Philippine education secretary to be installed as SEAMEO president

MANILA (PNA)—The Philippines takes the lead in meeting the challenges of the 21st century in areas of education, science, and culture as Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is installed president of the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO).

Outgoing SEAMEO president Chinnaworn Boonyakiat of Thailand will turn over the presidency to Lapus during the 45th South East Asian Ministers of Education Council (SEAMEC) Conference and 5th ASEAN Ministers of Education (ASED) Meeting to be held at the Shangri-la Hotel in Mactan, Cebu, from January 27 to 29.

As president, Lapus is set to steer SEAMEO into a more dynamic organization that gives special focus on two main thrusts: early childhood care for learners and the use of technology in education.

“Our assumption of the helm of SEAMEO on its 45th year is critical as it is the crossroad between the 20th and 21st century with a myriad of exciting challenge,” Lapus said.

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3 students from Leyte represent Philippines in Thailand space science tilt

MANILA—Three students from Tacloban, Leyte, have been selected as the country’s representatives to the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) Water-Boosted Rocket Competition. The three would be competing against students from the 26 member-countries of the APRSAF.

Edmund Edward Chua, Julius Peter Dacoycoy and Jhon Jezar Calumag, third year students from the Asia Development Foundation College (ADFC) based in Tacloban, were scheduled to fly last January 22 to Thailand to participate in the event to be held at the National Science Museum, Technopolis, Khlong 5, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani.

To accompany them were coaches Maria Lourdes Tan of ADFC and Eligio Obille, Jr. of the University of the Philippines-National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development.

Dr. Ester B. Ogena, director of the Science Education Institute (SEI), which is the main organizer of the national competition, said: “We want to start with the young in educating our people on the importance of space education in our lives. Space science helps us prepare before the onset of any major calamity and prevent any major damage it may bring to the country.”

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First academic and cultural festival for colleges and universities to be held

MANILA—The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will hold an academic and cultural festival for college students in the country this March to promote academic and culture achievement in private and state universities and colleges. The festival will feature competitions among college students in impromptu speech, oration, poetry interpretation, story telling, debate, science, math and computer quizzes.

Eleanor Imbang-Suarez, CHED information officer, said that the CHED Academic and Cultural Festival is scheduled from March 1 to 5 at the UP Theater and UP Film Center in Diliman, Quezon City.

“The Festival will be an annual event that provides an avenue wherein students of the different tertiary institutions in the country, both public and private, can showcase their academic and cultural talents and competencies in a healthy competitive environment,” Suarez said. (Philippine Star)

Experts divided over Internet changes to language

Since the first web browser appeared on computer screens in 1994, the Internet has radically changed global communication. With instant access to messaging and email, the ability to circulate commentary and opinion has revolutionized the way people communicate.  This has had an affect on language and writing, but people still debate the scope of these changes, and whether or not they're for the better.

Eleanor Johnson is a professor in the English and Comparative literature department at Columbia University who attributes a growing misuse of language to the explosion of electronic communication.

“I think that text messaging has made students believe that it’s far more acceptable than it actually is to just make screamingly atrocious spelling and grammatical errors,” she said.

Johnson says that her students, over the past several years, have increasingly used a more informal English vocabulary in formal assignments. University-level research papers, she says, are now being peppered with casual phrases like “you know” and words like “guy” informal usages that were absent almost a decade ago.

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English department offers modern Greek class

For many students and community members the Greek language seems difficult and out of reach, reflecting the cliché “It’s Greek to me.” However, learning the language is no longer a dream but an obtainable goal.

For those interested in learning to read, write and speak the Greek language, the English department at Shawnee State University will offer a Modern Greek class for the spring semester 2010.

“Many students want to take the class to learn how to read the Bible in it’s original language, Greek, while others are interested in learning the language to gain a competitive edge in their careers," said Dr. Stylianos Hadjiyannis, the professor who will be teaching the course.

According to Hadjiyannis, a native of Greece, thousands of words in the English language have been borrowed from Greek. The language is based on phonetics and the English alphabet, making it easier to learn.

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Use of English to publish Swedish royal wedding bash slammed

A slogan chosen by the city of Stockholm to promote events related to the June 2010 wedding of Crown Princess Victoria has been reported to the Ombudsmen of Justice (Justitieombudsmännen – JO) for violating Sweden’s language laws.

“The leadership of Stockholm municipality either don’t know about the (admittedly new) language law, or they don’t care about it,” writes Stockholm resident Björn Ohlson in his letter complaining about “Love Stockholm 2010,” the city’s chosen slogan for marketing two weeks of events surrounding the royal wedding.

“It’s a very Swedish event. You have the Swedish crown princess marrying a Swedish man in Sweden. It seems sort of silly to give it an English label,” Ohlson told The Local.

Sweden’s new language law, which went into effect in July 2009, establishes Swedish as the main language of Sweden and decrees that public bodies have a particular responsibility to ensure that Swedish is used and developed.

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Programme to promote English language launched in Mumbai

MUMBAI—The Times Foundation, the corporate social responsibility wing of The Times of India group, and Yuva Unstoppable, an NGO working for the upliftment of underprivileged children, have joined hands to start “English Unstoppable,” an initiative to promote English language education among secondary school students in Mumbai.

Already a success in Ahmedabad, the Mumbai chapter of the project was launched on Saturday by Priya Dutt, Congress MP from South Mumbai. Celebrities like filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and Pantaloons Femina Miss India 2008 Simran Kaur took part in the cause.

“I am not here as an MP, I am here because I care,” Ms Dutt said. “I am part of this country and I want to contribute.” She appreciated the initiative and its uniqueness which asks for time and not for money.

The project hopes to bring a change in the education level of some 6,000 children in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The project was started a year ago in Ahmedabad and has helped in bringing down the dropout rates among the students of municipality-aided and government-aided schools.

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Lessons in English for today’s diplomats

English may be the preferred language of international diplomacy, but one of the results of growing democratization is that some of the candidates who want to serve in India’s missions overseas have entered after taking exams in regional languages—which means they need special language training in English apart from whichever foreign language they choose.

Out of the 19 IFS probationers of the 2008 batch, six had made it through the civil service exams with Hindi as their first language, answering their papers in Hindi. For the first time, arrangements had to be made to teach English to probationers who were weak in English. Senior foreign service officers are certainly not happy about the trend—“Imagine getting recruits who cannot even speak English!”

Says a retired foreign service officer: “Increasing democratisation that brings in people of all kinds of backgrounds into the service is not a bad thing per se, but not by compromising quality. Knowing English is basic even if you have to function within the country, let alone abroad. Even in countries like Japan and Indonesia it is mandatory to know English to join the foreign service.”

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English-language scholarships for underprivileged launched in Dubai

Dubai, UAE (SBWIRE)—Eton Institute today announced a scholarship programme worth AED 150,000/- for learning English as part of their CSR initiative. The six-month scholarship programme will include all tuition and material expenses which will be awarded to deserving candidates that do not have the economic means to learn English.

Dr. Eli Abi Rached, Director, Eton Institute remarked: “We have long supported the cause for corporate social responsibility and education. We strongly believe that education is the ticket to a better life and is the greatest need in our community. It is this belief which is the driving force behind all our initiatives and is central to everything we do. ”

He added that the English language “is the single most important language for trade and commerce, which is why otherwise gifted non-English speaking individuals often find themselves greatly disadvantaged. We are extremely excited and privileged to be able to offer deserving candidates this invaluable opportunity to learn English and realise their dreams and aspirations.”

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Every student at UNISSA needs to improve English proficiency

The Sultan Sharif Ali University, UNISSA, is urging its students to use English in their daily conversations as a means for preparing them for real-life situations.

The speak-English program was launched by the university during its English Week recently, with the rector of UNISSA, Dr Haji Mohd Yusop bin Haji Awang Damit, delivering the opening remarks. The program, which runs until the 23rd of January, hopes to attract students to join the fun activities and other English language-related activities.

The English Week was launched by the UNISSA’s Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge and Language Learning with the primary objective of increase English fluency among students and to create a new and exciting environment for students to learn English.

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“The English language is dying in Nigeria,” says university lecturer

A university lecturer, Dr Adeyemi Daramola, has raised the alarm over what he called inappropriate use of the English Language in Nigeria.

Daramola, a senior lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos that most Nigerians neither write nor speak English well.

“Most Nigerians don’t use English well. They don’t speak it well; they don’t write it well. This is unfortunate,” Daramola lamented.

The don stated further that the problem was more pronounced in higher institutions and corporate organisations.

“If you go to our higher institutions and corporate organisations, you will know that we have serious problems with English Language in Nigeria. If you go into its analysis, you will discover that the rate at which the language is being murdered by Nigerians is alarming,” he said.

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