What's in a Name?

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to Student B.)

 

(1)          Do you like your name(s)?

(2)          What does your name mean?

(3)          Why did your parents choose that name for you?

(4)          What is the coolest name in the world?

(5)          If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

(6)          What names do you really dislike?

(7)          Are boys names better than girls names or is it the other way round?

(8)          What are good names to give to pets?

(9)          Can you guess the social status of someone in your country from his or her name?

(10)       What do you think of old people’s names?

 

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to Student A.)

 

(1)          Do you prefer people to call you by your given name of your family name (with Mr, Ms, Miss, Mrs, etc)?

(2)          What is the most ridiculous name you’ve ever heard?

(3)          Do you have a nickname and do you like it?

(4)          What do you think of the idea of naming babies after their parents?

(5)          Hyphenated (double-barreled) names are common in English speaking countries. If Mr Pilkington-Smythe married Ms Montague-Smith, the child could be called (Jane/John) Pilkington-Smythe-Montague-Smith. What do you think of this?

(6)          What thing in the world you like to be named after you?

(7)          What do you think of people naming their children after actors and pop stars?

(8)          How many middle names does a person really need?

(9)          Do you have problems with your name and legal documents?

(10)       Do you think children’s names should be from their culture?

Write the name of…

1. Your favourite celebrity

2. A mountain you have climbed

3. Your street back home

4. The most famous person from your country

5. The first friend you made at this school

6. Your first teacher at this school

7. Your nickname as a kid

8. Your first boyfriend / girlfriend

9. An island you have visited

10. A movie you remember from childhood

 

Write the names here but not in order

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

 

Now ask each other to say a little  about each name.

The following are shortened English names - what's the full-length version?

Freddie

Ant

Dave

Sue

Pete

Fran

Marg

Sally

Joe

Jen

Art

Nick

Di

Kim

Theo

Lizzy

Jake

Bill

Nat

Gabe

Are there any variations of these names?

What culture or language do these names come from? Is it male or female or unisex?

Emilio

Mala

Antonio

Tane

Margaret

Theo

Hassan

Sebastian

Joe

So Yun

Jae Hoon

Saskia

Marama

Pierre

John

Yumiko

Emma

Faiaaz

Josh

Ethan

Francisco

Questions:

1. Do you like your own first name? How about your surname? 

2. Is their any special reason you were given your first name?

3. Do you have a middle name? What is it?

3. Do easily forget other people's names?

4. Do you struggle to pronounce some names?

which of these do you find hard or are unsure of?

Josephine   Rebecca   Gabrielle     Olivia     Patricia     Barbara     

5. What can people tell about someone from their name?

First watch the video.

1. What has Faaiz changed his name to?

2. Why?

Link:

Name change a game changer

True or false?

1. Faiaaz arrived in New Zealand recently

2. Faiaaz worked for a while in a petrol station

3. Faiaaz comes from a hospitality background

4. It was Faiaaz's own idea to change his name

5.Faiaaz's friends now call him Frank

Discuss the video, what do you think of Faaiaz's decision? Can you relate to his situation. Have you changed or altered your name for some reason? Why?

Reading Part 1 - first and last 

Place the words in the first and last gaps 

do     Faiaaz    Faiaaz     industry    happen     He     One    Indian   arrived    Frank   Whether    CVs   If

______ migrant Faiaaz Contractor, 42, went from being a petrol pump attendant to financial business development manager - and he believes it is all because he changed his name to _____.

______, who moved to New Zealand from Gujarat in 2003, came from a finance background but managed to get work only as a petrol pump attendant when he first ______.

"______ of my friends suggested changing my name and I decided on using Frank instead on my _____," he said.

"________ it's coincidence or not I started getting a better response, and eventually got back into the finance _______."

______ yesterday started his first day of work as ANZ's business development manager.

_______ said migrants couldn't expect things to "fall into our laps" when moving to a new country, and had to "make things_______".

"_____ it means making a few changes, like changing your name, than I guess it is something you've got to _____," he said.

Discuss:

1. Does this say something about attitudes to cultural difference in New Zealand?

2. Do immigrants to your country change their names to get ahead?

3. Is there anything wrong with it?

Reading Part 2 - verbs

An AUT University study by Professor of Diversity Edwina Pio found migrants are changing names to sound / seem more Kiwi to increase their chances of finding employment. It received / gained mixed responses from employers about whether they would employ people with foreign-sounding names. But it proved / found migrants are changing names to sound more Kiwi to increase / decrease their chances at finding employment - and many are often happy to do this.

Pio's report "Name changers as game changers" found name changing started / served as a "vehicle for changing the rules" in business and society, and facilitated / created life choices on how these people wanted to live their lives.

"Individuals change their name when they emigrate / immigrate as it gives them an opportunity to obtain / fashion a new persona for themselves, their families and their employment and business prospects," Pio said.

"It may be that name changing is an attempt to avoid a unidimensional lens on immigrants and to nudge / force employers and organisations to reconfigure / avoid inclusive practices for and at work."

Reading part 3 - verbs

The study indvolve face-to-face interviews with 20 participants, cstingonsi of employees and employers, and conversations with 70 across New Zealand.

The research asked: "How do names of individuals iflncueen access to work in organisations."

"Three interwoven themes ruecr, first name changing filitaactes escaping and avoiding ethnic or religious persecution," Pio said.

"Secondly, it nalsigs cultural integration to employers and organisations ... and the third highghlits how name changers may opadt a fluid style to irantect with their receiving country's organisational and managerial practices and to navigate complex community tensions based on their 'new' name."

One respondent, an employer, said: "Actually a name which smacks of Islam ncotenos terrorism ... unfortunately ... but that's the way the cookie blecrums."

A Muslim immigrant participant said he had stopped using his Islamic name Muhammad.

"It is best not to use the name Muhammad as that seems to atcree fear and unfortunately rejection for employment," the respondent said.

"I have ppedsto putting the M name in any correspondence, instead I use my second name."

Discuss:

Is it true that names like Muhammad create fear outside of muslim society? 

What would you do if your name created fear in a new society?

Reading part 4 - word form

Carol Brown, chief executive of   DIVERSE   consultancy Diversitas, said the reluctance of employers to hire people with foreign names was a result of an affinity bias.

"I don't find New Zealand to be   PARTICULAR    racist, but I do find there is an   CONSCIOUS   bias among many employers," Brown said.

"They'd    HIRAGE   people with names that are more familiar because they feel they can understand that person better...often it's very   ARBITRATE  , and even not being able to   PRONUNCIATION    someone's name means they'll be rejected."

Brown said people who   ANGLICAN   their names often get through that first hurdle of finding   EMPLOY   .

"We are all   AFFECTION    by our own affinity bias, and this happens in    WHICH   country you go to and you are the    MINOR   ," she said.

Try to pronounce these names of famous NZ ruby players:

Waisake Naholo - Wing

Malakai Fekitoa - Midfielder

Ma'a Nonu - Midfielder

Jerome Kaino - Loose Forward

 

Piri Weepu is one of rugby's most familiar faces, a World Cup-winning All Black and now a TV host. But when it comes to saying his name, some Kiwis do struggle.

He's now front and centre of the new campaign called 'Say My Name', in which players are asking fans to try a little harder.

Watch:

Say My Name


12 phrases

Could these things reduce (or increase) your chances of getting a job?

Being really short or really tall

Having a strong accent

Having a loud voice

Being extremely handsome or beautiful

Being overqualified

Having a limp or a small handicap

Having a tattoo

Smiling a lot

Being effeminate (as a male)

Being masculine (as a female)

Being very quiet and polite

Having long hair (as a male)

Having a very different skin colour from most people - lighter or darker etc

Being larger, shorter, taller than average

Being outspoken

Being chatty

Being artistic

What letter do you add to these to make them into names?

 

Rock

Storm

Luck

Dust

Sand

Rust

Do you feel they a better for males or females? Are any gender neutral?

 

What do these names have in common?

Do you feel they a better for males or females? Are any gender neutral?

Scarlett

Violet

Gray

Ebony

Ivory

Pearl

Olive

Rose

Ash

Cyan

Jade

Hazel

Sienna

Saffron

Ruby

A Boy Named Sue

Well, my daddy left home when I was three
Didn't leave very much to my mom and me
Except this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze
Now I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that my daddy ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me Sue

Well, he must've thought that it was quite a joke
And I got a lot of laughs from a lots of folk
Seems I had to fight my whole life through
Some gal would giggle and I'd turn red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head
I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue

But I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fist got hard and my wits got keener
Roam from town to town to hide my shame
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
I'd search the honky tonks and bars
And kill that man that gave me that awful name

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry
Thought I'd stop and have myself a brew
At an old saloon on a street of mud
There at a table, dealing stud
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn out picture that my mother had
Knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said, "My name is Sue, how do you do?
Now you gonna die", that's what I told him

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
Then I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the walls and into the street
Kicking and a-gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer

Well, I tell you, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile
Well, I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
And he reached for his gun but I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile

And he said, "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along
So I give you that name, and I said goodbye
And I knew you'd have to get tough or die
It's that name that helped to make you strong"

He said, "Now you just fought one heck of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right to kill me now
And I wouldn't blame you if you do
But you ought to thank me, before I die
For the gravel in ya gut and the spit in ya eye
'Cause I'm the son of a bitch that named you Sue"
What could I do?

Well, I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
I called him my pa, and he called me his son
Come away with a different point of view
And I think about him, now and then
Every time I try and every time I win, and if I ever have a-

Well, if I ever have a boy, I'll name him
Frank or George or Bill or Tom, anything but Sue
I don't want him go around, man call him Sue all his life
That's a horrible thing to do to a boy trying to get a hold in the world
Named a boy a Sue