BPOs to hire 84,000 more workers in 2011
By Philip Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, January 5, 2011—At least 84,000 jobs will be up for grabs in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said on Tuesday.

DoLE spokesperson Nicon Fameronag said BPO leaders told the labor department that they would need an estimated 84,000 new employees in 2011 as the industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The BPO industry includes call centers, legal and medical transcription, accounting services, software development and animation, among others services for overseas principals.

To help fill up the projected vacancies, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) will offer a free six-month training course for prospective BPO workers.

Graduates of the course will all be absorbed by BPO companies, Fameronag said.

“(Tesda) has already allotted P20 million for the training of workers. That training is going to be free. And there is an assurance from the BPO sector that they will absorb the graduates,” he added.

Fameronag said interested applicants can visit Tesda or its regional offices if they want to attend the course.

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DepEd to start universal kindergarten program in 2011
By Katherine Evangelista, Inquirer.net

December 30, 2010—The Department of Education will implement a universal public kindergarten program in 2011 to prepare children about to enter primary school, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said Thursday.

In a statement, Luistro said that the DepEd will use the additional budget granted to DepEd for priority projects like the universal public kindergarten.

Luistro said that the public kindergarten program is part of the department’s Education For All campaign in a bid to meet the country’s Millennium Development Goal on education.

“For the first quarter of 2011, we will focus on providing for universal kindergarten facilities for five-year olds. I am confident that we will be able to do that especially with the help of many committed stakeholders," Luistro said.

Also a part of the long-term program to improve the quality of Philippine education is the 12-year basic education system, which adds two more years in basic education to ensure that students are ready for higher education.

“A good headstart will give our young learners the boost to embrace learning and finish schooling,” Luisto said.

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Two Filipino lawmakers press for enhanced use of English

MANILA, December 28, 2010—With the growing demands of the competitive global environment, Visayan lawmakers have pushed for more enhanced and strengthened use of English language as the medium of instruction in all schools.

In separate bills, Cebu Reps. Eduardo Gullas and Rachel Marguerite B. Del Mar, and Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. called for the immediate passage of their measure that seeks the continued and persistent use of English in all levels of education.

Gullas filed House Bill 93, along with Golez as co-author. Del Mar, meanwhile, filed similar measure, HB 191.

During the 14th Congress, HB 93 was approved by Committee of Higher Education at the Lower Chamber. While, Del Mar bill was passed on third and final reading in the House of Representatives during the 13th and 14th Congresses, but was not approved by the Senate, for lack of time upon congressional adjournment.

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Early enrollment in January set for school year 2011 – 2012

MANILA, December 27, 2010 (PNA)—The Department of Education (DepEd) set an early schedule of enrollment for school year 2011-2012 this January as part of its intensified efforts to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets.

The DepEd urged students and parents to take advantage of the pre-registration undertaking of the department and enroll before the May to June enrollment rush.

“One of the greatest challenges DepEd faces is convincing parents to bring their children to schools, to keep them there and finish basic education,” the DepEd said in a statement. “Since Christmas break gives families a time to bond, we encourage our present students to convince their parents to enroll their younger siblings who are already of school age during the pre-registration period set by the department early next year.”

The DepEd added that this move is among the efforts of the department to ensure that it remains on the right track in hitting the Millennium Development Goal (Goal) targets and the Education For All (EFA) commitment as the 2015 deadline comes closer.

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Stock market subjects to be integrated into Philippine high school curriculum

MANILA, December 12, 2010 (PNA)—Officials of the Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) and the Department of Education (DepEd) announced that they have successfully completed their nationwide validation activities for the integration of stock market subjects into the high school curriculum.

The validation activities are also aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the stock market module to be included in an official lesson guide for high school teachers.

The PSE and DepEd conducted series of roadshows in key cities all over the Philippines, covering close to 700 students and 40 members of the academe from six private and national public high schools.

“These activities form part of the PSE-DepEd module development project that will integrate stock market topics in the high school economics curriculum, which will be ready for implementation come school year 2011-2012,” PSE president and chief executive officer Val Antonio B. Suarez said.

In November 2009, pilot testing sessions were conducted at Rizal High School in Pasig City, the country’s largest secondary school in terms of student population. This year, the second wave of validation sessions were carried out in the cities of Cebu and Davao from Nov. 8 to 12.

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Php5.57B released in additional holiday perks for teachers

MANILA, December 17, 2010 (PNA)—The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released to the Department of Education (DepEd) a total of P5.57 billion for the full P10,000-Performance Enhancement Incentive (PEI) of 556,971 DepEd school teachers, principals and employees.

DBM Secretary Florencio B. Abad also announced that by Friday, Dec. 17, the DBM would have fully released the total P8-billion national government counterpart in the PEI for 1.16 million national government employees.

“This time around, our teachers will receive their PEI within the holiday season; unlike in the past when they received it late, like sometime before summer. We acknowledge DepEd for their work in ensuring the timely release of our teachers’ PEI,” he said.

DBM officials coordinated with their DepEd counterparts so that both agencies could simultaneously process their shares in PEI. Of the total, P5.57 billion released to DepEd, P3.90 billion comes from the national government’s savings for the P7,000 share, and P1.67 billion comes from DepEd’s savings for the remaining P3,000.

Abad noted that of the national government counterpart in PEI for its employees, almost 49 percent of the P8-billion total amount is for DepEd’s teaching and non-teaching personnel.

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Japan far behind in global language of business
By Mizuho Aoki, Japan Times

Keiko Suezaki in October began sending her 7-year-old daughter to an English school in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, once a week, hoping to give her more exposure to the de facto international language.

Although her daughter, Rina, has a 45-minute English activity class at her elementary school once every two weeks, Suezaki didn't think it was enough.

"If you live in Europe, or maybe in India, you become conscious of the necessity of learning English, but it's different in Japan. So I just want my daughter to know that there is an important language called English and it's fun (to learn)," said Suezaki, a 38-year-old Tokyo resident. "Besides, I think there will be more chances to use English in business situations (in the future). When such a time comes, it's better if one can use English."

With the economy expected to shrink due to the low birthrate, Japan has no choice but to seek markets outside the country, which will mean working more with non-Japanese, experts say.

For a country without much in the way of natural resources, manpower will be key to future survival. Japan, however, appears to be falling behind its neighbors in nurturing personnel who can compete in a globalizing world.

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Comedian inspires language learners
By Lee Sun-min, Joongang Daily

January 04, 2011—After comedian Kim Young-cheol appeared in a stand-up comedy competition in Toronto in 2003, he had an unexpected interview with an English-language media outlet in Korea when he returned home.

The reporter assumed that he would be fluent in English. But during the interview he got his tenses mixed up and became flustered trying to express himself.

“I had wanted to say that I went to Vancouver before visiting Toronto, but the tenses came out all wrong and I confused the reporter,” Kim said.

As soon as he came back to Korea, English became his obsession.

“I started studying on Sept. 1, 2003,” he said in a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily, recalling the exact date of his first class. “Ten months later, I could understand things that were being said in English and I became more confident.”

He soon became as famous for his English skills as he was for his comedic talents. He was a guest on the Arirang Radio show “Beat” for a year in 2005, taught English at Kaywon High School of Arts for a year in 2006 and published two English study guides in 2007 and 2009. He has also appeared in a segment called “Young-cheol’s English” on MBC Radio’s program “Hopeful Songs at Noon” every day since 2005 and frequently gives lectures at universities around the nation.

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2B or nt 2B, Tht is the FAQ: Is texting ruining the English language?
By Aprill Brandon, Victoria Advocate

January 6, 2011—In addition to being one of the greatest writers of all time, William Shakespeare was also well-known for another trait. The playwright was notorious for making up words and phrases. In fact, he's credited with inventing thousands of them, many of which are still used today.

While Shakespeare's impact on the English language was huge, probably even he would be shocked to see the impact the Internet and texting have had on it in only a few short decades.

As the popularity of texting and social networking sites like Twitter have grown, so has text language, or textese, which uses abbreviations, slang, numbers and phonetic spelling to produce ultra-concise words.

This unique way of writing is particularly popular with younger generations, who played a big part in developing the language, Dr. Uppinder Mehan, associate director of the Society for Critical Exchange and assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Victoria, said.

"The technology came first and then people adapted the language. With Twitter only allowing 140 characters at a time and text messages 160 characters, to get something meaningful across calls for creativity," he said. "But there is also a desire for young people to have a language they can call their own; one that is different from their parents and teachers."

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To check mass failure, Nigeria to replace English language with English studies

ABUJA, January 5, 2011—With the mass failure of Nigerian students in public examinations, especially in English language and mathematics, the Federal Government on Wednesday disclosed that it has concluded plans to introduce English Studies to replace English language in the secondary school curriculum.

The Minister of Education, Professor Ruqqayatu Rufai who disclosed this in Abuja at a meeting with heads of parastatals and agencies in in the Ministry of Education, said it would not only help to reduce the incidence of mass failure but also encourage reading culture among students.

He was full of optimism that the initiative would yield desired results, saying, “come 2011 academic session, English language as taught in schools will now include some portions of literature and will now be called English studies.

“The move when properly articulated will check mass failure in among students in English language and will go a long way to encourage students to read more.”

Prof. Rufai also disclosed that Federal Government was intensifying effort at introducing security measures in schools following recent attacks and blasts across country.

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UBA rekindles reading culture with “Read Africa” project

December 26, 2010—Concerned by the dwindling reading habits among youths in Africa especially in secondary schools, United Bank forAfrica (UBA) plc, the pan African banking group has introduced the“Read Africa Project”, an initiative to rekindle reading culture amongAfrican students in post primary institutions.

The Read Africa Project is packaged by UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of the bank, as part of its interventions in promoting education, learning and development. The project, “Read Africa”, initiative will involve the provision of recommended English language and English literature text books for students in some junior and senior secondary schools across Africa.

Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, Executive Director, Resources UBA Plc said that the Read Africa project is formulated to encourage learning through reading. “A lot of young people these days are more comfortable with digital devices than reading and this is manifesting in the quality of education.
UBA recognizes the need to improve learning, imagination and knowledge through reading and this initiative is one of our areas of intervention in the sector” he said.

Mr. Uzoka said that the exercise which began early in December 2010 will run till the end of first quarter, 2011…

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China bars English words

December 27, 2010—Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country's publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language."

Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the body said on its website.

"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language," it said.

"Publishing houses and the media must further strengthen the regulated use of foreign languages and respect the structure, glossary and grammar of the Chinese and foreign languages."

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Government to heed concerns on the use of English

MACAU, December 30, 2010—Legal Reform Office director Chu Lam Lam promised it will “take into consideration” foreign investor’s concerns over the lack of information available in English language.

“We know there are already many foreign investors operating in Macau,” she told Macau Daily Times. “Some laws, including a few on investment, are already translated [into English], while others are not,” the official added.

For instance, the Government Printing Bureau released an English-translation of Macau’s Trade Code in 2003. The Basic Law, banking and insurance supervision laws and intellectual property legislation – currently being revised – have also been translated into English.
However, as University of Macau professor Jorge Godinho stressed in an article published by Macau Business, all these translations are unofficial and suffer from “a clear lack of consistency in legal terminology”, which means investors still need professional legal advice.

Last August the British Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, Andrew Seaton, told MDTimes the main concern of British companies operating in the territory is the use of English language in a territory where Cantonese and Portuguese are the official languages.

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English is vital for an international city, English professor says

December 20, 2010—While Chinese and Portuguese remain as Macau’s official languages, the importance of using English has gained greater significance since the handover, particularly with the liberalization of the gaming industry and with the plan to transform the SAR into an international tourist destination.

But for that to be successfully accomplished, more effort should be put in place to better promote the English language across the city, said Glenn Henry Timmermans, associate professor from the English Department of the University of Macau.

“Given that English is the ‘lingua franca’, I think that if tourism is the focus when we speak of diversification, then English is vital,” he said.

“As a tourist when you go to a new country one thing that crosses your mind is: ‘Am I going to be understood?’ Tourists always look for a certain level of ease when travelling,” the scholar said on last weekend’s TDM Talk Show. Nonetheless, he added, “The English language actually has a very long history in Macau”.

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Surge in demand for TEFL courses

December 28, 2010—There has been a surge in demand for courses offering English-language teaching qualifications, with record numbers of people leaving Ireland to seek jobs in education abroad.

Waterford-based “voluntourism” specialist i-to-i said the demand for TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) courses had increased 30 per cent as a result of excessive demand for college places and a lack of jobs.

Ian O’Sullivan, manager of i-to-i Ireland said the company had seen a surge of people undertaking TEFL courses in the last year, adding: “We can’t keep up with demand”.

He said a growing number of graduates were looking overseas for work, discouraged by a tight job market as unemployment rates continue to soar, adding that even long-time workers who have recently been made redundant are opting for teaching jobs abroad, 20,000 of which are advertised each month.

“We’re getting people of all ages coming to us for internships, paid jobs abroad and volunteering work. Previously we dealt with students, now it’s everyone.”

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Language drive may harm science standards
 
HO CHI MIN CITY, December 21, 2010—Representatives from schools for the gifted are concerned that they will not be able to properly teach mathematics and computers in the English language in the 2011-2012 school year, according to the Ministry of Education and Training.

Under the new programme, all schools for the gifted must use English to teach a number of subjects by 2020.

Maths and computers must be taught in English for the 2011-12 academic year and other subjects, including physics, chemistry and biology by 2020.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien said that most students could not speak and write English fluently and that even the English level of students who have attended the international science Olympiads was low.

Their communications skills are poor, and scores on reading tests low.

Nguyen Hai Chau, head of the ministry's high school development programme, added that Viet Nam's many excellent students could not get scholarships abroad because of their poor English skills.

Using English as the language of instruction will improve their skills and allow them to compete in international and regional competitions, he said.

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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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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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