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ELTWeekly Issue#22, Worldwide ELT news

By Tarun Patel

Vision of a bilingual society within reach

MALAY is my mother tongue, the language of home and family, the language in which the most tender of feelings are expressed, the tongue with which the harshest of emotions are spewed!

My first two years of formal learning was in a Malay primary school in Rasah, Seremban, where I picked up the rudiments of kira-kira and alam sekitar. After that it was off to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Seremban where my love for the English language and literature was sown. I went on to read English literature and linguistics later.

Read the complete news at http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=34646

English in Brighton with us – English Language Centre in Brighton by liz Tyrrell & Sue Williams

Philippines’ challenge as English slips

A western academic publisher warns that the Philippines needs to maintain high standards of spoken English or risk losing valuable business in teaching and call-centre operations.

Paul Robertson, who publishes academic journals about the teaching and learning of English, says that in the last two years the Philippines has become “the mecca of English language learning” in its region.

On top of millions of its own citizens learning English, up to a quarter of a million foreigners have travelled to the Philippines to learn the language.

Read the complete news at http://australianetworknews.com/stories/200906/2598360.htm?desktop

English opens window to world

JAIPUR: Surge in the number of applicants for BA English (Honours) and postgraduate programmes in English in Rajasthan University (RU) is a recent trend.

This is due to the increase in job opportunities for students from this department. “There has been a rise in the number of applicants with the improving level of placements,” said Arun Soule, a professor of English, RU.

Looking at the increasing number of applicants in the department, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is one of the most popular disciplines among the language programmes.

Read the complete news at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jaipur/English-opens-window-to-world/articleshow/4660292.cms

FTK and Educomp Co-Develop Vernacular Interface

FTK Technologies and Educomp Solutions have co-developed ‘MagiKeys’ — a software-based language interface for those who would like to learn computers but are not proficient in the English language. Magikeys, is based on FTK’s LooKeys software and co-branded with Educomp Solutions, which is an education solutions provider.

MagiKeys has been introduced into government schools in India. MagiKeys has been designed to cater to the needs of Indian government schools, allowing both students and teachers across India to use computers in their native language, all through an intuitive and easy-to-learn interface. According to FTK Technologies, the language barrier is the main obstacle for government schools that want to introduce computers to its students. Since pupils are more familiar with their native language, FTK and Educomp developed MagiKeys to make the process of learning computers easier. Educomp Solutions helped FTK Technologies create a special interface that functions similarly to LooKeys. As a result of which computer-aided teaching can be done in various Indian languages.

Read the complete news at http://enterpriser.cxotoday.com/India/Know_It/FTK_and_Educomp_Co-Develop_Vernacular_Interface/551-103222-449.html

Partners in English Language Learning

What is your mission?

Help English language learners become thriving members of our community by offering one-on-one tutoring and building bridges that foster cross-cultural respect, understanding and friendship.

What is your yearly budget, and how many paid employees do you have?

We operate on an annual budget of less than $17,000. Our part-time program Coordinator is PiELL’s only paid staff member. We occupy a small office at Lyman Gilmore Middle School, donated by the Grass Valley School District.

Read the complete news at http://www.theunion.com/article/20090615/WEBUPDATE/906159990/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1053

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categoriaELTWeekly Issue#22 commento1 Comment dataJune 21st, 2009
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ELTWeekly Issue#18, Worldwide ELT news

By Tarun Patel

*** British Council’s first English language teaching centre soon ***

Chennai , Apr 24 The British Council will soon open its first English language teaching Centre in Chennai , offering language courses for professional and personal development, specially tailored to needs of Indian learners.

The centre would initially open in three classrooms in the Regus Citi Centre, while existing premises on Anna Salai would be renovated, a British Council press release said here today.

 

The Council is equipped to offer courses to more than 750 adult students and would have 12 teachers from India and three academic managers from the UK.”All of them are specially trained to deliver courses using an interactive,&aposlearning through doing&aposapproach,”it said.

http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/557437/National/1/20/1

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*** Children With ‘Word Poverty’ Will Be Taught How to Speak Proper English ***

British children will have lessons on how to speak proper English in formal settings, under an overhaul of the curriculum for 7 to 11-year-olds.

The proposals, from Sir Jim Rose, a former head of Ofsted, place a strong emphasis on teaching children to “recognize when to use formal language, including standard spoken English.” They include how to moderate tone of voice and use appropriate hand gestures and eye contact.

The reforms come in response to concern that an increasing number of children suffer from ‘word poverty” and are unable to string together a coherent sentence by the time that they start school.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518092,00.html

 

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*** On language schools and weirdo ads ***

Recently I mentioned “weirdo language school ads” with an apparent bondage theme, and quoted a reader who had taught English in Japan and offered some psycho-sexual interpretation of the ads. Two updates:

First, the latest entry in this category, from a billboard in Beijing yesterday. Speaking personally, nothing could give me greater confidence in the quality of English language instruction than the slogan, “Talenty English, Talenty Education.”

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/04/on_language_schools_and_weirdo.php

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*** ILLINOIS STYLE: Man teaches English in Japan ***

MOUNT VERNON, Ill. – While helping college-aged students in Japan better understand the English language, Tom Williams of Mt. Vernon has discovered that living overseas and speaking their language on a daily basis has also helped him as he continues learning Japanese. 
“I learned more in one year in Japan than three years in the classroom,” Williams said. “Classrooms can teach you grammar, but you have to be in a situation where you can use it every day to improve.” 

A little more than one year ago, Williams left for Japan to serve as lecturer at the Ashikaga Institute of Technology. The institute is a sister school to the University of Illinois-Springfield, where his cousin attended graduate school and learned about the position. 

After applying for and receiving the job, Williams spent one year in Japan, and then renewed another yearlong contract to begin this month. William’s brother, John, is also finishing serving as an assistant language teacher in Ota.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-teachinginjapan,0,5728255.story 

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*** The World’s Leading English Test Celebrates Twenty Years of Growth ***

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Saturday, April 25, 2009 – (Business Wire India

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is proud to celebrate its twentieth anniversary in 2009, marking its unprecedented international growth and success in setting the standard of English language proficiency for Higher Education and migration. Since IELTS was introduced in 1989, it has developed into a global leader, with annual candidate numbers rising to well over one million in 2008, and accepted by over 6,000 organisations worldwide. In India in 2008, over 200,000 people took IELTS.

Speaking of IELTS’ phenomenal growth, Kevin McLaven, First Secretary (Educational Services) British Council India observes, “Over the last two decades IELTS has become the leading and most widely accepted international English language test in the world. Whether for work or study, millions of ambitious candidates have benefited from the life-changing opportunities that IELTS enables. 

http://www.businesswireindia.com/PressRelease.asp?b2mid=18780

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*** Forget Math. Women Lag in Becoming English Profs! ***

So much for the theory that maternity leave and childrearing are responsible for slowing women’s climb up the employment ladder. Despite increasing efforts to mint more female professors in recent years, a new report from the Modern Language Association of America shows that women take longer than men to get promoted from associate professor to full professor — regardless of whether they are married or have children.

The report, based on a March 2006 survey of 401 English and foreign-language professors, finds that women take between 1 and 3.5 years longer than men to attain the rank of professor, depending on the size and nature of their school, with the largest gap at private colleges and universities. “That’s a staggering difference,” says lead author Kathleen Woodward, an English professor at the University of Washington. 

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1894025,00.html

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categoriaELTWeekly Issue#18 commento1 Comment dataApril 28th, 2009
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ELTWeekly Issue#16, Worldwide ELT news

By Tarun Patel

The place of English language in India today

In the mid-1980s, when I was studying journalism in the US, a question I was often asked was: “How do you speak English so well?” My reply was simple and honest. I would start by patiently explaining how I had studied English not just as a language but as the medium of instruction for all other subjects and then I would add: “English is not a foreign language to me. It is my language. It is as much of an Indian language to me as, say, Hindi or Tamil or Urdu.”

Over the years, my view of English hasn’t changed. I remain unapologetic of my ability to speak, write, read and dream in English. And I remain more convinced than ever that English is my language. As an Indian, I have happily embraced it and I believe that it has inherently joined the pantheon of languages—official and otherwise—that are spoken in this country.
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Giving English language learners the classroom support they need
In the 1990s, I was a science teacher at Central East Middle School, now the Feltonville School of Arts & Science. I usually taught five sections of students – more than 150 young adults per week. My classes were built around weekly lab experiments, and I worked hard to make concepts about science concrete through these hands-on and minds-on activities.
On any given Saturday, I could be found with other teachers taking classes or workshops in search of ways to improve my teaching. But I never took a class to help me teach students for whom English was a second language, even though half my students came from homes where English was not spoken by all the adults.
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A Half-Century Of “Stupid Grammar Advice”
Linguist Geoffrey Pullum won’t be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stunk and White’sThe Elements of Style.
In his recent article for the Chronicle of Higher Education, he writes that the guide has “significantly degraded” American students’ grasp of grammar.
Pearson buys English training business in China
LONDON (SHARECAST) – Publishing group Pearsonhas bought Wall Street English, a Chinese provider of English language training to adults, for $145m in cash. 
Pearson acquired the company from Wall Street Institute, which is majority-owned by global private equity firm The Carlyle Group. The group expects the acquisition to enhance adjusted earnings per share in 2010, its first full year, and to enhance adjusted EPS and generate a return above its cost of capital from 2011. 

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Teaching pronunciation to ESL learners
To be able to teach accurate English pronunciation to learners for whom English is their second language, teachers and tutors require a detailed knowledge of how sounds are made so they can demonstrate and explain the various vowel and consonant sounds.

(a) Breath Flow
(b) Organs of Speech
(c) Voiced or Voiceless

Learners need to know that consonant sounds are made when the breath, coming from the mouth or throat, is either partially or completely obstructed by the tongue, the teeth or the lips.

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TEFL: a world of teaching opportunities
Teaching English as a foreign language has never been more popular. One TEFL advice website reports a 30 per cent increase in people downloading course applications in the last two months alone. Traditionally, TEFL was a popular path for graduates wanting to travel before knuckling down to a “proper job”. Now, it also holds appeal for those pondering – or pushed by redundancy – into a midlife career change. Or those simply disenchanted with life in gloomy Britain.
“The type of person doing TEFL courses has changed. It used to be people wanting to live abroad post university, now it’s become much more of a career,” says Mary O’Leary, who has taught in Argentina, Egypt and Spain and is now senior lecturer in English language teaching at Anglia Ruskin University. “But the main appeal is that teaching abroad gives you the opportunity to live in a country, not as a visitor, but as part of the community, meeting people and learning all about a new culture.”
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Revealed: new teaching methods that are producing dramatic results
Innovative headteachers at schools around the country are abandoning traditional chalk and talk teaching methods in favour of widely differing visions of an educational future. Judith Woods enters a world of spaced learning, praise pods, flexible Fridays and sixth-formers in business suits.
Lucy Barratt is weaving around the gym with her 16-year-old classmates, all dribbling basketballs. First they walk, then they jog. There’s laughter and chatter, when a whistle suddenly blows. The youngsters quickly place the balls on the floor and file back to the tables and chairs set out at the far end of the hall, because the pupils of Year 11 aren’t doing PE; they are halfway through a science lesson.
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categoriaELTWeekly Issue#16 commento1 Comment dataApril 17th, 2009
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