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Q: What is your take on schools wanting you to provide students English names?
Sometimes schools do that. I've been to one school where they've asked me to name the kids. I've also seen or been to another school where I've noticed that one of the teachers named the kids. I took a Tesol program and got a book to take the class. In the book it states that you shouldn't give English names to students because learning is something personal and it shouldn't matter.
So what is your take on that. Has any school ever asked you to name the kids? What was your feelings towards what they were asking of you? (
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13 years 15 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
I can't answer that! 
It is trade secret!
My shades? Yes, I wear Bolle Polaroid.
Obviously naming students should only come about if the students specifically ask for an English name. Not from the school etc.
I think that giving a student a name helps them to develop an English personality.
After teaching for 7 years, I see that some Chinese students develop an English personality alongside their 'native' personality. Students often say to me that they can express themselves in a way that they can't with their Chinese self, for example, less shy and inhibited.
Debatable stuff indeed, but nonetheless fascinating for my future postgraduate research.
Traveler:
Interesting topic about thinking differently in native language and second language. Studies have proven this to be true.
Try reading an article by Colin Baker (2006) about bilingualism and bilingual education. The field of Interlanguage Pragmatics (IP) also deals with this subject.
"I'll name you, 'annoying little turd.' You sit next to 'dumbass,'"
Most of the students pick their own names. This has resulted in about 12 Peters, 6 Amandas, 4 Bobs, 1 Dick (lol), and 4 Lucys. When they ask me for a name they usually try to argue about it. I named a girl Louise the other day only to find out that she changed it to Bethier. ugh.
My policy is that I give Western names only to those who want one. To be honest, I wish more would ask, not because I think the names better than their own, but because it could cut down on names like "Pepsi", and "Santy" (still trying to figure that one out).
One guy calls himself "BJ" because he is from Beijing.
When I studied Spanish, and again in studying Chinese, I was given a Spanish name and then a Chinese name. I hated that. I'm not Spanish or Chinese, and my name is a personal thing. I never used either name, and it made no difference to my study of either language.
I've been in some schools where they wanted me to name all the kids. Some kids loved it; others hated it. The ones who hated it, I never called them by their "English" name. The only real purpose it served for me was to keep track of their names on papers. Their handwriting was so atrocious, and so many of them had similar names (and signed themselves with just one character) that it would have been a lot more difficult if they didn't sign with English names.
However, I did have to finally stop Mary/Margarate/Beach/Becky/Susie/Allen/Rice from signing itself in as a different English name each week. Eventually it became stable in personality and stuck to Beach.
Why not just have them pick an English name and tell them if that you hold the power of rejection if it isn't normal. So names like Apple, Angle, etc are automatically rejected but it still gives them a choice.
If you really want to go the pro route just have them pick a name off of something like this list: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decades/century.html
Also no repeats.
i usually try and give an english name that starts with the letter of the family name in pinyin
try to give several choices.
in regard to merits of this, not sure , im just lazy and dont want to say chinese names and mess up the tones and deal with their language.
I've only had to do it once: Spiderman, Lex Luther, Judge Dredd, Dracula, God, The Hulk. Seriously, it was easy. Kind of fun.
Never been asked and wouldn't do it. I have provided a list of names that students can choose from however.
