Pronouncing Students' Names Right In Schools Is Important To Their Identities

Immigrant students face plenty of challenges in their daily lives at school. Some experience racism and discrimination, and even the simple act of mispronouncing their names can heavily impact these students.

A national campaign called My Name, My Identity emphasizes the importance of pronouncing students' name correctly and recognizing the diversity of pupils, Education Week reported. The My Name, My Identity campaign is the end result of a collaboration between the National Association for Bilingual Education, the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the California Association for Bilingual Education.

Proper Pronunciation Is A Sign Of Respect

The campaign stresses that a name is more than a name, and it signifies a person's identity and one of the information they learn early on about their lives. For students who are immigrants and are still grasping the English language, they feel respected if their teachers pronounce their names correctly. Small things like these help immigrant children adjust well in school and form bonds with their peers.

Rita Kohli, an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside, said teachers mispronouncing an immigrant student's name "create this wall," making it look they don't care about a pupil's identity to warrant a proper pronunciation of their names. This can lead to slower academic progress.

Immigrant students already have a gap between their peers who are native English speakers. The divide they feel towards their teachers doesn't help the situation, Education Week wrote.

The Names Are Not Difficult To Pronounce

Jennifer Gonzalez, the author of the education blog Cult of Pedagogy, said teachers shouldn't say that an immigrant student's name is difficult to pronounce. Gonzalez argued that the names are only hard for Americans because it is culturally different.

New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said mispronouncing an immigrant pupil's name makes the child invisible. A study called Teachers Please Learn Our Names! Racial Microaggressions and the K-12 Classroom said immigrant students feel ashamed, anxious and embarrassed when teachers mispronounce their names.

Immigrant Students Are Targets Of Bullies

Teachers with the same cultural backgrounds as their immigrant students tend to pronounce the pupils' name properly. White teachers, however, tend to be unapologetic for their mistakes and often exhibit an attitude that blames the immigrant student from having a non-American name.

The anti-immigrant rhetoric currently rampant in this year's U.S. presidential race has been affecting students as well, AL.com reported. Teachers have reported increased occurrences of bullying and intimidation against immigrant students at school thanks to the things they watch or hear from racist political candidates.