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Archive for the ‘north america’ Category

July 27th, 2009

Canada: ‘Sports kept me going… It made me come to school more

The Ottowa Citizen notes that when Awo Farah arrived in Canada from Djibouti in 2001 to seek a better education, the nine-year-old Grade 5 student couldn’t speak English. Eight years later, it’s amazing how her life has developed … all for the positive.
Farah would substitute the word “crazy” for “amazing” to describe her early [...]

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Posted to » americas, canada, north america
Tags: using her outgoing personality to learn to speak English with her friends

July 25th, 2009

United States: A new style of teaching

It’s a new style of teaching and reaching out to English-language learners. It uses charts and chants and turns students into “super scientists” and “experts,” putting them in control of their education, proponents say.
The teaching style is known as Guided Language Acquisition Development, or “GLAD,” and Newhall School District employed the program for the [...]

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Posted to » americas, north america, united states
Tags: Guided Language Acquisition Development

July 22nd, 2009

Japan & United States: Multicultural Awareness in Okinawa

The AmerAsian School in Okinawa (AASO) is unique in that it enrolls almost exclusively biracial American-Japanese students, and has developed an original bilingual, bicultural “double” curriculum. Founded in 1998 by five Okinawan mothers, the privately run, K-9 school of 80 students contends that “Amerasian” children have the right to study in both Japanese and English, [...]

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Posted to » americas, asia, japan, north america, united states
Tags: The AmerAsian School in Okinawa (AASO)

July 13th, 2009

United States:Language learners with disabilities might not get the right diagnosis and placement

Way back in 1985, a Cambodian refugee enrolled in the School District of Philadelphia was mistakenly placed in a special education classroom, based on the results of a test indicating that he was mentally handicapped. But the test had been conducted in English, which was not the refugee student’s native language. This student, whose initials [...]

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Posted to » americas, north america, united states

July 4th, 2009

Unites States: Poles ‘Keep things happening’ to stay vital

California: English-language proficiency is a concern for a growing number of the U.S. residents, according to New America Media. The foreign-born population in the United States increased by 57 percent between 1990 and 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Moreover, the number of adults ages 65 or older is projected to more than double [...]

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Posted to » americas, north america, united states
Tags: Project SHINE

May 24th, 2009

Seniors plan to teach English in South Korea

South Korea and America: Are you looking for a teaching job? Try going abroad, advises the Whitworthian. According to a recent article on the Florida Times-Union’s Web site, the “frightening job market is encouraging many college graduates to look abroad for work.” The article also states that “more students are inquiring about teaching overseas.” Two [...]

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Posted to » asia, north america, s korea, united states
Tags: going to South Korea for at least one year to teach English through an organization called Aclipse

May 20th, 2009

United States: When a foreign exchange year goes bad

A foreign exchange student’s complaints over living conditions he encountered with a host family in Norwood Young America have prompted a state investigation that could lead to new legislation to safeguard visiting students. The Norwegian student complained that he had lent his host family $1,000 for groceries and their son’s acting classes, amazingly he was [...]

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Posted to » americas, north america, united states
Tags: foreign exchange student's complaints over living conditions

May 5th, 2009

United States: English-only schools to make a comeback?

United States: The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering one of the most consequential cases about civil rights and schooling in two decades. At stake are the rights of English language learners (ELLs), and the responsibility of state governments and local school districts to provide enough funding and equal access to schools and the curriculum [...]

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Posted to » americas, north america, united states
Tags: English language learners

April 29th, 2009

United States: When the Patient Gets Lost in Translation

United States: For over a decade now, notes the New York Times, researchers have documented the effects of language barriers on health care. Patients who speak English poorly or not at all face longer hospital stays, an increased risk of misdiagnoses and medical errors, and decreased access to acute and preventive care services, often regardless [...]

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Posted to » americas, north america, united states
Tags: The Journal of General Internal Medicine

April 18th, 2009

Almost one-third of UBC medical students are learning ESL

Canada: Nearly 60 per cent of first- and second-year University of B.C. medical students speak at least one other language besides English, and nearly a third speak English as a second language. Nearly one-quarter of students are able to speak French, but the four most common first languages are Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi and Punjabi.
Making [...]

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Posted to » canada, north america
Tags: University of B.C. medical students speak at least one