One of my colleagues told me this morning that she’s going to be forced to have the talk with a few of her students. No, not the birds and the bees or anything like that; the  your chosen English name sounds ridiculous talk.

We’ve all had students who choose to go by an “English” name in English class that is not their given name. There are the arguments in favour–it helps the student take on an alternate identity that can speed their learning of English, they think (rightly or wrongly) that their teacher won’t be able to pronounce or remember their given name, they have fond memories attached to this particular name because they’ve been using it since elementary school. And it’s a free country, right? Anyone can go by whatever they want.

But then there are the rants and raves (and laughs) at the expense of those who adopt this practice. We teachers love to swap stories of students choosing a particularly dated, or bizarre name, or a name that’s not even one in the first place. My colleague now has a Deft, a Gecko, a Pawn and a Creed*  in her current class! We’ve had numerous Echos, a Beyond, a Chamber, a Purple, a Snowy and a few Floyds, Bobs and Bills  whose names were more fitting of retirees than undergrads. And the list goes on.

So, do you say anything? Do you have the talk  with your students? My colleagues and I have debated this topic. While some are firmly in the “Live and let live; do whatever you want!” camp, I fall on the other side. In an EFL or private language school environment, going by an alternate name for the few hours a week you’re in English class may not be the biggest deal. But we teach EAP at a university in an ESL/EAL context. If students choose an alternate name, this is the name that will follow them throughout their academic career, with professors, fellow students, and into the workplace. We, as EAP instructors, are often the first English-speaking people they come into contact with when they move here. I think it’s our duty to at least inform our students if they’ve chosen a completely ridiculous name that people might have a hard time taking them seriously. A student can then knowingly choose to accept these consequences if they continue to go by their chosen name. If we don’t say anything, there is a danger they will interpret our saying nothing as tacit approval of their choice of names. And next thing you know, someone is requesting that a letter of reference from a prof be addressed to Gecko.

Have you ever had  the talk with your students?

[*This is only slightly preferable to being called Nickleback.]