English as medium of instruction
The English of Saudi university graduates is very poor. Since the labor market in the Kingdom largely depends on foreign manpower, English has necessarily become the language of business. Anyone who does not master English will be in a weak position when competing for a job. His or her chances for progressing in terms of career will be severely compromised.
Read the complere news: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=124214&d=2&m=7&y=2009
Neglecting English will be agreat loss to nation
After months of public debate the Ministry of Education is finally to make the all awaited decision whether to continue the teaching of mathematics and science in English. Meanwhile the debate of whether to carry on teaching these subjects in English or revert to Bahasa Malaysia continues to be a main issue in our mainstream media.
Read the complere news: http://blog.thestar.com.my/permalink.asp?id=24542
English tests need more English
Regarding the column “Leave language education to teachers” (June 26, 2009), the grab line used is “The country already has half a dozen perfectly good English tests. Why do we need another?
As a longtime English teacher in Korea, I have to strongly disagree that Korea has “perfectly good” English tests. My elementary school students have been entertained numerous times by the gross errors that they have found within some of the tests listed below.
Read the complere news: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2906834
Entrance test for English language course for madrasa graduates on July 15
Mumbai: Markazul Ma’arif Education & Research Centre (MMERC), Mumbai has announced combined entrance test dates for Diploma in English Language and Literature (DELL) for batch 2009-2011. The written test will be held on 15th July at Public Girls Higher Secondary School, Deoband, Saharanpur.
The test will be held for a total of 65 seats — 25 in MMERC, Mumbai: 25 in Madrasa Sulemania Kandhla, UP: 10 in Markaz-e Islami Ankleshwar, Gujarat and 5 in Jamia Jalalia Hojai, Assam. Only the candidates who pass the written test will be eligible for the interview to be held on 17th July 2009.
Read the complere news: http://twocircles.net/2009jul01/entrance_test_english_language_course_madrasa_graduates_july_15.html
Teachers facing ‘classroom MOTs’
Teachers in England will need licences to work in the classroom which will have to be renewed every five years, under government plans.
The proposal, intended to weed out weak teachers, is included in an education White Paper announced by Children’s Secretary Ed Balls.
There is also a guarantee of personalised tuition for all pupils who have fallen behind in English or maths.
Read the complere news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8127085.stm
Mass Asian language program is not sensible
TO raise serious doubts about the mass Asian language scheme proposed by Kevin Rudd and Michael Wesley, I need demonstrate only two things: first, that the inherent difficulty of character-based languages at the heart of this vision – Chinese-Mandarin and Japanese – is a genuine barrier to broad-based linguistic competency; and, second, that the commercial case for these languages is much diminished by the extent of English language learning in our region. Let’s take the degree of difficulty question first.
The US Defence Language Institute in Monterey, California, estimates that it takes three times as many hours of instruction for a student of Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic and Korean to reach the same level of proficiency as students of Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and French with the same exposure; in other words, it is roughly three times more difficult.
Read the complere news: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25713098-7583,00.html
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