ELTWeekly Issue#16, Worldwide ELT news

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.
*******************************************************************************************************************
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.
*******************************************************************************************************************
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. 

*******************************************************************************************************************
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.

*******************************************************************************************************************
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.”
*******************************************************************************************************************
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.

1 comment

  1. Pingback: ELTWeekly » ELTWeekly Issue#16 Contents

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *