Thanksgiving, Holidays, and Chinese New Year and such

Because it is shortly after Thanksgiving, one of the biggest and most group-oriented holidays in American society, it seems appropriate to write about how many foreign and English as a second language students view the holiday. The interesting truth is that it’s often surprisingly unimportant to them.

 Some who work with foreign students forget that Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. (Okay, there actually is a Canadian Thanksiving held around Columbus day, but it lacks the same symbolism and significance.)

For instance, I once taught at a program at Tufts University that was intended to orient and prepare Chinese high school seniors for study at colleges and universities in the USA. Although I learned a lot in my time there, my feelings were that in many ways it was very much a program designed by and for American liberals without terribly much first hand understanding of Chinese culture and based in their preconceived notions of what the students should be taught rather than based on what the students actually needed. (Perhaps more on this another time.)

And one example of this was at a meeting early in the year,  someone announced that we must find places for them to spend time on Thanksgiving. The fear, as I understood it, was that they would become very lonely on the holiday if they did not have a place to go. However, few newly arrived Chinese students consider Thanksgiving to be terribly important. It is not a holiday celebrated in their country, and they did not grow up with it.  Instead they consider Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) to be the most important holiday of the year and both are celebrated with feasting and a gathering of families and communities. This is when Chinese, Taiwanese, and many other Asian students (including Vietnamese who celebrate Tet at this time of year) tend to get the most homesick and lonely.

By contrast, I remember my first Chinese New Year’s celebrated many years ago in Taipei, Taiwan, when I was in my early twenties and off to teach English as a Second or Foreign Language for the first time in Taiwan.

A group of us young foreign English teacher and student types gathered and enjoyed the way that the locals seemed to have abandoned their city and how it had become like a ghost town as people left to spend time with their families elsewhere.  The restaurants were closed so we ate canned fish and crackers and chatted and had a great time. We were not lonely at all, although my guess is that most of the Taiwanese we knew would have thought we were.

Some of us, including me, later had the opportunity to spend time with Taiwanese families and that was an enjoyable experience too, but it was something more along the lines of a cross-cultural educational experience than it was an experience based on joining a shared community for an important holiday.

We were much more on a “so what’s this crazy thing about anyway?” frame of mind than we were on a “how will we spend this important holiday?” vibe.

And that’s how many of your foreign students view Thanksgiving. If invited, they are happy. They meet new people. They see new things. They experience the host culture and learn more about its people and traditions.

However, if not they are usually fine.

By contrast, however, if one wish to care and provide well for your foreign students, you should learn what their holidays are and how they spend them and seek to ensure that they do not struggle with serious depression and homesickness during those times of year. 

Muslim Fundamentalists, Terrorism, and the ESL Classroom -don't over react but some good things to know

In my last post, I wrote about the few but documented links between terrorism and refugees. As I stated there are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. Of these approximately 3.3 million live in the USA. Since 2002, until 2016, the USA has resettled an estimated over 250,000 Muslim refugees. (See: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/05/u-s-admits-record-number-of-muslim-refugees-in-2016/ and http://www.pewresearch.org/ft_16-10-03_muslimrefugees/ Although the US Government agency the U.S. Refugee Processing Center ( https://www.wrapsnet.org/HomeContacts/tabid/52/Default.aspx ) does keep much more detailed information, this information is indeed difficult to sort through and make sense of.  (According to their website, “The Refugee Processing Center (RPC) is operated by the U.S Department of State (DOS) Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).”)

Clearly, not all these people are dangerous. In fact, few are. And although Islamic Jihadi terrorism is frightening, hence the word “terror” in “terrorism,” and thus catches the attention of the public and the media quickly, it is actually quite rare, at least in the USA. But it does happen. But it’s important to remember that it does not involve most mainstream, ordinary Muslims who have no more desire to place a bomb in a public place or shoot up the office Christmas party than you or I do.  In fact, reliable sources show a low approval rating for terrorism among Muslims in general. (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/22/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/ )

Yet these things happen. So, here’s the million dollar question, if most Muslims are not likely to be involved with terrorist activity, then what sort of Muslim is likely to be involved with terrorist activity? We hear the term “radicalized” a lot, but what does that mean? “Radicalized” into what?  

And why in the world should an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher care?  

Because fundamentalist Muslims reach out to newly arrived refugees seeking converts to their doctrines and school of thought.

Although I can find little documentation of this in the USA, it is documented to happen in Europe and Germany in particular. And in today’s globalized internationalized society, what one faction of a group does on one side of the world is likely to be copied on this side of the world as well.

For instance, we have this Reuters article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-germany-mosques-insig-idUSKCN12S0HE

The key paragraph is:

“Germany's domestic intelligence agency has recorded more than 320 attempts by Salafist Muslims to contact refugees last year, often by offering food, clothes, free copies of the Koran and help with German to asylum seekers living in shelters.”

We also have this article from the National Review, admittedly a conservative, right wing publication but generally quite respected even by many of the critics of its ideology. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/427738/europe-muslim-refugees-recruited-radical-islam-andrew-c-mccarthy

Additionally, there is this article from the Wall Street Journal which discusses how in Germany, on one hand, occasionally Jihadists and wannabe Jihadists reach out to the local Muslim refugee community. On the other hand, the Muslim refugee community, often quite weary of violence, often turn these people into the authorities. http://www.wsj.com/articles/germany-grapples-with-refugee-tips-in-terror-probes-1478079001

Recently I had a pair of student enter the classroom whose behavior struck me as quite strange. Basically, they were cold, stand-offish, did not appear to be trying to learn English, often did not participate in class activities with the other students, and wished to bring unregistered relatives to the class to sit in. This was not allowed in my program so I could not let them in and did not.

The whole thing was quite strange and disconcerting and a little difficult to explain.  

I could not shake the feeling that they were pretending not to know English.

Of course, I reported the problem to my boss who responded in a manner I consider unprofessional and will not detail here. I began to feel a bit like William Shatner in the classic Twilight Zone episode with the monster on the airplane wing (  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmare_at_20,000_Feet   )    

It was admittedly bizarre-sounding claim. Why would anyone pretend to not know English and enter a basic ESL class?

The motive is seeking contacts who are at an unstable point in their life in order to seek converts. The link below explains this. Please note it says that most such people are harmless, although they are religious fanatics who might look down and be hostile to people who do not share their views. (People such as ESL teachers.) As stated in the above Reuters article, many such fundamentalist fanatics believe that the entire world of mundane worldly affairs is beneath their notice and not worthy of much attention and instead prefer to focus their lives and attention on spiritual affairs. Some however are indeed potential Jihadists. 

Many of these people are devotees of a school or doctrine within Islam known as Wahhabism or Salafism. Although I am not qualified to write of this doctrine and its controversies in detail, many sources, including PBS’ Frontline documentary (PBS not exactly being the world’s most right wing media outlet by the way) credit as the ideological source of much of Jihadi terrorist thought.  ( See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/wahhabism.html ) although others question this view. ( see: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/opinion/dont-blame-wahhabism-for-terrorism.html?_r=0 )

How can an ESL teacher recognize such Fundamentalists?

First, don’t expect them to identify themselves. It’s a bit like asking a Fundamentalist Christian if he or she is a Fundamentalist Christian. In such a case, you’re likely to get some answer like “Oh no, I just believe in the Bible and Jesus” or “I’m just a Christian who follows Jesus” or “I just believe in the Bible and follow Christ and its teachings.” It’s the same thing here.

According to Maher Hathout, a senior adviser to the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the spokesperson for the Islamic Center of Southern California, as quoted at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/wahhabism.html

“Well, the word "creed" is important because the creed of Islam is the same: the belief in one God, the belief in the oneness of his message, the oneness of the human family. And the devotion to God should be expressed in human rights, good manners, and mercy, peace, justice, and freedom. No two Muslims will argue about this creed. It is documented in the Koran as the highest authority, modeled by the authentic teaching of the prophet, and the authenticity has always been subject of study and debate.

So the creed is crystal clear. But the interpretation or the way you approach life, which should be a dynamic thing, should change from time to time. When you freeze it at a certain period or at a certain interpretation, problems happen. I know that people called it Wahhabism; I don't subscribe to the term. [Muhammed bin Abd al-Wahhab] at his time was considered a progressive person.

If you freeze things at his time -- which was the eighteenth century, or the late part of the seventeenth century, I don't remember the dates exactly -- it becomes very stagnant and very literalist. And a very straitjacketed puritan approach that does not cater to the changeables and the dynamics of life. People call this Wahhabism.

Saudis, by the way, never say, "We are Wahhabis." They say, "We are just Muslims." But they follow the teachings, and the major booklets taught in all schools are the books of Muhammed bin Abd al-Wahhab. Anyone who's subscribing to someone else is not very much welcomed.”

Although Maher Hathout refers to Saudis here, I think the same would apply to most Muslims regardless of nationality.

So, if you can’t ask and get a useful answer, what are some tips on how to recognize Fundamentalist Muslims who might be worth keeping an eye on. (More on this later.)

I don’t have any cut and dried answers, but a couple tips.

First, while most Muslims pray five times a day and do so while bowing towards Mecca, they tend to do this on a loosely defined, flexible schedule. If you have a classroom break, and a Muslim prays, don’t be alarmed. That’s something Muslims do, it makes them happy, and it hurts no one anywhere. It might even help a few people.

However, Salafist Muslims, like the students in my classroom, pray on an exact schedule. (http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=10&Topic=7538  or  https://www.salaficentre.com/2016/06/prayer-schedules-important-rulings-guideline-cautions/  ) By contrast these students will ask for a break at a specific time and then ask you to accommodate them. They may, like these students, set their smart phones so that a call to prayer goes off during your class, disrupting it.

Obviously, this is not desirable in the classroom, but because a religious issue is involved, handle it with discretion.

Two other tips. Although not always, a large number of such people will have a connection to the Saudi Arabian Peninsula and the nations there. These nations include  Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as parts of southern Iraq and Jordan. Note that few of these countries, with the possible exception of Iraq, are likely to produce refugees so such folks will probably not be refugees.  

Secondly, it should go without saying that these folks will probably be dressed in  conservative Muslim dress. This might include burkas but does not always.

So, what do you do if you see Fundamentalist Muslims in your classroom?  Well, first thing is relax. Take a deep breath. Fundamentalist Muslims, and for that matter Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and even Scientologists, all have a right to learn English. And most members of these groups, yes, all four groups, are not bad people. And, perhaps, getting them out among the general public (and I consider ESL students to be the general public) and away from their little insular communities could help them broaden their horizons and expand their outlook a little. Stranger things have happened.

On the other hand, if there’s something really suspicious, what should you do? Well, based on my experiences one option is to go to your supervisor. On the other hand, it’s worth mentioning that your supervisor probably does not know much about these issues and you may find yourself accused of “Islamophobia,” “racism,” “paranoid thinking,” and worse.  Therefore I would recommend that you consider going to the authorities if you have a strong suspicion concerning the behaviors of some Fundamentalist Muslim students. Most large police forces have someone with an interest in homeland security issues, several federal agencies take an interest in such matters, and here in New York State we have our own Homeland Security agency that keeps tabs on these things. Once you tap into that network, they’ll help guide you to the right people if you have a reasonable basis for suspicion and explain yourself well. Before you do, collect your facts, think about why, exactly, what you saw bothered you, and you’ll make the process smoother for all concerned including yourself. 

English as a Second Language Lesson plan --Giving Advice

Tomorrow is my advanced class at the William K Sanford library.

The subject will be on giving advice. I may try to tie the lesson in with the recent election debates. (Although if I do that then I guess I will have to actually watch at least part of the debates, something so far I have done successfully.) I suspect I shall suggest the students give advice to the candidates on how to act better in the debates.

Sample lesson plan
goal		Student will be better prepared to give advice using modals.
Objective		Students will be able to make sentences with the following modals used in both a positive and negative way. 1.       Could    / couldn’t 2.       Should  / shouldn’t 3.       Must  /mustn’t
Ice- breaker Review		Introduce self to students Tell the students I am here for a job interview. What should I do? (NOTE THAT THIS IS INCORPORATED INTO THE LECTURE)
Lecture / explanation		SEE NOTES
Exercise / practice		Pass out worksheet
Assessment		Look at worksheet
Possible Homework		???

Materials not covered that could be used for follow up, review and expansion:

1.        Unreal conditionals (two great songs for this are “If I were a rich man” and “If I had a million dollars.”)

2.       Dear Abby  

The lecture notes

Lecture –Giving Advice

         1.   Introduce the subject of giving advice

Explain my problem –job interview

INTERACTION: Explain I will need advice, but that comes later. 

          2.   Ask them for examples of problems. 

INTERACTION:  Write them on the board.  

           3.   Introduce the constructions “should,” “shouldn’t” and “should not.”

INTERACTION:  –PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE

               

Explain how to use them in a phrase or sentence.

Give some examples.

“if you are hungry, you ______________ eat.”

“if you are thirsty, you ______________ drink.”

“If you are tired, you ____________ sleep.”

AND THE

“If you are tired, you ______________ drive.”

“If you are angry, you ______________ speak.”

“if you are sad, you _____________ watch sad movies.”  

LOOK AT THE EXAMPLES OF PROBLEMS

INTERACTION: Discuss what people should and shouldn’t do.

IF TIME ALLOWS EXPLAIN  “must” and “must not” and “could”

GO BACK TO THE EXAMPLES AND PRACTICE  

Here's a useful link on how to teach this.:    http://busyteacher.org/3903-how-to-teach-giving-advice.html

And here's a useful worksheet you can pass out to your students:  http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar/2g18-should-shouldnt-exercise.php



Good luck, if you use this, please give credit where credit is due. (Including to the folks I linked to,) and leave your comments please,

ESL / Teaching English as a Second Language teaching credentials

Someone asked me about what credentials are needed to teach English as a Second (or other) Language.

To answer the question, I'd have to know what your goals were in order to see how the certification fits the goals, 

Last person who asked me this question told me described her goal as "I want to live in Thailand and support myself teaching ESL while I volunteer to work with elephants," but I have heard people study ESL teaching for other reason, too. 

Education can help you by enabling you to do something or by giving you fancy papers that enable you to get jobs or ideally both, but they are not always the same, so . . . 

1) teach folks you know ESL. Literacy Volunteers had a good training program in 2008 when I took it and probably still does. Short, simple, good, --four evenings of training for 35$ plus a commitment on your part to be a volunteer tutor. I'd recommend it highly if it's still the same. 

2) Teach ESL while living abroad (okay, you need to remember you don't actually "travel" all the time while doing this. Often you just live abroad, hang out, commute back and forth through crazy foreign traffic, and deal with culture shock. There are pros and cons.) 

The requirements vary by country. To learn them hang out online in forums in the target country and read things like the Lonely Planet Guidebooks and its competitors (Rough Trade? I think that's the name. --BTW, here's a start on the Lonely Planet youtube channel, have fun:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li6w8oqmyzo ) 

Some places the qualifications are "foreign" and at times offensive. i.e. no ESL training required, advanced degrees preferred, the higher degree the better, but field unimportant --i.e. PhD in Chemistry or Theology often trumps an MS in TESOL, white faces often preferred but not always --    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqtS3hSwq3o the  part on ESL recruiting is often dead on true and Asian faces don't do much better. ) Some places no certifications are necessary. 

Do your research. 

Sometimes they want a certificate such as the Oxford. Some times and places you want to shake them and say "But you should value this! It is useful and your requirements are absurd!" and you will be 100% dead on correct but it just won't matter because it's not your country or culture and they make the decisions. (a friend of mine was quite upset when her ESL employer in Kunming China hired a French speaking Caucasian with a thick accent over her native speaking Chinese American friend. OTOH, she learned to accept such things and now has a PhD in anthropology from Cornell with most of the research done in the field in China.) Alas!

3) Teach at for profit places in the USA (Boston has several, I've worked at these. In New York State licensing requirements discourage them from starting here.) These general require a relevant MA or MS or a certificate like you have. However, they will usually keep a good teacher with a certificate over a mediocre one with an MS in TESOL. 

My experience is most of the not-for-profits want the same credentials in Boston. 

4) teach at a college ESL in the USA --MA or MS in TESOL pretty much required. Sometimes a relevant PhD. 

5) teach in public schools. Check each state's requirements. They vary widely. 

Generally a certificate like yours is officially not useful (I think) but if it comes with knowledge then it can be useful. 

i.e. for example, let's say you become a certified Massachusetts history teacher licensed to teach in that field. Suddenly the states decrees that they want all teachers to have a knowledge of  ESL and pass a test on it or take additional training. If you pass the test, bingo! you don't need to take the training. You get to move to the top of the qualified teacher list while the others need to be trained and sit at the bottom. Double bonus if you can speak Spanish! 

This really happened two years ago BTW. My understanding is a few years ago the push was for Special Ed qualifications for all Massachusetts public school teachers. Last year it was ESL. 

Again do research.