Page 12 - ELG1601 Apr Issue 435

ELIatefl special
Page 12 April 2016

Exchanging ideas in Serbia

Elta president Olja Milosevic explains how Serbian English specialists
find that teaching conferences can help keep their classes creative

nglish is a compulsory internet users, where they can Development and other part- towns in Serbia. The train-
subject in Serbian pri- experience the immediate ben- ners. The conference theme was ing sessions were developed
Emary schools. In the efits of learning English. ‘New Technologies in Educa- by Elta, with the conceptual
majority of cases, schools intro- Bearing in mind the number tion’ and the aim was to raise framework taken from the
duce English in Grade 1, but of children who attend addi- awareness of the significance Creativity in the English Lan-
there are schools that start with tional private English classes, of using new technologies in guage Classroom, a British
English instruction in Grade it is understandable that Clil education. There were over 120 Council publication edited by
3. In primary schools English has not gained much popular- speakers from Serbia, the Bal- Alan Maley and Nick Peachey.
teachers are among the few staff ity in the Serbian state sector. kan region and the UK. It was a Around 300 teachers have been
who are subject specialists. However, there are a number of great opportunity for educators trained by Elta trainers.
Parents consider English a primary and secondary schools from different fields to consider Another opportunity for pro-
necessary tool for the future of that implement bilingual educa- possibilities provided by new fessional development is the
their children, and very often do tion. In the majority of bilingual technologies. Continuing Professional Devel-
not believe the instruction they schools, English is the second The English Language opment Programme for Primary
receive during the school day language and several school sub- Teachers’ Association (Elta) is EFL Teachers in Serbia, 2014–
to be sufficient, so they enrol jects are taught in the language. the biggest grouping of teach- 16, ‘Theme-Based Instruction
them in private language schools There are a lot of oppor- ers of English in Serbia, and in Teaching English to Young
for extra English classes. By tunities for professional one of its goals is to provide Learners’. This series of events
the age of fifteen, the majority development for teachers of teachers with opportunities was organised jointly by the
of students can speak English English. The most recent was for professional development. Faculty of Education in Jago-
reasonably well, can read for a large regional conference In partnership with the British dina, University of Kragujevac,
pleasure and write some text and fair organised by the Brit- Council, Elta organised ‘Crea- the United States embassy in
types. English also helps stu- ish embassy, the Ministry of tivity in the English Language Belgrade and American Corners
dents to become confident Education and Technological Classroom’ seminars in fifteen Serbia. n

Philippines to raise its game

Mike Cabigon reports on a British-Council-organised conference at which

key stakeholders in the country’s ELT community stressed their priorities

he Philippines is recognised
globally as one of the larg-
Test English-speaking nations
Who reads the by population, with the majority of
its 98 million residents having at
ELgazette? least some degree of fluency in
the language. English has always
been one of the country’s official
languages, and is spoken by more
than fourteen million Filipinos. It is
the language of commerce and law,
as well as the primary medium of
instruction in education.
Proficiency in the language
is also one of the Philippines’
strengths, one which has helped
drive the economy and even made
it the top ‘voice outsourcing’ (call Courtesy Jens
centre) location in the world, sur-
passing India in 2012. The influx
of foreign learners of English is KEEPING AHEAD OF THE REST Teachers and students at the San Rafael School in the Philippines
also on the rise due to the relatively
affordable but also high-quality chief of the ESL Market Develop- English is a means of communi- outlying communities.
English as a second language ment Group of the Department of cation rather than a set of facts to These statements were made
(ESL) programmes being offered. Tourism (DOT), said at the meet- be learned,’ Alonzo said. amid reports of a decline in the
At a recent gathering organised ing. ‘This also includes exploring In the same way, the Depart- quality of English in the Philip-
by British Council Philippines, how we can extend incentives to ment of Education focuses on the pines and a growing number of
key stakeholders from the gov- ESL schools and teachers.’ needs of learners and ensures that unfilled jobs in various industries
ernment and academia, plus the DOT is encouraging local they learn the English language that require English communica-
private and non-government ESL schools to offer structured holistically, as specified under tion skills. Ibpap statistics show
sectors, acknowledged that the tour packages to ESL learners, the basic education framework. that today, only eight to ten peo-
country was doing well in terms the majority of whom come There is also a great impera- ple are hired for every hundred
of English competency. However, from South Korea, China, Rus- tive to further build on the English applicants in the IT–BPO sector.
concerns were raised over how sia and Japan, by incorporating skills of the labour force, par- Nicholas Thomas, country direc-
much of a competitive advantage English-learning activities into ticularly of those in the business tor of British Council Philippines,
the nation still has. The stake- the travel experience. process outsourcing (BPO) sector. said, ‘Part of our work is to share
holders agreed that the country Participants from the govern- ‘The demand for BPO services best practice in the teaching and
needs to step up its efforts to ment sector emphasised the need from the Philippines requires more learning of English with partner
improve the teaching and learn- for an inter-agency public body than 1.3 million employees by countries all over the world.’ He
ing of English, developing it as a to regulate and support ESL pro- 2016, which means that 300,000 added, ‘English has a distinctive
vital skill of the workforce. This vision in the country in order more new employees need to be place in the Philippine education
is an initiative that can potentially to further capitalise on its eco- hired by next year,’ said Zoe Diaz system, and retaining high standards
strengthen the Philippines’ dis- nomic potential. de Rivera, master trainer of the IT of English is critically important for
tinct advantage in this part of the The academics focused on and Business Process Association the country’s economy and future
world, particularly with upcom- teacher training and professional of the Philippines (Ibpap). development. We look forward to
ing Asean economic integration. development, highlighting the Private-sector representa- working with partners on more ini-
Enhancing the teaching of Eng- need for skills in differentiated tives suggested corporate social tiatives to support the teaching and
lish in the Philippines presents instruction, materials develop- responsibility programmes to learning of English here.’ n
400 officials in 48 countries opportunities for the country in ment and knowledge sharing. support teacher development,
the area of tourism. ‘To main- According to its dean, Rosa- particularly in English language Mike Cabigon is the manager
receive their copy every month tain the Philippines’ strength as a rio Alonzo, the University of the proficiency in teaching other sub- systems with British Council
of English for education
Philippines College of Education
jects. They also recommended
major ESL destination, we need to
– courtesy of the British Council address the gap in qualified ESL ensures this by stressing to its collaboration between the gov- Philippines. A similar article
appeared in the Filipino
ernment and the private sector
students that English is a skill to
teachers and the issues around
ensuring the quality of ESL be used for communication. ‘Our to address language proficiency national newspaper
schools,’ Renee Marie Reyes, the future teachers should ensure that among teachers and students in The Inquirer