In the News Blog

Young N. American immigrants to be trained as English teachers

Israel: In an increasingly globalized world, Israelis are feeling the pressure to improve their English proficiency - and their secret weapon may be new young immigrants from North America. A 14-month Teachers for Israel program, which has been developed by the Jewish Agency, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Absorption and Nefesh B'Nefesh, will allow North American students with a bachelor's degree to immigrate to Israel while becoming English teachers. The program, in which students are supported by a stipend, launches this summer for the inaugural class of 50 students, who will begin a five-month Ulpan followed by teacher certificate courses and a paid internship in a small Israeli classroom.

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Dhreima children hone English language skills

United Arab Emirates: Fifty-five children started training yesterday at the Qatar Orphan Foundation (Dhreima) to hone their English language skills. For the first time, Dhreima flew a five-member team of experts in teaching English from the UK to conduct the four-week-long Camp, Hassan Manan, an expert at Dhreima told The Peninsula at the conclusion of the press meet held to announce the programme. Also present at the press conference held at the Dhreima premises were Khalid Kamal, Director General of Dhreima and Jade Stevens, Director of Studies, British Council.

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Malaysia to end teaching math and science in English

Malaysia: Malaysia is to abandon teaching maths and science in English, saying that far too many children from poor rural areas were being failed by the programme. The decision to start phasing out English medium teaching from 2012 has been backed by the government and Malaysia's main opposition parties, despite concerns that using the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, will undermine competitiveness. Malaysia has said recently that it wants to attract more high-value investment in areas like banking and finance, industries that are global and typically demand good English. Instead of teaching maths and science in English, a policy started in 2003, the government will double the time spent on English lessons for primary children and increase that for secondary school children by half. It said it would hire an additional 14,000 teachers to teach English as a language.

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Bilingual education extends across Málaga province

Spain: More than 100 schools and colleges will be bilingual in the next academic year in Málaga province. The Junta de Andalucía has said that it wants to promote the teaching of English, French and German, and that 136 centres will be joining the program over the next three years. Under the program as well as language classes, subjects such as maths, science and history are also taught in the foreign language, usually English.

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English language learners with disabilities may not get the right diagnosis and placement

United States: In 1985, a Cambodian refugee enrolled in the School District of Philadelphia was mistakenly placed in a special education classroom, based on the results of a test indicating that he was mentally handicapped. But the test had been conducted in English, which was not the refugee student’s native language. This student, whose initials were Y.S., was eventually one of several Asian student plaintiffs in a landmark 1986 class-action suit, Y.S. et al. v. School District of Philadelphia. The misdiagnosis of Y.S. has had enormous impact on the District’s attention to services for English language learners (ELLs). The suit is still alive, and many issues it raised about special education services for students who are also ELLs have yet to be resolved.

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Cabinet to decide on use of english tomorrow

Malaysia: The cabinet will make the final decision on the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in the English language tomorrow, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the cabinet would make the decision after he presented the outcome of the various detailed and comprehensive studies made on the teaching and learning of the two subjects in English to the cabinet.

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English teaching 'outstanding' at Challney Boys

United Kingdom: A school where more than 40 different languages are spoken by pupils has just been commended by Ofsted for its 'outstanding' English teaching. At Challney Boys School, in Stoneygate Road, nearly all of the pupils are from ethnic minorities and 86 per of them do not have English as their first language.

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Three schools add dual-language classes

California: The popularity of dual-language classes in Ventura County schools continues to grow, with three schools starting programs this fall. Ventura Unified School District started a two-way immersion kindergarten class at Montalvo School about a decade ago. Five more dual-language programs have since come online at elementary and middle schools in Camarillo, Rio, Hueneme and Ventura. In the fall, three more campuses are expected to be added to the list.

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Saudis go abroad to learn English in summer

Saudi Arabia: With the beginning of the summer vacation, many Saudi students are preparing to travel abroad to study English in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or other countries where English is the native language. Proficiency in the English language has become increasingly important for Saudis because of the globalization of the world economy and the investment of foreign firms in the Kingdom’s massive infrastructure projects. The success of Saudi students in learning English by spending the summer abroad is not guaranteed and is actually dependent upon where they live and study as well as their own motivation and language learning ability.

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ESL students bring language skills to Iraq

California: A class of English as a Second Language students at North Penn High School had a unique lesson in the power of language this year. And they helped make a local service member feel a little closer to home too, as members of ESL teacher Jodie MacDonald’s classes had a chance to see and hear firsthand. “A dear friend of mine, Petty Officer Vance Corey, was in Iraq serving in the Navy, and he and I got the idea. I’d heard that he was lonely and missing everyone, that it would be a fun idea and a learning experience for my students to write to him, as well as a nice way for him to feel connected to people back home,” said MacDonald.

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ThreeSixty: The foremost assignment at school: Learn the language

Minnesota: In Minnesota, the immigration population has been rising. People come from the lush hills of Laos, from the dust-covered streets of Somalia, from the quaint villages of Mexico. For many of them their destination is the state of Minnesota. Abdusalem Adam, a Somali community specialist in Minnesota, says that St. Paul has taken steps to integrate the Somali immigrant population into the school system. The school systems have responded with programs ranging from English Language Learner (ELL) classes in conventional schools to charter schools for specific immigrant groups. Programs such as the Somali Academic Literacy and Teaching after-school program, which works exclusively with Somali speakers in grades 3 to 6 in St. Paul, helps to enhance their English language proficiency.

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No foreign language? No job!

Germany: Increasingly many small and midsize businesses are certain: English is a must! Eleven percent of 1,000 small and midsize businesses surveyed by the EU Commission stated that they had lost orders because of inadequate foreign-language skills; 26% of those businesses specified English and 13% mentioned German as the most important languages for export commerce. Although German is widely spoken among the 370 million people who reside in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU), the English language still predominates. Approximately half of all Europeans can communicate in English, which is spoken by circa 340 million people native speakers throughout the world.

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English teaching role for Gaya Campus

Malaysia: The Malaysian Teachers Education Institute (IPGM) Gaya Campus has been picked by the Education Ministry from among IPGMs nationwide as the centre for teachers to learn English. IPGM Gaya Campus Director, Salmah Abdullah, said 25 teachers studying in the campus recently graduated in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). With the new expectation, the institute would be able to give more focus towards producing English teachers. "We are really proud that Gaya Campus has been chosen by the Education Ministry to be the centre to teach English in the country," she said at the opening of the Pengisahan Sejarah (History Narration) by State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun at Wisma Pertanian on Thursday.

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American Sign Language teacher may lose Andover High job

Massachusetts: A deaf American Sign Language teacher at Andover High School may lose her job because she has failed the English competency exam to become a certified teacher in Massachusetts. Daniela Ioannides, 44, of Methuen has been teaching American Sign Language under a waiver for five years and has failed the state-mandated English test four times. Ioannides said yesterday through a sign language interpreter she found out June 23 that she was not being invited back next fall. "It's really disheartening that the system is not accessible to me," said Ioannides, who said she believes the state exam discriminates against deaf educators.

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Polish Elders 'Keep Things Happening' to Stay Vital

California: English-language proficiency is a concern for a growing number of the U.S. residents. The foreign-born population in the United States increased by 57 percent between 1990 and 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Moreover, the number of adults ages 65 or older is projected to more than double by 2030. And by 2050, minority elders will comprise more than 40 percent of the U.S. older adult population. Project SHINE, established in 1997, aims among other goals to get elders engaged in life of their local communities. There is a wide variety of options for seniors residing in ethnic neighborhoods where they can communicate in their native language in social centers or religious institutions. This allows elders who do not speak English to communicate with other seniors, but also to develop their interests and spend time in many interesting ways.

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