8.1MB - College of Education - Auburn University

Graduate student spreads
football fever to South Korea
Chris Lowe ’98 displays as much passion for Auburn football as
he does for teaching English.
Even though Lowe now lives 14 time zones and more than 7,000
miles away from the Plains, the College of Education graduate
student has cultivated an appreciation for all things Auburn in his
current hometown of Suwon, South Korea.
Listen closely as he calls the roll inside his classroom.
“Cam …”
“Newton …”
“Jackson …”
“Cadillac … Cadillac, how’s it rolling?”
“Like a first-round draft pick,” a young South Korean girl responds
with a grin.
Lowe’s interaction with the students underscores something that
Dr. Robert Leier wants educators to understand if they plan to teach
English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
Bowl Championship Series title
game. The result was a 5-minute,
24-second video that has since
been viewed by more than 100,000
people (http://bit.ly/chrislowe).
Lauren Bercarich, a former reporter
for a CBS affiliate in Cincinnati
now teaching English in South
Korea, produced the video and
interviewed Lowe and his students
about their passion for Auburn
football.
Chris Lowe and his children, Grace (7)
The light-hearted video (think of and Ethan (4), show their spirit.
The Daily Show on Comedy Central)
shows Lowe giving his students English nicknames like “Bo,” “Cadillac,”
“Aubie” and “Shug” for the purposes of an efficient morning
roll call. Lowe has also taught his students the “Bodda Getta” cheer
and other Auburn staples while also helping them learn about the
university’s reputation for academic excellence.
“I knew it was going to be something that was
special, unique, funny and appealing because
of the football-mania happening at the moment,”
Lowe wrote in an email interview in
January. “It has been an awesome response.”
Lowe, a Memphis native who earned a bachelor’s
degree in philosophy from Auburn in
1998, provides some helpful college guidance
to his students in the video. He told them, “Auburn
is the only college in the United States.”
“Part of language is culture,” said Leier, the college’s ESOL
graduate degree and certificate programs coordinator. “You show
yourself as a fool if you don’t include culture as a part of teaching a
language. That is an integral part.”
So much of Auburn’s cultural identity — and more than a little
of its everyday vernacular — has been shaped by what happens
inside Jordan-Hare Stadium on autumn Saturdays. Lowe, a distance
education student, decided to use his passion for Auburn football
as a way to make English accessible and fun for his students, who
range from fourth to eighth grade. His unconventional but effective
methods can be seen in a video that went viral on YouTube.
Lowe and his students wanted to display their support for the
Auburn football team before its showdown against Oregon in the
Lowe manages to follow his favorite university
from afar, even if it means keeping unconventional
hours for tailgate parties. Because of the
time difference, Lowe and a group of football
fans met up at a café to enjoy a tailgate party of coffee and muffins
before the BCS title game aired via satellite in the early morning.
“At a time in my life when I was looking for the opportunity to
spend more time with my family, some friends had just gotten back
from a year of teaching in South Korea,” he said. “It sounded like
a wonderful opportunity. Plus, my children are at a perfect age to
move and settle somewhere abroad and learn a second language
easily (they are 7 and 4). My wife and I decided it was a no-brainer
and moved. We knew we would be here for 5 years or so. But, since
we have arrived and settled in, gotten to know the culture, people,
food, and language, we love it more than we thought we would.
That means we will be here at least until the kids are out of school.”
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