Big Brother

It comes as a surprise to many of us that international students are often unaware of certain books that we, as instructors, assume have an international reach. The latest book to have this effect on me was "Big Brother." Although it is considered intermediate in level, the concepts of course can be the basis for profound intellectual debate. The students were engaged and quite enjoyed the experience. The problem, however, was that on several occasions the learners were unable to express themselves to their own satisfaction, not because they didn't understand the concepts but because of the simple grammatical mistakes that they made. For example: "Your thoughts are really your thoughts or somebody 'The Party' gave them to you." Although its clear what this student was saying the simple grammar mistakes made it hard for him to say it confidently.