More college graduates needed for stronger BPO growth in the Philippines
 
MANILA, February 2, 2013—Only two out of every 100 Filipinos inside the prime employable age bracket of 20 to 34 is a college graduate, House Deputy Majority Leader Roman Romulo bared over the weekend.
 
“We have to churn out more college graduates at a faster rate in the years ahead,” Romulo said, citing the need to aggressively develop the country’s human resources to stay highly competitive in the labor-intensive outsourcing market.
 
“Our college-educated English-speaking labor force is our biggest advantage. We have to work very hard on this asset if we want to capture a bigger chunk of the global outsourcing market, estimated to be worth some $280 billion by 2017,” Romulo said.
 
Citing Commission on Higher Education figures, Romulo said the country’s college graduates increased by only 2.9 percent to 481,862 in 2010, and comprised just two percent of those inside the best employable age range of 20 to 34.
                                                                        
Romulo is a key backer of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and author of a bill seeking to enable the country to produce more college graduates via a bold new student loan program.
 
Under the program, an eligible student may obtain a low-cost bank loan to pay for the tuition of the college where the borrower has been accepted. The money may also be used to pay for miscellaneous school fees, books, food, transportation, and other necessities.
 
The loan would have an effective interest rate pegged to the benchmark 91-day Treasury bill rate, which last stood at 0.05 percent (one-half of one-tenth of one percent).
 
The bank may apply an add-on 3.0 to 5.0 percent annual interest rate. However, instead of the borrower paying for the extra interest expense, the bank may claim the corresponding amount as tax credits. The lender may then use the credits to pay for or offset its tax obligations.
 
Meanwhile, Romulo acknowledged the strengthening peso poses “some risk” multinational BPO firms might be driven to branch out to other locations outside the Philippines.
                                                   
“The risk of a rising peso is somewhat being heightened by the fact that the currency of our chief competitor in the global BPO market, India, is doing the opposite and falling against the dollar,” Romulo said.
 
Like exporters, the Philippine operations of multinational BPO firms earn dollars, but spend for their operations here, such as the wages of their staff, in pesos.
 
A stronger local currency means BPO firms receive fewer pesos to spend here for every dollar they earn, just like overseas Filipino workers.
 
The peso advanced by 6.21 percent against the dollar in 2012. The peso-dollar rate stood at 41.19:1.00 at the end of 2012 versus 43.92:1.00 at the close of 2011.
 
Regardless of the peso-dollar rate, Romulo said the Philippines should reinforce its core competitiveness by producing more college graduates, building up public infrastructure, sustaining tax incentives, lessening red tape, and enabling foreign investors to easily do business here.
 
The country’s BPO and information technology-enabled services industry encompasses contact center services; back offices; medical, legal and other data transcription; animation; software development; engineering design; and digital content.

The industry is projected to generate $27 billion in revenues and fully employ some 1.3 million Filipinos by 2016.

Education Department and partners launch first Voice of Asia Speech Contest
 
MANILA, January 31, 2013—Aimed to enhance the public-speaking skills of the students, the Department of Education has forged a partnership with The Manila Times, The Manila Times College, Emilio Aguinaldo College, and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association in the launching of the first Voice of Asia Speech Contest.

At the formal launching on Wednesday, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said that the competition will highlight the capability of Filipino high school students to discuss relevant issues in exemplary form and content.

“By content, we mean thought organization, logic, appropriateness of examples and accuracy of data and delivery means. Correctness of grammar and syntax, level of language, posture and eye contact with the audience,” Luistro said.

He added that contest will give Filipino high school students the chance to shine internationally. The speech will be in English and delivered extemporaneously.

Dr. Isagani Cruz, president of The Manila Times College, expressed optimism that several years from now, the Philippines will become the center of English language education since the country boasts of being the best English-speaking Asian country.

“This [speech contest] is the best way in showcasing Filipino students’ high-level of public-speaking skills competencies,” Cruz said. “The ultimate objective of this competition is to make the Philippines the center of English language education. The immediate objective, on the other hand, is to make the Philippines to compete with each other in a speaking contest,” he added.

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Strong currency hurts Philippine call centers

MANILA, December 26, 2012 (Agence France-Presse)—The peso’s rise is hitting call centers in the Philippines, handicapping the global leader in the lucrative business as it combats a challenge from top rival India, industry officials said Wednesday.

Forty percent of the members of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines had cancelled expansion plans and an equal number reported losing business to other destinations, the industry group said.

Nearly half disclosed in a group survey that they were having trouble meeting revenue targets because of the strong peso, it said in a statement.

The association said the local currency had become uncompetitive compared to the rupee in India, the Philippines’ main rival for outsourced business services.

“The combination of an appreciating peso and a depreciating Indian rupee has provided India with a meaningful cost advantage,” the statement said.

The Philippine peso has strengthened by about seven percent from about 43.90 to the US dollar on January 2 to about 41.05 at the close of last week.

Industry president Benedict Hernandez said Philippines-based call centers must be able to operate “within acceptable market prices,” but added: “That’s becoming increasingly difficult as the peso continues to appreciate”.

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English still the best tool to strengthen basic education, says school principal
By Imelda Castro-Rivero, Philippine Information Agency

CABUGAO, Ilocos Sur, November 20, 2012—English is still the best tool or language for the development of basic education in this country.

The Cabugao District English Olympics 2012 on November 13 proved this under a program with the theme “Strengthening Basic Education through English Literacy” held in this town’s prime grade school, the Cabugao South Central School, which is found the only public school facing the only private secondary school in this town, the Cabugao Institute, said school principal Melvi Sajonia.

“English is very important in uplifting the quality of education in the elementary schools,” Sajonia, said in his message during the event, adding that mathematics should also be given the same importance.

“English is still the universal language and through it people in the world come to understand each other. In the Philippines which has many regional dialects, Tagalog is our national language, but English persists to be the communication bridge among the regions. And more importantly children should be fluent in English to become competitive in their education and future jobs here or in other countries. Once children become fluent in speaking, reading and writing English they are sure to face the academic and working world, no matter what school they graduated from,” he said.

In this one-day affair, students competed in poem recitation, spelling, Read-A-Thon, declamation and essay writing.

The principal said that reciting poems develop in children the many aspects of the English language. A child must first become a good reader to understand the poem he will recite. It is like dramatizing the story in the poem. And he must have good diction, pronouncing each word properly and clearly.

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Philippine outsourcing to gain from fresh cutbacks at US banks

A fresh wave of downsizing at large US financial holding companies is expected to benefit Manila’s booming business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, a ranking member of the Philippine Congress said over the weekend.

“American banks will likely accelerate the transfer of more back offices and business support jobs to lower-cost locations such as the Philippines in the months ahead,” said House Deputy Majority Leader Roman Romulo.

“It appears they are still under a lot of pressure to slash costs to stay profitable. Amid a sluggish US economy, there are estimates American banks may shed another 150,000 jobs this year,” Romulo said.

Romulo is a key congressional backer of the highly labor-intensive, information-technology (IT)-enabled BPO sector in the Philippines.

His remarks came shortly after Bank America Corp. (BA), the second-largest US financial holding company, with global assets of $2.2 trillion, bared plans to shed another 16,000 US jobs by year’s end.

The job cuts would see Charlotte, North Carolina-based BA giving up its title as the US banking industry’s largest employer.

Founded in 1904, BA operates in more than 40 countries and has over 282,000 employees, mostly in the US.

Like its three biggest rivals -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. -- BA already has a global in-house center (GIC) in Manila that provides a wide range of non-core, business support activities.

Taguig City-based BA Continuum Philippines Inc. “provides back-office operations and transactions, customer support and service functions, technology support and services, general human resource functions, business planning and general financial services.”

Meanwhile, Romulo cited the rise of two new IT parks in his congressional district of Pasig City, which he said would provide the extra infrastructure and connectivity required to buttress the BPO sector’s solid growth.

BPO firms are the primary locators in tax-sheltered IT parks registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

The PSMT IT Building and Reliance IT Center in Pasig are among the 22 new IT parks being developed throughout the National Capital Region, according to Romulo, also vice chairman of the House information and communications technology committee.

Filipinos win settlement in English-only case
 
DELANO, California, September 18, 2012 (Associated Press)— Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in California will share a nearly $1 million settlement in a lawsuit claiming they were targeted by a rule requiring English only at work, federal officials said Monday.

The settlement involves nearly 70 nurses and medical staff members who accused Delano Regional Medical Center in California’s Kern County of banning them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages while letting other workers speak in their native languages, including Spanish, the US Equal Opportunity Employment Commission announced.

The lawsuit, filed jointly by the commission and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in 2010, accused the hospital of creating a hostile working environment for Filipinos by singling them out for reprimands and by encouraging other staff to report them.

The medical center defended its English-only policy as essential to patient care. In a written statement, officials said the hospital did nothing wrong.

Under California law, employers can require workers to speak English if there is a business necessity.

For decades, thousands of nurses from the Philippines have migrated to the United States to alleviate the nursing shortage. More than half of American nurses trained abroad are from the Philippines.

Filipino nurses in Delano said they were called to a special meeting with hospital managers in 2006, warned not to speak Tagalog, and told surveillance cameras would be installed, if necessary, to monitor them. No other language groups were included in the meeting, the lawsuit states.

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Manila has worst “branding” among Asian cities, says study
By Kim Arveen Patria,  Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

MANILA, September 17, 2012—If the Philippine capital city of Manila were in a grocery shelf along with 15 other Asian cities, it would be the least likely to make it to the shopping basket.

This was revealed in a recent regional location branding survey released by online journal Public Affairs Asia and public relations firm Ogilvy.

The Philippine capital ranked last among the 16 Asian cities in the report, which assesses attributes mostly related to business and tourism.

These include economic growth, quality of life, security, infrastructure, environment and tourist opportunities, among others.

Manila got an average score of 5.6 out of 10 points, based on a survey of 300 senior communicators.

The city's score compares with that of Jakarta at 5.9 points.

"The reputation of these two South East Asian nations is impeded by poor infrastructure, fears over safety, concern about corruption and regular word of mouth accounts of poor visitor experiences," the report said.

The city-state of Singapore topped the list with 9.7 points, followed by the city-state of Hong Kong and Sydney in Australia both with 9.5 points; Tokyo in Japan, 9.2 points; and Melbourne in Australia, 8.8 points.

Joining Manila in the bottom five are Jakarta in Indonesia with 5.9 points; the Indian cities of Delhi, 6 points, and Mumbai, 6.1 points; as well as Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, 6.6 points.

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House bill proposes putting English subtitles in local films

MANILA, August 1, 2012—Pasay City Rep. Emi G. Calixto-Rubiano has authored House Bill 6228, which is “aimed at assisting our foreign guests to enjoy the privilege of watching our local films without having to worry about the problem of translation.”

The bill is also known as “An act requiring all local movie producers to provide English subtitles on at least one (1) of every five (5) copies of films produced which are intended to be shown and/or circulated in the major shopping malls and other prominent cinema outlets in the country.”

On its explanatory note , Calixto-Rubiano pointed out that the “recent influx of tourists’ arrivals in our country” is an indication that they “[are] not only [here] for the natural wonders that our islands can offer, but significantly, many of them are also interested in the history and culture of our people.”

This, the lady lawmaker surmised, is the reason travel agencies have included in their itineraries shopping malls – which “[includes] in the structural designs… at least six to 12 cinemas ready to cater both foreign and local films.”

“Many of us may still be unaware that four among the top ten biggest shopping malls in the world are located in the Philippines,” she said.

Calixto-Rubiano then reiterated the “accepted notion” that films “are among the more effective vehicles to showcase relevant information about our history and culture.” To back her claim, she observed that “many of our foreign guests were commonly seen watching local films together with Filipino ‘chaperons’ acting as interpreters.” 

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GMA News Online editor in chief shares experiences with aspiring journalists
By Camille Lopez, The Manila Times

MANILA, July 27, 2012—“For those of you who were born with cellphones in your hands, you do not know how much power you are enjoying,” multi-awarded journalist and documentarist Howie Severino told journalism and high school students who are members of their campus paper.

The multi-awarded journalist and documentarist, best known for his works in I-witness and The Probe team, was the first lecturer in The Manila Times College’s “F. Sionil Jose Seminar Series.”

He shared his experiences during martial law, during which he said that journalists “felt disempowered.”

“You have the freedom and power to criticize the government all you want . . . and that is the kind of right you take for granted,” he said.

Severino recalled that he was arrested, accused of being a leader of protesters when he was merely taking photos of the rally.

“People in our field were traumatized. People were afraid because you can get arrested for just exercising your rights,” he said. “This political system we have now is something we value.”

Severino said that media has changed over the last two decades.

“During martial law, big media were extensions of dictatorship propaganda,” he said. However, the death of former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. changed all that.

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Philippines offers English lessons and fun in tropical setting

CEBU CITY, July 17, 2012 (Reuters)—In the Philippines, English language courses come with poolside classrooms, field trips to the beach, and instructors doubling as tour guides.

South Korean students attend an English class at Cebu Pacific International Language school in Cebu City in this photo taken last July 6. English is widely spoken in the Philippines, a former American colony, and language proficiency schools have mushroomed across the country, catering to an expanding market of Asian and European students looking to combine English learning with tropical tourism.

English is widely spoken in the former American colony, and language proficiency schools have mushroomed across the country, catering to an expanding market of Asian and European students looking to combine English learning with tropical tourism.

French student Laura Samzun will soon be taking a test to enter a public college in the United Kingdom, and is under pressure to perfect her English. She chose to take classes in the Philippines due to lower costs.

“It’s less expensive to go to the Philippines, to come back (to) France, and to pay school than to stay in France (for that time),” Ms. Samzun said.

Fresh from a backpacking trip in Indonesia, she kicked-started her courses in June at the Cebu Pacific International Language School on the sunny central island of Cebu.

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Ateneo, UP, DLSU among world’s best in teaching English, says ratings firm
 
July 2, 2012—Three Philippine universities have been listed as among the world’s best in teaching English, according to London-based research and ratings firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
 
QS’ World University Rankings by Subject included Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines (UP), and De La Salle University in the Top 50 on its English list.

All three showed marked improvement from their 2011 rankings, especially Ateneo which jumped from 35th to 24th with a score of 68.9.

Ateneo passed UP in 2012 as the nation’s top university in teaching English, according to the QS ranking.

The state-run UP ranked 32nd with a score of 65.7, tied with University of California Irvine.

De La Salle University ranked 44th with a score of 63.1.

Most of the leading universities in this ranking are from countries where English is the native language such as the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Racial discrimination in China’s ESL industry?
 
MANILA, May 17, 2012 (GMA News)—It may not be easy for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who are part of the English as a Second Language (ESL) industry to get hired in China, which pays English teachers handsomely.

According to a report of NBC News on Tuesday, China is looking for more English teachers but seems to prefer white people.

NBC News said: “Speak a little English and are willing to relocate?  Well, you’re probably qualified to be an English-language instructor in China. As long as you are white, that is.”

The report said racial discrimination was “a harsh reality within China’s ESL industry.”

The country reportedly prefers “the blond-hair, blue-eyed all-American archetype (along with similarly equipped Britons, Australians and other native speakers close behind). While brown hair also is acceptable, having a white face is a near-absolute requirement," NBC News said.

Quoting Byron Vogue of the English training company Stanford English, the report said Caucasian applicants will always be preferred over their non-white counterparts.

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Mandarin now included in Philippine special language program

MANILA, May 18, 2012 (Xinhua)—As part of its efforts to make the country’s workforce globally competitive, the government has included Mandarin in the special language program for teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd).

According to Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Mandarin forms part of the 2012 Special Program in Foreign Language (SPFL) Summer Training Courses for Teachers held from April 12 to May 22.

Luistro said that the program is aimed at improving the capability of public school teachers on the diverse aspects of learning and teaching a second or foreign language.

He said this is also in line with the thrust of “K plus 12” program of the administration of President Benigno Aquino III whose objective is to prepare the Filipino workforce for the global arena.

“K plus 12” means kindergarten plus 12 years of basic education before a Filipino student can proceed to college.

Director Lolita Andrada of the DepEd’s Bureau of Secondary Education said the SPFL is designed for schools whose students have demonstrated competence first in English before they start to learn another foreign language.

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Book on English accents launched in Cebu to promote teacher’s mastery of English

CEBU, May 12, 2012—As front liners in producing globally-competitive graduates, teachers should be properly equipped with the tools and the skills necessary for a successful teaching-learning process.

Last April 20, a group of Speech teachers launched their book titled Accents and Voices – A task-based approach for Speech Improvement.

The book is designed to help teachers achieve verbal proficiency in English so they can successfully deliver their lectures using the language.

Witnessed by teachers of English from various schools, colleges and universities, the launching at the SM City Cebu conference room was highlighted with short lectures on task-based approach in English language by Dr. Rouel Longinos, Communication competence for global competitiveness by Prof. Hazel Aguisanda, Language Pedagogy by Dr. Laiza Grace Cavales, and Word drill techniques by Prof. Norma Maratas.

Dr. Cavales, one of the authors, said students can also use the book as a self-learning module. Users of this book will learn to speak in standard American English.

Another author, Prof. Aguisanda, said Accents and Voices is distinct from other textbooks because of the relevance and practicality of its approach. Lessons are presented in modular form; the words used are taken from terminologies across industries.

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ESL school’s P160-M facility in Cebu seen to boost tourism, jobs
By Careen L. Malahay, Cebu Daily News

CEBU CITY, May 18, 2012—By moving to a bigger office, one of the first English as second language (ESL) schools in Cebu City sees the transfer to help boost educational tourism in Cebu and bring in more teaching jobs for Cebuanos.

Raiko Fujioka, owner of QQ (Quick and Quality) English, said he invested P160 million for the transfer and expansion of his school because he believed in the importance of English in the international community.

QQ English is an online and offline ESL tutorial center that serves Japanese and Korean students of all ages who want to learn English.

Last Wednesday, the school moved to a bigger facility at the Skyrise 4 in Asiatown IT Park from its previous location at TGU building, still at the IT Park.

From occupying one floor at its previous location, the school now occupies three floors (7th to 9th floors) of Skyrise 4.

It has 120 classrooms for offline classes for 3,000 students and another 200 classrooms for online classes.

QQ uses Skype in their online classes while they have a one-on-one classroom for students who avail the offline sessions.

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“Threat to US jobs” shuts USAid training in Mindanao

May 9, 2012—USAID, the US government’s international development agency, has been forced to suspend an English language teaching programme in the Philippines after two US congressmen claimed that it threatened US jobs.

The Job Enabling English Proficiency (Jeep) programme, which has provided English classes to up to 5,000 university graduates on the religiously divided island of Mindanao since 2009, was suspended last month after congressmen Tim Bishop and Walter Jones accused USAid’s chief, Rajiv Shah, of “investing taxpayer dollars in outsourcing training programmes in the Philippines at the expense of American workers.”

The Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives claimed in a letter to Shah that USAid was “actively funding the training of foreign workers for call-centre jobs outsourced by US companies.”

USAID has rejected this accusation but in a worrying show of acquiescence to political lobbying, the agency suspended the Jeep programme within days, saying that it will carry out a review of the facts.

The Jeep programme is part of USAID’s wider Growth with Equity Mindanao project to build infrastructure and opportunities on the conflict-scarred island.

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Philippines launching novel K-to-12 curriculum on April 24

MANILA, April 22, 2012—President Benigno Aquino III and education officials are set to formally launch on Tuesday the unprecedented Kindergarten to Year 12 (K to 12) basic education reform program, kick-starting a phased implementation set to be completed by 2018.

Aquino, Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Higher Education Chair Patricia Licuanan and Technical Vocational Education Director General Joel Villanueva will lead the April 24 launch of the program in Malacañang, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced.

The occasion will also mark the launch of the new K to 12 curriculum for Grade 1 and First Year High School (Grade 7), which would be introduced in the public schools in June.

K to 12 is the flagship program of the Aquino administration that aims to improve the quality of Philippine education by adding three years to the school curriculum—one year of kindergarten and two years of high school.

During the latter additional years, students may choose to specialize in vocational courses, music and the arts, sports or agriculture to give them more options after high school—that is, whether to proceed to college or begin working with a high school diploma.

Incoming first year high school students in June will be the first batch of public school students to enter the additional senior high school levels in 2016.

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Education department to use mother tongue-based language in school

NORTHERN MINDANAO, March 26, 2012—The Department of Education (DepEd) said it intends to use the Mother Tongue-Based Multi-Lingual Education (MTB-MLE) program from kindergarten and early elementary in June for school year 2012-2013.

Luz S. Almeda, DepEd-Northern Mindanao regional director, said they will use languages that are used at homes as a medium of instruction to children for them to understand clearly what has been discussed in their classes.

The MTB-MLE program uses the mother tongue (language at home) as a medium of instruction inside the classroom.

In Northern Mindanao, the Cebuano language is widely used in the region.

“This is a program that will be used so that the children will know and understand what they are saying and what the teacher is also saying. The English language will be taught gradually since the MTB-MLE program is just a transition,” Almeda said.

Based on DepEd’s Order No. 16 regarding the implementation of the MTB-MLE, the student’s mother tongue will be used to teach in all learning areas from kindergarten to Grade 3, except in Filipino and English subjects.

Almeda said the program is also a part of the K+12 basic education program.

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Japanese online firm in Cebu to hire 2,000 Pinoy teachers
By Aileen Garcia-Yap, Cebu Daily News

CEBU CITY, March 20, 2012—A Japanese English language learning center based in Cebu will hire this year at least 2,000 more Filipino teachers to address the online demand for Japanese students who want  to learn to speak English as a second language.

This developed after officials of Langrich-On, Inc. saw the firm grow rapidly in the past two years. They said there was a  growing demand for online Filipino teachers among Japanese students in Japan.

“We’ve been in operations here since 2009. We started  two years ago at the sixth floor of the Keppel Building but we have to move to the  eighth floor to accommodate more cubicles for our operations,” said  Haru Urabe and Yohei Maruyama, co-chief executive officers of Langrich-On Inc. in an interview last week.

Last year, the firm served at least 10,000 Japanese students online and about 25 on-site students .
Urabe said most Japanese students  prefer to have a Filipino  teacher because the students don’t  feel intimidated.

“Aside from being very good teachers, most Filipino teachers always have a smile on their face when they teach and the Japanese feel more comfortable,” said Urabe.

Urabe said  that nine  out of 10 Japanese would prefer having a Filipino teacher than  native English speakers  like  Americans.

At present,   200 full-time and part-time teachers are employed by Langrich-On Inc.

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UK test risks “keeping couples apart”
By Georgina Kenyon, Guardian Weekly

July 10, 2012—Many migrant organisations are critical of the UK government’s recent changes to the English language requirement for people immigrating from outside European Area countries, claiming that the new rules require an unnecessary level of “speaking and listening,” and that many people will remain separated from their partners as a result.

Melanie Cooke, research associate at King’s College London, says the new language requirements will affect those applying for indefinite leave to remain or for citizenship, but who cannot reach the necessary level of proficiency – known as “B1” – in five years.

Until 2007, she says, English for speakers of other languages (Esol) classes could be obtained for free. “But these free classes were gradually removed and now everyone except those on benefits has to pay. The government cuts of up to 25% in adult education is impacting on Esol,” Cooke said.

As part of the new language requirement, all applicants for settlement will need to pass the Life in the UK Test, a computer-based bank of questions about UK history, culture and institutions, and present an English language speaking and listening qualification at B1 level or above on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Some exemptions exist, for example those who are skilled workers from Commonwealth countries where English is a person’s first language and they have been accepted into the UK to work.

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English pupils “bottom of European league for languages”
By Graeme Paton, Telegraph.co.uk

June 21, 2012—Figures from the European Commission show that teenagers are more likely to struggle to order food or ask their way to a train station in a foreign language than pupils elsewhere in the continent.

Even among children studying other languages at school, English pupils had a poorer grasp of the basics than peers in other countries, it was revealed.

The study shows that just nine per cent of 14 and 15-year-olds in England who are learning French – the most commonly taught language – are classed as “independent users” who can deal with straightforward, familiar matters.

The figure is based on an assessment of youngsters’ reading, writing and listening skills in the language.

Across the 14 European countries surveyed, an average of 42 per cent of pupils met this standard in a foreign language, the study showed.

The disclosure prompted fresh concerns over the state of languages in English state schools.

Last year, record numbers of pupils left school without learning languages such as French, German and Spanish to a decent standard.

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One in six children in England don’t speak English at home
By Laura Clark, DailyMail.co.uk

June 21, 2012—More than one million children speak English as a second language, official figures reveal.

A record one in six pupils at primary schools and one in eight at secondary don’t speak English at home.

The number of non-native speakers topped one million for the first time, rising from 957,490 last year.

A record one in six pupils in primary schools don’t speak English at home, according to the figures
The figures were released as part of an official census of schools taken in January. At some schools, dozens of different languages are spoken.

A separate analysis released earlier this year showed how children who speak English as their first language are now a minority in more than 1,600 English schools.

The number of schools where fewer than half of children are native speakers has virtually doubled in 15 years. Pupils with English as their main language now form a minority in one in 13 schools – up from one in 25 in 1997.

The cost of educating a child with English as an additional language has been estimated at up to £30,000-a-year, against around £5,000-a-year for other pupils.

Punjabi is the most commonly spoken language among pupils who do not have English as a first language. Other widely-spoken languages are Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Somali, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese, Turkish and Tamil.

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Foreign languages to be compulsory in England from age seven

June 9, 2012—Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, will say that subjects such as French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Latin or Greek will be made a compulsory part of the primary school timetable for the first time.

Ministers hope the move will make pupils better-equipped to compete in a global economy while reversing the “damaging collapse” in GCSE language take-up.

Currently about one in ten state primary schools offers no language lessons at all and a further 20 per cent only offer it to some year groups, according to the most recent official figures.

The move to make languages a requirement from age seven will form part of a new primary National Curriculum, taking effect in 2014.

It will be popular with middle-class parents who complain that state schools lag behind independent prep schools in providing good-quality language teaching.

Earlier this year, a report found that countries with high-performing education systems begin teaching foreign languages at a much younger age than England.

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Scrutiny of UK student visa changes reveals “concerns” about English learners
By Max de Lotbinière, Guardian Weekly

April 10, 2012—Applications for visas to study English in the UK surged during the summer of 2009 in advance of the introduction of tighter student visa rules and prompted immigration officials to suspend applications from south China because of fears about how demand for English language tests in the region could be met.

The revelation of serious concerns about the availability of secure English language tests in parts of China was revealed in a report by the National Audit Office into the introduction of the Tier 4 student visa rules in 2009 and 2010.

The report, published last month, estimates that up to 50,000 individuals might have used Tier 4 as a route into the country to work rather than study in the first year, because checks on college attendance were not thorough enough.

The report is also critical of additional rules introduced in March 2011 that changed the inspection requirements for English language schools intending to admit Tier 4 students. It said that officials failed to consult the inspection bodies before the announcement and some were not able to provide services.

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UK health team to test English proficiency of foreign doctors
By Robert Winnett, Telegraph.co.uk

LONDON, April 18, 2012—Five hundred senior doctors are to be given the job of preventing foreign-born staff with poor English from working in the NHS, the Health Secretary will announce.

The 500 “responsible officers” will have to ensure that doctors working in the health service have the necessary language skills and understand British processes and medicines.

If an unsuitable foreign-born doctor is approved and a patient’s treatment suffers, the senior doctor responsible could be held liable for the mistake. Responsible officers could be banned from practising for a serious breach.

A consultation on the plan, which follows several cases of doctors with poor English making serious mistakes, will be announced today by Andrew Lansley.

Last night he said: “Sadly, we are all too familiar with what can happen when qualified doctors don’t have a good command of English. This puts patients at risk and I am determined to stop this.

“By giving new powers to responsible officers we can make sure that doctors not only speak English before they treat patients in this country but are also competent to work within the NHS, making sure that they understand NHS processes and medicines which is as important as language to the quality of care patients receive.”

The 500 responsible officers, who will be in senior posts such as medical directors of trusts, could be recruited as soon as the summer. About a third of doctors in England are foreign-born and only those from outside the EU are routinely subject to language tests. The new rules would cover all doctors, including GPs.

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Almost 1million schoolchildren in England speak English as second language

March 22, 2012— Children with English as their home language are now the minority of pupils in more than 1,600 schools across England.

The number of these schools is rising by about one every week as the effects of migration into the UK are showing in the nation's classrooms.
Data now shows that close to one million pupils who attend schools in England do not have English as their first language at home.

There are 97 schools where children with English as their first language are in such a minority that they make up less than one in twenty pupils.

The statistics released by the Department of Education shows that in 1997, when Tony Blair first came to power, there were 866 schools in England where more than 50% of the pupils had English as a second language.

Last year that figure had ballooned to 1,638 schools, almost double the 1997 level.

It means that on the latest figures there are 1,363 primary schools, 224 secondary schools and 51 special schools where more than half the pupils come from a non-English speaking background.
One in six youngsters in primary schools - 547,000 - do not have English as their first language.
In secondary schools the figure stands at 400,000, just over one in eight. A recent study found that Punjabi was the most frequently spoken language among pupils who did not have English as a first language.

After that the most popular languages were Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Somali, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese, Turkish and Tamil.

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Perfect in speaking English, learnt entirely in China
By Andrew Stevenson, Sydney Morning Herald

SYDNEY, July 30, 2012—A new wave of Chinese migration is afoot, fuelled by ever-younger students for whom English is not a piece of knowledge to be learnt but a living language able to unlock the intricacies of the wider world.

Shen Jiahui and Wang Taojun learnt English at school and speak it perfectly without having ever set foot outside China. So well did they learn the language, they ranked second and fourth among 10,000 entrants in a national English public speaking competition run by the English language newspaper China Daily.

“Interest is the best teacher and also the first teacher,”' Mr Wang said. “'For me, the second teacher would be the ambition to know the world outside of China.”

The pair, hosted this week in Australia by the competition sponsor, Navitas English, addressed the subject of cultural clashes in their final talk.

Ms Shen, who hopes to undertake an MBA at an American university, said clashes were inevitable but not insurmountable.

“I came across them with my American teacher,” she said. “When we met him he said ‘Why are you so quiet?’”

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English may be minority language in Australia as migrants now in the majority
By Vikki Campion, The Daily Telegraph

July 13, 2012—It has always been a cultural melting pot but new data reveals Sydney’s west has double the number of people born overseas than the rest of Australia.

While about 30 per cent of the nation was born overseas, in parts of Sydney's west more than 60 per cent of people are new arrivals, latest Census data reveals.

The new figures reveal not only the changing face of our suburbs, but also their changing voice—where people who speak only English could be on the way to becoming a minority.

In some Sydney local government areas, just 20 per cent of people speak English at home.

Auburn is officially the most multicultural, with 60.9 per cent of people born elsewhere, and only one in five people speaking English at home, with Arabic and Cantonese the most popular.

In Fairfield, 81 per cent of people had both parents born overseas, with the top ancestry being Vietnamese. The most common counties of birth reveal a new wave of immigration including Iraq, Cambodia, Italy and China.

Not only that, 25.9 per cent of people in Fairfield only spoke English at home, with nearly 20 per cent also fluent in Vietnamese.

Even though they don't have their own country, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is the third most spoken language in Fairfield other than English, with 5.6 per cent of the population speaking it at the dinner table.

In Liverpool, Italian and Spanish still dominate in the languages spoken at home, while the most common overseas countries of birth were Fiji and Iraq.

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Test of English for International Communication's popularity on rise in Japan
The Yomiuri Shimbun
 
TOKYO, April 14, 2012—The Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, is becoming popular as English is an essential skill for employees as companies expand overseas.
The number of applicants in Japan for the TOEIC test, which measures English language skills necessary for international business, in fiscal 2011 increased by about 30 percent to 2.27 million from the previous fiscal year.

The figure is close to the 2.3 million who applied to take the Test in Practical English Proficiency (Eiken) in fiscal year 2011. Eiken is the most popular English proficiency test in Japan, and its Japanese name literally translates to “English skill test.”

It is possible that TOEIC will replace Eiken as Japan’s most popular English language test. TOEIC has become popular partly because companies have increased their international activities and students face difficult job markets.

TOEIC was developed by a U.S. nonprofit test organization and is administered in about 120 countries. In Japan, TOEIC was first made available in fiscal year 1979.

There is only one difficulty level for the TOEIC exam, and all test takers are evaluated on a scale of 10 to 990 points. Many TOEIC applicants are university students and working adults.

Eiken was introduced in fiscal year 1963 and is Japan's original English proficiency exam. Test takers sit for seven different exam difficulty levels - 5, 4, 3, pre-2, 2, pre-1 and 1, with 1 being the most difficult. Many Eiken applicants are middle and high school students.

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Singapore revises English Language O and N-level exam formats

SINGAPORE, April 19, 2012—Reading out a speech or news report, editing grammatical errors and taking notes while listening to a passage—these are some of the new features in the English Language O and N-level examinations from next year onwards.

In line with a greater emphasis on the functional use of the language—following the latest English Language syllabus issued in 2010—the Ministry of Education (MOE) will be changing the assessment guidelines for the subject at O and N-levels, Today has learnt.

For instance, in the Express and Normal (Academic) streams, listening will be a new 45-minute segment that will weigh up to 10 per cent of the student's grade.

Pupils will be expected to answer questions based on texts, including reports, and to complete a note-taking task.

In terms of writing skills, students will be required to show their understanding of grammatical rules by editing a 250-word text.

There will also be a comprehension component in the English Language Paper Two, where visual texts such as advertisements may be used to enhance pupils' media literacy abilities.

The oral examinations will also do away with picture discussion and more attention will be placed on using English Language as a tool for interaction. Students will be asked, for example, to present a news report and discuss its contents afterwards or deliver a speech.

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Teaching English in Japan using rage comics
By Josh Wolford, WebPronews.com

November 2, 2011—Spawned from the depths of 4chan, perfected on the pages of reddit, and now coming to a classroom near you?

If you’re unfamiliar with rage comics, think of them as cartoons using an ever-growing set of Internet memes. Various faces and other crudely-drawn representations are used to express certain feelings – anger, shock, defeat, surprise, pleasure, success, horror. Initially, a rage comic was based around a certain rage character – the f7u12 guy (or fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu guy). Something would happen, and rage guy would be very upset by it. Nowadays, “rage comic” encompasses any comic made with a series of these drawings, no matter if it includes rage guy or not.

Want a look into the world of rage comics? Check out the subreddit /r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu, the biggest collection of rage comics on the Internet. You might want to browse the face database, to figure out what they all mean.

The rage comic has a plethora of uses. Seriously. There is no emotion – no situation great or insignificant that cannot be expressed with a thoughtfully constructed rage comic.

And one teacher has decided to use them in his classroom.

Scott Stillar teaches English at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. He thinks that rage comics are a great way to teach the English language.

“Rage comics are special because at their core they consist of well known faces or expressions,” Stillar told the Daily Dot, “which are meant to show universal emotions of varying degrees under a wide variety of circumstances.”

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Stanford education experts help launch new English curriculum

“Learning English in action” is a good way to describe a new K-12 teaching approach being rolled out nationally by a group of educators whose aim is to help raise the quality of education for all learners, no matter what their language proficiency.

Starting in January, the Understanding Language initiative, headed by School of Education Professor Kenji Hakuta, will officially launch a pilot effort in Denver, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., and Chicago.

The new initiative is seeking to help English language learners – typically students whose first language is not English – to attain rigorous English language arts standards while developing their English proficiency at the same time.

It aims to help students who are still learning English to meet new standards in English language arts being required by the new Common Core State Standards. The Common Core, adopted in California and 44 other states, is a set of rigorous educational standards focused on helping students become better prepared for success in postsecondary education and the workforce.

“The Common Core requires students to go deeper by doing things like using text-based evidence to make arguments,” said Hakuta, who co-chairs Understanding Language. “While that’s great, it could disadvantage English language learners.”

The new five-week unit, called “Persuasion Across Time and Space: Analyzing and Producing Complex Texts,” helps seventh-grade intermediate-level English language learners grapple directly with challenging documents such as Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream and Robert Kennedy’s On the Assassination of Martin Luther King. Students must then produce persuasive speeches of their own.

“In the past, teachers may have given English language learners simplified versions of such texts, or they may have pre-empted their learning by explaining such documents before students even had a chance to read them,” said Martha Castellón, executive director of Understanding Language at Stanford’s School of Education.

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Language skills rise, but fail to meet state targets
By Teresa Ristow, Mail Tribune

JACKSON COUNTY, Oregon, October 02, 2012—Nearly every school district in the county and the vast majority in the state failed to meet state standards in mainstreaming English language learning students. But the results don't tell the whole story, says one school administrator.

At least 355 of Jackson County’s 2,000 English language learning students were deemed proficient enough to move out of school language programs last year, a marked improvement from the previous year, according to a state report released Monday.

While districts locally met goals for moving students out of language programs in a timely process, nearly every district failed to make enough progress to meet state targets. Most of the local districts exceeded the statewide average.

Results from the 2011-12 Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives report can be complicated and the results sometimes misleading, according to Teresa Sayre, Phoenix-Talent School District’s director of instructional services.

Sayre said that while her district had just over 13 percent of students exit ELL programs last year, the majority of the district's 430 ELL students are in elementary school and most not old enough to have had five years of instruction, the state requirement for time to become language proficient.

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Funding cuts to silence AmeriCorps program helping immigrants learn English
By Jayme Fraser, Seattle Times

July 13, 2012—More than a dozen programs in King County that teach basic English to adults could lose teachers because of recent cuts in federal funding.

The loss could affect as many as an estimated 4,000 adults taught by AmeriCorps members at sites ranging from St. James Cathedral and the King County Jail to Seattle Central Community College and the Metrocenter YMCA downtown.

A national service organization started in 1994, AmeriCorps relies on grants from an organization called the Corporation for National and Community Service, which partners with the federal government to pay stipends to volunteers who perform community service.

In 2009, Congress actually tripled funding for volunteer programs organized by the corporation, but this year, the corporation shifted its priorities to work done with homeless people, veterans and the elderly. It did not renew grants for some long-standing programs, including Literacy*AmeriCorps, a national wing of AmeriCorps.

The literacy program operated offices in seven cities, including Seattle, which used the annual grant to fund stipends of $12,100 each for AmeriCorps volunteers, who are referred to as members.

In Seattle, 25 AmeriCorps members taught basic English to adults and each year organized 700 unpaid volunteers to help. Together the AmeriCorps members and volunteers worked with 16 programs in King County.

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Parents fume that kids treated like guinea pigs in English, math exams

NEW YORK CITY, April 18, 2012—Students will spend 270 minutes in English Language Arts assessment and 270 minutes on math exams, but some of the questions don’t even count.

Those dreaded state tests are here again.

All third-to eighth-graders in New York began Tuesday the first of three consecutive days of English Language Arts assessment, to be followed next week by three days of math tests.

And those state tests have never been longer.

A typical third-grader last year spent 150 minutes over three days taking the ELA test and 100 minutes over two days on the Math exam.

This year, all students will spend 270 minutes in the ELA exam and 270 minutes in the Math test — 90 minutes over each of six days.

The stakes also have never been higher, not for the pupils who take the tests or the teachers whose evaluations will be based on their students’ performance or the schools that could face closure if pupil scores drop.

Yet fewer of the answers public school children give this year on those tests will actually count toward their final score.

State education officials and their private testing firm, Pearson, have tossed in a large number of “field test” questions for the first time—questions that don’t count in the score but make it easier to design future tests.

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New research on impact of schools, teachers on English learners
By Maggie Severns, EarlyEd.NewAmerica.net (blogpost)

March 27, 2012—Research on English language learners often focuses on whether children learn more when they are taught only in English or more when they are taught partly in the language they speak at home. A new paper by Wen-Jui Han, a professor at the New York University Silver School of Social Work, sheds light on a different question: how the characteristics of an ELL student’s school affects his or her ability to catch up academically with native English-speaking peers.

Han’s analysis, published in the Jan./Feb. 2012 issue of Child Development, demonstrated that although most ELL students with a Spanish-speaking background score lower than their English-speaking peers on kindergarten reading and math assessments, ELL students improved their academic performance faster than their native-English speaking peers. Han also found that when she controlled for a student’s school and home environment, bilingual students caught up to white, English-speaking students by fifth grade.

“I wanted to do this study because I really believe that when you can speak two languages, it’s an important asset,” Han said.

The study examined data on 16,380 children from the federal government’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). White, non-Hispanic children were used as a control group for children from non-English language backgrounds. The data was collected between 1998 and 2004.

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Dual-language programs growing in popularity across California
By Eleanor Yang Su, Huffingtonpost.com

CHULA VISTA, California, March 22, 2012—At Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, students are taught lessons every week in a combination of Spanish, English and Mandarin. The public school, which has more than 400 students on its wait list, is hoping to eventually add a fourth language, the principal says, to better prepare pupils for the global economy.

“I think as we become more and more globally aware, we’re realizing that kids need to be prepared to be competitive in world markets,” said Principal Jorge Ramirez. “Kids need to be multilingual and multiliterate.”

From Chula Vista to Laguna Niguel and Sacramento, public schools are creating dual-language immersion programs at a fast pace. The California Department of Education estimates there are 318 bilingual immersion programs in the state, up from 201 in 2006.

“We have more research now that shows students who develop two or three languages to a high level have certain cognitive advantages,” said Julie Sugarman, a research associate with the Center for Applied Linguistics, a Washington, D.C.-based organization. “They do as well or better than their peers in English-only programs.”

California has long been considered a leader of the programs, establishing its first in the early 1980s.

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Ex-diplomat seeks separate English language exam for IFS aspirants

NEW DELHI, October 4, 2012—To arrest the alarming decline in the standards of spoken and written English among Indian diplomats, a separate entrance exam must be held for aspiring Indian Foreign Service (IFS) personnel to test language proficiency, says veteran diplomat Prem K Budhwar.

Both the written test and the subsequent interview or personality test should be conducted in English alone for those desiring a spot in foreign service, Budhwar says in his new 174-page book.

This, he says, is necessary to check the slipping standards of English in the service.

While many countries were putting special emphasis on knowing English well and fast, “here in India we are gradually eroding this inherited advantage in the name of promoting the national language,” Budhwar says in “Making of a Diplomat.”

“If Indian diplomats expect to continue to play an active role on the world scene, it will be professionally and even socially almost suicidal to forego proficiency in the English language.

“In a disturbing recent trend, the FSTI (Foreign Service Training Institute) in Delhi has had to organise special coaching in English for some of the young entrants into the IFS,” he said.

“This is not only a far cry from the earlier days but reflective of a myopic approach to building up a truly fine and efficient Foreign Service cadre.

“This must be arrested before it is too late, and one way of doing so again would be a separate entrance examination for the IFS with English as the medium, both for the written test as well as subsequent interview or personality test…”

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India lags behind China despite English language advantage

MUMBAI, July 27, 2012—Despite the English language advantage and the government’s enhanced focus on higher studies, India’s top educational and research institutes, including the IITs and IIMs, lag Chinese universities in global ranking.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings has nine universities from China in its 2012 list of Top 400 compared with just one from India. Another latest ranking by Guardian Higher Education Network shows nine Chinese universities among top 50 Asian universities, while no university from India makes it to the list.

China has been consistently scoring over India in higher education for several years, as reflected even in previous rankings.

The Times ranking, based on five broad parameters: teaching, research, citations, industry income or innovation and international outlook in terms of staff, students and research, covers subjects including engineering and technology, arts and humanities, health, life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences.

“China has invested heavily in infrastructure, research resources and that too from local councils and state bodies, not just from central government,” says Anil Gupta, professor and founder, Honey Bee Network, IIM-Ahmedabad.

The draft document of the 12th Five Year Plan proposes to increase investment on higher education to 25% of all government education spending, or 1.5% of GDP from the current 18% and 1.12% respectively. An increase of 0.38% of GDP means an additional allocation of about Rs25,000 crore to higher education for the Centre and the states together.

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English most preferred language for Indians to communicate with the world

NEW DELHI, May 18, 2012—A large majority of Indian workers (77%) whose jobs require them to interact with people in foreign countries say that English is the dominant language of business followed by Hindi at 15% as per a new poll by global research firm Ipsos.

“The most revealing aspect of this survey is how English has emerged as the default language for business in India. It has become the official business language for corporate India,” says Biswarup Banerjee, head of marketing communication, Ipsos in India.

Over a quarter of employees in 26 countries around the world said that their jobs involved dealing with people in other countries. Two-thirds of those said that English is the language used the most.

Workers in India, Singapore and Saudi Arabia were the most likely respondents saying that their jobs involved interacting with people in other countries, with 59%, 55% and 50% saying so, respectively.

However only 9% in Japan and 13% in Russia said their work required any degree of communication outside.

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English compulsory for Gujarat’s top cops

AHMEDABAD, April 6, 2012—The new breed of Gujarat police officers will be confident in conversing with foreign nationals and people from other states, thanks to thorough English language training they will receive for at least nine months during their training period at various police training schools.

Talking about the initiative, K D Patadiya, joint director, Gujarat Police Academy (GPA), told media on Thursday that a new English lab, a computer training centre and a forensic science lab is on anvil. “As many candidates for both police sub-inspectors and deputy superintendent of police come from rural background, we wanted to prepare them for the future scenario,” he said.

He added that the officers will also be computer literate. "We made sure that the cadets attend seminars on juvenile justice, right to information, coastal and land border security, terrorism, national security and threats, narcotics and traffic management. The batches have also been imparted knowledge on time and stress management and administrative tactics," said a senior police official. The new batch will pass out in second week of May.

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Learning English remains a hard nut to crack

JEDDAH, December 16, 201(Arab News)—Nobody can underestimate or belittle the significance of English as a global or universal language. It is a powerful means of communication and interaction for people all over the world that helps them not only to interact with each other but also with finding a job, doing business, undertaking foreign trips, taking examination, doing research, surfing the Internet and so forth.

Despite being among the most widely spoken and understood languages, English has not yet acquired its customary omnipresent status in Saudi society, where all official work is carried out in Arabic.

Even though the Saudi government is making every effort to promote learning English as a second language at its schools and universities in addition to extending all financial and logistic support to establish this language for over 80 years ever since the Kingdom’s foundation in 1927, is it has not rooted itself yet in society.

There are more than 800 study hours devoted to teaching English from the first grade of intermediate school up to the final year of secondary school. Even then, the standard of English learning is still at the lowest level globally. Most students who graduate from universities are not in a position to speak fluently or write even a letter or paragraph in English.

A report, carried by Al-Riyadh Arabic daily, shed light on this issue and examined the viewpoints of prominent academics and educational figures in addressing this issue.

Dr. Hassan Sindi, member of the academic faculty at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz University, said most of the students enrolled at the university during his 20-year stint as a computer science teacher, were very poor in their English.

“They were not even in a position to speak a few words in English. Needless to say, I experienced difficulty in getting them acquired with the technical terms and programs in computer science that are all in English,” he said while drawing attention to the poor English language command of even those holding higher academic positions at the university.

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Will new English test facilitate communication in the classroom?
By Jin Kyung-ae, The Korea Herald

September 25, 2012—In many Asian countries, the English language proficiency test is one of the main pillars of the school gate. In these countries, English competency is not only an important asset for the individual or society in this global era, but also an important subject of the high-stakes test for college entrance. For this reason, the format of English language testing for college entrance in Asian countries and other EFL, or English as a Foreign Language, countries has a great impact on the teaching and study of English.

In this context, English education in Korea is a very important issue among parents and students. Even elementary-school students are aware that they have to learn English in order to get a good job in the future. Critics, however, point out that even ten years of formal English education in Korea have not given our students the ability to communicate effectively with foreigners. Of course, English is not a second or official language in Korea. Therefore, students have little opportunity to practice English outside of school. Do the students then have enough exposure or opportunities to interact in English in the classroom? Do teachers provide the students with enough chances to speak English?

In order to enhance practical English education, the Korean government has implemented “English Education Innovation to Enhance Practical English Education in Schools.” One of the strategies of this initiative for changing school education is to introduce a new English test, the National English Ability Test. The rationale for developing the NEAT is to promote and enhance practical and communicative English education in schools since the new test will include speaking and writing sections, while the current College Scholastic Ability Test only assesses reading and listening.

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U.S. academic says reading best way to boost vocabulary

July 15, 2012—An American education expert says improving one’s reading ability is the quickest and easiest way to learn English as a second language.

Reading offers the easiest way, compared to writing and speaking, to be exposed to diverse vocabulary and usage of the language, said Malbert Smith, president and co-founder of MetaMetrics, a U.S.-based education research group.

“But to improve your reading skill, knowing your reading level and practice with (the) right material is important,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

Smith was in Korea earlier this month to give advice on English education at a conference organized by the Korea Association of Teachers of English.

MetaMetrics, set up 28 years ago, is widely known for its educational tool, the Lexile Framework for Reading. The scale of reading ability is a scientific method designed to match readers of all ages with books, articles and other reading resources, according to Smith.

“We built a computer algorithm to analyze every word in a book and give it our Lexile scale. The lower the Lexile, the easier to read, and the higher Lexile, the harder to read,” he said.

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Educators baffled by plan to ship in English teachers from India

KUALA LUMPUR, December 23, 2012―Putrajaya’s plan to import Indians to teach English in national schools appears to be meeting resistance from educators who doubt the government’s idea will help Malaysian students master the language.

Local English-language teachers and an education reform group polled by The Malaysian Insider voiced concern over what they saw as a short-term solution they said would unlikely benefit a multiracial class whose learning could be further hampered by coaches speaking in an unfamiliar accent.

“I think the question is, why do we need foreigners to teach Malaysians?” asked Khairun Nisa who teaches the language subject in a public high school in Manjung, Perak.

The 27-year-old debunked as myth the government’s claimed shortage of teachers in the language regarded as the lingua franca worldwide.

She said the existing teaching manpower was sufficient to coach students if merely passing school and national-level examinations were all the Ministry of Education (MOE) wanted.

“What are we trying to achieve? To what level of proficiency [do] we want our students to grasp?” she asked further.

“Teachers can’t even transfer into my district. Doesn’t that show that English teachers are enough?” she claimed, explaining that red tape was more to blame than an actual teacher shortage in the language subject.

Khairun said that the government would do better to train more local teachers rather than resorting to importing English-language teachers.

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37,000 teachers to benefit from English up-skilling course

PUTRAJAYA, November 28, 2012—The Professional Up-skilling of English Language Teachers (Pro-ELT) programme has been rolled out to train and improve the language proficiency of teachers nationwide.

Under the programme, approximately 37,000 English Language option teachers will be trained in phases.

It is a programme aimed at helping to strengthen the teachers' grasp in the language so that students can also attain proficiency.

Education Ministry Teaching Professionalism Development deputy director Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said the programme had been introduced earlier this month and by January, there would be 2,270 teachers participating in the programme.

“For the initial stage, the ministry is planning to train 5,000 English Language option teachers. The programme has since been introduced in Kelantan, Malacca and Pahang and the ministry has received positive response from the participants.

“It will be introduced in Kedah and Terengganu in January,” he said during a briefing on the programme yesterday.

He added that phase two of the programme would involve 2,730 teachers and would begin in February next year, in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Perlis, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Sabah and Sarawak.

Khair said teachers who were currently undergoing the programme would come under the the B1 and B2 (independent user) bands, which meant that the teachers were able to participate independently in higher level of language interaction.

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English test: Not a true measure of language proficiency
By Samuel Yesuiah, New Straits Times

July 17, 2012—The online Cambridge Placement Test has come under fire from many English language teachers. The letter, “Make role models in ministry sit the test first” (NST, July 13), has proposed that excellent teachers in schools and English language education officers at district education offices, state Education Departments and the ministry sit the test first.

The test was held recently nationwide for all English language teachers and lecturers.

Many English language teachers were not happy with the manner the test was conducted. Many fear that they will be called to attend special courses if they do not do well in the tests.

Though the test was supposed to last half an hour, some ended up taking three to four hours to complete the test. Whenever there was no Internet access or connection, the test stopped automatically and resumed when access was re-established.

The test had grammar questions and a listening component where one had to use a headphone and listen to a recording and tick the correct answer.

There was also a comprehension test questions with multiple choice answers. The text was rather lengthy and answering comprehension questions by painstakingly scrolling up and down the screen searching for clues was exhaustive.

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“Poor English a result of patriotism”

KUALA LUMPUR, May 28, 2012—The deteriorating standard of English among Malaysians is the result of an assumption that learning the language is unpatriotic, Malaysian English Language Teaching Associations (Melta) royal patron Raja Zarith Sofiah Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah said today.

“We did not see the problems we are facing today because we were filled with a sense of patriotism, and so we concentrated on the use of Bahasa Malaysia.

“This is, in itself, not wrong. We should be proud of our mother tongue and of our national language,” she said at the 21st Melta International Conference today.

“We could not see that learning a second language has nothing to do with our love for our country,” she said.

Raja Zarith, who is also Universiti Teknologi Malaysia chancellor, added that Malaysians had not foreseen a world driven by technology, and more importantly, that English would become the most spoken language in the aggressive work arena.

“With English being an important language of knowledge and global competition now, the need to arrest this decline has never been more urgent.

“The students are not at fault; we should use whatever expertise we have with proper funding to create a new generation of students who will confidently speak English.”

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Singapore’s PSLE English paper to be revised

SINGAPORE, September 4, 2012—In line with a new English syllabus to equip students with language skills needed for daily communication, the English Language paper for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will be revised, starting for the cohort taking the exam in 2015.

Among the changes: A new visual text comprehension section in Paper 2 in the form of multiple choice questions. Pupils will also write a narrative or exposition based on visuals, rather than two questions with fixed scenarios in the current format.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) also announced that the revised English syllabus—which was launched in 2010—will be implemented for students from Primary 4 onwards next year.

The new syllabus “incorporates a sharper focus on 21st century competencies to enable our students to communicate effectively and confidently in the globalised world”, the MOE said.

It does so by “giving students greater scope for providing personal response in speaking and writing” and by placing a “greater emphasis on viewing skills integrated with listening and reading”, the ministry said.

The key feature of the new syllabus is a “systematic approach to teaching language skills, using rich texts and a variety of language resources to enable students to appreciate the language beyond the classroom”, the MOE added.

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Taxi drivers in Thailand get crash course in English

BANGKOK—July 23, 2012—The Asean Economic Community’s arrival in 2015 will concern business people of all sizes, from major corporation heads down to individual taxi drivers.

Around 1,000 taxi drivers participated in the second Taxi Thai, Hua Jai Inter English training programme, organised by Traffic Radio Society FM 99.5.

The changes that the AEC will bring, including a common business language of English, are being recognised by some drivers, who are making the necessary adjustments.

Wiset Bangwiset, a 38-year-old taxi driver, admits that in the past he would often refuse to stop for foreigners because he could speak only Thai and he was nervous about communicating with them.

Now, with the AEC less than three years away, he recognises the importance of foreign customs and the likelihood that the number of foreign passengers will increase.

He decided to attend a customer service and English-language training course and now always opens his door to foreigners so that he may increase his confidence in dealing with them.

“Previously, I could say only ‘yes’, no’ and ‘OK’ in English,” said Mr Wiset, who has driven a cab for 13 years.

Now, he can engage in basic English conversations and has learned key phrases for his profession such as “it takes about one hour to get there”, “it is faster to take the expressway but the toll fee is your expense”, and “do you have smaller bills?”.

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Homebuilders in Thailand told to learn English
 
May 5, 2012—Thai homebuilders need to improve their professional standards and English language skills as well as build up their brands and databases to stay competitive in an open market environment by 2015 for the Asean Economic Community.

Patchara Tantayanyong, president of the Home Builder Association (HBA), said English would play an important role when the AEC is implemented, as a single market needs a universal language for business to flow around the region.

Many Asean residents can speak English, but only a handful of Thais can speak English fluently, particularly in the private construction and homebuilding business, she said.

Ms. Patchara said small private contractors often face problems in service, design and construction standards. The HBA plans to upgrade home building standards with in-depth training to prepare staff for the AEC.

“Consumers will be more discerning of quality, standards and reliability when the market expands,” she added.

Vice-president Suratchai Kuenghakit said among Asean countries, the most competent homebuilders are the Vietnamese, as they can build a house in about half the time as Thais.

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Asian languages for students challenges English dominance

June 14, 2012—While universities in China have been rushing headlong into teaching in English, the Yunnan provincial government in the south-west has announced an ambitious initiative to train students to become proficient in South East Asian languages, in preparation for the ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations – economic community to be set up by 2015.

According to an announcement in late May by the authorities in Yunnan, which borders on Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Vietnam, some 100,000 students will be taught South East Asian languages by 2015. The scheme involves all of the province’s 28 universities and colleges.

The move is part of a wider push in China towards economic and trade relations with the ASEAN. Courses in the languages of ASEAN member countries have opened in dozens of Chinese universities, the official news agency Xinhua reported in December.

In Yunnan, students interested in foreign languages will be encouraged to consider South East Asian languages as alternatives to English, with officials hoping that students of economics, trade and international affairs will also take part, official media said.

“Some people [in China’s government] are arguing against the domination of English, which is strongly promoted in all of China,” said Anwei Feng, director of the graduate school at Bangor University’s College of Education and an expert on multilingualism and minorities education in China.

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Word of advice to English-language teachers in China: drop Shakespeare
By Cheng Yingqi, Chinadaily.com.cn

BEIJING, May 18, 2012—Is Shakespeare outdated for English majors? The question came up when more than 100 foreign language deans gathered in Beijing to discuss the training of practical linguistic talent.

The two-day forum, which ends on Saturday, convened at Beihang University. The deans are expected to reach a declaration for action arising from the gathering.

This is the eighth foreign-language deans' forum since 2005, held jointly by the Higher Education Press and its subsidiary magazine, Foreign Languages in China.

The forum is regarded as a platform to improve English teaching in China.

Zheng Zhiming , vice-president of Beihang University, said the goal of college English teaching is to improve students’ cross-cultural interactions and communications.

“China is trying to improve its education quality. Consequently, enhancing students’ English skill, as well as their understanding of foreign culture, is crucial for education reform,” Zheng said.

Beihang University emphasizes cultural background teaching in its English classes, according to Zheng.

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Shanghai police brush up with English
By Wang Hongyi, China Daily
                          
SHANGHAI, April 9, 2012—Senior police officers in Shanghai are taking English-language training courses to help them better deal with increasing numbers of foreign nationals in the city.
About 100 top-level officers from the city's public security bureau and district bureau chiefs began their nine-month courses at the weekend.

“More and more foreigners are coming to work and live here, and this presents greater challenges for the city's police,” said Guo Yonghua, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau.

“The city’s public security departments have been looking to develop high-quality police officers to deal with the demands of foreign affairs.”

English-language training company Wall Street English have developed a range of tailor-made courses, including “senior police officer English ability training,” “Shanghai police officer online English learning and social practice,” and “oral English corner.”

The courses focus on improving English listening and speaking skills, with native speakers providing one-on-one training. Trainees will do the courses in their spare time.

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New robotic English teacher debuts in Taiwan
 
TAICHUNG, May 26, 2012—A new locally developed robot programmed to teach English made its debut in Taiwan Friday, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

The debut coincided with the opening day of the 15th International CALL Research Conference at Providence University in Taichung.

Vivian Wu, one of the robot’s designers and an associate professor of English language, literature and linguistics at Providence University, said the robot’s appearance can be modified, the CNA report said.

The robotic English teacher has a “large doll head” and arms and a body that can make movements based on the dialogues being taught in an English class.

Presently, it is being used to teach at remote elementary schools in Yunlin County. Wu said the results were promising so far.

Wu added the robot’s present design allows interactive dialogues with elementary school students.

She said the robot allows young students to learn to speak English in a “stressless” environment and in a fun way.

The robotic teacher is the first of its kind in Taiwan. It was developed and manufactured in cooperation with National Formosa University in Yunlin County, Wu said.

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Stricter language screening for would-be Canadian citizens starts in November
The Canadian Press

September 28, 2012—Would-be Canadians will be required to submit tangible proof of how well they speak English or French beginning this November.

The new requirements were unveiled last year and will see citizenship applicants given three ways to prove their proficiency.

Applicants will have to submit results of a government-approved third-party language test, show they’ve finished high school or post-secondary education in English or French or prove they’ve received an appropriate level of language education via government-funded training programs.

Knowledge of French or English has been a requirement to obtain citizenship since 1977, but Immigration Minister Jason Kenney had sought to find an objective way to prove proficiency.

It used to be assessed as part of the general citizenship test and related interview.

That will still be part of the criteria but before would-be citizens even get to that step, they’ll have to submit the evidence as part of their overall application.

The changes come into effect as of November 1.

An analysis published in April found the new rules could have the effect of decreasing the number of citizenship applications, as people hold back in order to seek out language training.

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Talk to your doctor in 170 languages: GTA launches 24/7 medical interpreter service
By Nicholas Keung, TheStar.com
 
TORONTO, October 1, 2012—Truc Thanh Nguyen is happily in remission now after learning she had breast cancer two years ago - a diagnosis made all the more difficult by her inability to communicate directly with her doctor. In such situations, translation services are a lifesaver for many immigrants.

It was scary enough to be told she had breast cancer. Even worse for Truc Thanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, she didn’t understand a word the doctor was saying.

“I was sad, worried and scared because I could not understand what was going on in my body,” Nguyen, 46, said later through an interpreter. “It makes a big difference if you can understand your doctor and express yourself and ask questions.”

Fortunately, Princess Margaret Hospital, through its in-house interpretation services, was able to come to Nguyen’s aid two years ago when she got the diagnosis. She’s now in remission.

“I hope all patients who can’t speak English can get the help, so they don’t feel lost, lonely and depressed,” said the mother of two, who has worked in factory jobs ever since joining her husband in Toronto in 1992.

As of Tuesday, Nguyen’s wish is one step closer as the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) launches the first 24/7, GTA-wide medical interpretation service.

Hospitals and clinics used to provide interpretation services in a piecemeal way. Some bought telephone interpretation services, paying rates ranging from $1.70 to $8 per minute.

The LHIN is now coordinating bulk purchasing, giving 19 GTA hospitals and 14 community agencies access to 24-hour interpretation services in 170 languages, including aboriginal languages, at $1.44 or less a minute, depending on monthly usage.

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Quebec language police crack down on retailers with English-only signs
   
MONTREAL, June 20, 2012—Major Canadian retailers are preparing to fight Quebec’s language police to keep their trademarks intact, in the face of threatened prosecution of English-named companies that include no French in their storefront signage.

Montreal’s downtown streets and suburban shopping malls are awash with such brands as Banana Republic, Old Navy, Sunglass Hut, Foot Locker and Home Depot, and the Office québécois de la langue française has decided things have gone too far.

The Office last month began mailing warnings to dozens of companies that have not co-operated with its push to have stores with trademarked English names add generic French terms to their signs. For example, Second Cup has added “les cafés” before its name and the eyewear chain New Look added “lunetterie.”

Nathalie St-Pierre, the Retail Council of Canada’s vice-president for Quebec, said her organization disputes the Office’s interpretation of the French Language Charter, also known as Bill 101.

The law states that business names must be in French, but accompanying regulations grant an exemption for trademarked names in languages other than French. Office spokesman Martin Bergeron said another section of the regulations obliges such companies to include a “generic” French term to describe their activities.

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French language takes center stage at Quebec forum
By Guillaume Lavallee, Agence France Presse 

QUEBEC CITY, July 2, 2012—The first global forum on French kicked off in the Canadian province of Quebec Monday aimed at strengthening the language of Moliere in a world dominated by English.

“I could tell you that the French language is doing well, that it is spoken and taught on five continents, that the number of speakers is growing and that it promises to have a brilliant future, especially in Africa,” declared Abdou Diouf, secretary general of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), a union of French-speaking nations.

“But beyond these reassuring figures that we know, there are more sobering facts.

“I will say it strongly: a language cannot survive in isolation, it never circulates better than with its speakers. We cannot wish for the influence of the French language and, at the same time, close our borders to those who speak French, who study French, who create in French,” said the former Senegalese president before a 1,000-strong crowd that included the prime ministers of Canada and Quebec and the mayor of Paris.

The French Language World Forum, going on until Friday in historic Quebec City, is expected to draw more than 1,000 artists, speakers, business people, youth and representatives from civil society.

Events and discussions will focus on four major themes: the economy, the cultural industry, the place of French in the digital world and the coexistence of languages.

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French language activists find 850 violations in Montreal
By Richard Lam, Canadian Press

MONTREAL, April 18, 2012 (Canadian Press)—French language activists say there are hundreds of violations of Bill 101 going on in Montreal, so on Wednesday morning they filed 850 complaints with the Office Quebecois de la langue Francaise.

Led by the Societe Saint-Jean Baptiste and the Mouvement Quebec Francais, 300 of the complaints were collected by one retired worker who spends his days looking for egregious language violations.

Standing in front of the bust of Camille Laurin, the father of Bill 101, English-only flyers from grocery stores and tailors were presented as examples of violations.

“For the last 15 years, Montreal is becoming increasingly English. The national language of Quebec is French and French is a minority in North America,” said Paolo Philpot, a spokesman for the SSJB.

“It is very important that the Office de la langue Francaise make sure that Bill 101 is respected.”

Former head of he Equality Party, Robert Libman said he’s bothered by all the recent Anglo-bashing.

“Why is the pot boiling again? Is someone bored out there and they’re just looking to pick a fight?” he said.

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B.C. post-secondary schools offer free ESL classes for all Canadian citizens

VANCOUVER, April 8, 2012—English-language courses are now available free of charge at 17 B.C. post-secondary institutions for all Canadian citizens.

Previously, free ESL classes were only offered to new immigrants. But now the province is extending that service all citizens, the government said in a release. Instruction will be provided at basic, intermediate and advanced levels for people whose first language is not English.

“We want to make sure all British Columbians have the adult education opportunities they need to find jobs, raise families, participate in their communities and fulfil their dreams,” Advanced Education Minister Naomi Yamamoto says in a release.

“This investment will help Canadian citizens and Canadian-born residents whose first language is not English improve their English language skills in order to move on to higher levels of education, skills and trades training and employment.”

Last year, those institutions provided ESL training to more than 8,800 Canadian students and charged an average of $2,300 for full-time tuition.

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MONTREAL, March 24, 2012 (CBC News)—The controversial findings of a survey published by a French-language magazine is stirring the pot in Montreal’s perpetual language debate.

The cover of this week’s L’Actualité shows a frog holding a banner which says “Ici On Parle English.”

Your Vote: Do you feel it’s important to be plugged in to Francophone culture in Montreal?
A survey of English Montrealers published in the magazine suggests few care about the preservation of French in the city.

The story has some in Montreal’s anglophone community upset with the way they’ve been portrayed.

Jean-François Lisée, who wrote an op-ed piece in the issue, said he’s surprised by the lack of empathy among English Montrealers for protection of the French language.

“I would have thought that given the investment that they made in acquiring French, they would say ‘Well, of course, that’s what I’m doing. I’m learning French and having my kids learn French,’” he said.

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Medicare agency to stop talking to immigrants in English

QUEBEC CITY, December 22, 2011—Quebec’s medicare agency is taking steps to reduce the dependence of immigrants on the English language, according to the Canadian Press.

Starting January 30, 2012, the Regie de l’assurance maladie du Quebec (RAMQ) will impose a one-year limit on communicating in English with immigrants, even if their knowledge of the French language is weak.

The change is significant. Currently immigrants who address RAMQ bureaucrats in English have their files automatically marked with a “language code” stipulating that all future communication will be in English.

According to information provided by the Ministry of the French Language (Secretariat a la politique linguistique), nearly one third—31.46 percent—of allophones who settle in Montreal demand and are served in English by RAMQ for their lifetime.

Once the new policy is in place, RAMQ will cease to automatically offer services in English to immigrants one year to the day after their initial contact with the agency, unless explicitly requested by clients.

Lengthy discussions between upper management of the RAMQ, a sub-minister of the Secretariat, and the Office Quebecois de la langue francaise were needed to reach this agreement.

"To have English-language services provided to immigrants for the rest of their lives was unacceptable," said Christine St-Pierre, the minister for the Charter of the French language in an interview earlier this week.

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Vietnam demands English language teaching “miracle”
By Ed Parks, Guardian Weekly

November 8, 2011—More than 80,000 English language teachers in Vietnam’s state schools are expected to be confident, intermediate-level users of English, and to pass a test to prove it, as part of an ambitious initiative by the ministry of education to ensure that all young people leaving school by 2020 have a good grasp of the language.

As part of the strategy, which includes teaching maths in English, officials have adopted the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) to measure language competency.

Teachers will need to achieve level B2 in English with school leavers expected to reach B1, a level below.

But the initiative is worrying many teachers, who are uncertain about their future if they fail to achieve grades in tests such as IELTS and TOEFL.

“All teachers in primary school feel very nervous,” said Nguyen Thi La, 29, an English teacher at Kim Dong Primary School in Hanoi.

“It’s difficult for teachers to pass this exam, especially those in rural provinces. B2 is a high score.”

“All we know is that if we pass we are OK. If we don’t we can still continue teaching, then take another test, then if we fail that, we don't know.”

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$3.5 million grant awarded for teaching English education in Afghanistan

July 14, 2011—This month, U.S. troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan. Thirty thousand troops are expected to return home by next summer.

Now, as the country begins the process of standing on its own legs, the U.S. State Department has awarded an IU center nearly $3.5 million to help teach English education there.

The $3,487,454 grant will fund a three-year project organized by IU’s Center for Social Studies and International Education.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the American University of Afghanistan will serve as partners for the project, which will be directed by two IU School of Education faculty members.

Its goal is to develop and implement a master’s degree in English language education at Kabul Education University in Afghanistan.

The faculty members, Terry Mason and Mitzi Lewison, have worked with Afghan higher education for a number of years, establishing an education master’s degree at Kabul — the first master’s degree ever offered there — and bringing Afghan educators to study at IU.

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“Sheng” dims 2011 KCPE performance in main languages

December 30, 2011—A drop in students’ proficiency in English Kiswahili in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations has brought into focus the growing use of “sheng” by students, teachers, corporates and politicians as well as the media.

The 2011 results released this week indicate the overall candidate’s performance in two of the main languages used in the country and in the East Africa region dropped in 2011 compared to 2010, with the Minister of Education, Sam Ongeri, blaming it on increased usage of the slang based language throughout the country.

“Our suspicion is that adulteration of our Kiswahili and even English where even very senior members of our society including top politicians have turned to ‘sheng’ to endear themselves to the youth,” said Professor Ongeri while releasing the examination results.

In the English language exam, students scored an average of 47.1 per cent in 2011 compared to 49.12 per cent the previous year with the highest drop being among female students.

Performance also deteriorated in the English composition paper where candidates scored an average of 42.45 per cent compared to 42.7 per cent in 2010, a uniform drop between male and female students.

The Kiswahili language exam witnessed a drop in performance of 11.3 percentage points to 41.46 per cent compared to 52.76 per cent the previous year but performance improved in the Kiswahili composition paper where students scored an average of 54.68 per cent this year compared to 50.3 per cent last year.

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Teacher mentors not coming over pay
By Kenneth Agutamba, 
                                         
December 12, 2011—The plan to import 4,000 English language teachers from Kenya has collapsed over pay with the Rwanda Education Board (REB) now resorting to recruit locally.

The Rwanda Focus reported last month that REB had dumped Ugandan teacher trainers for Kenyan mentors but it turned out that the Kenyan government failed to attract jobless teachers to take up the opportunities in Rwanda.

The Rwanda Education Board is now receiving applications from interested individuals following an on-line advertisement. The deadline is December 12.

“Under the Rwanda English in Action Programme (REAP) which provides opportunities for English language improvement to primary and secondary school teachers in support of the transition to English as the medium of instruction, REB invites applications from qualified English Language teachers who are not currently in active education service for selection as national-level English language teacher mentors,” reads the introductory paragraph of the advert.

The minimum qualification is a degree or diploma in English language teaching and fluency in the language. Two years of experience with previous work in teacher mentoring is an added advantage.

The demand for a two-year experience in language teaching could be to mean that the education board is now going back to the former teacher trainers who participated in the previous teacher trainings since 2009.

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Debate continues over need for native-English teachers in Indonesian schools
By Ronna Nirmala, Jakarta Globe

JAKARTA, December 20, 2011—In the Indonesian education scene, the debate over whether students can more effectively learn English with a local teacher or a native English-speaking one has long been a divisive issue.

As more Indonesian students study abroad and return home fluent in English, education analysts are increasingly making the case that schools no longer need to have native English speakers.

Their advice hinges partly on concerns that some teachers at the country’s language schools are hired simply because they speak English, although they otherwise lack formal teaching or language qualifications.

The schools, in turn, have countered those arguments by pointing to their increasingly stringent teaching requirements.

Andrew Whitmarsh, the national service manager of the Wall Street Institute Indonesia, one of the country’s highest profile English-language schools, says not just any native speaker is allowed to teach there.

“In some instances, we can hire teachers with degrees in applied linguistics or education, as long as they demonstrate an academic focus on English that satisfactorily adheres to the Ministry of Education’s criteria,” he says.

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Looking for qualified English teachers
By Katarína Koreňová, Spectator.sme.sk

August 1, 2011—The idea of compulsory English in Slovakia’s schools has opened the gates for arguments, both for and against the concept from its very inception. Nevertheless, the Slovak Parliament overrode a presidential veto of the amendment to the Education Act on March 1.

Starting in September this year, English will be mandatory for all incoming third-grade pupils.
Education Minister Eugen Jurzyca has said that his ministry hopes students will master at least one foreign language by the age of 15. In an interview with the weekly .týždeň he argued that “English is the language of experts and to a great extent also of diplomats,” noting that more than half of EU member states have compulsory English in their educational systems. Slovakia is the 14th to take that step.

Opponents of the new legislation do not necessarily disapprove of mandatory English classes. Apart from those who object to what they call the unreasonable preference for English over other foreign languages in the curricula, the most common concern is a lack of qualified educators to teach those classes.

“We do not have enough English teachers, either qualified or unqualified,” says Eva Tandlichová, Professor Emeritus of the Department of British and American Studies at Comenius University in Bratislava, and a recognized expert in the field of teacher training.

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Thai engineers need English skills and cultural awareness
 
July 9, 2012—English language skills and an understanding of local cultures and laws will help Thai engineers compete with their regional peers once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) opens cross-border trade in engineering services in 2015.

Suwat Chaopricha, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT), said local licences, recognition from other Asean countries and English language are needed once engineers are allowed to move within the region.

Engineers need to understand other cultures, as half the Asean population is Muslim.

“Thai engineers should not be afraid of AEC as their competence and capability are second to none in the region,” said Mr Suwat, also president of construction firm Ritta Co. “English language is necessary but engineers can communicate with technician’s language.”

He said the Conference of Asean Federation of Engineering Organisations (CAFEO) would develop a regional licence for engineers in each country to work across borders. This year’s CAFEO will be held in Cambodia with female engineers as the theme.

EIT, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year, will hold Thailand Engineering Expo 2012 from Thursday to Sunday at Impact Muang Thong Thani. The event titled “Increasing Thailand’s Competency in Engineering Challenges” will have exhibitions, engineering innovation showcases and over 60 seminars covering all branches of engineering.

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Parents get $6,000 bill for child’s English help
By Lincoln Tan, New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, January 26, 2013—The Korean parents of a Year 7 student are being billed more than $6000 by an Auckland school for helping to improve his knowledge of English.

The principal of Takapuna Normal Intermediate School, Owen Alexander, wrote to the parents two months after enrolling the child as a domestic student, saying the boy had “found it very hard to adjust to his new school environment because of his limited English”.

The letter said: “We strongly recommend that (he) receives support from a learning assistant for three hours each day during regular school hours, so that his knowledge of English will improve quickly.

“This will also help him to understand the routines and expectations of the school, form friendships with other students and to be happy and successful in this new learning environment.”

The student’s father, who did not wish to be named, told the Weekend Herald Mr Alexander had said the support was meant to help his son adapt to his new country and make friends at school.

Although international students at the school pay $12,400 plus GST in annual fees, the father said his son was eligible to study as a domestic student because he was in New Zealand on a long-term work visa as a South Korean government employee.

However, he was invoiced $6,106.50 for the services of a language assistant who was used for three hours each day in the last two terms of last year.

The charge-out rate for the service as stated in the invoice was $15 an hour.

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English language teaching continues

September 12, 2011—Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Dimitri Shashkin spoke of a “linguistic revolution” to the diplomatic corps, representatives of international organizations and civil society gathered at the Courtyard Marriott on September 9. Presenting the achievements of the program Teach & Learn with Georgia (TLG) the Minister and TLG Program Manager Maia Siprashvili-Lee discussed the annual impact of the program on improving the level of English at Georgian schools.

Shashkin emphasized the importance of the program which according to the Minister has ensured the “success of educational reform” in the country. “We can proudly say that we have made a linguistic revolution at Georgian public schools,” Shashkin said stressing that the Georgian pupils had a wonderful opportunity to learn English from native English speaking teachers, while the Georgian teachers could improve their professional skills. “The fact that two-thirds of university entrants chose English as their second language at the Unified National Exams means that the revolution has been a real success!” stated the Minister.

Strengthening the English language learning process through TLG at Georgian schools is among the main priorities of the Georgian government. The native English speaking teachers with their local colleagues have been teaching the pupils together at public schools all around the country.

The main goal of Teach & Learn with Georgia is to improve English language proficiency through recruiting English speaking teachers for Georgian public schools. The authors of the project also rely on exchange of information, experiences and cultures to create significant ties between Georgia and other countries from different parts of the world…

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English language prioritized in Georgian schools
By Salome Modebadze, Messenger.com.ge

August 8, 2011—English language is becoming mandatory at all the accredited and authorized educational institutions in Georgia. The initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science aims to raise interest towards English language as the main priority for the Government and the initial step for the Georgian citizens to integrate with the international society. On August 5th the First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Koka Seperteladze held a briefing where he explained the principles of the project.

As Seperteladze explained to the media, the Decree of the Ministry refers to the first year students of Bachelor’s degree from the 2011-2012 academic year and would be organized in coordination with the National Examination Center (NAEC). The higher education institutions that get a relevant license from the National Center for Education Quality Enhancement would also be able to carry out English language exams. “Those entrants who passed an English language exam at Unified National Exams should have B2 level in English and those who passed exam in other foreign language should obtain B1 level in English,” he said stressing that the students who hold TOEFl, IELTS or other international certificates in English language will be free from the additional exam.

Deputy Minister of Education and Science Nodar Surguladze explained the six international educational levels to The Messenger. A1 is the starting level for the foreign language and C2 emphasizes the highest educational background – equal to the mother tongue. B1 is the level necessary for overcoming the Unified National Exams in Georgia, while B2 is considered for Master’s degree, followed by C1 – for Doctor’s degree.

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Kano employs Britons to teach English language
By Ibrahim Bello, DailyTimes.com.ng

November 7, 2011—Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State has urged the management of the Local Education Partnerships, a British Council funded education project, to employ teachers from Britain to teach English language in Kano schools.

Kwankwaso also asked the LEP management to sponsor students from the state to the United Kingdom to attend courses in English language, adding that when such students returned from the British institutions, they would be expected to serve in the state public schools.

He disclosed this while receiving a team from Somerset Local Education Authority, UK, which was on a working visit to the state. The governor stressed that the move was important as most students in the state were having difficulties in Mathematics and English language.

He said the mass failure in the subjects made his administration to employ British teachers to teach the subjects at the new Governor’s College, Kofar Nasarawa, which would start admission during the next academic session.

The governor noted that the partnership was a welcome development. He, however, advised that such projects should not be limited to urban schools alone but should also cover rural areas.

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English anguish

“Our own experience shows,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the 9th International Language and Development Conference on Language and Social Cohesion on Monday, “that language can be an instrument of division and conflict.”

He continued that Sri Lanka is trying use language to bind our people together. The government is committed to securing the language rights of all communities and to transforming the country into a trilingual society, and English was to be used as a link language.

What President’s words entail is the conversion of a multilingual society made up of essentially monolingual communities into one comprised of one multilingual community.

That this is possible is proved by the existence already of multilingual language communities, for instance Bohras, Malays and Sindhis—who, in addition to their mother tongue, speak English, and the two main languages of this land.

Now, the learning of English in Sri Lanka has been fraught with impediments, not the least of which is that caused by myth.

For example, the language policy of 1956 has been blamed for the alleged decline in English knowledge. The truth is that, at that time only five percent of the population were proficient in English, the then official language, whereas the figure was 13 percent two decades later.

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Why Americans no longer say what they mean in plain English
By Lara Marlowe, The Irish Times

IRELAND, June 25, 2011—In the preface to Pygmalion , George Bernard Shaw famously wrote that every time an Englishman opens his mouth he makes another Englishman despise him.

This is less true in America, where social mobility and democracy have blunted linguistic markers, while in politics there’s a premium on imaginative language that makes an apathetic public sit up and take notice.

But Democrats are handicapped by their split electorate, explains Timothy Meagher, a fourth generation Irish-American and professor of history at Catholic University. Republicans tend to be white and working or middle class, while Democrats encompass the poor, ethnic minorities and Americans with university degrees.

“The language that appeals to educated Democrats is more formal, more academic,” says Meagher. “College professors love Obama, because his language is beautifully crafted. But other groups can find it alienating.”

Race further complicates Obama’s linguistic choices. In his efforts to be a “regular guy”, the president calls people “folks” and drops his ‘g’s. “If he indulges too much in colloquial English, it sounds like black argot,” says Meagher.

“It’s easier for white politicians to descend into folksiness.” Obama’s intelligence and Ivy League education can be a political weakness that make him appear distant and cold, Meagher explains. “Dropping his ‘g’s can seem hip and cool to blacks and young whites, but older whites, and especially middle-class whites, may hear language that conjures up images of poor blacks. Do white Americans see someone like them, or someone who crosses a boundary? He’s boxed in by American stereotypes.”

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Hungary wants to dump English for being too easy to learn
By Gergo Racz, Wall Street Journal (blog)

August 18, 2011—Hungary’s government wants to dethrone English as the most common foreign language taught in Hungarian schools. The reason: It’s just too easy to learn.

“It is fortunate if the first foreign language learned is not English. The initial, very quick and spectacular successes of English learning may evoke the false image in students that learning any foreign language is that simple,” reads a draft bill obtained by news website Origo.hu that would amend Hungary’s education laws.

Instead, the ministry department in charge of education would prefer if students “chose languages with a fixed, structured grammatical system, the learning of which presents a balanced workload, such as neo-Latin languages.”

Besides giving a deceptive sense of achievement, English learning also makes acquiring other languages more difficult, the ministry argues. Reversing the order, on the other hand, makes learning English essentially effortless, it added.

“If someone is earlier taught another language, they’ll hardly notice that they can learn English alongside. This is because unfortunately, we use exclusively English words when talking about computers, international music and molecular biology,” Deputy State Secretary Laszlo Dux said in a radio interview on state radio station MR1 Kossuth.

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60 trained in computer assisted language learning

ISLAMABAD, December 19, 2011 (APP)—A series of workshops on Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), organized by English Language Teaching Reforms (ELTR) project of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in collaboration with the British Council, completed training of 60 Master Trainers. The series of workshops concluded in a ceremony held at Karachi today, said a news release received here today.

The first workshop of the series was held at HEC Islamabad. The second workshop was held at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, while the last course of the series was conducted at HEC Regional Centre, Karachi. Mashood Rizvi, Director (Sindh and Balochistan) British Council was the chief guest in the closing ceremony.

A total number of 60 English Language Teachers from different public sector universities and colleges have been trained through this series of CALL workshops.

In addition to the university faculty, the teachers from colleges also attended these workshops. Nik Peachy was the resource person of the whole series.

CALL course aims to provide the participants the international level understanding of E-Learning.

The course has a multifaceted dimension, in which not only the concept of online teaching and E learning is focused upon, but other computer technologies are also taught.

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Pilots in Brazil to retake English proficiency tests
By Stan Lehman, Associated Press

SAO PAULO, July 14, 2012—Nearly 40 Brazilian pilots who fly international routes must retake English proficiency tests on suspicions they are not fluent enough, Brazil’s Civil Aeronautics Agency said Friday, raising questions about air travel safety.

The agency, known as ANAC, said 37 pilots obtained English proficiency certificates from Spain’s Flight Crew Training Academy, with which it signed an agreement to administer the tests in late 2011. ANAC spokeswoman Karen Bonfim said Brazilian pilots no longer take the tests at the Spanish institution.

In May, ANAC conducted a study that showed the proficiency tests administered in Spain did not comply with the standards demanded by the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization, Bonfim said. Suspicions started emerging earlier this year after ANAC noticed “a higher than average number” of pilots going to Spain for their certificates after failing earlier tests administered by ANAC in Brazil.

A working knowledge of English is required for pilots flying internationally.

“Poor English-language proficiency has a pretty big implication because poor communications can endanger safety and lead to an accidents,” said Kevin L. Hiatt, chief operating officer of the Virginia-based Flight Safety Foundation, an industry-supported group that promotes aviation safety worldwide.

Hiatt said that by understanding each other clearly a “situational awareness between pilot and air traffic controllers is created ensuring them that traffic is being controlled in order to keep everyone safe.”

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TESOL research conference slated as QNCC’s inaugural event

September 18, 2011—The Qatar National Convention Centre will host its inaugural event October 1-3: the TESOL International Association’s “Putting Research into Practice” conference. The three-day conference gathers experts from around the region and across the world to focus on key areas of applied research in the field of English language teaching.

The conference is organized by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL) in collaboration with university partners in Qatar, Qatar TESOL, TESOL Arabia and other TESOL affiliates in the region.

“Increased English language proficiency is a strategic goal for Qatar and many countries around the world today. Learning English should not mean losing Arabic, however, and figuring out how to do this in the best way possible requires extensive research,” said conference chair Dudley Reynolds, Ph.D, Teaching Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and a member of the Board of Directors for the TESOL International Association.

Reynolds continued, “At Carnegie Mellon we feel it is extremely important to the success of our university and Education City that our teachers understand why certain teaching practices work in some situations and different practices work in others.”

Research projects undertaken by Carnegie Mellon faculty have provided opportunities to learn about good practices that enhance students' literacy development.

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English language schools warned against aggressive price cutting
By Patrick Cooke, TimesofMalta.com

September 28, 2011—Local English language teaching organisations were cautioned against aggressive pricing strategies at the presentation of the industry’s first benchmarking survey yesterday.

The Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta (Feltom) survey, supported by APS Bank, was carried out by Deloitte and covers 2010.

It will bring “real benefits” to the industry, Deloitte financial advisory leader Raphael Aloisio told stakeholders in his presentation at the Radission Blu Resort in St Julians, as it will help schools to compare their own performances with that of the industry as a whole, enabling them to take timely corrective actions where necessary.

The report highlighted the consequences for the industry of the sharp decline in student arrivals from the peak in 2008. Although student arrivals increased 6.5 per cent last year to 72,695 students, the figures remained 15.4 per cent below the 83,288 students who came in 2008.

In an attempt to boost student arrivals, schools lowered tuition prices, resulting in total school tuition revenue last year being 4.6 per cent below 2009 and 10.6 per cent below 2008.

Reduced student volumes and lower pricing levels also forced schools to cut back significantly on their staffing costs and other expenditure by close to 20 per cent from 2008 levels.

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Language advantage
By Tony Liaw, TheStandard.com.hk

October 3, 2011—For Ng Kam-lun, operating a tutoring school may appear to be the logical outcome of a life immersed in education. After all, the early part of his career was spent as an English-language teacher in a public school and - more importantly - as a tutor.

Ng started his own cram school in 1988, calling it Intel Education. Today, it has morphed and evolved into publicly-listed Modern Education (1082).

In the process, Ng has acquired almost legendary status in local educational circles, with many secondary- school students addressing him as “Ken Sir” and legions more investing his name with a hope for academic competence that can so easily be lost in the thicket of Hong Kong's modern education system.

Having built up a recognizable name in tutoring tens of thousands of mostly secondary students, the company has diversified into skills and test preparation courses. In January last year, Modern Education entered the mainland market and Ng is eager to make his mark.

For him, operating a school is about giving students “all the support they need,” while a business is “a totally different story.”

In the first couple of years of opening up his cram school, it was no different from other such centers, which trumpet the high grades of their students as a selling point.

To make it stand out, Ng decided to turn tutors into stars by packaging them in unheard-of ways. “Of course, teachers have to be knowledgeable. But turning them into stars can encourage students to work harder. Teachers can also serve as role models."

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Firms can use English language DIFC courts

DUBAI, October 31, 2011—His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, today signed a law allowing any businesses to use the English language DIFC Courts, the Dubai International Financial Centre’s (DIFC) independent, common law judicial system, to resolve commercial disputes.

Dubai’s judiciary has always been at the forefront of justice in the region and beyond, and by allowing businesses in Dubai, and internationally, to have the choice of Dubai’s Arabic language or English language courts to resolve disputes reflects Dubai’s commitment to choice, and to providing a world class and diverse environment to resolve commercial disputes.

The Ruler’s decree opens the DIFC Courts’ jurisdiction, something that the regional business community has been calling for. The Courtroom doors are now open to businesses from all across the GCC region and beyond and provide the international business community with access to the most advanced commercial court in the world.

Dr. Ahmed bin Hazeem, Director General of Dubai Courts said: “The DIFC Courts and Dubai Courts share a commitment to justice and the rule of law, and have always worked together for the benefit of the community. This is a very positive development for justice, and a reflection of Dubai’s commitment to supporting investors and businesses both domestically and from around the world…”

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Asian languages in demand at Zayed University

October 9, 2011—While English remains the dominant language people learn in addition to their mother tongue, an ever-increasing number of students are learning Asian languages.

A survey at Zayed University (ZU) showed Korean and Chinese as the most desired languages to learn. Asian languages look more appealing to ZU students this academic year than it was last year, said Christopher Brown, founding director of International Language at ZU. More than 600 students expressed interest in Asian languages this year, a sharp increase from last year.

ZU founded the International College in 2009 with two major institutes established with a focus on Asian studies. The King Sejong (Korean) and Confucius Institutes (Chinese) began a diverse programme of language training and cultural awareness programmes to promote languages and cultural exchanges.

When asked about the reason for the focus on Asian languages, Brown told Gulf News, “The rise of South Korea, China and Japan, along with the strengthening relation between the UAE and these nations, are good reasons for ZU to help prepare the Emirati work force for their interaction with these countries.”

“Giving the young people of the UAE a chance to learn about Asia will help them to distinguish themselves in a competitive job market,” added Brown.
"Learning a new language is hard work but it is worth the effort as it's a discriminator in a competitive job market," said student Mariam Al Tamimi, 20.

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Call to make Arabic the language of instruction
By Iman Sherif, GulfNews.com

ABU DHABI, October 4, 2011: The dominance of English language on almost every aspect is non debatable. It has become the international communication language for commerce, banking, internet, travel and politics.

The widespread use of English, however, introduces a cultural challenge — how to propel the UAE as a leader in the global market, and at the same time, retain the Arabic identity when the majority of the younger generation refuses to communicate in their mother tongue.

“English is the language of globalisation and international communication. Therefore, we need to have our students reach proficiency,” said Fatima Badry, professor at the American University of Sharjah.

So, schools educate in English, and parents speak with their children in English to help them prepare for a competitive world. Arabic is reserved for traditional studies such Arabic literature or Islamic studies.

In doing so, we are downgrading Arabic in the eyes of our children who become apprehensive of using it and focus instead on the language that will help them integrate in the workplace or society,” she added.

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Official use of English as second language recommended

DHAKA, November 22, 2011—Bangladeshi writing in English has mostly remained a step below the international standard, preventing the country’s rich culture and literature from reaching out to an international audience.

The reason, litterateurs told an enthusiastic audience at the Hay Festival Dhaka, is that English has remained an alien language in the country unlike in India where it has been adopted and naturalised into its own unique and separate mould.

Many can read and write well in English, they said, but the problem is writing English that others would want to read.

The views came at a discussion on “Contemporary voices and trends in Bangladeshi fiction,” held at the British Council on Fuller Road in the city yesterday.

“Why don’t we officially accept English as a second language—after all, we are already using it as a second language,” said Prof Kaiser Haq, a poet, essayist and teacher at the University of Liberal Arts.

Haq underlined a need for developing a “critical English writing framework” for South Asia instead of having separate frameworks for each country in the region.

This would help increase readership of Bangla literature within the region, and create interest outside the region as well, he said.

A galaxy of poets, novelists, journalists, filmmakers, musicians, and thinkers from home and abroad participated in the first-ever Hay Festival in the country.

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French language website creates list of English words it wants to ban
By Lee Moran, DailyMail.co.uk

October 12, 2011—As custodians of the French language, the Académie Française takes its job very seriously.

It has fought against the creeping use of English for decades—asking for certain imports to be replaced with their purer French alternatives.

And now, with the threat of its beloved mother tongue becoming even further diluted, it has taken the radical step of starting to list English words it wants banned from use.

The body has introduced a new section to its website—called “Dire, ne pas dire” (Say, don’t say).

To date only two “anglicisms” have been listed, but the body promises that more will be added over the coming months.

The first is “best of,” which is commonly used across Le Manche (English Channel), with the words joined by a hyphen.

The second word to come under fire is the Franglais construction “impacter,” which the Académie recommends replacing with “affecter.”

The Académie Française was created in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII.

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English test canceled in Iran due to banking sanctions

TEHRAN, April 15, 2012 (AP)—Iranian media say a popular English-language test has been canceled because organizers in Iran were unable to pay their British partner due to banking sanctions against the Islamic country.

News websites say Iranian applicants were expected to take the International English Language Testing System exam April 12 and 14 but were told by organizers that the test has been canceled.

The independent news website, fararu.com, quoted Mohammad Hossein Sororeddin, a senior Iranian cultural official, as saying “technical problems regarding the transfer of money” caused the cancellation.

Iran is facing tough economic sanctions from the European Union over its controversial nuclear program.

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Expats, Russians search for a common language
By Luc Jones, The Moscow Times

July 9, 2012—Russians are always curious how they and their country are perceived by foreigners, especially from the West. The general misconception is that Russia is cold and gray for 12 months of the year, everyone drinks vodka, nobody ever smiles and hardly anyone speaks English.

While all stereotypes hold some truths, the part about the generally poor level of spoken English rings louder than the rest. Why is it that a large portion of the world speaks English, but outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, proficiency in English is virtually nonexistent?

One reason is that the post-World War II generation learned German as the preferred foreign language in high school. Even when the Soviet educational system gradually began to favor English, the emphasis was on reading and writing, not speaking the language. This is understandable; it’s not as if there were many foreigners to converse with during the Soviet period.

In addition, English was largely viewed as a waste of time since travel outside the Soviet Union was off-limits to all but a tiny fraction of the elite. In the words of one Russian pensioner, “I might as well have studied Martian than English. I was better off learning how to fix my television or car.”

Many Russians who don’t speak English, or speak it poorly, usually refer to the poor level of language education they received in school. This is a valid reason. Much like during the Soviet period, high school English is usually taught by teachers who may know the grammar rules well, but whose written and oral English language skills leave a lot to be desired. This poor level hardly stimulates high school students to advance in English.

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Deciding on our children’s language of future
By Jackie May, TimesLive.co.za

ZAMBIA, November 20, 2011—A young boy’s mother has been asked by another parent to dissuade her son from speaking English to his classmates.

The primary school he attends is Afrikaans medium. Although the boy’s father is Afrikaans, he speaks English at home. The school, by all accounts, is a delightful community school and is for many people in its neighbourhood the obvious choice for their children. But not all are happy.

It’s an especially strange response from a parent when you know the school has chosen English as its first additional language for the new policy to be introduced next year.

This story surprised me. We’re living in a fiercely multicultural country. We have an abundance of official languages, and the more we can listen and hear one another, the better we can understand each other.

And what harm is there in speaking English on the playground? Surely it’s not still regarded as the language of the “vyand?”

The fierce emotion around language, hopefully not alienating anybody, was illustrated at my children's school recently.

It is tackling the new language policy and there's a robust debate among the parents about which language to choose. Parents are taking this very seriously. Some parents want Afrikaans, others Zulu.

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Italian university switches to English
By Sean Coughlan, BBC News

May 16, 2012—From opera at La Scala to football at the San Siro stadium, from the catwalks of fashion week to the soaring architecture of the cathedral, Milan is crowded with Italian icons.

Which makes it even more of a cultural earthquake that one of Italy's leading universities—the  Politecnico di Milano—is going to switch to the English language.

The university has announced that from 2014 most of its degree courses - including all its graduate courses - will be taught and assessed entirely in English rather than Italian.

The waters of globalisation are rising around higher education—and the university believes that if it remains Italian-speaking it risks isolation and will be unable to compete as an international institution.

“We strongly believe our classes should be international classes—and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language,” says the university’s rector, Giovanni Azzone.

Italy might have been the cradle of the last great global language—Latin—but now this university is planning to adopt English as the new common language.

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Pearson to boost English skills of Saudi students

RIYADH, November 30, 2012—UK-based Pearson, a leading learning company, has entered into a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Industrial College, aiming to assess English language competencies of between 5,000 and 6,000 Saudi students each year.

The English language tests used under the agreement will have all four skills machine-scored, using sophisticated scoring engines that research has shown to be at least as reliable as human raters, ensuring the integrity of the results.

Pearson’s internationally acclaimed Versant testing will be employed to accurately test learners’ English levels.

The Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, which is recognized and accepted across the globe by more than 3,000 academic institutions, professional bodies and the UK and Australian border agencies, will also be introduced in the foreseeable future, a statement said.

The test uses the latest security measures, including state of the art biometrics, to ensure the integrity of the test.

As Saudi Arabia’s economy becomes increasingly globalised, academic institutions are recognizing the need to equip their students with robust English language skills.

More than two billion people are currently learning English around the world; and throughout the Middle East, graduates with strong English skills find employment more quickly than their non-English speaking counterparts, and earn significantly higher salaries.

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English posing a threat to local languages‚ say experts
        
LALITPUR, December 29, 2012—Educationists have expressed worry that increasing use of English as the medium of instruction at school has posed a threat to local languages, including Nepali, and government schools that use these languages as their medium of instruction.

At the third district conference of Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association, Associate Professor of the Tribhuvan University, Meera Shrestha, criticised the trend of sending children to English medium schools at the cost of mother tongue.

Asked about provisions governing the selection of medium of instruction, Kathmandu District Education Officer, Baikuntha Aryal, said the government policy allows schools to choose either Nepali or English as the medium of instruction.

“The policy does not bar the selection of English as the medium of instruction, though it also calls for imparting primary education in children’s mother tongue launguage,” added Aryal.

Pointing at the rising trend of using English as the medium of instruction, teacher at Lalitpur-based Mahendra Adarsha Higher Secondary School (MAHSS), Om Prakash Baiba, said his school had to switch to English due to stiff competition.

Out of a total of 286 schools in the Kathmandu Valley, a majority have already switched to English medium, according to DEO Aryal. “However, many schools have to hire teachers on their own as the government-paid teachers cannot teach in English,” added Aryal.

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