Over 80,000 jobs available for students, Philippine labor department announces

MANILA, April 8, 2011—The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday reported that over 80,000 jobs in various government offices and commercial establishments are now available for poor but deserving high school and college students.

Nicon Fameronag, DOLE-Labor Communication Office (LCO) director, said employment would be available to young students as part of the government’s special program for employment of students (SPES).

“A total of 84,918 students would be employed for the entire 2011 and those who would be hired this summer vacation could already start reporting for work on Monday,” Fameronag said.

Fameronag said the Department of Education and Department of Science and Technology and local government units have allocated P32 million to hire 10,000 students this year.

He said persons employing less than 10 workers are allowed to hire poor but deserving students with ages ranging from 15 to 25 years.

College students and those enrolled in vocational and technical education could also be employed any time of the year or during the school break as long as they obtained passing grades during the school year.

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1,246 high school grads finish DOST-SEI scholarship exam

MANILA, April 3, 2011 (PNA)—Around 1,246 high school graduates passed the scholarship exam given in November 2010 nationwide by the Science Education Institute (SEI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Out of the total number of passers, some 846 qualified as scholars under the RA 7687 scholarships, a scholarship program for talented and deserving students belonging to economically disadvantaged families. The remaining 400 passed in the DOST-SEI Merit scholarship program.

DOST-SEI scholars will receive tuition fee subsidy and other school fees, monthly stipend, book allowance, monthly living allowance for a 10-11 month duration, post graduation clothing allowance and more.

On the other hand, DOST-SEI Merit scholars will also receive the same benefits except for a pro-rated monthly stipend depending on their economic status.

Qualifiers can enroll in state universities and other schools recognized as Centers of Excellence or Centers of Development by the Commission on Higher Education…

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DepEd to implement seven-week program for incoming grade one kids

CEBU CITY, March 30 (PNA) – The Department of Education (DepEd) will implement a seven-week Kindergarten Summer Program in schools nationwide from April 11 to June 3, to ensure children are prepared to enter grade one.

But Celestiano Jimenez, Cebu City assistant schools division superintendent, said a similar summer program for incoming grade one pupils has been in place in Cebu City for four years already.

He said about 10,000 children in the city enroll in the program each year.

Jimenez said they are encouraging the 69 elementary schools in Cebu City to hold a summer program, adding that a seminar for pre-school teachers in the city will be organized on April 1 to 5.

”It’s important to prepare the children for formal education,” he said.

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More foreign language courses offered to Philippine high school students

MANILA, March 21, 2011—Priming up Filipino students for the global arena, the Department of Education is set to introduce more foreign languages in pilot schools as the department aims to produce more internationally competitive graduates.

Aside from English which is the first foreign language to be mastered by selected secondary students, other foreign languages being taught to third and fourth year students are Spanish, French, Japanese, and German.

Mandarin, which is widely used in world economic power China and Arabic which is spoken in the vast Middle East market, are set to debut this school year.

Deped’s Bureau of Secondary Education chief Director Lolita Andrada said the Special Program in Foreign Language is designed for schools whose students have demonstrated competence first in English before they start to learn another foreign language. “Studies have shown that facility in just one foreign language is now perceived as a disadvantage in a global market that is culturally and linguistically diverse,” added Andrada.

She explained that while English is a major language, it only accounts for around 30 percent of the world gross domestic product and is likely to account for less in the future.

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Probe sought on scheme to exploit Filipino nurses
By Roy C. Mabasa, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, March 23, 2011—An organization of Filipino migrants has called the attention of the Philippine and New Zealand governments to probe recruitment agencies that entice Filipino nurses with the promise that studying English in New Zealand offers better chances of meeting the level of English proficiency required by the Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ).

In its advisory “Filipino Nurses Beware of English Language Scheme as Pathway to Become a New Zealand Registered Nurse,” Migrante Aotearoa aired the grievances of Filipino nurses who shared their frustrations about the deceptive English language scheme that brought them to New Zealand.

Migrante claimed that the nurses trapped in the quake-devastated building in Christchurch would not have been there if they have not been lured to study English in New Zealand by recruitment agencies working in partnership with language schools such as King’s College.

In its website, Global Summit Consultancy and Assistance Services Inc. notes in a video “Nursing Migration Pathway” that even though doors in Australia, Canada and other countries have been closed for most nurses, “a window has been opened, especially for those who are seeking permanent migration in New Zealand…”

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Senator wants impeachment rules in plain language

March 22, 2011—Rules on the Ombudsman's impeachment trial should follow a basic rule: Omit needless words.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago made this remark Tuesday, adding that rules should be purged of words like "hereinunder" to make them easier for the public to understand.

She said the rules, which were virtually copied from the US Senate manual on impeachment, have to be updated to make them more accessible.

"The English they use is too old-fashioned," she said.

Plain language will also be helpful to the senator-judges who will hear the case. Of 23 senators, only nine are lawyers.

Santiago suggested the rules should be edited according to Elements of Style, a style guide written in 1918, and has sold more than 10 million copies by 2009.

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Use of English as medium of instruction pushed

BONTOC, Mt. Province, March 24, 2011 (PIA)—Congressman Maximo B. Dalog has co-authored House Bill No. 93, introduced by Cebu Representative Eduardo R. Gullas which seeks to strengthen and enhance the use of English as the medium of instruction in Philippine schools.

This bill aims to correct the defects of the current Bilingual Education Program of the Department of Education and has the ultimate objective of improving the learning process in schools to ensure quality outputs.

Gullas, in his explanatory note, stated that the Bilingual Policy of the Department of Education, introduced in 1974 through DECS Order No. 25, s. 1974, was designed to develop a “bilingual nation competent in the use of English and Filipino.”

This policy mandated the teaching of Filipino as a subject in all curricular levels from the elementary to college. It also required the use of Filipino as a medium of instruction in Social Studies, Character Education, Values Education, Physical Education, Industrial Arts, and Home Economics.

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English language monopoly on shaky ground
By Bernard Lane, The Australian

April 6, 2011—The federal government shows no sign of bringing forward the long-expected breakup of the IELTS English test monopoly, after the worst case of onshore fraud at a test centre in Perth.

Eileen Tyson, whose US-based TOEFL test has been lobbying against the monopoly since 2005, said the falsification of results at the Curtin University centre "highlights the need for alternative testing methods."

Both TOEFL and the new Pearson test claim their systems are not open to the manipulation seen at Curtin.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen could not say when a decision on the monopoly would be announced.

However, the timing of the decision is not dependent on the handing down of findings from Western Australia's Corruption and Crime Commission investigation into the Curtin fraud, the HES understands. CCC hearings ended on March 28.

In May last year the federal government declared its "in-principle support for the acceptance of more than one English language test under the migration regulations."

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Language tests should change, says opposition immigration spokesman

March 31, 2011—English language tests were being used as a trade barrier to restrict temporary workers coming into Australia, the opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said yesterday.

English skills were important for workplace safety and social cohesion, but the English testing program had to be geared to vocational skills and not a ''one-size-fits-all'' test that applied to both a German PhD student and a Brazilian abattoir worker, he said.

The level of English tested should also take into account the intended length of stay, and was not as critical for a three-month contract.

Mr Morrison said increased temporary labour migration, with greater conditions applied, would better meet skills shortages than the informal overseas workforce provided by the working holiday and student visa program.

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Probe hears of bribes for overseas migrant English exams

March 24, 2011—Up to 25 immigrants could have paid bribes to have their English-language exams changed in order to be granted a visa or permanent residency, a West Australian corruption hearing has heard.

The state's Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) is investigating allegations a staff member at Curtin University was bribed to falsify results of English-language competency tests.

It is mandatory that applicants for permanent residency and work or students' visas pass the International English Testing System (IELTS), which is relied upon by the Department of Immigration.

In 2009 Abdul Kader, who migrated from India and is now an Australian citizen, was living in a sharehouse with an employee at the Curtin English Language Centre, Keith Low.

Mr Kader had been approached by his former petrol station workmate Pritesh Shah concerned about a friend, Vishnal Pandya, who was applying for permanent residency but was repeatedly failing the English language requirements.

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It takes a village to raise an English speaker
By Shoko Okuda, Yomiuri Shimbun

OSAKA, April 7, 2011—Back in January, sixth-graders at one particular elementary school in Osaka-Sayama, Osaka Prefecture, had three teachers when they studied English.

In addition to their full-time teacher, they have a foreign assistant language teacher and Mika Miyazono, who was dispatched by a nonprofit organization assisting the city's primary schools with their English lessons.

The students' teacher, Akitoshi Ikeda, had his students repeat the target phrases in unison with the ALT:

"I get up at 6:30."

"I eat lunch at 12:30."

As they did this, Miyazono walked around the classroom, watching each of the students. She would approach any student who looked lost and say the phrases along with the child.

The Osaka-Sayama Shogakko Eigo Katsudo Shien no Kai (Osaka-Sayama elementary English booster club) was inaugurated last year at the behest of the city. It's mission is to find people in the community who can assist in English instruction in primary schools.

The group has 32 members, all of them living in the area…

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Indirectly Speaking: Cheat the cheaters with a test of real ability
By Mike Guest, The Daily Yomiuri

March 28, 2011—February's university entrance exam cheating scandal, which had seemingly the entire nation caught dazzled in its collective headlights discussing how to eliminate future subterfuge. Some called for stricter rules as to what is allowed into the testing venue, recommending that cell phones be handed over before entering the site. But this would not foil determined cheaters who could easily hide a cell phone and instead hand over a dud to proctors. And the more technologically proficient could well start using an assortment of hidden gadgets resembling something out of a spy film. Hey--they have the technology.

Others called for better-trained or more alert proctors. Having invigilated tests myself on numerous occasions, I must admit that I find it stunning that the perpetrator pulled off his cell phone stunt not just once, but at four different test venues. I had thought that proctoring naturally required a constant monitoring by walking about the room while being as surreptitious as possible so as not to disturb the examinees--in short, being vigilant! I had not imagined that a student holding an item under the table or regularly looking away from the test paper would go unnoticed, but I have heard since that in some settings proctors fall asleep or concentrate on other work. Still, the sneak in the Kyoto University must have been either exceedingly lucky to have had inattentive proctors four times or have magician-like stealth in his manner.

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Adult literacy pursued on many fronts

April 5, 2011—Once a week, a dozen learners and their tutors get together to practice literacy skills in a program called COOL (Community One on One Learning) for Adults. COOL provides volunteer tutors for people who need help with basic literacy skills.

“Tutors report that it is very rewarding to make a difference in someone’s life,” said Bev Krieger, who co-ordinates the program and trains the tutors.

One student’s remark speaks to the success of the program: “It’s like being released from prison.”

Many learners have gained the skills they needed in the workplace or who have qualified for further training, Krieger said, adding that “all of our learners have improved their language skills.”

Another said, “I get a real kick out of learning a new word or the spelling of a familiar word,” and another described the classes as great fun. “I’m always learning something new,” he said.

“Before, I would pass over words I couldn’t read and now I try hard to figure them out or get help,” said another.

One student felt “really proud of myself as I was able to fill out an application for OAP without help,” and one learner was able to reach the point where he was able to complete the paper work he needed before he could move into his new apartment. He managed it without help from family or friends.

The comments of students demonstrate the success of COOL. One student talked of “no longer hiding the fact that I attend literacy classes.”

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“Language still the biggest hurdle in medical education,” says health official

April 2, 2011—Admitting that language is still the biggest hurdle in medical education, central Additional Secretary (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) Keshav Desiraju today said the government is trying to find a way out so that regional languages can be incorporated.

He said this in his speech at Pramukh Swami Medical College, Karamsad, where three-day national consultations on reforms in medical education is going. The recommendations arising out of these consultations are intended to serve as inputs to the Medical Council of India and the Centre.

“Even 60 years after Independence and having 840 medical institutes, we are still struggling to get good students for medical education and the reason behind (this) is English language. We have seen that the students coming for medical education literally struggle with English,” said Desiraju, adding that this problem must be tackled at the school level.

He said the government wished to help medical education reforms with the help of statutory and regulatory agencies, and that it has no intention to play the role of MCI.

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Andhra Pradesh government gives English push at primary education level

March 26, 2011—With English increasingly becoming the preferred language of education even among the students hailing from poorer sections of the society and also rural areas, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to lay emphasis on English right from Class I in its schools.

Accordingly, English will now be taught as the second language from Class I from 2011-12 academic year, minister for primary education Sake Sailajanath said.

"The basic idea is to provide access to children from poorer sections as well as rural areas to English education right from Class I rather than Class III (the current policy), so that they compete with students of private schools," Sailajanath told Press Trust of India.

A report by the Regional Institute of English (RIE), (Bangalore) has established that the percentage of enrolment of students in government schools has drastically reduced from 84.48% to 55.72% in primary and upper primary schools, whereas admissions in the private residential schools increased from 17.52% to 44.28% in the period from 1995-96 to 2009-10 in Andhra Pradesh.

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Master your language

April 1, 2011—Two years ago, Taufiq Alam could barely speak English. Now, he is not just fluent in the language but can even address a gathering of over a hundred people.

Taufiq was among the first batch of students who benefited from the English Access Microscholarship programme that began at the Sir Syed Group of Schools, Mominpur, two years ago. They were recently present at a programme to induct the second batch of 100 students.

“I got the opportunity to learn English. I was ready to set aside my inhibitions and rise to the challenge,” said Taufiq, a Class X student at Kidderpore Muslim High School.

Funded by the US department of state, the two-year programme enables underprivileged children to learn the language and communicate better.

The programme began in India in 2004. In the city, it began at the Sir Syed Group of Schools two years ago.

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English, regional languages battle it out in Goa

PANAJI, March 23 (IANS)—The battle between English and regional languages as the medium of instruction in Goa is heating up.

After thousands of supporters of the English language as the medium of instruction for school students marked their turf Monday, a new front Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) has vowed to back regional languages Konkani and Marathi.

The BBSM, which comprises freedom fighters, a former chief minister and a section of the clergy, has now threatened a statewide agitation against making English as the medium of instruction.

“We want the education minister to resign for being part of a meeting which demanded that English should be made the medium of instruction,” former chief minister Shashikala Kakodkar said.

Underlining the importance of the mother tongue, Kakodkar said a massive statewide agitation would be organised by the BBSM to “end attempts made by vested interests towards cultural annihilation of Goa and de-linking Goa from the national mainstream.”

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Turkey to hire native English speakers as guest teachers

March 24, 2011—The Ministry of Education will bring in native English-speaking teachers to work with teachers in English language classes across Turkey starting from the next academic year as part of a project aiming to improve the education of foreign languages in the country.

As part of the project, launched due to the criticism that foreign languages are not taught well in the country, "English cafés" will be opened, popular cartoons and children's shows will be aired in English with Turkish subtitles and foreign language education sets will be distributed to students. The project will run for five years at an estimated cost of TL 1.5 billion. The project aims to be the foundation of the nation's foreign language teaching policy.

With the project, 10,000 English teachers will arrive in Turkey over the next four years and activities will be held during weekends and the summer vacation with the participation of Turkish teachers of English and native English-speaking teachers.

In English classes, native English-speaking teachers will accompany Turkish teachers and take part in extracurricular activities. The native teachers will also hold speaking classes for both the students and the Turkish teachers of English.

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Volunteers invited to help improve English language learning In Armenia

YEREVAN, April 1, 2011—On the occasion of its tenth anniversary serving Armenia through volunteerism, the Armenian Volunteer Corps has launched “Teach,” its most ambitious program to date, helping to improve the quality of education in Armenia through English language learning.

Teach provides native English-speaking volunteer teachers to middle and high school students to complement the existing curriculum with a concentration in conversation, creative and academic writing skills, and creating a globally aware and active community.

Teaching English is not new to AVC. Over the last decade many of AVC’s 339 alumni have taught English as the primary or secondary focus of their volunteer service. English language teaching occurred in both formal and informal settings, in public school and university classrooms, in English language “clubs” for adults and children, at NGOs for staff, and during after school and summer programs.

Sheila Terjanian was a retired economist when she took one year off in 2002 to volunteer through AVC. She had spent 30 years in public policy with the Canadian federal government. After she retired, she received a diploma in teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language, and prior to volunteering in Armenia she taught English as a volunteer in her community, working mostly with refugee women.

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Tamil, English courses improve forces’ language skills

April 4, 2011—English and Tamil language courses offered to the combined forces and police will help improve their inter-personnel relationship and language skills, said National Cadet Corps (NCC) Director, Major General Gamini Jayasundara.

He said so addressing a ceremony to distribute certificates to 102 police and combined forces personnel who successfully completed Tamil and English language courses, at the NCC headoffice, Pamankada.

Sri Lanka was freed of terrorism due to the commitment of the combined forces and police although there were issues among them during the conflict due to language barriers, Jayasundara said.

The NCC had organized these Tamil and English Language courses for the combined forces and police in collaboration with the Official Languages Department on Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s concept.

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Spreading the English word: BC reaches out to teachers

April 3, 2011—Whether singing a punk rock song or a musical classic like Edelweiss, the student from the schools in Gampaha are confident in their English language skills. Participating in a concert held in Gampaha the children showed members of the British Council and other guests to what degree they’ve improved in speaking English.

However, the concert was more of a review meeting that reflected the progress of the teachers who have received training by the British Council. The teachers have been selected for the University of Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test project, a training programme designed to improve teachers’ capability in teaching English.

The programme in Sri Lanka is conducted by the British Council and apart from helping the children improve in spoken English, the teachers are trained to help them improve in writing and understanding the language that dominates the commercial world.

As Country Director of the British Council in Sri Lanka, Tony Reilly says, “English is everyone’s language. It is the language of business, the language of the internet and the language people across the world protest in” emphasising the importance of being able to communicate in English.

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English words fail to take root in Polish vernacular
By Julian Borger, The Guardian

April 6, 2011—The constant shuttling of hundreds of thousands of mostly young Polish workers between Poland and Britain has had a big and visible impact on demographics, economics and culture. But the influence on language is curiously hard to pin down.

That is partly because Polish, like Poland itself, has been subjected to successive waves of invasions. Americanisms have been here since before the end of communism, arriving principally through television and films. So dzinsy (jeans), keczup (ketchup), koktajl (cocktail) and hamburger were already part of the vernacular long before the great Polish migration of the past decade.

The other wide-open portals through which English words have poured into the everyday language are through western management jargon, computers and the internet.

This linguistic invasion would have happened without a single Pole moving to Britain looking for work. It started with the mass arrival of US business consultants in Warsaw in 1990 – the archetypal biznesmen and bizneswomen seeking to set up “joint ventures.” It continues today with social media such as Facebook (fejsbuk). After meeting someone for the first time, you could wyguglowac (Google) them, and then perhaps rzucic posta na fejsa (add a post on Facebook).

Words picked up in the bars, restaurants and offices of Britain and then carried home to Poland are harder to find…

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Colombia failing to learn English, says ministry

April 5, 2011—English language education in Colombia is producing dire results, despite programs to encourage Spanish-English bilingualism, newspaper El Tiempo reported Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the Ministry of Education in conjunction with education evaluation program Saber 11, has published figures showing that despite a 2004 strategy to encourage national bilingualism in the country, only 8% of 11th graders in Colombia speak even intermediate English.

Furthermore, of 13,324 English teachers evaluated as part of the study, only 25% achieved intermediate proficiency in English while only 6% demonstrated a better than intermediate command of the language.

A Ministry of Education spokesperson told El Tiempo that these figures present a significant challenge to the government, which had hoped that "100% of English teachers would be able to demonstrate intermediate proficiency in English". The latest figures in fact also suggest that the standard of English tuition in Colombia may have even deteriorated further in the last few years.

The figures have resulted in Colombia being ranked 41 out of 44 countries in the English proficiency index, an assessment created to establish a standardized model for measuring the standard of English by country…

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Foreign doctors work in Britain without speaking English

March 29, 2011—Foreign doctors whose English is so poor that they need interpreters are being allowed to operate on patients in Britain, the medical regulator has warned.

The General Medical Council said current European rules represent a “serious cause of concern” and risk to patient safety by banning it from testing GPs’ language skills before they can start working here.

The regulator said it has some doctors on its books who "are not able to communicate in English" but could not prevent them seeking work here under European law.

It warned that bogus doctors from other countries may find their way into the NHS by presenting fake certificates or ID, because of a lack of security checks, or could hide the fact that they had been suspended from practising in their homeland.
Even genuine doctors from abroad may have little idea of how to carry out procedures that are standard in Britain, because there is no standard training, education or healthcare system.
The GMC’s strongly worded submission to the European Commission, which is reviewing the laws that allow free movement of medics across the continent, comes after the scandal of Daniel Ubani.

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Children bored by “tedious” maths lessons
By Graeme Paton, Education Editor, Telegraph.UK

March 25, 2011—Thousands of children are being turned off maths and science at school because of “tedious” lessons, according to one of the world’s top physicists.

Michael Green, Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, said teachers failed to present the “glamorous” side of the subjects as classes often descended into “drudgery” and “boredom”.

He called for a major overhaul of the curriculum and improved teacher training to stop teenagers deserting maths and science when they turn 16.

The comments come just days after a major study found that trainee teachers in England have worse standards of maths than those in other developed nations.

In an interview with the Times Educational Supplement, published today, Prof Green said primary school maths was often “tedious” and seen as “something you have to get through.”

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NHS uproar over the foreign doctors with “awful” English

March 22, 2011—Chief executive Helen Ashley admits getting complaints about doctors’ language skills

Doctors recruited from abroad often speak such poor English that many cannot talk to their patients properly, an NHS hospital has admitted.

Out of Britain’s 239,000 qualified medics, 88,327 are classed as “overseas trained,” either in the EU or further afield.

The hospital trust’s comments highlight the absurd reality that the UK cannot impose rules to check the quality of English spoken by some overseas doctors without breaching their freedom to travel and work under EU law.

Jim Morrison, chairman of Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I don’t want to sound racist but some of the worst-speaking doctors I have come across have been from Europe.” He also told East Staffordshire Borough Council’s health sub-committee last week that foreign locums’ grasp of English was at times “absolutely awful”.

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Schools urged to improve foreign language training to meet IT demand

March 20, 2011—Software companies have called on schools to strongly reform the training of foreign languages for the information technology (IT) sector. They believe that it is necessary to compel the schools, which provide the labor force for the software industry, to teach in English.

More than 60 percent cannot meet requirements in foreign language skills

Foreign language skill is one of the four criteria used to assess the quality of the IT labor force: background knowledge, technology skill, foreign language skill and soft skills.

Poor foreign language skill remains a problem among the Vietnamese IT labor force. A mini survey conducted by Buu dien Vietnam on nearly ten software firms in Vietnam showed that only 25-40 percent of workers can meet requirements in foreign language skills.

According to Le Xuan Hai, Director of Vietsoftware International, the foreign language level of new graduates has improved a little in the last two or three years. They can communicate and read documents in English, but they are still bad at speaking and writing. In general, Hai said, only 25 percent of workers can meet the requirements.

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South Korean students learn English from robot teacher

DAEGU, March 9, 2011—Many South Korean families spend thousands of dollars a year on English language education for their children. Students attend private academies often until late at night every day. Most such schools hire teachers from abroad, but a team of engineers has created a robot that they hope will eventually replace foreign instructors.

Engkey wheels around the front of a classroom at the Hagjeong Primary School in Daegu.

The egg-shaped robot asks the class—six fourth-grade students—to repeat English phrases and teaches them children’s songs in English.

But Engkey’s voice is not its own. It is connected via teleconference to the Philippines, where a teacher conducts the class through a monitor. An image of a Caucasian woman appears on Engkey’s LCD panel head, although she is not the teacher in the Philippines.

But Engkey’s creators say this robot is much more than a video screen on wheels.

Kim Mun-sang is director of the Intelligent Robotics Program at the government-funded Korea Institute for Science and Technology in Seoul. He explains how the robot works.

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Government to intensify English training for teachers
   
March 6, 2011—Education Minister, Dr. Charles Murigande, yesterday revealed that his ministry is going to strengthen training of teachers in English language proficiency.

Addressing the press at the Prime Minister's offices, Murigande said the Ministry is going to look for mentors for the teachers to improve their English.

"We carried out training for the teachers in December, now we will give them mentors who will follow their progress in schools, helping them in the language," he added.

Murigande emphasised that training teachers during holidays was not enough and that is why they had opted for mentors.

He underscored that if they fail to get enough mentors in the country, they will get them from other countries in the region.

English language training for teachers aims at equipping them with skills in the language following a resolution by cabinet in 2008 to adopt it as the language of instruction in schools.

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New English language radio chat show debuts in France

Saint Blancard, February 27, 2011(PR.com)—The Flattery Show is the first English language radio chat show aired in the south west of France and a flagship Sunday evening programme broadcast on Radio Coteaux in the Gascony region. The show is presented by American Patricia McKinnes and Irishman John Slattery, who take over the airwaves at 5pm and finish at 7pm.

The Flattery Show is a music based programme that includes light-hearted banter and whimsical jokes by the co-hosts. Listeners' views and comments are discussed and there are rotating segments such as "Song of The Week", "Ask a Frenchie," and "Life in the South-West". To keep listeners on their toes, random topics are picked from a big "Bag O Topics."

The Flattery Show, still in its infancy, has received very favourable feedback from listeners and businesses alike. John and Patricia, who launched the project themselves, say that they are enjoying the adventure of producing a groundbreaking radio show, first of its type in France. “Nearly 500,000 Britons, and at least 3 Irish and 3 Americans that we know of in this area, now have a light entertainment radio program in English,” says John. “It's very exciting to create this show and we see this regular broadcast not only as fun entertainment for the expatriates living in France, but also as a bridge between the English speakers and the French.”

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Invest in adolescents' education and training, urges UNICEF

NAIROBI, February 25, 2011—With the majority (88 percent) of the world's 1.2 billion adolescents living in developing countries, investing in their education and training could break entrenched cycles of poverty and inequality, says the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 2011 State of the World's Children report.

"We need to focus more attention now on reaching adolescents - especially adolescent girls - investing in education, health and other measures to engage them in the process of improving their own lives," Anthony Lake, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement issued at the launch of the report, Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity, on 25 February.

Lake said: "Adolescence is a pivot point - an opportunity to consolidate the gains we have made in early childhood or risk seeing those gains wiped out."

In Nairobi, UNICEF's regional director for eastern and southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy, told IRIN: "Africa has the largest proportion of children, adolescents and young people in the world. Almost half its population is younger than 18 years and almost two-thirds are younger than 25 years.

"As the gap between rich and poor, men and women, urban and rural keeps widening, and inequality generates a 'nothing to lose' generation, paying more attention to adolescents and young people is especially critical for the African nations. ."

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The loss of mother tongue?
By Gothataone Moeng, MmegiOnline

February 25, 2011—"Young people nowadays ke makgoa, they speak English only, if you ask them a question, they respond in English, they don't understand Setswana," says Freddy 'Rra-Lindiwe' Molebatsi.

 Molebatsi is a 79-year-old father of two brought up in Maitengwe who has been a long time resident of Tlokweng.He speaks Setswana with both a sprinkle of South African Tswana accent and a slight Ikalanga accent, the former a result of 27 years spent in South Africa as a construction worker, where he says he first learnt Setswana along with Sotho, Zulu, Venda and Afrikaans. Despite the languages he learnt later in his life, the traces of his formative years in Maitengwe, where he spoke Ikalanga exclusively - "the language I suckled from my mother" - are evident.

Molebatsi shares his concern about young people's predilection - at the expense of indigenous languages - for English with his 68-year-old wife Gertrude Gini 'Mma-Lindiwe' Molebatsi who, originally from Standerton, South Africa, grew up speaking Sotho and  Zulu. Their concern, however, is microcosmic of how the older generation feel about what has been described in some quarters as a crisis of Botswana's mother tongue languages.

Languages spoken in Botswana are estimated at around 23, many of which are under threat of extinction… 

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EU to offer “one-off” English-language-only entrance exam to attract more British

BRUSSELS, February 21, 2011—In a bid to attract more bright British candidates to apply for jobs in European Union institutions, officials in Brussels are considering an unusual step by offering a special 'one-off', English language only entrance examination.

Last week the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, lamented the shrinking number of Brits putting in applications to work in Brussels.

The 54-year-old Portuguese, who has been in charge since 2004, called the figure 'shockingly low' and believes that the main reason is because many top candidates are not proficient in any other language than their mother tongue.

Barroso has spoken with Prime Minister David Cameron and his Foreign Secretary, William Hague, about the problem, and they all agree that in order to boost numbers again, this 'one-off' English language exam is the answer.

“It's one of the options,” said one aide to Barroso, according to the Financial Times. “There is clearly a specific problem with the UK and it seems that language is the real issue.”

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Children’s use of too much English detrimental to mother languages

February 21, 2011—The use of English at an early age of a child has been described as detrimental to the preservation of mother languages.

In some urban areas in Lusaka, there is a growing trend among educated parents to teach their children English before they learn their original language.

To make matters worse, most gadgets that children play with use English for instructions of operations.

With this realization, the world is today commemorating International Mother Language day with focus on information communication technologies.

A linguistic expert, Dr. Nkolola Wakumelo, says there should be a provision for gadgets to be written in local languages for young people to use their indigenous languages.

Meanwhile, a linguistic doctor has expressed concern over the use of English in parliament.

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