Am I an 'Anglo' because I speak English?

Part of the lunchroom discussion this week was about what politically correct (PC) term to use to refer to a 'White' person. I'm Asian American, but my husband's family came from Eastern Europe. I tell my students that he's 'Caucasian.' However, that term is always met with blank stares, followed by "What means that?" Then, I proceed to use 'White' or 'non-Asian' and get nods of understanding.

Although we often use 'White' and 'Black'/'African-American' in our ESL classes in discussions of prejudice and discrimination in the USA, one of our male instructors said that he really doesn't like to be called 'White' and prefers the label 'Anglo.' However, another instructor asserted that 'Caucasian' was the most PC term, especially in business and in the city of Chicago where she grew up. In addition, since her ancestors came from Eastern Europe, she said she would not want to be identified as 'Anglo,' which could indicate 'English' roots. However, if we see 'Anglo' as identifying Americans by their first language, I could also be considered 'Anglo,' although most people would then think I had 'White' blood in me.

Then, we went on to consider what the best label is for someone from Mexico or from Latin America. Should we say 'Hispanic' or 'Latino/a'? Our Mexican-born instructor dislikes the term 'Latino' because, for her, 'Latino' includes Italians and other Latin-based language speakers. Her first choice for herself would be 'Mexican' and secondly, Hispanic.

To make the discussion even more complicated, one teacher pointed out that 'Native Americans,' who used to be called American Indians, actually prefer that original ethnic label. I can understand their position since people who are born and raised here in the United States are also 'native Americans.'

As if the topic of 'color' (race) were in the air, this morning on NPR (National Public Radio), I listened to commentary about a summit held in California's capital, Sacramento, in which educators gathered to discuss recent findings about the effects of race on educational achievement. In the NPR (National Public Radio) broadcast, the terms 'White,' 'Black,' 'Asian,' and 'Latino' or 'Brown' were used, so to the producers of that show, those labels must be PC. What should we call people like my children who are mixed 'White-Asian' or Tiger Woods? Do the labels matter as much to government once you're out of school?

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THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP SUMMIT, Sacramento, CA

It's hard to speculate about future discussions of educational achievement in California (or across the USA) where there will always be diversity in people's value systems. For many people, education only has value if it leads to successful employment afterward, and that really depends on personal or family networks, motivation, previous experience, demonstrated ability, and yes, good luck! In California, many of our students would benefit from the opportunity to do apprenticeships to learn skills in fields such as auto mechanics, masonry, plumbing, food preparation, or landscaping (actually quite vital jobs). However, people in these 'trades' (professions) are rarely discussed. I don't remember my children having the opportunity to shadow a 'plumber,' for example, on career day (because who would 'aspire' to be a blue collar worker?) .

If you want to hear and see some of the latest discussion about the Achievement Gap Summit in Sacramento, CA this week, here are a few links: one to news10/abc and another from which you can get to several other related stories.

Simulating the iBT (TOEFL) with limited technology

I'm teaching the iBT TOEFL course again. When I taught at UCSD's English Language Institute, I handled one of the two classes that covered the Listening and Speaking portion of the test. The university has a great language laboratory which allows instructors to simulate test conditions for these two parts of the iBT. Since I'm at a private language school now, I need to be more inventive and creative in simulating the iBT since we lack the space for a dedicated computer lab.

One of the challenges and pleasures of having a wiki is finding ways for my students to use it profitably. Since our computers (9) are not equipped with the expensive software of the university and we don't have a staff of computer techs to handle any glitches, I am having my students do one part of a writing test online, using my wikispace. To see some of their products, you can click here. Each student has his/her own page that (s)he can add to or correct as (s)he likes. Since the students' work is public, I've suggested that they make editing changes and corrections. That seemed to get their attention, but I'm waiting to see if they will correct themselves online.

In the future, I will try to load our computers with Audacity and purchase some headphones with mics so that iBT students can do online recordings. However, at present, I plan to record test-takers with a regular tape recorder or my digital hand-held recorder. The advantage of the digital recorder is that a student can see the seconds going by and know when to stop. This method would approximate the online experience. We'll see....

Fun Gadgets for Your Blog

I hope you enjoy the new gadgets I've added to my blog. I do, and here are the links if you'd like to add them to yours. There are two visitor maps: one is a spinning globe (but there are other formats to choose from), and the other is a map of the world which shows red dots to mark where people have logged on from. I put two up because I loved having something move on my page and instantaneously seeing if anyone is looking at my blog. I have no idea if the numbers or locations are real or not, but I like to believe they are.

I've also tried previously to put up a calendar on my blog, but I found Google's calendar difficult to mark and link to this page. The one I've put up is extremely easy for one who's not techno-savvy. Localendar is currently free for me as are the maps.

So, here are the links:
- to get to "localendar.com," open up the calendar on my blog and click on the name "localendar.com" at the bottom of the page, below the displayed calendar
- Spinning Globe
- World Map
Enjoy!

Halloween Festivities

To give our students a taste of Halloween, the entire school dresses up for the occasion. Then, each class creates a design for a pumpkin and carves and decorates it.






















At noon, we take the pumpkins down to La Jolla Cove and have a pizza party. Afterwards, we have a variety of games and activities, including sweep the pumpkin, identify the body part (reach into a paper bag and feel the material), and pumpkin and costume competitions.



Unfortunately, my camera battery decided to die before the games started, but I think I captured some of the feel of that day. The idea was for all to let their hair down and use their English in a fun social setting, mixing native speakers (the teachers) and students. Flavio said, looking at me and the other "graduate", "Better late than never!" That English was music to my ears.