Page 3 - ELG1601 Oct Issue 440

October 2016 ELlanguage news Page 3

Getting a global perspective

SEnEGaL: English clubs for SOUTH aFRiCa: Language
young people in the officially Matt Salusbury, Claudia Civinini and Andrea Perez survey world ELT school association Education
francophone west African south Africa (EdusA) has ini-
nation of senegal are leading tiated court action challenging
the way as the nation ‘turns the government to resolve the
to English’, according to the visa impasse that threatens the
Voice of America (VoA) radio future of the ELT industry in
station. The attraction of Eng- the country. Following new visa
lish clubs to senegal’s youth UniTED KinGDOM: Taxi 12 August. UniTED STaTES: in August iRaQ: The Yazidi religious regulations, student visas are
is that these offer a ‘low-pres- app company Uber is to go to the The code of practice for the City of New York stream- minority of iraq broke an only issued to students enrolled
sured’ way to learn English High Court for judicial review of ‘customer-facing’ public service lined its ‘licensing process’ for 800-year-old tradition in July by at universities, schools or fur-
without tests or tuition fees. Transport for London’s (TfL’s) includes provision to prevent yellow cab drivers. According to burying at its holiest shrine a Us ther education colleges, with
For many, the clubs are the regulatory regime requiring all discrimination on ethnic grounds the Guardian, these will no longer volunteer who taught English in language schools being left
only opportunity they have minicab drivers to evidence their under the Equality Act. While a require English tests, although refugee camps. out. Two schools have already
to learn the language, mostly English proficiency to B1 level TfL statement says ‘full equality ‘drivers must still pass tests on Leland stanford scott – closed, while others are down-
through songs. – including a written English test impact assessment was carried such details as driving rules and known as ‘Mr Lee’ to the sizing, with staff losing their
English Teachers Association – from October. out’, both Uber and race equality where they can pick up passen- Yazidis – was a retired army ser- jobs. More on page 4.
of senegal president Mou- TfL’s new regime is in line think tank the Runnymede Trust gers’. The change recognises the geant who in early 2016 bought
hamadou Diouf told VoA that with the UK Home Office’s new highlight how TfL’s ‘discrimi- fact that many drivers now rely on a one-way air ticket to iraq’s
English was ‘gaining ground’ guidelines on English language natory’ new regime exempts ‘computer navigation programs’ Kurdish autonomous region to
on French. The Us is particu- requirements for public-sector nationals from New Zealand, rather than verbal directions. teach English to Yazidis dis-
larly influential – Us pop stars workers. A TfL press officer told former British Caribbean ter- placed by the islamic state’s
such as Michael Jackson are the Gazette there would be two ritories and other anglophone advance.
popular, while Barack Obama is tests for drivers, at CEFR level countries. Uber told the Guard- After scott died of a stroke SaUDi aRaBia: The high
an inspiration. Unlike the often B1, spoken and written, with ian its drivers ‘fear some will in July aged 67, his family proportion of students arriving
ambivalent attitude to English tests still ‘being finalised’ as of lose their livelihoods’. conveyed their wish that he ‘with poor English, math and
seen in former British colonies be buried among the Yazidis. study skills’ was a major fac-
in Africa, there are no colonial JaPan: A language school Nemam Ghafouri, manager of tor in the failure of the recently
associations in francophone official in Nogota, south-west- the NGO that organised scott’s opened Algonquin College
Africa. ern Japan, has been arrested for classes, told Voice of America saudi Arabia. in August the
allowing students to work more of her community’s decision to Canada-based Algonquin Col-
than 28 hours a week, according bury the first non-Yazidi at the lege transferred management of
HOnG KOnG: The Demand nORwaY: Olso’s Manglerud to Japan Bullet. Four Vietnam- sharfadin shrine, near the Turk- the male-only campus in Jazan,
for British-curriculum educa- Primary school plans to teach ese students were also arrested. ish border: ‘it was an honour near the border with Yemen, to
tion in Hong Kong is rising, only in English for the first four Japan has seen a growth in for them to host such a hero for its saudi partners the Colleges of
along with prices. Both the grades, with just a few hours a ‘visa factory’ schools, which ever in their land.’ Excellence network.
inDia’S foreign ministry English schools Foundation week of Norwegian as a subject use student work rights to lure
in August finally authorised (EsF) and Harrow interna- – a state-sector first. The school’s potential students from poorer
hardship payments of 200,000 tional school – a branch of the eighty students and its teachers are Asian countries – an all-too-
rupees (£2,281) to the families famous boarding school in ‘excited’ about the plan, reports familiar phenomenon in other
of two indian professors – one England – have recently raised thelocal.no website, adding that developed countries. Over
an English language teacher fees. Plans for Mount Kelly, the new curriculum will eventu- 200,000 students are enrolled in
– kidnapped by isis in sirte, another English boarding ally be ‘open to all Oslo students’. Japanese language schools and ELgo
Libya a year ago and forced to school, to open a Hong Kong But Magne Aasbrenn of have the right to work. Accord-
teach its fighters. international school, have been Norges Mållag, the Norwegian ing to the Japan Times, Chinese
English language professor hit by planning permission language society, told broad- now make up the largest number
Ch. Balram and iT instruc- issues. More on page i of the caster NRK the move threatened of students at 94,000, but num-
tor Professor Gopi Krishna supplement ‘the future of Norwegian’, which bers from Vietnam have surged
worked for the University of has just five million speakers. to 38,000 and the Nepalese have
sirte and were captured by is Norwegians ‘can’t just let our overtaken Korea as the third-
in June 2015. Many indians language slip between our fin- largest nationality. More on page
have ignored foreign minis- gers’, said Aasbrenn. i of the supplement
try advice against working in Find the perfect language
Libya, according to The Hindu course in the UK!
newspaper. UaE: The United Arab Emir-
Two indian colleagues cap- ates University is accepting
tured at the same time and international students on under- Impartial rankings
also forced to teach iT to is graduate programmes, Gulf
militants were soon released, Today reports. These places THE nETHERLanDS: The According to Den Haag FM, based on British
after which the indian embassy were previously reserved for former finance manager of Lin- much of the money went on a
‘lost contact’ with Libyan aca- local students. The vice chan- guarama language institute’s The flat in Romania, hiring a corpo- Council inspections
demics negotiating the release cellor said the UAE was ‘a hub Hague branch in the Netherlands rate box at local football stadium,
of Balram and Krishna. As for international higher educa- has been sentenced to fifteen a car, travel to Egypt, ‘generous’ Graded English,
we went to press, the forces tion in the region’. He added months in prison for embezzle- alimony for van H’s ex-wife and
of Libya’s Government of that those who study in the UAE ment and theft of Linguarama’s child support. Van H’s motivation Italian, Spanish
National Accord were retaking can become excellent ambassa- money over eight years. The was reportedly ‘a desire to impress
sirte from is. dors on their return home. August judgement put the total his new Romanian girlfriend’. He and French
figure embezzled by the defend- operated a ‘shadow accounting
ant – identified as Peter van system’ parallel with the ‘con- www.el-go.com
H. – at €497,628, which he was scientiously’ correct accounts he
ordered to repay in full. presented to Linguarama.

PaRaGUaY: Although 89 per project came to the attention I am looking for:
cent of Paraguayans speaking of the government, and in 2015
Guarani, an indigenous language it was declared a National Quality
of south America, English is Educational interest by the
taught through spanish in public Ministry of Education as well CanaDa: The Vancouver Taiwan is seeking to attract
schools. This issue has prompted as a National interest for Para- English Centre (VEC) in Brit- more international students to
the creation of Guaranglish, the guayan Youth. ish Columbia’s first city closed the country’s university degree Price
first app ‘that makes it possible The project also received suddenly in August after a four- courses, including those taught
to learn English directly from English innovation Funds pro- week strike by EFL teachers in English.
the Guarani language and vice vided by the Regional English over pay, leaving hundreds of The Republic of China’s
versa’, La Nacion newspaper Language Office of the Us state students stranded. Even though ‘new southbound policy’, Destination safety
reported. Department, and was presented VEC had stopped paying its backed by scholarships, is
The project was set up by at the Technology in English dues to schools association already attracting students
six former Us embassy interns conference at the White House Languages Canada in June, the from Malaysia (some for Child protection
in 2014. The project has three as an innovative example of association was able to place teacher training) and Filipinos
approaches: the app, Guaran- ‘how to promote ELL through some VEC students with other seeking to take Tefl certificates go
glish camps and Guaranglish an indigenous language and the member schools in the city. in Taiwan. More on page ii of
workshops for teachers. The use of technology’. More on page 4 the supplement

p02-03_ELG1016.indd 2 9/27/2016 6:15:11 PM