecture heavy. Not perfect, but once in a while, I feel, it's okay to do such lessons. 

 

This was followed by the trailer for the TV special. (This is not the one I used in class, but how can one not enjoy this? Especially if you are from Schenectady, home of GE, as I am. )

#3 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas 

This one I did a little differently than the others, because while the others started with songs, this one started with a book, a book by Dr. Seuss, so I began there. The I showed the trailer for the TV show. 

I explained that while I thought the word "grinch" had not been an English word, before this song they could now use it to describe an unhappy, grouchy person. I then followed this up with the song, explaining that a lot of the vocabulary is quite intense and obscure (I actually had to look up a couple words myself, "wasty" for instance, and told my students so. I do make it clear to my students that I do not understand every English word and they should not expect to be able to do so either. )

I showed this partly to explain the cultural significance of the song. I kind of feel they were more impressed than I was, but it was still fun to see the US Navy band perform this classic. 

 

This might have worked too, but probably not as well. 

And finally I introduced them to the Jim Carrey full length movie. I confess, I steered them away from it, but explained I hadn't seen it myself and perhaps I should before saying bad things about it. On the other hand, with the cartoon being such a classic, I feel this entire movie is unnecessary. Competely unnecessary.