Page 8 - ELG1911 Nov Issue 467

El•Gazette 467.qxp_El•Gazette 467 23/10/2019 13:09 Page 8

GLOBAL NEWS .

SPAIN:
Britain’s new ambassador to Spain,
former TEFLer Hugh Elliott,
arrived in the country at the end global
of August and received his
credentials in September.
A former director of
communications in the UK’s
Department for Exiting the
European Union, Elliott first came
to Spain as an English teacher at perspective
the University of Salamanca,
where he met his Spanish wife,
Toñi (also an English teacher at
the time) before joining the The Gazette editorial team’s
Diplomatic Service in 1989. His
first diplomatic posting overseas selection of ELT news from
was in the Madrid embassy in the around the world
1990s, his two children were born
in Madrid and he is a fluent
Spanish speaker.
postpone the exams, due to be alien to them as English,” the mostly Chinese students to
GOV.UK introduced from the next according to agency UNI. pass, so that their group can
perform well in assessments.
academic year, starting in April
2020. A demonstration was held Sympathetic to her fellow Chinese
outside the Ministry of Education WIKIMEDIA students, Laurie asks Australia’s
building by opponents of the new universities, “don’t we owe them
exams system, calling for it to be some support when they get here?”
scrapped. EL Gazette sources confirm that
in at least one UK university,
native speakers also find
INDIA: themselves acting as unpaid tutors
Indian states Karnataka and in “collaborative” group work for
Maharashtra are to introduce which group marks are awarded.
Ambassador Hugh Elliott English as the medium of
instruction in schools for “tribal
people”. The country’s estimated Soliga tribespeople, Karnataka UK:
JAPAN: 84 million tribal people are Home Secretary Priti Patel
Many university admissions and indigenous ethnic minority groups, announced in September
high school officials find Japan’s often living on the fringes of AUSTRALIA: provisional details of a post Brexit
new “four skills” English exams society. India’s constitution Native speaker students are acting “points-based” immigration system
“problematic”, according to a recognises around 650 “Scheduled as “unpaid tutors” at Australian favouring those proficient in
survey in September by Asahi Tribes,” who have protected Universities, podcaster and author English.
Shimbun newspaper and the status. Meshal Laurie has claimed.
Kawaijuku cram school chain. Around 50 of the 502 ashram Lauries, currently on a Masters in GOV.UK
Some 683 universities and nearly shalas (rural ‘tribal schools’) in the Media course at an unnamed
a thousand high schools northern state of Maharashtra university, described in an article
responded. begin switching from teaching in how she and fellow native English
Around 65 per cent of the Marathi language to English- speaker students “teach five weeks
university officials and a slightly medium in the current academic of post-graduate level film-making
bigger proportion of high school year, with teachers recruited from to five Chinese students in three
officials described the new tests as “reputed” private schools to teach hours.”
“problematic.” A common maths and science in English. According to Ms Laurie,
criticism was that the new exam is Meanwhile, in the southern university courses “overloaded
weighted too much towards state of Karnataka, teaching in with fee-paying” non-native
listening and reading. English-medium “from a young speakers, use assessed group work
Asahi Shimbun reports that the age” has started in tribal schools to pressure native-speaker
National Association of Secondary for the Betta Kurubus, Yaravans students to explain the tasks and
School Principals recently asked and Soligas peoples, for whom the content to the “internationals”.
the Ministry of Education to state’s Kannada language “is as The native English speakers help Home Secretary Priti Patel

8 November 2019