Page 3 - ELG1702 Feb Issue 444

February 2017 ELlanguage news Page 3

Mandatory Esol Panama’s

– and some teachers

money for it upskill

dents and teachers will have
MATT SALUSBURY As an indication of how Courtesy Secretaría de Movilidad de Medellín OVER 70,000 Panamanian stu-
been trained in English by the
writes important Esol policy is becom- end of this year thanks to the
ing in UK politics, opposition Panama Bilingual programme,
A report by a policy-forming leader Jeremy Corbyn made ANPanama news agency
group within the UK Parliament several mentions of Esol in his reports. In January the final
has called for mandatory Esol speech laying out his vision for a cohort of 1,000 teachers and
classes for newly arrived immi- post-Brexit Britain, also in Janu- English for Colombian kids students at the international
grants – but also called for a lot ary. teacher training Panamá Bil-
more money to pay for this. Corbyn pledged that, if ingüe 2017 programme were
The UK’s cross-party All Party elected, a future Labour gov- Medellin, Colombia’s second city (above), has launched a new bilingual sent by the government to study
Parliamentary Group (APPG) on ernment would be ‘restoring programme which introduces English language to children in early childhood. for eight weeks in universities
Social Integration has a mission funding for English language Pilot project Semilla Bilingüe (bilingual seed) has been implemented in eighteen in the US, Canada, the UK and
to examine ‘how government lessons – let’s not forget that it kindergartens and fifteen primary schools since January. Barbados. In total, around 3,000
and local authorities could better was this Tory government that ‘We want to plant the seed for the first bilingual generation in Colombia,’ Panamanians will have trav-
support communities to manage slashed funding for learning Medellin secretary of education Luis Guillermo Patiño explained. The programme elled abroad to improve their
rapid demographic change’ in English as a Second Language’, will deliver English language lessons and native-speaker teachers to provide English.
times of Brexit and an alarming adding that ‘it seems the gov- Colombian children in state schools with a similar education to those in private Panamá Bilingüe was
rise in xenophobic hate crime ernment’s second language is schools. ‘The possibility of educating our children as if they were in private launched in 2014 with an invest-
nationally. actually hypocrisy.’ institutions means equity for us,’ said Guillermo Patiño. If successful, the project ment of $60 million, with the
In January the APPG, chaired While the last comment got a could expand across the rest of the country. aim of improving English profi-
by former shadow business laugh and some applause from ciency – especially writing and
secretary Chuka Umunna, pub- the audience, it’s not the whole speaking skills. This year will
lished its Interim Report into story – the most significant cuts see new developments, with the
Integration of Immigrants. This to free Esol provision for adults ministry introducing some sub-
called for immigrants to ‘have in England occurred under Tony Texas ‘denies’ service to ELLs jects taught in English, starting
either learned English before Blair’s Labour government with science.
coming to the UK’ or start in 2007 (see February 2007 ‘This programme is success-
compulsory English language Gazette). A HOUSTON Chronicle inves- home face even worse problems. meant to be discriminatory, it ful not only because the teachers
classes on arrival, adding that • Esol teachers’ association tigation has revealed that the According to the newspaper, has clearly had that effect,’ Gary have been trained or because of
speaking English is ‘the key to Natecla has written to Transport US State of Texas has denied ‘only 7.3 per cent of English Orfield, a prominent social sci- the material but also because the
full participation in our society for London (TfL) expressing thousands of children special learners now get special educa- entist and co-founder of The number of English language les-
and economy’ and a ‘prerequi- concern at the introduction of education programmes, espe- tion, compared to 8.7 percent for Civil Rights Project at UCLA sons has been increased,’ Aura
site for meaningful engagement extra English language tests cially English language learners native speakers. That 20 per cent told the Houston Chronicle. Urieta, a University of Arkansas-
with most British people’. for minicab drivers, who are (ELLs), Andrea Pérez writes. difference is three times higher Some organisations, such as trained English language teacher
Noteworthy in the report is its licensed by TfL. Natecla noted Ten years ago, state educational than the gap that existed when Disability Rights Texas, are in Panama told La Prensa news-
emphasis on the need for much that the tests call for a CEFR- authorities decided that only the target began in 2004.’ already working with the fami- paper. n
more funding for such measures level B1. While more expensive 8.5 per cent of children should If Texas had not cut its num- lies of these children trying to
– a ‘funding pot that should be tests such as Ielts and Toefl are receive special education, and bers, 40,000 ELLs would be guide and protect them.
significantly larger’, as it puts it. mapped to the CEFR scale, most since then schools have been receiving these services this Texas is not the only state
Among its recommendations it recognised Skills for Life Esol forced to reduce numbers – and year. An example of this dra- resources for ELLs. In the state Spain sees
that has big issues with lack of
urges ‘the government to mark- qualifications taken by adults thousands of children have been matic drop is south-east Texas,
edly increase Esol funding as (some minicab drivers have one excluded from special education. where just 39 out of nearly of New York, the problem is
well as explore innovative policy already) are set at Entry Level 3, The US national average of 1,000 ELLs receive services the other way around – schools generation
ideas to increase the availability which ‘roughly equates’ to B1, children identified as in need of such as tutoring, counselling and don’t have enough resources for
and take-up of English classes’, although this isn’t stated on TfL special education is 13 per cent, speech therapy – 70 per cent less ELLs so they place children in
with more autonomy to be given website for the benefit of those and Texas now has the lowest per capita than a decade ago, the special education programmes, gap in EFL
to local authorities to pursue minicab drivers seeking to take percentage in the country. Stu- investigation reported. where they have more funds, El
their own Esol initiatives. an English test. n dents who don’t speak English at ‘Even if the policy was not Diario NY reported. n
A NEW survey by the Cen-
tre for Sociological Research
Obituary: Fritz Schillig Obituary: Verónica Sylvia (CIS), part of the Ministry of the
Presidency in Spain, revealed
can’t write or speak English and
Fritz Schillig, who died in leading the way. It was the Cameron that six out of ten Spaniards
January, was a true pio- first in Latin America and the only 10 per cent study a foreign
neer of ELT, writes Peter second-busiest month was Verónica Sylvia Cameron, language, Andrea Pérez writes.
Viney. Fritz founded Anglo- January, the Latin American who recently passed Experts suggest the main causes
Continental, Bournemouth summer holidays. away, was the longstand- of this problem include the edu-
in 1950 after studying at ELT writers who were ing centre examinations cation system, dubbing of films
Eurocentres, the first ELT at ACSE include myself, manager at the Buenos and students’ lack of confi-
school. After finding his Bernard Hartley, Leo Aires Open Centre, one dence, 20 minutos newspaper
first teacher, he returned Jones, Colin Granger, of the largest Cambridge reported.
to Switzerland, where he Guy Wellman, John Cur- English centres in the The results were criticised by
was called into the Swiss tin, Ruth Gairns, Stuart world. Cambridge Eng- British Council Spain, however.
Army aged 20. He ran Redman, Patrick O’Shea, lish started working with Mark Levy, head of English and
the school with a pile of Roy Kingsbury and Terry the Buenos Aires Open schools in the country, said sur-
coins from a payphone. and Anna Phillips. The Centre in 1983, initially vey respondents were over 45
He conducted the stu- emphasis was on using with Verónica’s mother years old, so the ‘results don’t
dents himself on chartered the UK. There was soon original materials. Sylvia Holmes Brown. represent the real level of Eng-
planes to fly from Zurich to a recording studio, video I met my wife perform- Paying tribute to Verónica, Cambridge English lish language in the country’.
Bournemouth. camera room, four lan- ing in the weekly plays. Americas regional director Mercedes Muratorio said, He added, ‘Data is focused on
British pioneers are guage labs and even a Host families improved ‘Verónica was a dear colleague and admired by the people who didn’t have Eng-
well-known, but Fritz staff swimming pool. It their houses, creat- entire Cambridge English community. Her enthusiasm, lish language classes in school
Schillig less so. When I was a Swiss model: the ing an economic ripple commitment and love for Cambridge English were key because they used to learn
started teaching in 1971, highest quality with the for Bournemouth. Over to the implementation of new ideas and innovative pro- French,’ but now that Span-
Anglo-Continental had a latest technology. Eve- 400,000 students have jects in Argentina. Her legacy will continue to have an ish children study in bilingual
large campus, a theatre rything was typed in studied at ACSE. impact on our assessment services in Argentina. We schools and have higher lev-
in the restaurant, three Helvetica – clean, modern British ELT exported its will always remember Verónica with great affection, els of English, they are losing
lecture rooms, and an and Swiss. methodology to the world. never forgetting her energy and passion in all that she the ‘fear factor’ because ‘they
R&D department. It was ACSE opened many new He was a crucial figure in did. We extend our sincere condolences to Verónica’s are more used to the English
the largest ELT school in markets for ELT, with Fritz its growth. husband Eduardo and her family’. language now’, Europa Press
reported. n

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