Kindergarten now a must for 5-year-olds in the Philippines

MANILA, February 2, 2011—Kindergarten will be compulsory for five-year-olds starting this school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) has announced.

DepEd is already collating data from last Saturday’s one-day pre-registration for incoming kindergarten students to see if it reached its target 2.4 million children.

“Beginning school year 2011-2012, kindergarten [will] become compulsory in all public schools to better prepare pupils for the rigors of regular schooling,” DepEd said in a statement.

The move is part of the government’s efforts to upgrade Philippine basic education under the so-called “K (kindergarten) plus 12” program. This means that aside from compulsory kindergarten, two more years will also be added to the current 10-year primary and secondary basic education system.

Compulsory kindergarten, is one of DepEd’s early intervention schemes to help students better cope with the basic education curriculum and curb the incidence of early dropouts.

The proposal is up for public consultation in the next three months.

Advocates of K+12 point out that the program would put Philippine education on par with those in other countries. On the other hand, some critics say the government should first improve the existing 10-year basic program before adding two more years.

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Education department to hire 15,000 new teachers this year

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, January 27, 2011—At least 15,000 new public elementary school teachers are expected to be recruited for this coming school year as part of the national government’s effort to lessen the shortage of teachers in public elementary schools.

The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here said the hiring of new teachers had been assured by Education Secretary Armin Luistro during his recent visit in Isabela to assess the damages on school buildings in the province during last year’s onslaught of super typhoon “Juan.”

The national government is annually recruiting 10,000 new public elementary teachers in previous years, but for this year at least 15,000 new teaching positions have been allocated based on DepEd’s budget in the General Appropriations Act of 2011.

 Luistro said that despite the increased quota as well as those being hired by local government units to augment DepEd’s teaching force, there is still a big shortfall of public school teachers in the country. 

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Mayor allocates 42 new classrooms to Zamboanga City High School

ZAMBOANGA CITY, February 1, 2011 (PNA)—Mayor Celso Lobregat has allocated 42 new classrooms for the Zamboanga City High School (ZCHS)-main to help resolve classroom shortage of the school.

Of the 42 classrooms, Lobregat said Monday, 15 have been completed and are expected to be turned over soon to the Department of Education (DepEd) while the 27 classrooms will be housed in a new three-storey building that will rise inside the ZCHS-main complex soon.

Lobregat said the three-storey 27-classroom building, costing P23 million, has been bidded out and its construction is set to start soon.

Lobregat said the construction of new school buildings is in line with his aggressive education program.

Recently, he inspected the newly-completed 15-classroom which now form part of a five-storey school building.

The 15 classrooms were constructed on the roof deck, which now is the fifth floor of an existing school building at the ZCHS-main campus.

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Philippine public school students spend only four hours in class daily

MANILA, January 21, 2011—Due to the crippling shortage of classrooms and teachers, public school students are spending too little time in actual learning sessions, and this explains their dismal performance in National Achievement Tests (NATs), Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said.

"The reality in the ground is that students are actually spending only four to five hours in class every day, when they should be spending all day for thorough and complete sessions," Barzaga said.

Barzaga was reacting to the Department of Education's release of a discussion paper on the administration's proposed Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program, or kindergarten plus six years of primary and six years of secondary schooling.

The paper cited the low NAT scores of students and a "congested curriculum" as key rationales for the administration's push to add two years to the existing four-year high school program.

Owing to the severe lack of classrooms and teachers, Barzaga said many schools have been forced to adopt a three-shift strategy—the first from 6 to 10a.m,. the second from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the third from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.—to accommodate the swelling student population.

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ADB offers scholarship grants for qualified Filipinos

SAN FERNANDO CITY, January 26, 2011 (PNA)—Qualified Filipinos have a chance to study for free under the Asian Development Bank-Japan Scholarship Program (ADB-JSP) being offered to citizens of ADB-member countries.

Offered to citizens of developing countries such as the Philippines, the scholarship grants are for those who intend to pursue postgraduate studies in economics, management, science and technology, and other development-related fields.

The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Region 1 said the scholarships are awarded for graduate studies (diploma, masters and doctorate) at designated institutions in courses of study approved by the ADB.

In the Philippines, the academic institutions include the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and the International Rice Research Institute/University of the Philippines, Los Banos.

Applicants should obtain and submit application forms from the designated institutions of their choice.

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More Chinese expected in Davao to study English

DAVAO CITY—More people from China are expected to travel to Davao City to learn English this year and their numbers may eventually surpass the South Koreans, according to the head of one language school here.

There are an estimated 5,000 Koreans learning English in various schools here and their numbers continue to grow.

Joji Ilagan-Bian, chair of the JIB Foundation who also runs the JIB e-Academy that caters to foreign students studying the English language, said that in the next five to 10 years, they expect the number of Chinese nationals learning English here to reach 10,000.

JIB Foundation, which has partner schools such as the Rizal Memorial Colleges, Davao Doctors College, and the Davao Medical School Foundation, has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Manila-based iStudy Brainmaster Philippines, Inc. for processing applications from Chinese for study visas here.

"The number of mainland Chinese visitors here was expected to double from our initial projection because their families and relatives would also certainly visit them," she said.

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Philippines unlikely to meet education goal, says US embassy report

MANILA, January 10, 2011—Washington believes the Philippines is “unlikely” to meet its second Millennium Development Goal, which is achieving universal primary education, by 2015, according to a report by the US Embassy in Manila that was furnished the Inquirer.

The embassy cited, among other things, the 2010 Education-for-All Global Monitoring Report in which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) referred to the Philippines as a “country that should not have had difficulty in meeting its targets.”

But “despite policy, curricular and programatic changes, key performance indicators, particularly for basic education, have either stagnated or in some cases, shown negative trends,” UNESCO said.

“The UNESCO report notes that even as the number of illiterate adults fell in the East Asia region, the Philippines experienced a large increase in adult illiteracy—over 1.4 million new adult illiterates in the period 2000-2007,” said the embassy.

The Aquino administration has allocated P271.6 billion for the education sector’s total budget for 2011, surpassing the appropriations of any of its predecessors.

However, the embassy said “resource gaps have grown larger as funding has generally not kept pace with the pace of population growth and increasing demands.”

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Education summit to be launched in Surigao City

SURIGAO CITY, January 21, 2011 (PNA)—In an effort to improve basic education, the provincial government of Surigao del Norte and Surigao City will launch the “2011 Education Roadmap Summit” at the Surigao Provincial Convention Center here next month.

Educators, government officials and stakeholders will be participating in the summit organized and planned by Surigao del Norte Governor Sol F. Matugas, Surigao City Mayor Ernesto T. Matugas, Surigao del Norte 1st District Rep. Francisco T. Matugas and 2nd District Rep. Guillermo A. Romarate, Jr.

Top national government officials led by Education Secretary Armin A. Luistro is expected to grace the event scheduled on Feb. 15 to 16.

Other participants are the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, League of Municipal Mayors of the Philippines, Association of Barangay Captains and parents-teachers and community associations.

With a theme: “Building a New Surigao Through Quality Basic Education”, the summit will be highlighted by the unveiling ceremony of the “Cultural Center for Children” where several cultural presentations for “Alay ng Kabataan” are already lined up to be presented by the Surigao del Norte High School students.

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70 Korean youths “in teachers’ care” after Batangas school closed
      
MANILA, January 15, 2011—Philippine immigration authorities have made assurances that Filipino teachers are looking after the 70 South Korean children enrolled in an English language school in Batangas, which was recently ordered closed for not having the appropriate licenses.

In a release Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is ensuring that the children, aged 10 to 16 years old, are being taken care of and are not in detention.

The children were previously enrolled in an English language school in Lemery town, but immigration authorities ordered its closure on January 7 for operating without licenses.

They are scheduled to return to Korea by the end of the month, the DFA said.

BI authorities raided the school and arrested six South Korean nationals, now detained at Camp Bagong Diwa, for operating a learning facility without a permit and for violating visa conditions.

The Korean students meanwhile did not have the required Special Study Permit (SSP), a document that foreign students must secure upon arrival in the Philippines if they want to study in the country.

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China orders etiquette classes for schoolchildren

BEIJING, January 24, 2011 (AFP)—China has mandated that all schoolchildren undergo lessons on etiquette—the the latest expression of concern over uncultured manners in one of the world's oldest civilizations.

Teachers will be required to instruct primary school students in the intricacies of basic decorum, respecting elders and proper table manners, according to guidelines posted on the education ministry's website.

Middle-schoolers, meanwhile, will learn how to hold polite conversations, be courteous to others, dress properly, and how to observe etiquette in telephone, email, text-messaging and other correspondence.

In high school, the basics of polite one-on-one conversation, adequate grooming and standing in orderly queues will be among the subjects stressed.

Many of China's down-to-earth citizens are notorious for practices such as queue-jumping, spitting and littering, which are seen as obnoxious in the country itself as well as abroad.

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Migrants must teach their children English, Britain’s PM demands

February 3, 2011—Migrant families have an obligation to teach their children English before they start school, David Cameron has said.

And the Prime Minister pledged that he would bring forward tougher rules to ensure those arriving in the UK had a reasonable standard of English.

One in six children do not speak English as their first language.

Ministers believe that children brought up here stand a better chance of succeeding if their parents have a good grasp of the language.

Mr. Cameron spoke out after a Commons exchange with Yorkshire Tory MP Kris Hopkins, who said: “Sadly in Keighley, too many children start school and don’t speak English.”
He then asked Mr. Cameron: “Do you agree with me that there is a responsibility and an obligation upon parents to make sure their children speak English?”

Mr Cameron replied: “I completely agree with you. The fact is, in too many cases this isn’t happening.”

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New English translation alters familiar language of the Catholic Mass

OREGON, January 29, 2011—Catholics whose memories of Mass are mostly in English will be asked to relearn their lines when a new translation of the English Mass debuts later this year.

Parishioners who have worshipped, wed and buried loved ones to what have become familiar phrases may find the new language inspiring, jarring or confusing.

Beginning Nov. 27, Catholics reciting the Nicene Creed—the statement of faith many memorized as children—will no longer describe Jesus as "the only son of God, eternally begotten of the Father" but as "the only begotten son of God, born of the Father before all ages."

Instead of saying Jesus is "one in being with the Father," they'll say he is "consubstantial with the Father."

And those are just two of thousands of changes in the Roman Missal, the massive book of prayers used during Catholic services. Most are in the words recited by priests.

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Students not learning a lot in college, tracking study finds

January 19, 2011 (AP)—A new study answers questions about how much students actually learn in college—for many, not much—and has inflamed a debate about the value of an American higher education.

The research of more than 2,300 undergraduates found 45 percent of students show no significant improvement in the key measures of critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years.

One problem is that students just aren't asked to do much, according to findings in a new book, "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses." Half of students did not take a single course requiring 20 pages of writing during their prior semester, and one-third did not take a single course requiring even 40 pages of reading per week.

That kind of light load sounded familiar to University of Missouri freshman Julia Rheinecker, who said her first semester of college largely duplicated the work she completed back home in southern Illinois.

"I'm not going to lie," she said. "Most of what I learned this year I already had in high school. It was almost easier my first semester (in college)."

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After Tucson, journalists try avoiding violent political clichés

January 19, 2011—With the debate over political rhetoric dominating the post-Tucson media conversation, some journalists have begun pausing before reaching for violent clichés that have long been common in political coverage.

CNN host John King took a moment on air Tuesday night to acknowledge that a guest had just used the term "in the cross hairs" during a discussion about the Chicago mayoral race. "We're trying, we're trying to get away from that language," King told viewers.

The Washington Examiner's Byron York took issue with King's statement and pointed out on Wednesday that CNN has used battle-ready terms such as "in the cross hairs" numerous times in the past. He questioned whether King's decision to avoid the word is because Sarah Palin's infamous "target" map created an uproar after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. (Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, had placed Giffords' Arizona district under the cross hairs of a gun in a fundraising appeal.)

"Just for the record, CNN anchors, reporters and guests did absolutely nothing wrong with their use of the word in the last month and before," York wrote. "It would be impossible, at least for any reasonable person, to argue that the network's use of 'cross hairs' in any of the various contexts it was used, was an incitement to violence by anyone, anywhere…”

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Sign language: Don’t legislate it

NEW HAMPSHIRE, January 15, 2011—Rep. Jordan Ulery, R-Hudson, doesn't think businesses should use signs to cater to customers who don't speak English. So he is proposing legislation to do away with them. As the French Canadians who used to dominate these parts might have said, "C'est une idee terrible."

Rather than ban multi-lingual signs, Ulery proposes making them too expensive for any business to buy. He wants to require that any multilingual sign be printed in every official language of the United Nations.

"The idea is that you can do the complicated thing and put it up in the official languages of the United Nations, or you can put it up in the official language of New Hampshire," he said.

Ulery says he wants to prevent the balkanization of New Hampshire. He needn't worry. New Hampshire has always assimilated its immigrants without such a mandate. Manchester used to be packed with Greek-speaking and French-speaking households. Berlin had Scandanavians, French-Canadians and Italians, who all spoke their old-world languages at home. Today their children speak English, just as the children of Hispanic immigrants will.

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At local elementary school, Spanish-speaking parents begin to learn English

DELAWARE, January 15, 2011—Tutor Rebecca Penix-Tadsen wrote sentences typically spoken in a classroom on the blackboard in English, including "I have a question" and "I don't understand," asking her class of Spanish-speaking parents if they could translate that last one.

"No comprende," some of them responded.

The parents easily could have been talking about their comprehension of the English language. But the after-school class at Mote Elementary School in Marshallton provided them with a chance to do something about that. Principal Aaron Selekman started it last year to better involve the school's parents, and he already has seen one set of graduates.

"The benefit is these parents have now become more active in our school," Selekman said. "They are more apt to come to PTA meetings. They are more apt to come to a parent-teacher conference because there is a level of comfort that wasn't there before.

"We're hoping that by beginning to learn the language -- and because all of the work that comes home is in English -- they will be better able to support their children's schoolwork than they are now," he said.

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State policy restricting admission to English schools a failure, says political group 
 
QUEBEC, January 29, 2011—Bill 101's restrictions on admission to English schools, considered the most important part of the language legislation when it was adopted 34 years ago, aren't working.

Even after immigrant children are required to attend French schools for 12 years of compulsory primary and secondary education, they still aren't assimilating into the French-speaking community.

So let's take what has been proven over 34 years not to work at the elementary and high-school levels, and also apply it to the CEGEPs.

Because where 12 years of compulsory schooling have failed, only two or three years of optional post-secondary education will do the trick.

That's the logic of the proposal of Pauline Marois and the rest of the Parti Quebecois executive to extend to the college level Bill 101's restrictions on admission to publicly funded English elementary and high schools.

Despite the reservations of former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau and a couple of the party's current members of the National Assembly, the proposal will probably be adopted as the policy of a future PQ government at the party's convention in April.

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Linguistic freedom for CEGEP students
 
MONTREAL, January 15, 2011—While Quebec's language hardliners are busily opening a new front in the war against English, the province's young people are moving ahead with their lives.

Those who decide their career or educational prospects would be improved by learning English are switching out of the French school system and into English at the first legal opportunity available, the CEGEP system.

Unhappy hardliners want to put a stop to this freedom of choice. Last fall, the Parti Quebecois brought in a proposal calling for Bill 101 to be extended to CEGEPs. The proposal is to be debated at the party's policy convention in April.

In preparation for the convention, the province's biggest teachers' union, the Centrale des syndicats du Quebec, commissioned a study on why francophone and allophone youths are choosing English CEGEPs.

While warning of impending doom for French as the "common language of Quebec society," the study more usefully acknowledged that the students who switched were making a conscious, motivated choice to learn English to get better jobs.

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Primary teachers vouch for easier English
Sruthy Susan Ullas, TNN, Jan 31, 2011, 12.18am IST

BANGALORE, January 31, 2011—Sixty four years since the British left the country and at a time when English has almost become the mother tongue of GenY in urban India, the Karnataka Primary Teacher's Association (KPTA) has a problem with the standard of English in textbooks, which it feels is very high for children to understand.

KPTA has requested the primary and secondary education minister to lower the language standard and tone it down for students of primary classes to easily understand subjects. "Children coming to government schools directly join class 1. They usually have no one to tutor them at home. The sentences in English texts are usually long with high-sounding words, which the kids find difficult to learn," said Narayan Swamy, secretary, KPTA.

G S Mudambadithaya, coordinator of the textbook preparation committee, said that during a review it was found that the standard of language was a little high for the age of the students. "Besides, the content was also difficult for children to understand. They did not have an Indian background, which made the cultural setting alien to the children, besides the language itself. This becomes difficult for children as they cannot relate to the content," he said…

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If you can write English, you can speak it, says public service commission

MUMBAI, February 4, 2011—If you can write in English, you are expected to talk in English, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) told an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) aspirant who had alleged bias over interviews being conducted in English.

Chittaranjan Kumar, who appeared for the written part of the 2008 civil services examination in English, had moved the Bombay high Court, claimed he had become a “victim” of the language policy.

Advocate Rui Roderigues, counsel for the UPSC, denied any bias and said that candidates who chose to answer the written examinations in Hindi or a local language, had the option of choosing the interview round in the same language or English. However, candidates who had opted to answer the written part of the examinations in English, could only choose that language for the interview/personality test round.

"A candidate who is capable of clearing the written part of the civil services examination by writing in English in as many as seven descriptive papers of different subjects apart from language papers is expected to have adequate communication skills to express oneself before the interview board," said M Mukhopadhyay, under-secretary, UPSC in an affidavit submitted by Roderigues.

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Publishers get a measure of India's booming English book market
By Samanth Subramanian, National AE News

January 17, 2011—Dubbed "Chills and Thrills," the campaign promoted the works of 16 writers for four weeks. It worked, raising the combined sales of the authors by almost two thirds.

But HarperCollins did not learn about its success until six months later. "That's when unsold copies started to come back in from distributors and shops," recalled Lipika Bhushan, marketing manager at HarperCollins India. "That was the only way to figure out what we'd sold."

Even though publishing in India is an established and growing industry, it has proven difficult to quantify. No comprehensive estimate is available of the size of its English and vernacular language markets because of the huge number of "unorganised" publishers and retailers. Precise sales figures for individual titles are often difficult to obtain.

The quiet launch, two months ago, of Nielsen's Bookscan system will attempt to change that. Bookscan is already used in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. It pulls retail data from sales counters throughout the country and produces compiled sales figures that are visible across the industry.

As India's literacy rate improves (it rose from 52 per cent to 68 per cent between 1991 and 2008), publishers predict that India will become the world's largest market for English books within the next 10 years.

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Global meet on English language teaching begins

HYDERABAD, January 23, 2011—An international conference for English language teacher educators began at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre at Madhapur here today.
The three-day conference is being hosted by the British Council in association with the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). This first-of-its kind conference in India is a part of British Council's 'Project English' initiative.

The first day of the conference saw the participation of over 500 delegates from 18 countries.
The inaugural ceremony was graced by the presence of dignitaries like National University of Educational planning & Administration vice-chancellor R Govinda and British Council's first secretary (English language education) Christopher Brandwood.

In his inaugural speech, Govinda threw light on various issues with respect to English language education in the country _ from the glitches in language teaching at all levels, to how English language continues to fight for its place in this country. “I am not a specialist but have been a teacher educator for long. I think language training is very important, especially at the primary level, because it is only at those level where students have only a single teacher for all subjects.”

He said teacher educators were usually blamed if an educational institution did not run well. “If a school does not run well, teacher educators carry the blame. I think the core of this problem is a sociological challenge.

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Writing in English is like using else’s language, Nobel Prize winner says
 
JAIPUR, January 24, 2011 (PTI)—His work in English fetched him a Nobel Prize as well as two Bookers but author J M Coetzee is still not very comfortable with his writing relationship to the "imperial language".

The famously reclusive author of "Disgrace" took to stage for a rare session on ''Imperial English'' along with Indian writer Mrinal Pandey, Egyptian author Ahdaf Souef, and Polish author Adam Zagajewski to discuss the concept of being a bilingual at the sixth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival.

"As a child in South Africa, I was sent to an English medium school because my parents thought it was a way to the future. I then studied in English at the university level. Yet I can’t say that I can feel at home in English. I feel I am writing in someone else’,s language," he told a packed audience.

The panelists discussed the intricacies of writing in English, a language that is not your mother tongue and yet entails a whole new world of opportunities.

Coetzee said it was a difficult proposition to learn your mother tongue at the elementary level in school and later learning other subjects of study like science in an ''imperial language.'

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“English? Just another Indian language,” says notable poet-philosopher in India

January 29, 2011—The inaugural address of Karan Singh, Rajya Sabha member and President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at the Chandigarh Festival of Letters 2011 left nobody in the audience in any doubt as to why he is referred to as India’s poet, philosopher and politician.

In a free-ranging talk, Dr Singh held forth on the importance of literary and linguistic evolution and referred to English as just another Indian language contributing equally to the richness of the Indian ethos.

“We have to preserve our literature and culture no matter what happens,” he stressed.

The keynote address — on Language issues in India — was delivered by Manushi Founder-Editor Madhu Kishwar at a session chaired by Prof Meera Mullick, who was formerly with the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University. Kishwar rued the fact that English has become our language of intimacy even though it is a language that a majority of Indians are not comfortable with. She stressed the necessity of communication skills that enhance rather than detract from the importance of ideas.

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For this professor, tracking Tamil words in English is a passion

CHENNAI, January 21, 2011—How many Tamil words are there in the recent edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)? Gregory James, a professor with the Language Centre of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, puts it at 107. But it could be more, he says.

Finding the history and origin of Tamil words that have appeared in English dictionaries, according to James, is a difficult but challenging task. He has studied the origins of more than 80 Tamil words found in English dictionaries and feels there are a number of Tamil words and usages in British colonial English that have not appeared in any dictionary. Even in the case of those that have appeared, citation and dating are wrong in most cases. "The Oxford Dictionary says the word Kavadi' first appeared in English 1954 but I have seen the word used in a missionary magazine of 1837. There are a number of words that have not found a place in any dictionaries. Even though the OED claims that it is a definitive record of the English language, it misses a lot when it comes to citation and localisation of words," he says.

It's passion for Tamil that drives James to trace the root of many words in this classical language. "I was working in the department of dictionaries in England when I got a chance to teach English in Tamil Nadu. I landed in Madras in 1971, and after that I kept contact with the people and the language," he says, adding that "it was surprising to see words like ‘mulligatawny’ (rasam), ‘pongal,’ ‘catamaran,’ and ‘conjee’ in English dictionaries."

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New website offers wealth of material for English teachers

JAKARTA, January 29, 2011—English language teachers across the country can now share ideas on Virtual Teacher Support Network (VTSN), a free virtual service providing information on English teaching methods.

Created by the National Education Ministry and the British Council, the virtual service has four products: www.teachingenglish.org.uk and h2te.jardiknas.kemdiknas.go.id for teachers, www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids for children and parents and www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish for teenagers, adults and professionals.

The websites provide text material and audio visual teaching tools. The website also has teaching strategies.

While www.teachingenglish.org.uk was created by British Council and BBC, h2te.jardiknas.kemdiknas.go.id is the result of a cooperation between the British Council and the ministry’s Information Technology and Communication Center for Education (Pustekkom).

The British Council said it hoped the program would be able to reach and support the more than 133,000 English language teachers and 41 million students across Indonesia.

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German language finds English voice

BERLIN, February 1, 2011—Germans already "chillen" in their downtime, "surfen" the Internet and, when they leave a nightclub, they may go on to "ein Afterparty."

But the latest English word to creep into the deutsche Sprache is the verb "leaken," which has just been voted Anglicism of the Year in Germany.

Proving the international influence of WikiLeaks, Germans have quickly shunned their old way of describing information being secretly passed on to others and adapted the English verb "to leak." So they talk of the "geleakte Dokumente" released by the controversial site as an alternative to the somewhat unwieldy "durchgesickerte Unterlagen" of yore.

The jury awarding the inaugural prize for Anglicism of the Year was chaired by Anatol Stefanowitsch, a professor in linguistics at Hamburg University.

He said: "The word has really established itself in the German language over the past year and has enriched our vocabulary."

Another WikiLeaks-inspired word made third place – "whistleblowers", a category of people for whom there was previously no precise German term.

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Improving the standard of English in Pakistan

KARACHI, January 30, 2011—Creative approaches to teaching English, introducing new learning technologies, designing innovative material, encouraging research in teaching English language, and supporting continuous professional development are all needed to improve the standard of English in Pakistan.

This was underscored by speakers on the first day of an international seminar on teaching English language organized by Aga Khan University, Centre of English Language (CEL) at the university.

Introducing the seminar, CEL Head Dr Graeme Cane said that the two-day event will give language teachers more awareness of recent developments in teaching/learning methodology. It is also an opportunity for delegates to meet with leading theorists and writers, and to exchange ideas with fellow professionals from all sectors of English Language Teaching (ELT).

Chief guest British Council Director David Martin shared that English language teaching is a ‘live’ issue for educators, politicians and the general public in Pakistan. He highlighted the research conducted by Leeds University, UK’s Dr Hywel Coleman on language policy and shared that several discussions on the recommendations of his study have been held in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.

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Enriching lessons
By Kang Soon Chen, TheStar.com.my

January 23, 2011—With more than 25 years of teaching experience under her belt, SMK Cheras English teacher Helen Merlyn Dodampe knows a thing or two about what makes students pay attention during English lessons.

“Teachers will be able to catch students’ attention if they can relate their lessons to the latest happenings and trends,” she says.

Newspapers, Dodampe explains, come in handy when teachers need to look for these topics.

 “I’ve been using the NiE pullouts in my lessons since 2000,” says Dodampe, adding that several teachers in the school also share her passion for enhancing English lessons with the pullouts.

As variety is the key which sustains students’ interest in learning, Dodampe says her experience attests that the pullouts are very effective teaching aids in the classroom.

“The assortment of exercises in the pullout certainly appeals to the students. Most of my students enjoy doing the hands-on activities which require them to use the newspapers as a source for answers,” Dodampe shares.

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Newspaper-in-education program in Malaysia now on 14th year

January 16, 2011—This year, The Star’s NiE (Newspaper-in-Education) programme turns 14 and we have an exciting line up for teachers, students and parents.

The Star-NiE programme consists of a wide range of activities, including English language pullouts, workshops, contests, books and more.

Along with our partner in NiE, Pizza Hut, we’ve revamped our programme to make learning English an upbeat and interactive experience for both students and teachers.

Star-NiE is now open to school subscription, with two effective reference books on offer with the purchase of the pullouts. The New First Aid in English and Chambers School Grammar are comprehensive and practical guides for students with numerous exercises and tips to enhance knowledge and language skills.

With a subscription, students will receive 33 issues of the NiE pullout every Wednesday, four times a month at a discounted price.

The NiE pullouts, which focus on essential components of the English language — grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and reading — aim to solidify students’ language foundation and instil a passion for the language.

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Office workers’ English lacking

January 28, 2011—HELP NEEDED: When asked about which area of English they believed they needed most improvement in, most respondents to a survey replied that none were up to par

Only 15 percent of office workers have certification of their English language abilities, while most say they do not have such certification because they believe their English language abilities are not up to scratch, a survey shows.

The Council of Labor Affairs’ (CLA) online job bank, eJob, conducted an online survey from Dec. 1 to Jan. 10 asking 1,529 office workers about their English language certification and asking them to assess their English language abilities.

Only 15 percent of office workers said they had some form of certification indicating their English language abilities, while 84 percent lack any such certification, the survey showed.
More than 70 percent said they did not want to have their English language abilities tested because they thought they would not qualify for certification.

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English Attack! teams to revolutionize English-language learning in Italy

PISA, January 20, 2011—Entertainment Learning, the pioneering education-via-entertainment company, announced its partnership with Mobile Idea Srl today for the launch, marketing and business development of its flagship language learning service, English Attack!, in Italy.

The launch of the Italian-language version of English Attack!, scheduled for early Spring 2011, will allow English language learners in Italy a choice between an English-language interface for the innovative online service, and a version with navigation, help texts, tutorials, a dictionary, and other resources in Italian. This will allow easier access to the site’s unique pedagogical approach by early-stage learners of English.

Said Paul Maglione, cofounder of Entertainment Learning: “We interviewed many potential partners for Italy, and finally found what we were looking for in Mobile Idea. We are confident that they are well placed to create the ideal marketing and communications programs and commercial initiatives, as well as the local relationships with teachers, schools, universities, language institutes, and companies, to make English Attack! an important player in the large and dynamic English language-learning industry here in Italy.”

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Rabat spelling bee fosters English language learning
2011-01-24

January 24, 2011—The Moroccan Youth and Sports Ministry held an English spelling bee on Thursday (January 20th) for five high schools in the disadvantaged Rabat neighbourhood of Yacoub El Mansour.

"I never expected to win this contest. I even signed up at the last minute," student Khadija Idammou said. "However, I took part in some programmes under the auspices of the US Embassy, which are always very important since they help students master English within convenient conditions."

In addition to English classes in school, Idammou said she practiced the language "by watching movies or reading newspapers, magazines and stories written by native speakers".

"I also try to take part in such contests that take place outside the high school, so as to improve my level. It is an opportunity to compete against students from other schools," Idammou added.

"The goal of this initiative is to urge Moroccan young people to speak English and give them a good motive," said Veronica Boring, an official from the US Embassy in Rabat. "More and more young people are now speaking English or wanting to learn it. I was delighted to see that many young people in the room speak English."

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English language an important tool, says Luanda teacher

LUANDA, January 28, 2011--The university teacher, Alberto Kuzoma Nzuzi, said Thursday in Luanda that the English language is an essential instrument for Angolans, taking into account that the country is part of the Portuguese-speaking community and a strategic point in Africa.

The teacher was speaking to ANGOP on the fringes of the presentation of the academic work "Use e Será Anglófono" (Use to become Anglophone), comprising a book and a compact disc, for the teaching and learning of English language.

"The country needs this language and must have it as its second language. At workplace and at international conferences, English is necessary,” he stressed.

According to Alberto Nzuzi, the work comprises innovations and focuses on Angolans’ socio-cultural reality, in which names, expressions and local costumes as models are found,” stated the lecturer.

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English classes mostly in Japanese

January 22, 2011 (Kyodo News)—Only 20 percent of teachers of English oral communications at public high schools were giving classes in the language in 2010, despite the "100 percent" target three years from now, a governmental survey showed Friday.

The ratio was also low among teachers for cross-cultural understanding classes included in English language courses, with only 35 percent of them found to be using English, the survey by the education ministry indicated.

As new high school education guidelines will start in the academic year beginning in April 2013 that basically require all teachers of English classes to use the language, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said it intends to instruct schools to raise the level for a smooth transition.

The survey was conducted in August, targeting all full-time public high schools. The teachers polled did not include special aides such as foreign assistant language teachers, according to the ministry.

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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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More Saudi youngsters increasingly speaking English
By Renad Ghanem, Arab News

JEDDAH, January 21, 2011—In spite of Arabic being their mother tongue, there is a growing trend among Saudi youths, particularly those at high school and in university, to talk to one another in English. The tendency to speak English is borne from an urge to look professional and seem modern.

English is much in vogue nowadays, particularly since many employers consider the language a must when recruiting staff. The trend is such that many people are seen substituting common Arabic greetings, such as Assalam alaykum, with hellos and good mornings. However, many, particularly traditionalists, view the trend negatively, saying it is a threat to the Arabic language and the Kingdom’s Arab identity.

“My family often criticizes me for talking English and demand I speak Arabic since we are in Saudi Arabia,” said Dina Jamil, a 21-year-old university student who speaks English all the time with her friends.

Jamil speaks English in spite of criticism for not speaking Arabic because she wants to improve fluency in the language. “Many of my friends who work tell me that speaking English at work is an indication that the person is a professional and that is why I want to be fluent in it,” she said.

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Urdu press should project India’s growth story

NEW DELHI, January 16, 2011—Noted mediapersons and parliamentarians today made a strong pitch for projecting India's growth story in the Urdu press to broaden its reach and appeal across the country.

They said Urdu journalists should not shy away from English language, which is global now. Urdu press should also make full use of Information Technology (IT) revolution and hone the technical skills of the youth to compete in the rapidly-changing world.

They made these observations while interacting with upcoming Urdu journalists at an orientation course organised by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language here.

The programme was held with the objective to exposing Urdu journalists to modern techniques of reporting, editing and communication.

Stating that Urdu press commands a robust readership of 20 million people in the country, Rajya Sabha member Saifuddin Soz asked the Council to do content analysis of the Urdu press to find out why stories of helplessness and depression dominate it.

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Northern Territory schools stick to English despite attendance falls

January 18, 2011—The Northern Territory government has defended its policy of requiring all schools to teach the first four hours of each day in English, despite figures showing a decline in attendance among indigenous students since its introduction.

Advocates of bilingual education have linked the slide in attendance rates to the policy, introduced in January 2009 in a bid to lift numeracy and English literacy.

Two schools that had used bilingual approaches have recorded some of the largest drops in attendance. At Lajamanu, 550 kilometres south-west of Katherine, attendance rates have slipped from 60 per cent in November 2008, before the ''First Four Hours'' policy was introduced, to 47 per cent in November last year. At Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, attendance rates have fallen from 59 per cent to 34 per cent over the same period.

Before 2009 both schools used the Warlpiri language as the predominant language of instruction for beginning students, gradually increasing the proportion of English-language instruction until it was the primary language of teaching.

Greg Dickson, a linguist who has researched the impact of the policy in Warlpiri schools, said while the First Four Hours policy was not the only cause for the decline in attendance rates, it appeared to have been a factor.

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Employer call for English fluency
By Jill Rowbotham, The Australian

January 12, 2011—Mismatched expectations between Australian employers and international graduates centre on English language proficiency.

An Australian Education International survey, conducted between February and May 2009 and released in December last year, canvassed 8,600 higher education and vocational education and training graduates, international and domestic, and 101 domestic employers. The graduates completed qualifications in Australia between 2004 and 2008.

The survey found while a large majority of Australian employers of international graduates nominated competence in English as an important attribute, only 19 per cent of international higher education graduates and 21 per cent of international VET graduates did so.

"The graduates need to understand how important English language skills are; this is sometimes not clearly understood and leads to frustration," one Australian employer is quoted as saying.

However, 74 per cent of Australian employers thought the English competence of the international graduates they employed was acceptable or better, while 21 per cent felt it was poor.

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