[文學/英語教學] 英語聽力訓練教案/NPR news/ First Generation 校園、美國第一代移民之議題
Fitting In On Campus: Challenges For First-Generation Students
Program: NPR news
Type: Podcast
Summary
This podcast mainly depicts how first generation students in low-income family struggle in a class-exclusive environment in university. The two interviewees, who are Chris and Anna, feel isolated and difficult in school. Moreover, Anna admits that she wanted to transfer to another university, which matches the research that a student of the first to come to a college and a low income family drops off four times more likely than other students do, and most of them go to a community college instead. However, there’s still some silver linings with some support group, staff of first generation to help out, and the expected effort to make more financial aids, mentors, and proactive to reach out to those students.
Comparative Question
1. How many times will a student of the first to come to college and a low income family drop off from a university than other students?
2. Regarding to the previous question, where will most of those students go/do then?
(A) Homeless
(B) Community College
(C) Apply for another four-year institution
(D) None of above.
3. (T/F) Chris, the student who has a housekeeper mother and an unemployed father feels ambition and opportunity and is prepared to have new life in a campus.
4. What does Anna, the senior student interviewed in the podcast, says that what people can’t understand them?
5. Can you tell me one of the suggestions that the college can step out of their game and do more for first generation student?
Answer
1. Four times
2. (B) Community College
3. F. He feels lonely and out of place.
4. “It’s hard for other student to know, for us, going to a college is a big risk.”
5. List one of the answers: More financial aids, more support like mentors, and the institution needs to be more proactive.
Vocabulary
1. First generation:
l Meaning: very first immigrants or to the children of such an immigrant
l Script: Garcia and Reynolds met at a first-generation student support group on campus, which was nothing short of a lifeline in many ways.
l New sentence: First generation students in school should be celebrated and honored as Dreamer because they usually have no role-model to follow but they don’t easily give up.
2. Unpack
l Meaning: to remove things from a suitcase
l Script: His dad couldn't afford a hotel, so they took about an hour to unpack the car, say their goodbyes and his dad drove off.
l New sentence: Unpack your lunchbox later. Those desserts will spill all over.
3. Stuck-up
l Meaning: to think yourself proud and important from other people
l Script: People in my hometown thought that I was really stuck up all of a sudden because I decided to go to Michigan, and they know that Michigan is a very prestigious college.
l New sentence: Why be like a stuck up girl like you’re in Mean Girls? You don’t deserve my respect and friendship anymore.
.
4. Prestigious
l Meaning: very respected and admired, usually talking about something
l Script: People in my hometown thought that I was really stuck up all of a sudden because I decided to go to Michigan, and they know that Michigan is a very prestigious college.
l New sentence: Who gets the prestigious Nobel Prize this year?
5. Lifeline
l Meaning: something helpful that you depend on to lead your life
l Script: Garcia and Reynolds met at a first-generation student support group on campus, which was nothing short of a lifeline in many ways.
l New sentence: A good friend’s company is always a lifeline when you feel worthless and scared.
6. Apt
l Meaning: suitable or right for a particular situation
l Script: I think that is a very apt metaphor for thinking about how these students experience being in this very class-exclusive environment.
l New sentence: I think you give an apt comment on that proud girl by saying she should be leading a role in Mean Girls.
7. Proactive
l Meaning: take action and make changes
l Script: She says here's how schools can step up their game - more financial aid, more supports like mentors - and this part is key - they need to be more proactive, so students don't have to out themselves when they need help.
l New sentence: Be proactive on issue you care and you will bring in more partners!
8. Intrusive
l Meaning: annoys people and make people uncomfortable
l Script: So the outreach to low-income, first-generation students needs to be really intrusive on the part of the institution.
l New example: Having a long conversation with a stranger out of blue is an intrusive behavior in Asia, which turns out to be a social norm in the U.S.
9. Aerospace
l Meaning: producing or operating aircraft or spacecraft
l Script: He's set to graduate next year with a degree in aerospace engineering and - fingers crossed - no debt.
l New sentence: I heard NASA is not making any aerospace travel in the space. Is it true?
10. Culture-wise
l Meaning: In terms of culture
l Script: Garcia grew up in Lincoln Park, a blue-collar city about 40 miles from U of M's campus. Culture-wise though, it might as well be 400 miles away.
l New sentence: Culture-wise, I think Taiwanese is more related to Japanese than Chinese.
Critique
I like how the podcast start from a striking headline that first to go to a university in a low-income family are more likely to drop off because it is a fact we know already but hard to “feel” about the urgency. Without this statistic, people and I wouldn’t be interested to listen further to. This clever move makes people more emphatic on this class issue in educational institution.
The reason why I chose to make a journal on this podcast is because two things: the confessional struggle of a first generation PhD and “the Harvard case.” I read an article in Inside Higher Ed, “The Hidden Challenges for Successful First Generation PhDs” today so I feel I need to listen to this podcast to know more about the current obstacles for those first-generation, whether successful in higher education or not. What sparked the educational issue to me to listen to this podcast is because of the Harvard case justified by the Constitutional Court in The U.S. The final say basically argues that Harvard can officially decline the admission of an outstanding Asian American for the first principle of racial diversity in the campus, and the approach to lowering grading on personality of Asian American applicants is accepted. Though the opinion in Inside Higher Ed, podcast on NPR, and the Harvard case do not totally match, but they all point to the factor: class. The class-exclusive environment with rich kids in a university is literally there. We really need the diversity of class instead of (just) race/ethnic when those unqualified kids are accepted because of legacy or huge donation from their parents are not discussed in this beef.
This podcast brings in a real difficulty of those first generations because they don’t sound sad or raged but disappointed and helpless. The kind of emotion really defers them from success so the institution and staff should really come up a step more, as in the podcast, being “more intrusive” in such issue to have them pick up their drive. What makes me feel sorry is that the staff didn’t admit that she’s the first person of her family to be in a university until recently. This fact is really mind blowing because I can feel there is another kind of story behind the staff and I genuinely hope that any person in a university should feel comfortable to have a community but not a weirdo.
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