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International Education MattersA
Forum for Issues Pertaining
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"Foreign students do learn to love the U.S." by Alexis Gerard Finger It's the last day of classes at Drexel's English Language Center, and everybody is caught up in the excitement that permeates the Language & Communication Center. Wherever you turn, there are handshakes and hugs, laughter and tears. After one or two terms of studying English here, these students from over 25 different countries often find it difficult to say goodbye to teachers, staff, and friends, who have helped them find their way in a "foreign" and often intimidating environment. As an instructor at Drexel's ELC since it opened in 1989, I can fully appreciate their feelings. Saying good-bye to these students and all that we experienced together isn't easy for me, either. We repeatedly hear about "foreign" students who used their time in the United States to plan a monstrous attack on a country that graciously welcomed them. What the public rarely hears is that most of these schools, which include Drexel University's English Language Center, are populated by industrious and idealistic international students who put aside their histories, traditional boundaries and biases, and work together peacefully to achieve their common goals; learn to communicate in English, function successfully in the United States, and integrate with people of many other cultures. In an Intensive English Program like Drexel's, meeting people with different cultures is a daily adventure. A particularly memorable advanced class of 16 students had representatives from 13 different nations: Lebanon, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, France, Tunisia, Peru, Korea, Turkey, Switzerland, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines. Ages ranged from 17 to 25. Occupations and reasons for studying in our English programs can be equally diverse. A high school student planning to attend college in the U.S. could be sitting between an engineer who hopes to use her English skills to contribute to her country's development and an international business executive who needs to communicate more effectively with American companies. In traditional situations, the differences among our students often separate them. But, in a class where students engage in activities that help replace ignorance and insensitivity with knowledge and open-mindedness, students usually leave our program as friends, fans of the United States, and, in many cases, the most enduring and committed "soldiers" in the war against racism, intolerance, hatred, and violence. If there is any question about the positive attitude that our international students have about the United States of America and the camaraderie that develops, one has only to observe a student party where we honor "ELC Builders of Brotherhood and Sisterhood," students who demonstrated a commitment to promoting universal friendship: enjoy an ELC Drama Club performance, an international song and dance presentation, or participate in the singing of "peace" in six different languages. After Sept. 11, 2001, nobody can ever overestimate the need for peace and the contribution that each of us must make toward its' ultimate achievement. When I witness the warmth, the kindness, forgiveness and friendships exhibited by our students as they eat, laugh, sing and dance together, I am reminded that at one of these classes we can make a difference, and there is every reason for hope. Used with permission of the Philadelphia Metro. This file was updated on November 8, 2003 |
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