Page 1 - ELG1601 Mar Issue 434

ELgazette

£3.50 • US$6.50 • ¥700 • €5.50 The newspaper for English language and international education Issue 434 | March 2016

Somalia

bans EL

signage
Inside...
SOMALI CAPITAL Mogadishu
is to remove all English lan-
guage signage in a bid to protect
the national language. Those not
complying with the order could
face serious consequences.
A spokesperson for the city’s
mayor told News24 it was aimed
at ‘promoting the Somali lan-
guage’.
The commissioner of Wadajir,
Copyright Phil Carrick the capital, warned that those
one of the seventeen districts in
refusing to obey could be fined
or jailed. He also added, ‘Soma-
lia belongs to Somalis and …

nated by the English language,’
Page 3: Esol students our language has been domi-
enjoy baroque classes Saudi slashes TOP CLASS Last month saw 3,000 reported News24.
But not everyone agrees with
in the Painted Hall international students from over 62 countries the decision. A university stu-
gather on one of the most iconic beaches in
dent commenting on the issue
scholarships? the world to break the record for the largest said that there are other ways
live English lesson. The event was organised
to show love for the country
by language school association English
such as paying taxes on time
Australia at Bondi Beach, near Sydney, to
celebrate the quality of ELT and international or being honest. ‘By obeying
education provision in the country. English bad laws like bans on other lan-
FACED WITH plummeting oil prices, requirements of the top 200 universities. Australia is planning to hold the event in guages, you look like a racist,’
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education has With the exception of those in the UK and several locations next year. he argued. n
put restrictions on eligibility for its $6 bil- Australia, these universities are less likely
lion King Abdullah Scholarship Programme to have foundation courses to prepare
(Kasp), which since 2005 has sent hundreds weaker students linguistically and academ-
of thousands of Saudi students abroad, the ically for entry.
majority of them to the US. A higher edu- What started as tool of Saudi–US diplo-
cation fair in Saudi Arabia has apparently macy has evolved in recent years into a more
been cancelled, and US university intensive specialist programme aimed at supporting
Page 8: Interview with English programmes already report fewer Saudi economic interests. Kasp now has a
Russia’s latest secret agent enrolments and applications from Saudis. strong focus on medicine and health-care.
Juliana Gamouletskaia CNN’s website estimates Kasp funds Inside Higher Ed reported on a poll of 119
200,000 students on courses abroad annu- university intensive English language pro-
ally, providing tuition fees, living expenses, grammes, which revealed that four fifths of
medical insurance and air fares for courses these recorded enrolments from Saudi Ara-
at language schools and FE colleges as well bia being down on the previous season, with
as universities, including foundation courses. applications for next season reduced as well.
With oil, which accounts for three quarters Intensive English programmes were expect-
of government revenue, recently crashing to ing a moderate fall in Saudi numbers, not a
$30 a barrel, and with a quarter of spending crash – most reported between 11 and 20 per
going on education in 2015, the government cent fewer Saudi enrolments this year.
has ordered a 14 per cent total cut in its total Riyadh’s International Exhibition & Con-
spending for 2016, according to CNN. ference on Higher Education scheduled
So far the effect on Kasp seems to have for May has been cancelled according to
been to restrict where students are eligible the PIE website. Gazette enquiries to the
for scholarships. An Education Ministry list fair’s organisers via the exhibition’s website
includes the world’s 200 top-ranked universi- (which showcases last year’s exhibition)
ties according to the Shanghai ranking, and went unanswered. Officials at the Saudi
Pages 9–14: Multilingual ‘outstanding’ universities in particular fields Arabia Cultural Mission in Washington DC,
and online – how Centres according to the QS or Shanghai rankings. which runs Kasp in the US, had responded
of Excellence are evolving Many of the current Kasp intake lack the to Gazette enquiries by press day only to say
English language skills to meet the entry they were ‘not in a position’ to comment. n

Home Office error ‘beyond parody’

THE UK Home Office announced new English language errors can result in
English testing requirements for migrants a visit from the police, as a ten-year-old
in January, but misspelled ‘language’ in the schoolboy in Lancashire, England recently
press release, the Guardian reported. Red- discovered. According to BBC News, the
faced officials were forced to correct the unnamed schoolboy had written in an essay
error – they’d spelt the word ‘langauge’ in that he lived in a ‘terrorist house’. The
a headline for the online announcement of Counterterrorism and Security Act legally
new language requirements for the Tier 2 obliges his teacher to report activity to
visa. Even a BBC Radio 4 presenter called it Lancashire Police, who spoke to him at his
Pages 16–17: ELjobs ‘beyond parody’ that the Home Office could home. No further action was taken. He told
– why good teachers miss misspell a word announcing a requirement them he’d meant to write that he lived in a
out on great opportunities for migrants to learn English. ‘terraced house.’ n