Filipino visionary from Silicon Valley to be tapped for high-tech education system

MANILA, July 9, 2011 (PNA)—The Department of Education (DepEd) is tapping the services of a well-known Filipino engineer working in high-tech industry in a bid to speed up the government’s human development and poverty reduction goals in the education sector.

“Right now, we plan on bringing the technology in the education sector, use wireless fidelity (wifi) and laptop and tablets that will be developed by a Filipino for the Filipinos," Education Secretary Armin Luistro said during the Presidential Communications Operations Office's forum on Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster held Friday at the National Broadcasting Network (NBN) Channel 4 in Quezon City.

Luistro said the DepEd is working with Diosdado Banatao, the Filipino version of Bill Gates, in developing the technology.

“We will not use high-end or branded computer, laptops or tablets. The technology will come from DepEd and Mr. Banatao," he said in an interview with the Philippines News Agency.

Banatao is regarded as a Silicon Valley visionary who introduced technologies that transformed the computer industry and built large successful companies from the ground up. He pioneered the PC chip set and graphics acceleration architecture that continue to be two of the foundation technologies in every PC today.

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BPO firm to give English refresher courses to teachers

June 22, 2011—An information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company is investing on a project focusing on training school teachers on the English language to help students improve their English proficiency.

Romit Gupta, country general manager of Wipro BPO Philippines Ltd., said the firm had partnered with the Department of Education in Central Visayas to implement the project, which they called the “Communication Excellence for Public Education (CEPE).”

Gupta and DepEd-7 Director Recaredo Borgonia signed the agreement yesterday.

“We believe that with good teachers we can produce good students who will be readily absorbed by the industries that will need them like the BPO industry,” Gupta said.

He said the project would help public school teachers brush up on the English language especially on the critical areas often mistaken by Filipinos, like subject-verb agreements, redundancy and “Filipinoisms” such as the phrase “in fairness.”

“We have already conducted trainings to two batches with a total of 60 students in May and we have seen early improvements, which only show the potential for the project to take on a better shape than what it has now,” Rupta said.

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Some foreign students decide to make Philippines their home
By Candice Montenegro, GMA News

June 20, 2011—Sara Toh, 25, has not seen her parents in the last two years. Sara has not been home since she left South Korea in 2009 to study in the Philippines.

"I miss them and I want to go home, but I'm actually enjoying my stay here," she said.

She said she went to the Philippines to study English because she wanted to supplement the English course that she already took in South Korea.

"I knew that Filipinos are better English speakers, so I thought it would benefit me to study the language here," she told GMA News Online.

After finishing a year-long course in English proficiency, she decided to stay in Manila and try her luck at finding a job. She is now working as an executive assistant in a multinational business process outsourcing company.

Sara is only one of many South Korean nationals who come to the country to learn English. The South Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade estimates that there were over 115,000 Koreans in the Philippines as of 2009.

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US envoy cites advantage of English proficiency

DAVAO CITY, June 16, 2011—US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. said Thursday that the Job Enabling English Proficiency (Jeep) project will raise the quality of seafarers in Mindanao and the Philippines in general.

Thomas, who is in Davao City Thursday for the assessment of US Agency for International Development's (USAid) Jeep project implemented by the Growth for Equity in Mindanao (GEM) Program at the Davao Merchant Marine Academy (DMMA), said that since professionals around the world become more competitive, it is an advantage for Filipino workers, especially seafarers, to be more equipped with the English language.

Thomas said English proficient seafarers have broader chances of getting better employment and advancement in their work.

"We think that it is the key reason for you to get a better work in the future," Harry said, adding that if students are more proficient with the English language, chances are, good works await them.

The ambassador commended institutions all over Mindanao that adopted the Jeep project because this strengthens the job-related English skills of college students before graduation.

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Report says Philippines needs better teachers, bigger education budget
By Alexander Villafania, Yahoo Philippines  News

QUEZON CITY, June 13, 2011 (loQal.ph)—For education in the Philippines to be achieved, the education system must focus on developing the skills of teachers, a report by the Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) said.

In addition, the SEPO also recommends that the government should secure resources to ensure implementation of the K+12 program that the Department of Education (DepEd) is implementing.

The SEPO report “K to 12: The Key To Quality Education” was prepared by SEPO Staff Rocky Howard Yap and looks at the viability of extending the country's basic education from 10 years to 12 years (additional two years in high school), as well as adding kindergarten as a requirement prior to entry to Grade 1.

The report recognized that nearly all countries have adopted the 12-year basic education program, except for the Philippines. Only the African countries of Djibouti and Angola have retained their 10 years of basic education.

The premise for adopting to the extended number of years in basic education is due in fact to the need decongest the current curriculum that squeezes education within 10 years whereas other countries have stretched their curriculum with the additional two years.

Likewise, the additional two years should provide better skill sets for elementary and high school students who need to be prepared for their entry to higher education…

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Philippine schools lack more than 143,000 classrooms this year

MANILA, June 8, 2011—The Philippine public school system lacks 143,281 classrooms this year, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said yesterday.

Angara, who chairs the House committee on technical and higher education, said the government plans to ease the severe classroom shortage by leasing 16,051 classrooms from private schools through tuition vouchers and by building 14,243 rooms.

However, the money for the construction of new classrooms was affected by the decision of the administration’s economic managers to tighten infrastructure spending in the first four months of the year, he said.

“Government disbursed only P34.8 billion for infrastructure, an amount that is 53 percent – or almost P40 billion – lower than what was spent during the same period last year and an anemic 14 percent of the current full-year program,” he said.

He added that the early passage of the 2011 budget in December 2010 should have given the government a head start in construction, which would have also allowed it to take advantage of the good construction weather in the first half of the year.

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500 Chinese students to start English classes in Davao school

DAVAO CITY, June 15, 2011 (PNA)—An initial 500 Chinese students are coming to Davao City in August, this year for an English study and tour program here.

I-Study Brainmaster, an institution that caters to foreign students, is partnering with the JIB e-Academy and Solutions based in this city, in providing ESL (English as a Second Language) lessons to beginners and those in advanced levels.

Joji Ilagan-Bian, owner of JIB e-Academy Solutions, noted the increasing number of Chinese adults and students who want to learn the English language.

Bian said in offering the ESL Program, JIB e-Academy and Solutions will expand its services to Chinese students wishing to undertake intensive study of the English language including listening, speaking, reading and writing.

The program will run for 12 months and will also have lessons in personality development, culture, and values formation.

She said the 12-month study program aims to teach students to communicate in a social setting, use English for the students’ academic preparations, use English socially and culturally, and pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam.

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UK could lose $3.8bn from tougher student visa rules

July 5, 2011—The British economy could lose up to $3.8bn as tougher student visa rules introduced from last month start to take effect, according to a report commissioned by the minister responsible for the visa changes, Damian Green.

An impact assessment report by the Home Office says the new policy will deter bogus students and improve compliance, but the expected 230,000 reduction in the numbers of applicants for the Tier 4 student visa from outside the EU over the next four years will have wider costs.

The report estimates that income from fees will be cut by $270m over four years, while up to $3.2bn will be lost because students enrolled at private colleges have lost their right to work part-time and contribute to the economy.

Private English language training providers, which had 21,000 Tier 4 visa applicants in 2010, are likely to see applicants drop by 13,000 in 2014, with a net loss $4.8m.

The report estimates that the decision to raise the minimum level of English proficiency for students from non-English-speaking countries who want to study on degree courses will cut applicants by 11,000 per year.

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John Harrison’s work on Inca travels wins Wales Book of the Year

CARDIFF, July 7, 2011—A travel writer's account of his five-month journey through the heartland of the Incas has landed the 2011 Welsh Book of Year prize.

John Harrison’s work In Cloud Road: A Journey Through the Inca Heartland was praised by judges as “an unusually powerful and moving book.”

The winner of the Welsh-language award was Ned Thomas for Bydoedd.

Both winners receive £10,000 each and the runners-up in English and Welsh receive £1,000.

Harrison, who works as a freelance writer, guide and lecturer, walked alone into remote villages where “life continues as if Columbus had never sailed” to write his prize-winning personal account.

Francesca Rhydderch, chair of the English-language judging panel, said: “Open this book - any page will do - and you will find lyrical, sharply observed descriptions that convey you to another time and place, while keeping you anchored in the realities of the here and now.

“It has a layered texture that comes from deep, unstinting research, and a control of voice that is the hallmark of a committed, well-practised talent.”

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Pupils should study maths to 18, say experts
By Graeme Paton, Telegraph.co.uk

June 14, 2011—Thousands of young people lack the basic level of maths demanded by universities or employers, it is claimed.

The Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (Acme), which represents academics and teachers, said fewer teenagers in Britain studied the subject to a high level than in other developed nations.

Skill levels are so poor that around two-thirds of students taking maths-based degree courses lack the basic knowledge needed to get by, the study found.

Many universities are being forced to downgrade the entry requirements for courses in order to fill their places, researchers said.

Acme – an independent advisory panel based at the Royal Society – recommended that all young people should study maths for a further two years to remedy the failings.

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Corruption leads to closure of Curtin’s English language test centre

July 8, 2011—Curtin University will close its IELTS English language testing centre following a corruption scandal.

A former staff member, Kok Keith Low, pleaded guilty to bribery offences following an anti-corruption inquiry into a 2009-10 trade in falsified IELTS results from the Curtin centre.

Low is to be sentenced on August 9 and the eight others charged, most of them former international students, also have pleaded guilty to bribery offences.

In many cases, the test results were used by international students to secure permanent residency visas. As would-be skilled migrants, they had to show competent English. The price for fake IELTS results was as high as $11,000.

Today, Curtin's vice-chancellor Jeanette Hacket said the university centre would hold its last IELTS test on August 13.

She said the decision to close followed the WA Corruption and Crime Commission's inquiry and an internal review, "which found the high-stakes testing would always carry associated risks and responsibilities''.

An internal Curtin document says: "With the need identified recently, as a result of the CCC hearing, to reduce testing numbers in order to provide a quality product with all the safeguards for risk in place, the service has become less financially viable''.

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Australia’s boom runs dry of skills

July 5, 2011—The minerals and energy boom in Australia’s remote northern regions, fuelled by Chinese demand for iron-ore, coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), is about to put the Australian labor market in a vise.

The government estimates that it will need an additional 70,000 workers over the next five years to service its resources industries and many will be recruited from abroad. But the universities and colleges that equip foreign students with the skills and English language proficiency to enter the job market could struggle to meet this new demand.

Australian higher education’s once booming international student sector has experienced sharp falls in both student numbers and capacity in recent years that now threaten to exacerbate a worsening skills shortage.

To understand the current predicament, it’s necessary to look back to the mid-to-late 2000s when Australia’s education export sector was undergoing rapid expansion.

Universities that were being starved of cash under the Howard conservative government were enrolling increasing numbers of foreign students to cover their funding shortfall. Competition for students pushed down English language entry requirements, with some institutions accepting scores in the Ielts test of English of as low as 5.0.

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Australia enforces new, tighter immigration rules

MELBOURNE, July 1, 2011—Australia’s new immigration rules that focus on higher qualification and advance English language skills as requirements for those wanting to migrate to this country, came into effect today.

The new rules, according to Australian officials, aim to pick up the “best and the brightest” from the pool of applicants, and have been criticised by Indian groups here.

The Australian government announced changes to its independent skilled migration points test, introducing the new immigration point system to put more emphasis on work experience and high-level educational qualification with higher English language proficiency.

“These changes to the points test are an important next step in the series of reforms to the skilled migration programme announced by the Government in February this year,” Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said.

“The reforms set the foundations for a skilled migration programme that will be responsive to our economic needs and continue to serve Australia's interests in the medium to long term,” he added.

However, the new programme has been criticised by the Federation of Indian Association of Victoria ( FIAV) which said the level of English proficiency is like an “iron curtain” being imposed on migration in this country.

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High dollar gives language colleges reprieve
By John Ross, The Australian

June 22, 2011—The soaring dollar has handed a partial reprieve to the struggling English language college sector, as working holiday-makers decide potential earnings in Australia outweigh learning costs.

But the trend could spell trouble for higher education and vocational education and training, as some language colleges withdraw from pathway programs in favour of the leisure and general English courses that were their bread and butter a decade ago.

English Australia executive director Sue Blundell told a members' briefing in Sydney yesterday the dollar had stimulated enrolment growth from safe traditional markets in East Asia and Europe.

She said the number of short-term visitors to Australia had grown by about 20,000 between March and November last year, with working holiday-makers lured by the prospect of earning valuable Australian dollars.

This had played out into the ELICOS sector, with the number of students on visitor and working holiday visas growing by about 6000. ELICOS numbers grew by about 2500 from Japan, 1000 from Taiwan, 7000 from France, 400 from Switzerland and 300 each from Hong Kong and Italy. But the growth couldn't staunch the haemorrhage of enrolments from people on student visas.

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Japanese English teachers leave for U.S. looking to broaden horizons

KYODO, July 8, 2011—A total of 96 Japanese teachers of English who will leave for the United States this month on a half-year training program vowed Thursday to use the experience to enhance global understanding.

The junior high school and high school teachers from across Japan, who are in their 20s to 40s, will be enrolled in courses on English teaching methods at seven U.S. universities, stay with local families and work as interns at American secondary schools on the exchange program through early February. The program is sponsored by the government.

Kaori Taguchi, a 32-year-old teacher at a high school in Miyagi Prefecture, told a send-off ceremony in Tokyo that she felt guilty about leaving at a time when her colleagues remain affected by the March 11 megaquake-tsunami disaster.

“Some schools in coastal areas are used as evacuation shelters and classes cannot be conducted properly there,” Taguchi said, speaking as a representative of the teachers. “I hope I can improve my English teaching skills through the program and return the favor by nurturing students who will open their eyes to the international community."

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Minimum English language standard for teachers set in Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, July 8, 2011—Teachers who are suspected of not speaking English intelligibly will be required to take a language-competency test to determine whether they should be allowed in the classroom, and they must score in the mid-range to keep their job, according to a new requirement adopted by state education officials Thursday.

Several people, including teachers who had immigrated to this country, opposed the move, saying it could be used in a discriminatory fashion to target good teachers who happen to have heavy accents.

“Students could complain they just don’t understand me,” said Viola Egbuniwe, a science teacher in Providence who moved to this country from Nigeria in 1974.

No one in Rhode Island seems to know exactly how many teachers may not be competent in English, but the state’s largest district, Providence, has acknowledged it struggles with the problem. And several districts have moved away from bilingual education in recent years, placing teachers who are native speakers of foreign languages in classes for which they may not be adequately trained.

The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education approved a new regulation in March that requires all teachers in public schools to be competent in English, and that requires the testing of teachers who are identified as struggling with English.

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New York councilmen seek to make business signs mostly in English

NEW YORK, July 3, 2011 (AP)—The teeming streets of Flushing, Queens, can feel like a different country.

A booming Chinese population exists alongside a longtime Korean enclave. On a recent afternoon, the sidewalks were jammed with shoppers browsing and haggling in stores offering everything from iPhones to herbal remedies. Stalls selling fragrant dumplings and tea shops did a brisk business.

Day trippers from Manhattan or the suburbs often come to eat and shop here on weekends, savoring the broad array of foods and products available. But to some, the area can feel a little too foreign.

Republican City Councilmen Dan Halloran and Peter Koo are drafting legislation that would require store signs in the city to be mostly in English. They say police officers and firefighters need to be able to quickly identify stores.

The change also would protect consumers and allow local shops to expand outside their traditional customer base, the council members argue. But merchants say it would be an unnecessary and costly burden on small businesses and would homogenize diverse pockets of the city that cater mostly to immigrant residents.

"People must respect that this is a special area and please respect the Asian culture," said Peter Tu, executive director of the Flushing Chinese Business Association. "They have their own life in this area. When you walk in the street, you don't feel like you are in America."

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Language a barrier on test scores
By Joe Dejka, World-Herald

OMAHA, Nebraska, July 6, 2011—When parents descended on the Crete Public Schools for parent-teacher conferences last school year, 22 Spanish translators hired by the district were there to greet them.
“It's incredibly important,” Superintendent Kyle McGowan said. “We don't want language to be a barrier.”

Breaking down the language barrier is one facet of the small Nebraska district's approach to raising Hispanic achievement as its minority population grows sharply, largely drawn by employment at a local meatpacking plant.

The report reveals the language barrier as a key reason why the nation's Hispanic students continue to score lower than their white peers on national math and reading tests.

An achievement gap has persisted relatively unchanged over the past two decades nationally.
At the same time, both whites and Hispanics have improved their scores steadily, if slightly, according to the report from the U.S. Department of Education.

Similar gaps exist in Nebraska and Iowa, where Hispanics represent the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the schools.

On 2009 national reading tests, the gap in Iowa and Nebraska was narrower than the national average. In math, the two states' gaps generally reflected the nation.

Experts caution against making direct comparisons because some states, like Nebraska, are dealing with a flood of new immigrants, while other states have more established Hispanic populations who speak English and have assimilated into the culture.

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Rickshaw drivers and housewives in India trained to speak good English

July 4, 2011—A unique batch of students, comprising rickshaw drivers and housewives, is looking up to better opportunities in life after completing a course in English

Milind Kate walks confidently up to the podium. He looks around at the packed room facing him and takes a deep breath. “Good afternoon Honourable Shri Sanjay Chordia, Honourable Shri Baba Adhav, Honourable Shri Deepak Shikarpur, faculty and my friends. I am proud to be a part of the Suryadatta family...” Five minutes later, he takes his seat again, after having delivered a speech in fluent English.

Why the fuss, you ask? Only because Milind Kate is a rickshaw driver who, up until six months ago, could not speak a word of English.

Suryadatta Group of Institutes had undertaken an initiative to conduct a second workshop for 40 housewives and 40 rickshaw drivers from Karvenagar area. The course, which ended on June 24, was aimed at providing these individuals with the basic tools of the English language and computer learning.

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India to teach English to Kyrgyz armed forces

NEW DELHI, July 6, 2011—India is sending a team to Kyrgyzstan to train its armed forces in UN peacekeeping operations and also impart English language skills. The team will arrive in the central Asian country by the end of this month, a defence ministry spokesperson said.

The decision was announced after a meeting between defence minister A K Antony and his Kyrgyz counterpart Major General Abibilla Kudayberdiev in Bishkek on Monday. Antony is leading a defence delegation to Kyrgyzstan.

Antony said though the present level of defence engagements were rather limited between the two sides, there was “potential to enhance the scope and scale of activities in a gradual manner in areas of mutual interest, particularly in the field of military training, defence research and development and production of defence armaments.”

On Tuesday, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva and Antony inaugurated the Kyrgyz-Indian Mountain Biomedical Research Centre at Bishkek. The spokesperson said the centre will carry out research on the mechanism of short term and long term high altitude adaptation. "It will also mobilize and synchronise the expertise of the two countries in the area of high altitude research," he said.

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Lack of English proficiency contributes to high failure rate in Namibia                                      

July 8, 2011—About 100 linguistics experts from all over the world are attending the annual Poetics and Language Association (PALA) Conference which is currently taking place at the Polytechnic of Namibia in the capital.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Education Minister, Dr Abraham Iyambo, said English is being taught from the cradle to the grave in many parts of the world.

“But this teaching must be done properly by trained teachers. The teaching of English should not be at the exclusion or neglect of indigenous languages. Do we have these trained teachers? I do not think that we have them in enough numbers in Namibia. Is it obvious that proficiency in the English language will enable learners to perform better in other subjects because these subjects are taught and written in English,” he said.

Iyambo added that it is a fact of life that if learners have deficient English language reading, writing, listening and speaking skills; then they will not understand those subjects written and taught in English.

According to Iyambo, the strident call for the introduction of Science and Mathematics will remain just that, unless equally vocal measures are taken to improve the teaching of English in educational institutions.

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Few jobs for Saudi graduates without English

July 9, 2011—There is a wide gap between what students learn at universities and what is required by the job market. Private companies mostly want graduates with English language skills and experience, which they lack and has resulted in many Saudis being unable to find work.

Amr Fallata, a media graduate, thinks there are more job opportunities for university and college graduates, but not enough. Most jobs are for scientific and administrative majors.

“Despite my high grades I could not get a government job and turned to the private sector.” Pursuing higher studies would be the solution because the high number of bachelor’s degree graduates has meant less job vacancies, he added.

Ali Saud, an education graduate, said he and his fellow graduates will only be able to get positions as teachers. “But there are earlier batches that graduated years ago and have still not been employed,” he said. “What about the antiquities college in Hail? Would its graduates find jobs?” he wondered.

Saleh Nami, an English language graduate, thinks there may be more opportunities to teach English at primary school level. Abdulrahman Makkawi, a chemistry graduate, said while the private and public sector require experience and English, universities have not fulfilled their role in terms of teaching English.

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Busan Global Village emerges as major English education center
By Song Sang-ho, The Korea Herald

June 30, 2011—Busan Global Village is emerging as the country’s key center for English education, thanks to a variety of unique programs tailored to the needs of different age groups and its location in the center of the southeastern port city.

Since it opened in July 2009, BGV has gained much recognition from inside and outside of the country’s second largest city as it seeks to offer a low-cost and effective alternative to overseas language learning.

For the last two years, more than 100,000 people have learned English at BGV, which now seeks to transform itself into a leading English education center representing the country.

Kim Ji-seon, a 32-year-old housewife in Dongrae-gu, Busan, said that she is satisfied with the three-month “Happy School” course designed to give toddlers a head start in English education.

“I take my 25-month-old son to the Happy School class every Thursday. This is a class my son and I attend together,” she said. “Compared with programs offered by other language institutes, the BGV course is far more satisfactory and its price is very reasonable.”

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Koreans struggle to solve English quagmire

SEOUL, June 17, 2011 (Yonhap)—No English. No job. No future. At least that's what many Koreans believe these days, and they will do almost anything to improve their English skills.

Parents pour huge amounts of money into a bottomless English-craze pit, while students stay late into the night at private cram schools finding ways to hack the "terrible" TOEIC, as many here call the dreaded standardized English test.

"In many countries around the world, there is a push from governments, employers and parents to improve levels of English, but Korea probably tops the league table for anxiety about English proficiency," says David Graddol, a well-known British writer, broadcaster, lecturer and consultant on issues related to global English and educational trends.

The British Council commissioned Graddol to write two of his most famous works: The Future of English and its follow-up, English Next. Both books report on the global development of English as a world language.

He says that in Korea, "too much emphasis is placed on the power of English to transform people's lives."

Few countries in the world spend more time and money learning English. According to a 2006 study by the Samsung Economic Research Institute, Koreans spend around US$15 billion per year on private English education. That's more money than the gross domestic product, or GDP, of Laos, Jamaica or Iceland.

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Top universities use reputations to run pricey English camps

June 13, 2011—"It`s so expensive even if the university`s name value is considered," a mother of two daughters said who planned to send them, one in middle school and the other in elementary school, to an English-language summer camp run by a Korean university.

She gave up, however, due to expensive tuition of a combined 6 million won (5,540 U.S. dollars) for a three-month program.

"Certain English camps in the Philippines with the same schedule cost less than 3 million won (2,770 dollars)," she said, adding, "It`s unpleasant to see domestic universities apparently encourage expensive private education."

In the run-up to summer vacation, major universities in Seoul are recruiting elementary, middle and high school students for English camps. Such programs are so popular among parents that the universities hold briefing sessions on them. Certain parents even have a far-fetched expectation that such programs will help their children enter a given university.

The problem is the cost of a camp can exceed 1 million won (923 dollars) per month. Tuition is 3.1 million won (2,862 dollars) at the 19-day Sogang English Workshop run by Sogang University¡¯s English education center SLP. Native English speakers and Korean teachers will give lectures in the program that begins July 25.

I-Oedae, an English education company under Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, will open the 2011 I-Oedae Summer English Camp for students in fifth and sixth grade and seventh and eighth grade from July 22 through Aug. 10. The program costs 2.94 million won (2,714 dollars) per student.

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Malaysia wants more English volunteer teachers from US

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2011—Malaysia has asked the US State Department to consider sending 300 English volunteer teachers to Malaysia under the Fulbright Programme.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who disclosed this, said the increased number sought was due to the Government’s greater emphasis on English Language proficiency in schools.

He said he had held several rounds of discussions with Education Ministry officials on the matter and the consensus was that more volunteer teachers were needed.

Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, said students in rural schools in Terengganu were already being taught English under a US-funded English Language assistance programme, with an English Language Teacher Development Project being conducted by the British Council in Sabah and Sarawak.

“But we are hoping that the US Government will consider increasing the volunteers pledged to us under the Fullbright Programme to 300,” he said. “We have agreed to finance part of the costs, such as accommodation and allowances involved, and have set aside an initial allocation of US$1mil (RM3mil).”

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Poor English skills: “Rot started in the 70s”
By Teoh El Sen, Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA, June 19, 2011—The lack of proficiency in the English language among the current crop of Malaysians does not come as a surprise at all to academicians.

They say the rot started when the medium of instruction was switched from English to Malay in the 1970s.

Malaysia was ranked third after Singapore and the Philippines in an English level assessment test conducted by online recruitment company Jobstreet.com.

Thailand and Indonesia came in fourth and fifth respectively.

“There has been a clear decline of English language proficiency over the past 20 years,” said an English lecturer with over 37 years of experience.

The lecturer, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the rot set in since the 1970s, when the medium of instruction was switched from English to BM.

“From then on, our children were less exposed to the language. Another reason is the lack of emphasis on English as it now not a compulsory subject to pass,” he said.

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Few bosses sent their “foreign talents” for English test
Temasek Review

June 27, 2011—The PAP regime’s “wayang” to encourage employers to send their “foreign talents” for a non-compulsory English test following widespread complaints by Singaporeans and tourists alike at their poor command of the English language appears to backfire dramatically as there are few takers.

The Service Literacy Test (SLT) was introduced last year to help boost the English standards of work permit holders working in the service industry and those who pass the test will have to pay $100 in foreign worker levy.

Despite the “carrot,” only 420 companies enrolled a total of 1,650 work permit holders for the test, according to figures from the Manpower Ministry (MOM), a fraction of some 422,000 work permit holders employed in the manufacturing, process and service industries as of December last year.

When contacted by the state media, MOM refused to divulge the passing rate of those foreigners who took the test.

Unlike other countries, Singapore does not impose any mandatory English tests for foreigners seeking employment in Singapore.

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Thai students “must learn languages”

June 20, 2011—Thai students have been urged to improve their English and also learn a third language so they can compete with people from other Southeast Asian nations when the region becomes a single economic community of more than 600 million people in 2015.

Sakkarin Niyomsilpa, a demographic expert at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR), said Thailand's weakness was its language limitations, especially in English. He said Filipino labourers could speak better English than Thais, giving them a much better chance of getting hired in other countries.

It was now time for Thai students to improve their English and learn a third language such as Vietnamese, Bahasa, Japanese or Korean, he added.

Mr. Sakkarin said if the education system and students paid no attention to language improvement, Thailand might lose its competitive edge to Vietnam as many Vietnamese could now speak English or even Thai.

He recently addressed an IPSR seminar entitled "A Turning Point For The Thai Population; A Turning Point For Thai Society" that discussed the kingdom's situation as it prepares for the launch of the Asean Community.

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Record 1million pupils speak English as a second language
By Graeme Paton, Telegraph.co.uk

June 22, 2011—A record one-in-six pupils in primary schools and one-in-eight in secondary education speak another language at home, it was disclosed.

The proportion of children starting school with a relatively poor grasp of English has now doubled in just over a decade.

In some parts of London, as many as three-quarters of pupils speak other languages, according to figures.

The disclosure comes despite concerns over cuts in funding to teach pupils with English as a second language. A ring-fenced grant set aside to boost language skills among foreign pupils was abolished by the Coalition, with money now devolved to local councils to spend as they see fit.
But head teachers’ leaders claim this has led to cash drying up in some areas as councils use the money to subsidise cuts to other services.

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said funding had been “cut back quite extensively” by certain authorities.
“Support for these pupils is vitally important,” he said. “These children are just as able as other pupils but they’ll fail to access the curriculum if they are behind in literacy and linguistic skills.”

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English training stand-out explains the reason for his success

June 16, 2011—A leading private Chinese education institution is looking for overseas investment and capital injection to make it more competitive.

Yun Guanqiu, the chairman of the Beijing Talenty Education Institution, which runs Talenty English, explains it this way, "We expect more far-sighted investors or partners overseas to join us in a number of areas in English education, such as textbook publishing, multi-media teaching, human resources, and management."

Talenty, which will celebrate its 15th anniversary soon, has grown into one of the top names in private English education in China, with a special focus on children and teenagers.

It has won a number of awards, such as one of the Top 10 Competitive English Education Institutions, Most Valuable English Trainer for Primary School Students, and Most Satisfactory English Training Name in China.

Yun, who is 45 and a renowned figure in his field, added, "We'll never just sit there resting on our laurels, but will devote ourselves to being the most professional, best English training institution for children and teenagers, in China."

It is hardly surprising, in view of his group's success, that Yun himself has been praised, for example, for being one of Asia's Top 100 Innovative Celebrities, one of China's Outstanding Educators, and one of China's Management Talents, among other similar awards.

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China’s Sina to internationalize Weibo, launch English-language service

June 20, 2011—Sina Corporation announced plans earlier this month to invest in an English version of its micro-blogging service, Weibo, aimed generally at overseas users.

“We’re now developing an English-language microblog service, but there is no timetable to launch it,” Sina’s Spokesperson Mao Taotao told the China Daily. “The service is aimed at overseas users, but we don’t target users from a particular country.”

The program is reportedly still in the early development stages and Mao was unable to confirm whether or not the English version would constitute a new interface to the traditional Weibo service or if this would amount to a new service altogether.

The announcement also prompted questions as to whether or not Sina plans to position Weibo on the global stage as a direct competitor to similar English sites such as Twitter. Sina’s spokesperson dismissed such questions, while back in April the company’s chief executive, Charles Chao, suggested that such a move is not an immediate concern for the company and that if Weibo were to compete outside of China, it would likely be through foreign partnerships.

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Traditional approaches to English education should be changed, says minister

June 20, 2011—English language proficiency is considered one of the key elements in developing international competitiveness. Taiwan ranks 25 out of 44 non-native English speaking countries around the world, according to a study by English First, the world's largest private educational institution.

Despite the vast amounts of money spent by the government on English education, the ubiquitous presence of English cram schools and President Ma Ying-jou's pledge to increase the nation's international competitiveness, many college graduates in Taiwan still have difficulty having basic conversations in English despite over a decade of learning English.

Currently all third grade elementary school students and above have regular English classes on a weekly basis. According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), elementary schools can start teaching English from the first grade. However, most schools in Taiwan outside of Taipei and New Taipei have not introduced these programs due to limited resources.

According to the MOE's white paper on international education at local junior high and elementary schools, the ministry hopes to extend English language education to all elementary school students in Taiwan over the next decade. Wu said the ministry has commissioned the National Academy for Educational Research to study the appropriateness of this proposal, although currently there is no specific timeline for the implementation.

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MHA asks central offices, PSUs and banks to use local language

NEW DELHI, June 18, 2011—All central government offices, Public Sector Undertakings and banks across the country will now write sign-boards and name-plates in the 'second official language' as well, in addition to Hindi and English.

The home ministry taken the decision in order to give due prominence to the 'second official language', which is different in different states and Union Territories.

"The boards, sign-boards, name-plates and directional signs will be written/printed/inscribed/embossed in Hindi (the national language) first (in Hindi speaking states). The order of the other languages including English will be determined by the department concerned or the state concerned," said the home ministry in a statement.

The decision will, however, not affect the “order” in the non-Hindi speaking states. These states will continue to use regional languages, Hindi and English, in that order. The font sizes of the texts of all the languages will be of the same size.

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Rabindranath Maharaj wins Trillium Book Award

June 17, 2011—Trinidad-born novelist Rabindranath Maharaj has won Ontario’s $20,000 Trillium Book Award for The Amazing Absorbing Boy, named the best English-language book published by a citizen of the province in the past year.

Maharaj beat out five other finalists including Irish-Canadian novelist Emma Donoghue, author of the international bestseller Room.

Written largely in a doughnut shop in Ajax, Ontario, where Maharaj now lives, The Amazing Absorbing Boy is the deceptively simple story of a naive young immigrant set down on the streets of Toronto with no support apart from a resilient imagination anchored in the optimistic anti-reality of children’s comics.

Other finalists for the English-language fiction award included Michael Winter, nominated for The Death of Donna Whalen, and Toronto’s James Fitzgerald, whose nominated book, What Disturbs Our Blood, won the 2010 Writers’ Trust non-fiction award.

The same ceremony saw Ottawa novelist Estelle Beauchamp named winner of the Prix Trillium for Un souffle venu de loin, the story of a war-orphaned Gypsy girl growing up in Montreal…

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20-year-old national English daily awarded Independence Order

HA NOI, June 16, 2011—Viet Nam's only national English language daily, the Viet Nam News, has been awarded the Independence Order, third-class, today for its contributions to the country's information service for foreigners.

The noble award granted by the President of Viet Nam is a huge source of pride for more than 150 staff at the newspaper on the occasion of its 20th birthday (which falls on June 17).

Addressing a ceremony organised in Ha Noi to mark the newspaper's anniversary, Politburo member and Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc, said the Viet Nam News had been "one of the nation's effective channels of information for foreign readers" since its launch in June, 1991.

"During the past 20 years, the Viet Nam News has performed its function of disseminating the Party and State's policies well. It has provided timely and comprehensive information on the political, economic and social situation of Viet Nam and its people," said the Government official.

With the newspaper's incredible efforts in lifting its efficiency and expertise, the Viet Nam News daily and its monthly magazine Outlook, in both forms of print and electronic media, have won the confidence of expat readers and the overseas Vietnamese community.

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