August 2007
Monthly Archive
06 Aug 2007 06:09 am
ESL classes packed with motivated learners
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Although immigrants frequently are perceived to lack the drive to learn English, local college instructors are seeing many immigrants pack English classes — just as international students have done for many years. For immigrants, proficiency in English can lead them to higher-wage jobs — as well as more acceptance from the American people. And many say they are hoping to return to professional careers they once held in their native countries. Kerrie Abb, dean of the Basic Skills Department at YVCC, said each year her day and evening courses serve 3,000 students who want to obtain high school equivalency degrees and learn English. Those enrolled in English language courses — 1,800 students — claim 60 percent of the seats at the Yakima and Grandview campuses. |
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05 Aug 2007 07:38 am
Students’ Demand Booms for Modesto Junior College’s ESL Courses
| Because of high demand and increased funding from the state, MJC has expanded its English As A Second Language (ESL) offerings. More than 200 students were on summer waiting lists. When a class fills up during registration, another is opened, said Patrick Wall, director of basic skills. Almost 20 percent of Stanislaus County’s population — about 82,000 people — do not speak English. “We’re not serving the need and we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Wall said. “These are our future students. We need a literate, educated work force.” |
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search for : English As A Second Language, ESL
04 Aug 2007 07:55 am
Indians to Teach English via Internet
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An Indian company is tapping the lucrative English education market in South Korea with a person-to-person online tutoring service at an Indian price _ known as e-tutoring, or “education outsourcing.” Krishnan Ganesh, the founder and the CEO of TutorVista, said the Bangalore-based firm is preparing to open a Korean-language site this month to launch full e-tutoring programs for individual students and for companies. He also said that some 50 Korean students are already enrolled at its pilot program that offers unlimited, 24-hour-open tutoring at only $100 per month, and about 200 more are in more expensive SAT, TOEFL, GMAT and GRE examination preparation courses taught by Indian teachers in real time. |
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search for : English education
03 Aug 2007 07:12 am
$1 million to fund English education to teachers in Clark, Floyd counties
| With so many immigrants moving to and living in the area, public educators have felt helpless dealing with students struggling to learn the English language. Help arrived Tuesday in the form of a $1 million grant. IU Southeast received the grant from the U.S. Department of Education. It will be used to improve the learning environment and success for English language learners by strengthening the teaching processes in Clark and Floyd counties. “There is a huge need in the area for this,” said Magdalena Herdoiza-Estevez, coordinator of the graduate studies program for the IUS School of Education. “This is a very comprehensive grant.” |
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02 Aug 2007 07:15 am
University program strives to break language barrier on campus
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Most students can probably share a story or two about having an instructor they couldn’t understand, however the English as a Second Language program works hard to ensure this problem is minimized when it comes to international teaching assistants. The English as a Second Language program performs the task of deterring whether or not foreign graduate students are ready to teach. The ESL determines the students’ abilities to teach by facilitating placement testing. “International teaching assistants are required to pass placement testing,” according to Spike. They take a specialized form of placement testing that consists of a mock classroom setting. “The ITA must prepare a mock lecture through which their English proficiency and teaching skills are evaluated,” Spike said. |
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search for : English as a Second Language
01 Aug 2007 07:15 am
English Instruction Touted for Immigrants
| Spending on English instruction must be quadrupled to more than $4 billion a year for the next six years to make legal and illegal adult immigrants proficient in skills crucial to their assimilation and the economic future of a country whose population is increasingly foreign-born, a new national report says. In the first nationwide study of its kind, the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that an additional $200 million a year is needed to improve legal immigrants’ English skills enough for them to pass a citizenship test and “fully participate in the country’s civic life.” An additional $2.9 billion a year is required for illegal immigrants to meet those standards, the report says. Federal and state governments currently spend about $1 billion a year on English as a Second Language instruction for adults, most of which comes from the states. |
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search for : English instruction, English as a Second Language
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