Immigration+Extra+Credit+Project

=**Interviewing a Recent Immigrant Extra Credit**= ==• To receive extra credit you must interview a recent immigrant in your community and write a profile that documents the interviewee’s experiences. Base your profile on salient comments made by the interviewee about such issues as arrival in the United States, adjustment to American life and culture, discrimination, and language difficulties.== = = =**Steps for Success**=

• Face the interviewee as he or she talks. Use positive body language and facial expressions to show interest in what he or she says. Do not interrupt.
==• Ask open-ended questions (ones that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no) to encourage in-depth answers. Ask follow-up questions to allow the interview to go beyond the bounds of the initial questions.==

• Do not judge or argue what the interviewee says. Just record what is expressed.
==• If you cannot take notes as fast as the interviewee talks, ask him ir her to repeat what you missed or to pause so you can catch up. You may want to tape the interview with the permission of the interviewee.==

• Thank the interviewee at the end of the interview.
= = =**Directions**=

• 4. Edit your interview into a logical sequence. The end result should be developed into a podcast or video broadcast.
= = =**Questions for Interviewing a Recent Immigrant**=

1. What is your name? In what town or city were you born? What country? How old where you when you first arrived in the United States? What year was that?
==2. Describe your homeland. What language do you speak there? How did you community differ from where you live today? What foods did you eat? Did people dress differently there than they do n the United States? What do you miss about your homeland?==

5. Once you arrived in the United States, what did you experience? Was it different from what you expected? Explain.
==6. What kinds of challenges did you experience adjusting to life and culture in the United States? Did you have to learn English? Did you change your eating habits? Did you change the way you dress? Did you change the way you related to your family and friends? Did you change the way you learn? Did you change your leisure activities?== ==7. What challenges has learning English created for you? Do your parents speak English? If not, has this created any communication problems? What language will your children speak? Do you think you will ever forget your native language? How does that make you feel?== ==8. Have you experienced any discrimination in the United States? If yes, have you ever had a similar problem in your homeland? How did the experience(s) in this country make you feel? What did you do to overcome prejudice? What advice would you give to recent immigrants from your country about this problem?== ==9. What d you believe it means to “be an American”? Do you feel mostly American now or something else? Do you believe a person can change his or her culture to fit into a country like the United States? Do you believe a person can be “an American” and still retain his or her culture? Explain.== ==10. What laws do you think the United States should have toward immigration and immigrants? Do you think the United States should restrict immigration in the future? Do you think the United States should have an open-door policy to any person who wants to immigrate? Explain.== = = =**Guidelines for Creating a Podcast/Video Broadcast of Your Interview**=