American Language Center Students Celebrates Halloween
October 29-31, 2008 marked the celebration of Halloween at the American Language Center. On these days all the adult professional students of the ALC participated in a pumpkin carving contest. In the week preceding Halloween, students learned the history of Halloween in the United States. They also looked at the way the holiday is currently celebrated. Students learned about Halloween customs like trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, and carving pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns. In order to reinforce these lessons in a fun and engaging way, the ALC arranged for pumpkins to be brought to each class. The students then decided on a character or design and carved their pumpkin to compete with the other classes. Active engagement is often the best way to help students learn. This is particularly true in the English language classroom. Having the ALC students carve pumpkins and compete in a jack-o-lantern contest brought their lessons on American Halloween history, custom, and tradition alive. It also helped them appreciate the fact that many aspects of current American culture are a result of traditions and customs brought along with immigrant populations to the USA, which have subsequently been integrated into the mainstream, blended American culture. This event supported our public diplomacy goals of education and mutual understanding through the sharing of American culture in an engaging, entertaining activity.
