Page 1 - ELG1601 Oct Issue 440

eLgazette

£3.50 • US$6.50 • ¥700 • €5.50 The newspaper for English language and international education Issue 440 | October 2016

California

referendum

enGLISh LAnGUAGe learn-
Inside... ing is expected to change in
november in the US state of
California when citizens vote in
a referendum on proposition 58
on bilingual education, writes
Andrea Perez.
Under the current regula-
tions, english language learners
(eLLs) have to attend a ‘struc-
tured english immersion class’
for at least one year, where sub-
jects and instruction are mainly
in english, ‘but are modified
David Becker / Reuters fluent’, the San Francisco
for students who are less than
Chronicle reported. After that, if
the students achieve a good level
of english they are moved to a

There are an estimated 1.4
Page 2: English UK scale regular classroom.
new heights to pay tribute Teachers face MIXED MESSAGE US presidential million eLLs in California
to the late Eddie Byers candidate Hillary Clinton has denounced schools. According to the Los
Angeles Times, proposition 58
for-profit higher education systems that ‘put
kidnap threat all these young people and their families into will provide ‘more flexibility to
schools and parents to choose
debt’. But from 2010 until 2015, when Hillary
how to teach english learners’.
announced her presidential bid, her husband
Bill Clinton (speaking on Hillary’s campaign
offer more of these programmes
trail above) was paid $16.5m to be honorary Also, schools will be able to
chancellor of for-profit Laureate International and will be no longer be required
The phenomenon of english language hostage crisis of the 1980s. Universities, with duties involving speeches to teach english-only courses
teachers targeted for kidnapping appears to British-born Dennis hill, who taught worldwide, reports the Financial Times unless families request that. n
be making a return, with some of the most english at the American University of Bei-
recent cases in Yemen and Afghanistan. rut (AUB), was shot dead by his captors in
In late September a teacher was seized 1984. philip padfield, director of Ih Beirut,
after the exceed Language Center, just out- and Leigh Douglas, an AUB lecturer, were
side the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, was stormed abducted and killed by the Revolutionary
by gunmen in civilian clothes believed to be organisation of Socialist muslims in 1986.
from the security forces of the houthi militia Brian Keenan, a writer from northern Ire-
Page 4: Vancouver’s movement. (The Shia houthi insurgency still land, was kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad
strike-hit school controls much of the capital after a 2015 coup organisation in 1986 while teaching at the
suddenly shuts down attempt.) The teacher is believed to be exceed’s AUB. Keenan was held for four years.
director, peter Willems. Agence France presse Another apparent trend is armed groups
reported the militia’s Revolutionary Committee (and possibly one government) kidnapping
as tweeting that Willems had been ‘arrested’ for english teachers and forcing them to teach.
spying. Al-Qaida in Yemen and the country’s Two Indian nationals lecturing with the Uni-
tribal militias have long used hostages to raise versity of Sirte in Libya – one of them an eFL
funds or bargain for the release of prisoners. teacher – are being held captive by Isis and
This follows the abduction of two still apparently forced to teach Isis fighters (see
unnamed professors from the American Uni- page 3).
versity of Afghanistan (AUAF) in August. one David Sneddon, a US student in China, is
American and one Australian national were believed to have died falling into the Tiger Leap-
abducted from Kabul in August by armed men ing Gorge near the Burmese border in 2004. But
wearing Afghan national police uniforms. a South Korean organisation recently claimed
Two weeks later, an attack by gunmen on the that Sneddon was in fact abducted by north
AUAF compound left thirteen dead, including Korean agents to teach current leader Kim Jong-
seven students and an Afghan law lecturer. no un and his siblings english. he is said to be
group has claimed responsibility. alive and well in pyongyang, but the US State
Page 6: EL jobs – why Language teachers were frequent targets Department told the Independent, ‘There is no
newly qualified teachers for abduction during the Lebanese civil war evidence that we’ve seen that indicates that he
are welcome in Egypt and what became known as the Lebanon was abducted.’ n

OECD: skills gap could hurt EU

The eU ‘is facing impending skills shortages for skilled non-eU/eeA migrants. ‘Skilled
in a number of areas’, warns the organisation workers are choosing other destinations which
for economic Co-operation and Development compete economically with the eU,’ warns the
in its new report Recruiting Immigrant Workers: Commission. The estimated positive annual
Europe, urging the eU to improve its policies to economic impact of the new policy would be
retain highly skilled workers. Despite being the between 1.4 and 6.2 billion euros.
single leading destination for international stu- meanwhile in the UK the government
dents (one in three of who come to the UK), the is planning to tackle immigration numbers
eU retains only 31 per cent of the global pool of by reducing visas issued to non-eU work-
higher educated migrants, compared to 57 per ers and international students – with prime
cent by north America. minister Theresa may urging universities
Free 8-page Asia In June the eU Commission proposed a to ‘develop sustainable funding models that
Pacific supplement: series of changes to ease the requirements for are not so dependent on international stu-
News from across the region the Blue Card, the long-term residence permit dents’, The Times reports. n

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