Page 3 - ELG1601 Apr Issue 435

ELlanguage news
April 2016 Page 3

Top Spanish court Japanese

gives FCE credit propose

new skills

ANDREA PÉREZ candidates, EFE news agency
writes reported.
In this exam, which Span- JAPAN’S MINISTER of educa-
THE SUPREME court in Spain iards have to take in order to tion Hiroshi Hase has proposed
has granted legal status to the work as civil servants, evidence new guidelines on the mini-
Cambridge English First Cer- of a level of proficiency in one mum capabilities and skills
tificate in English (FCE), which language – apart from their that university students need to
means that this certificate will mother tongue – can give appli- become licensed English teach-
now count for extra marks in cants up to two extra points, ers, the Japan Times reported.
exams for civil servant posi- which can make a big differ- These guidelines will be used
tions, Europa Press reported. ence in their final mark. Until on degree-level teacher training
This decision comes after one now the public administration courses and for in-service pro-
has only recognised certificates
fessional development courses
applicant, Cristina V. B., com-
Copyright Karlos Zurutusa supreme court that the adminis- de Idiomas, a public institution try wants to have half of all high
from 2018, writes Andrea Pérez.
issued by the Escuela Oficial
plained to the Valencia regional
Among other aims, the minis-
overseen by the Spanish minis-
tration did not take into account
try of education.
school students acquire English
the FCE qualification she pre-
proficiency in the Eiken English
According to the Common
sented in 2008.
After the regional court ruled
ence for Languages, obtaining
English language test – before
against her she appealed to the European Framework of Refer- proficiency test – Japan’s biggest
national supreme court, which the FCE is evidence that a graduating to improve skills such
Learning a lesson in guerilla PR ruled in her favour last month. candidates has a B2-level of as speaking and writing. It also
The supreme court stated that proficiency, which in the case of wants to start English classes in
The press secretary of Kurdish insurgent group the PKK (Workers’ Party of there was a ‘legal void’ in regu- Cristina V. B. gives her two extra junior high school for students
Kurdistan), based somewhere in northern Iraq, is a former high school English lations covering exams and that points in her final mark. aged thirteen to sixteen by 2020.
language teacher with an MA Tefl. the claimant was within her The national supreme court The ministry of education
Since the ceasefire between the Turkish state and the PKK ended in July, rights to appeal. ruling means that the FCE cer- recognised last year that the
guerrilla warfare and reprisals in the form of aerial bombardments by Turkey’s The court has now ordered tificate can now be used by English language education sys-
armed forces have resumed in the predominantly ethnic Kurdish region of the administration to include Spaniards to demonstrate their tem in Japan was not achieving
south-eastern Turkey, while the PKK have been assisting the peshmerga forces of her in the approved list of can- level of English in job applica- its goals, with the Japan Times
Iraqi Kurdistan fighting the Islamic State. The PKK is officially viewed as a didates for civil service jobs tions for public administration in claiming that ‘the system is still
terrorist organisation in Turkey and the UK. International journalists who want without affecting the remaining the country. n in desperate need of reform’. n
access to the PKK all have to go through Zagros Hiwa (shown above at a secret
location) to set up meetings with PKK commanders.
Hiwa told New Internationalist he’s from an Iranian peasant family which moved
to the city of Sanandaj, where ‘a good teacher boosted my interest for foreign
languages, and I finally ended up graduating in English language and literature
from the University of Sanandaj in 1996’.
He went on to earn a masters in Tefl while teaching English in a state high school,
but his path to a doctorate was ‘barred. I did pass my exam to conduct my PhD at
the University of Shiraz, but the supervisory body labelled me as a “potential threat
to the state” for being Kurdish.’ Hiwa instead took to the hills, where his fluent
English language skills have proved useful in the field of press relations.
‘Right to rent’ risk

for foreign students

MATT SALUSBURY directly by the university’s variety of UK immigration
writes accommodation office and ten- stamps appearing in passports
ancy agreements where the over the past decade, from sim-
INTERNATIONAL STU- university has nominated a stu- ple ink stamps to the current visa
DENTS could be adversely dent as a tenant. stickers with holograms. Land-
affected in their search for International students – usu- lords have no idea about what all
accommodation by a new ally only guaranteed a hall of these mean, and which are legiti-
requirement for landlords residence place in their first mate. Vaz also asked, ‘How can
across the UK to check the year – eventually have to seek a landlord tell whether an Albani-
immigration status of pro- private rented accommoda- an’s Italian passport is genuine?’
spective tenants before letting tion, particularly in London. Duncan Lane, director of
to them. After a local pilot Representatives of several uni- advice training at the UK Council
scheme, the Section 22 provi- versities at a recent Westminster for International Student Affairs
sions of the Immigration Act Legal Policy Forum attended by (Ukcisa) says that students com-
2014 were rolled out across the the Gazette reported that some ing to the end of a degree course
UK in February. Now landlords of their international students and planning to extend their stay
face a £3,000 fine if they fail to can’t even get appointments in the UK to start further study
check a tenant’s immigration with letting agents to see flats. (such as a postgraduate course)
status (the ‘right to rent’). In cases where an international have an immigration status that
Under these arrangements, student’s Tier 4 visa is due to ‘could look dubious’ to a land-
known as the Scheme, all pro- expire at the end of the year, lord untrained in identifying
spective tenants other than but they have a valid applica- valid UK visas.
European Economic Area tion pending for leave to remain Lane told the Gazette he’d
(EEA) nationals have to provide in the UK, landlords can’t be heard of only one such case – a
evidence of their immigration expected to understand the US national with a valid Leave
status. Foreign students have details of their immigration sta- To Remain application but a
already had their immigration tus and are therefore unwilling student visa about to expire.
status verified by their univer- to properly assess evidence of She negotiated a later tenancy
sity on enrolment, so halls of their right to rent. start date. He asked for Gazette
residence (whether university- As Home Affairs Select Com- readers to pass on to Ukcisa any
owned or private sector) are mittee chair Keith Vaz MP noted such examples they hear of, via
exempt, as are flats provided at the event, there’s been a great matt@elgazette. n