English Names
Author: Mitchell Bradford, University of St Andrews DProf student
Review/editing: Aaron Rotsinger, University of St Andrews
John is from Ireland, and he teaches at an international school in China. He’s pretty new in China, and he has lots of trouble with the language, especially pronunciation. His students usually take English names, and that makes it much easier for him. In one of his classes this semester, he started with an ice-breaking activity and started asking students for their names, but all of them wanted to use their Chinese names. When John tried to repeat them, he really struggled with the pronunciation, and some of the students got embarrassed while others giggled. Eventually, John got upset and told them that they all have to choose English names for the next class. That afternoon, several of the students’ parents called and complained about John, and the next morning, he was called in for a serious meeting with the principal.
Question: What went wrong here? How could John and/or the students have done things differently in order to avoid these negative feelings and outcomes?
John should try harder to learn Chinese pronunciation if he’s going to live there
John’s students shouldn’t laugh or get embarrassed – they should think how they would feel
John should explain to the students how their laughing makes him feel
John should learn to laugh at himself along with the students
John should spend a little time each day practicing the names with the students until he gets better at them
How would you feel if someone laughed at your pronunciation?
How would you feel if a teacher required you to take a new name?
Does it bother you when someone mispronounces your name? If so, why?
Do you think it does more harm or more good when students take English names?
How much effort should people make in learning local languages when they live there? Is it the same everywhere?