“School on air” launched in Muslim Mindanao

COTABATO CITY (December 9, 2010)—The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has ventured into a mass media strategy to provide functional literacy courses to out-of-school children in the far-flung areas.

Ustadz Nur Pulong, Director, Alternative Learning System, DepEd ARMM said that radio station DXED with a power of 99.7 khz was funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID) to the tune of Php 1.5 million.

This is part of the Basic Education Assistance to Mindanao (BEAM), a project supported by the Australian government towards the promotion of education in this part of the country. BEAM also assisted DepEd ARMM in the processing of permits and licenses to operate the radio station from the National Telecommunications Office.

A tieup with the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) has accorded the radio station access to programs and other educational services of the government.

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Filipinos sue California hospital over English-only rule

LOS ANGELES, December 7—Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in California sued their employer Tuesday alleging they were the sole ethnic group targeted by a rule requiring them to speak only English.

The group of 52 nurses and medical staff filed a complaint accusing Delano Regional Medical Center of banning them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages while letting other workers speak Spanish and Hindi.

The plaintiffs are seeking to join an August complaint filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Kern County federal court over the hospital’s enforcement of a rule requiring workers to speak English.

Filipino workers said they were called to a special meeting in August 2006 where they were warned not to speak Tagalog and told surveillance cameras would be installed, if necessary, to monitor them. Since then, workers said they were told on a daily basis by fellow staffers to speak only English, even on breaks.

“I felt like people were always watching us,” said tearful 56-year-old Elnora Cayme, who worked for the hospital from 1980 to 2008. “Even when we spoke English ... people would come and approach us and tell us, ‘English only.’”

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City public high school wins national values education award

ILOILO CITY, December 7, 2010 (PNA)—A public secondary school here bested all other high schools in the country in terms of implementing values education in the academe.

La Paz National High School (LPNHS) became the recipient of this year’s “Most Outstanding Implementor of Values Education” award given by the Pambansang Samahan Para sa Edukasyong Pagpapahalaga (PSEP) during its awarding rites recently at the Waterfront Hotel in Davao City.

The school received a plaque of recognition from the organizers.

PSEP is a nonstock, nonprofit, nonpartisan, and nonsectarian organization, committed to uphold and strengthen values education program and to evaluate their impact on the country’s development.

Mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog honored LPNHS with a Mayor’s Citation for its highly commendable performance.

“Such exemplary accomplishment attests to the high sense of professionalism and noble dedication of our educators, giving an outstanding testimony that indeed, the state’s investment to public education is not a lost cause after all,” he said.

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Manila schools receive English teaching materials from U.S.

MANILA, December 3, 2010 (PNA)—The United States Embassy on Wednesday turned over US$ 4,959 (about P218,196) worth of English teaching materials to school principals of 103 public elementary and high schools in Manila.

Each of the 103 school receive a pack containing books, back issues of English Teaching Forum magazine, educational photos, DVDs and an instructional CD, all produced by the U.S. State Department.

The materials are designed to help teachers acquire additional knowledge and strategies for becoming better English-language teachers so that their students develop stronger aptitude, competence, and fluency in English, the U.S. embassy in Manila said.

U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. participated in the event along with Assistant Secretary Reynaldo D. Laguda of the Department of Education; Schools Superintendent Dr. Ponciano A. Menguito of the Division of City Schools-Manila, and Jakarta-based State Department Regional English Language Officer George Scholz.

“The reading materials and books we have received will give a great boost in our effort to improve our English proficiency program in our public schools,” said Dr. Menguito.

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South Cotabato pushes opening of Philippine Science High School campus by 2011

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, December 9, 2010 (PNA)—The provincial government of South Cotabato is pushing for the opening by next year of a new campus of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) in nearby Koronadal City.

South Cotabato Governor Arthur Pingoy Jr. said they are currently working for the acquisition of a five-hectare lot in the city that would host the proposed establishment of the PSHS campus through a joint initiative with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

The PSHS, which operates as an attached agency of the DOST, is a specialized public high school system that focuses on high quality science-based education and training.

“We will make sure that this will materialize here in the province. This is one way for us to produce future great scientists, mathematicians, doctors and even nurses from our poor but deserving families,” the governor said.

Citing initial talks with DOST Region 12 officials, Pingoy said Koronadal City was identified as ideal site for the proposed PSHS campus being the regional seat and center of Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao.

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Not exactly coveted: the Plain English Campaign’s Golden Bull Award
 
November 11, 2010—NHS Lanarkshire beat Fife Council to the “prize” of a Golden Bull for a lapse into management speak that left the English language in a critical condition.

The sentence “These are cascaded to senior staff across the organisation through to frontline staff via a structured mechanism to facilitate ownership of data” was described as “baffling” by judges at Friday’s awards ceremony in Manchester.

A spokeswoman for NHS Lanarkshire said, “We accept that the extract which has won an award this year does not meet our own high standards for publicly available information.

“We are responsible for issuing a huge volume of public and patient information via our website and through patient information leaflets. We try to check all information prior to publication.

“This is a valuable reminder that it is easy to slip into jargon and that we need to make sure all the information we publish is clear and concise.”

The Plain English Campaign hands out Golden Bulls each year for the worst crimes against the English language.

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Foreign Office second language is gibberish, says Plain English Campaign

December 10, 2010—The internal advert for a “Reputation Manager” was criticized for being full of jargon and using almost indecipherable phrases.

Part of the advertisement’s original text said the role required: “Maintenance and development of the UK narrative around FCO and its value proposition, using insights from research and evaluation as well as knowledge of the evolving FCO strategy to inform resonant messaging.”

The FCO conceded the statement “did not meet” clear communication standards expected of senior government officials.

It said the “plain English translation” should have been: “Work out better ways of telling people what the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does.”

It was one of several examples awarded “Golden Bull” gongs by the Plain English Campaign at a ceremony in Manchester on Friday.

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London mayor shamed over poor use of English

November 11, 2010—London Mayor Boris Johnson has been named and shamed for his poor use of the English language.

Football pundit Jamie Redknapp was also among the award “winners” in the Plain English Campaign’s annual Golden Bull booby prize to mark National Plain English Day.

The Golden Bull awards recognize the year’s most baffling examples of gobbledygook.

Politician Mr. Johnson, a former newspaper editor, was nominated for a comment in a Transport for London press release where he called for London to become
“A cyclised city.”

Other Golden Bull winners include NHS Lanarkshire for a staff document which used the sentence: “These are cascaded to senior staff across the organisation through to frontline staff via a structured mechanism to facilitate ownership of data.”

The language was labeled “baffling” by the Plain English Campaign, which held the awards ceremony in Manchester.

Former Liverpool and England player Redknapp was named the Foot in Mouth Award winner for his incorrect use of the word “literally” and other gaffes. Examples included: “These balls now—they literally explode off your feet.”

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UK schools fall in global ranking

December 7, 2010—Secondary school pupils in the UK are falling behind their international counterparts, according to a major survey from the OECD.

Pupils have slipped down a global league table in reading, maths and science, based on two-hour tests taken in 65 school systems around the world.

Finland and South Korea, as last time, achieved the best results.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said the survey showed the “urgent need to reform our school system.”

Within the UK, Wales performed significantly less well than England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in all three subjects.

The latest findings of the PISA survey—the Programme for International Student Assessment—show the UK tumbling down the rankings, according to the results of tests taken last year by an international sample of 15-year-olds.

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The rat race called “speak in English”
By Meghnad Sahasrabhojanee, Times of India

December 12, 2010—The face of the English language is changing fast. It's the most popular language throughout the world. Realising its importance, 'spoken English' classes have mushroomed in different parts of the city. Learning English is no more an option. It's a necessity to survive and succeed in the cut-throat competitive world. People from non-English backgrounds find the language a big stumbling block. Experts feel it's basically due to low confidence levels.

Corporate trainer Raveena Khan says,"People who come from non-English backgrounds find it very difficult to adjust in an environment where people converse in the language fluently. This makes them lose confidence and their mistakes increase. When you are frightened of something, you tend to avoid it. With motivation and training, they can overcome their fear and learn the language."

Motivational speaker and personality development expert Suresh Chari feels that learning more languages has its advantages. “I was in Japan for a few days. To move around, I had to learn Japanese," he says. "For me, it was a fun thing to do. Any language is good...”

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Marathi or nothing, says consumer commission
        
December 1, 2010—While Marathi has long been used at the consumer court, a judgment by the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on Monday has now made it the only acceptable language for seeking even the most basic “daad,” or relief.

Ruling that any papers submitted in English would be rejected outright, the Commission said that those who did not understand Marathi should get their affidavits translated.

“The forums have been constituted for redressal of grievances of the consumers in Maharashtra. Their pay, salaries, and allowances have been paid out of fund of the state government. If the law requires things to be done in a particular manner, then it should be done in that manner only,” the Commission said.

The matter came to the court after a dispute between Atul Tawade, an employee of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), and Goregaon’s Sindhur Housing Society over the use of English in a reply filed before the consumer forum. While Tawade contended that all papers should be in Marathi, the society said that since he understood English, there was no reason for them to translate their response.

The forum, in January, rejected Tawade’s plea saying that he was an educated diploma holder who was conversant in English...

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Quebec phone answering service deletes English language option

QUEBEC, December 10, 2010—A phone answering service in Quebec, Canada, Commission de la sante et de la securite du travail du Quebec (CSST), has just deleted its English language option in their answering system to continually make French as the primary language spoken by the whole province.

Quebec is the only province in Canada that has been using French verbally as its official language. CSST employers now were strictly forbidden to speak English when answering phone.

A recent incident happened wherein somebody called CSST using English language; however, as the employee picked up the phone, it speaks in French and has informed the caller in French language that they were already forbidden to speak in English. According to a comment made by the board spokesperson Pierre Turgeon, he said that CSST was being a good citizen and was just respecting the law.

In a recent survey, it also showed that many phone answering services were now using French rather than English. 80 percent of the 166 government society was really boosting up this language.

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Pakistan facing language “crisis” in schools

December 7, 2010--Pakistan’s commitment to using Urdu as the medium of instruction in its state schools and its ambition to widen access to English language teaching are creating barriers to effective education, limiting economic mobility and undermining social cohesion.

These are the stark warnings made in a report on the current state of Pakistan’s schools published last month by the British Council and debated by academics and policy makers in a series of public meetings across the country.

The report, Teaching and learning in Pakistan: the role of language in education, sets out proposals that, if implemented, would seek to raise the status of the country’s main regional languages, lower barriers to higher-paid government jobs and help to strengthen ties between language groups at a time when political instability is straining national unity.

The report’s author, British academic Hywel Coleman, who is an honorary research fellow at the University of Leeds, argues that action must be taken urgently.

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Government, British Council intensify English language training
 
KIGALI, December 3, 2010—The government of Rwanda in partnership with the British Council have emphasized their commitment to promote the development of English language in the country.

This was revealed yesterday by the Education Minister Dr. Charles Murigande and Martin Davidson the CEO of the British Council during the English for Development in Africa forum in Kigali.

The two-day meeting brought together officials from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, South Africa and Tanzania and aims at providing an opportunity for top policymakers across Africa to share best practices and set an agenda for collaboration on English to achieve MDGs by raising the quality of education.

Addressing the press yesterday, Murigande alongside British Council officials said that the government is currently investing a lot in the development of English language in schools.

“For the last two years we have been collaborating with the council to train our teacher's English language and avail an opportunity to learn English and this has played a great role in promoting the use of English in schools,” Muligande said.

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OIRA and the English Language

November 28, 2010—Write for your audience. Keep sentences short and simple. Use the active voice and avoid the passive. Short words are better than long ones, and don’t turn a noun into a verb (personal worst example ever encountered: “enterprising the network”).

No, these are not tips from a high school composition class, but reminders for civil servants on how to write from the Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN), newly designated by the Office of Management and Budget as the official interagency working group for the promotion of readability.

Cass Sunstein, administrator for OMB's office of information and regulatory affairs, appointed the group to be the language minders of the federal government in a Nov. 22 memo that’s a result of President Obama signing into law on Oct. 13 the Plain Writing Act of 2010.

The act requires that by Oct. 13, 2011, documents necessary for obtaining any federal benefit or service and documents for filing taxes—those which provide information about benefits or services or how to comply with federal regulations—be written in plain language. That means, Sunstein wrote, concise and simple writing that avoids jargon, redundancy, ambiguity and obscurity.

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Boston schools to expand vacation classes to hone English, math skills

November 23, 2010—Boston Public Schools will increase efforts to bolster student proficiency in English and math next year by adding six schools to a program that teaches extra classes over February and April vacations.

In 2011, the number of schools participating in the Acceleration Academies program will increase from nine to 15, Matthew Wilder, school district spokesman, said today.

Last February, week-long workshops matched about 100 teachers with more than 1,200 students from grades three through eight, focusing on English Language Arts. In April, the students received math instruction, according to the school district.

In a statement today, the district said the program has already seen positive results, boasting a 20 point gain in Student Growth Percentile in English and a 17 point gain in math among participating students. SGP measures students' improvement by comparing their MCAS results from one year to the next.

“These results prove that for our most vulnerable students, additional time with a great teacher can make a huge difference,” Superintendent Carol Johnson said in the statement.

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Court: Defendants with limited English have right to interpreter
 
ATLANTA, November 22, 2010 (CNN)—Defendants with limited English-language skills have a constitutional right to court interpreters in criminal trials, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Monday.

The ruling came in a case involving a Mandarin Chinese speaker who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on two counts of cruelty to a child. Annie Ling, who had limited English language skills, did not understand that she had the option to plead guilty instead of going to trial and possibly facing a longer sentence, said the American Civil Liberties Union, one of two groups that filed a friend-of-the-court brief stating that denying a defendant an interpreter violates the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws.

“The court acknowledged that we don’t have two systems of justice in this country—one  for English speakers and another for everyone else,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, director of the National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project at the ACLU of Georgia. “The constitutional guarantee of due process applies to everyone in this country, not just fluent English speakers.”

Ling was arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to a child. Her children were removed from the home and placed in foster care, according to court documents. After a 2008 trial, Ling was convicted of one count of cruelty to a child, and sentenced to 15 years, with 10 to serve in prison. The conviction was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

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Companies going all-out in English
By Keisuke Okada, The Japan Times

Enhancing employee English-language skills has become a high-priority management challenge for Japanese corporations, regardless of their size and industry.

This is especially true for companies whose survival hinges on developing new customers or clients in foreign markets. They are focusing in particular on fast-growing Asian economies, where English is becoming the common means of communication.

“We can no longer depend solely on domestic demand, which continues to shrink, reflecting the eroding competitiveness of the Japanese manufacturing sector,” said Keiji Nosaka, a senior executive of Nosaka Denki Co., a small metal plating factory in Ota Ward, Tokyo. “To stay afloat, we are looking for new customers in Southeast Asia.”

Nosaka’s firm specializes in the production and installation of highly advanced plating and surface-treatment equipment. For many years, the domestic market made up the vast bulk of its sales. Only occasionally were its machines exported for installation at Japanese client plants in Southeast Asia.

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Use of English stirs fear of job loss for Japanese

TOKYO, November 21, 2010—In the cafeteria at the headquarters of Japan’s top online retailer Rakuten, employees with furrowed brows can often be seen trying to comprehend the company’s strictly English language menus.

The online giant is swapping Japanese for English as its official language company-wide in preparation for an overseas expansion, a move “crucial for us to survive in this competitive industry,” said spokesman Hirotoshi Kato.

It is not the only Japanese firm to eschew its native tongue as it searches for overseas growth beyond a moribund, shrinking domestic market.

As the population shrinks and a stronger yen boosts companies’ power for overseas acquisitions, the need for better international communication is growing in Japan as firms pin their survival on emerging markets.

Fast Retailing, which operates the cheap-chic Uniqlo brand, also plans to evolve into a more global company, looking to increase its overseas sales ratio to more than 50 per cent in five years from about 10 per cent now.

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