Received: from hotmail.com (f115.law9.hotmail.com [64.4.9.115]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id h1OKm0P24210 for <nifl-esl@nifl.gov>; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 15:48:00 -0500 (EST) Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 12:47:52 -0800 Received: from 66.55.6.166 by lw9fd.law9.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 20:47:52 GMT X-Originating-IP: [66.55.6.166] From: "Susan Ryan" <susanefl@hotmail.com> To: nifl-esl@nifl.gov Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8592] Re: RE: War as a cross-cultural issue Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 15:47:52 -0500 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F1153R0cZF7xKnT0rYn0000b57c@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 24 Feb 2003 20:47:52.0302 (UTC) FILETIME=[FFD860E0:01C2DC45] Status: O Content-Length: 6051 Lines: 145 Do we need to get so deep into subject matter to teach the English language? My students are just struggling to put the adjactive before the noun! Susan >From: "Hillary Gardner" <hgardner@lagcc.cuny.edu> >Reply-To: nifl-esl@nifl.gov >To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> >Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8591] RE: War as a cross-cultural issue >Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 15:37:40 -0500 (EST) > >There is an interesting lesson on "War and the Military" in a book called >"Talk Your Head Off and Write Too" by Brana Rish West and published by >Prentice Hall (1997). The lesson consits of vocabulary, 13 discussion >questions, and a class survey where students can ask their classmates >name/native country/who was your country fighting/when/why were they >fighting. I haven't tried this lesson with my students, but I thought it >seemed like a potentially interesting and non-judgmental way to put the >subject of war into a cross-cultural, historical perspective. > >In my adult ESOL/Civics class we recently studied the powers of the >president as each student prepared a brief presentation on the life of one >of the U.S. presidents. So, while we did not address war in Iraq as a >topic, we did discuss the presidential power to make war or treaties, and >how some of the honored and famous U.S. presidents led the country during >times of war (Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt). In this way we were able to >discuss what the current president might think he stands to "gain" by being >pro-war. > >Hillary Gardner >ESOL/Civics Instructor >English for New Americans >Center for Immigrant Education and Training >La Guardia Community College >Long Island City, New York > > > >>> lad-oh@etop.org 02/24/03 11:29AM >>> >People see events in terms of their own experiences, and in some cases, in >terms of what they have been taught. I don't know that we can say that any >view point is "right" or "wrong," but we can certainly encourage discussion >to help students understand why other people feel differently about the >situation. I was teaching English in Korea at the time of the Kobe >earthquake, and I was just floored to hear my several of my high-school >girls say that they were happy because many Japanese people died. Even >though they (and probably most members of their families) had no personal >recollection of Japanese occupation, the anti-Japanese sentiment was deeply >engrained in them. When I told a Japanese friend of mine what the girls had >said, she said that she understood their point of view because Japan never >apologized to Korea for the things they had done during the years of >occupation. Nevertheless, I had no regrets about expressing my displeasure >at their joy over such a horrible disaster. I related to them my mother's >experience growing up during the Blitz in WWII London. Although she had >terrible memories of neighbors being killed and living in bomb shelters for >days at a time with no light and little food and water, she did not teach >me to hate German people. She taught me that you cannot blame every person >for the actions of a few, and that's what I tried to communicate to my >Korean students. I hope I at least made them think about why they said what >they did, whether their words expressed their true feelings or just >something they had been taught to feel. > >Lorraine Gardner >Academic/Workplace Skills Instructor >Omaha, NE >lad-oh@etop.org > >At 10:16 AM 2/24/03 -0500, you wrote: > >Your students want to know why the U.S. goes around attacking people all >the > >time? Do they study the history of Japan during the 20th century? I have > >great reservations re: the present action being contemplated, but I do >know > >if we really wanted the oil in Iraq we could have had it long ago. Yes, >the > >U.S. makes many mistakes, but we don't go around attacking people all the > >time. > > > >******************** > >Cindi Riley > >Assistant Director > >Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry > >1403 Prince St. > >Beaufort, SC 29902 > >phone 843-525-6658 > >fax 843-521-1945 > >criley@lowcountryliteracy.org > >www.lowcountryliteracy.org > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Charles > >Jannuzi > >Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2003 3:15 AM > >To: Multiple recipients of list > >Subject: [NIFL-ESL:8579] War as a cross-cultural issue > > > >Well here I am, an American in Fukui, Japan, and I have EFL students >asking > >me, Why does the US attack everyone all the time? Why has war become >almost > >an annual event? > > > >What do I say? My country right or wrong? That American's unsurpassed >power > >somehow gives it the moral right to decide who lives and who dies? > > > >Do I get indignant and tell my students they are talking 'crap'? My >students > >right here in Fukui City can go ask their grandparents if they want to >hear > >real memories of what war actually means. The entire city was >incinerated, > >and the forested hill in the center became one giant charnel. > > > >I walk there every week among the trees and look at the thousands upon > >thousands of gravestones that show life after life barely lived and then > >snuffed out. > > > >Indignation is cheap. I don't think of their questions as attacks. I tell > >them what my views are, and they actually appear thankful that not all > >Americans think like the current administration does. > > > >I suggest some Americans I know review what freedom of speech means. They > >might start with the recent articles of John Pilger, an Australian. >Written > >in a plain English that most federal emergency management bureaucrats >can't > >touch. You might also ask why is it that such blunt journalism makes up >less > >than 1% of what is published and almost none of it in the mainstream >press > >in the US. > > > >Charles Jannuzi > >Fukui, Japan > _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
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