Sri Lanka: The New Year (2009) has been designated as the Year of English and Information Technology, exclaims the Sunday Observer. Both these are indispensable tools of survival in the modern age. Knowledge of English and IT paves the way for limitless opportunities. As President Rajapaksa has said, the Government is laying emphasis on the [...]
Sri Lanka: The fact cannot be denied that today English has evolved, from its beginning to be the lingua franca of all fields of work. The need of having a major focus on English education is therefore of paramount importance. Now English education has become the main thrust in our education system. Newspapers provide an [...]
Sri Lanka: Begun in 2006, the British Council Distant Teacher Training Course aims to improve the English language teaching skills of teachers from 26 districts across the country. R.M.G.W. Rathnayake teaches at Pubbiliya Maha Vidyalaya Naula where most of the students are farmers’ children. As one of the participants in the Distant Teacher Training Course [...]
After decades of hair-splitting over an appropriate methodology for teaching the English Language, particularly among the young, the Sri Lankan state has hit on what seems to be a workable, practical solution to the apparently complex problem. I’ll believe that when it slaps me in the face.
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Sphere: Related Content
The concept of anything being ‘fast-tracked’ should be enough to send shivers down the back of any self respecting language teacher. So, it’s with heavy heart that I report how fifty thousand school leavers could be targeted by a special project launched by the state in collaboration with the BoI and sections of the local [...]
Sri Lanka: Taking English to far-flung places
It is a lazy Sunday morning but a diverse group from all over the country is gathered in Colombo intently listening to senior trainers going through the paces of how to teach English. This is just one of the numerous workshops and training programmes for teachers and would-be [...]
China: Crazy English
Accompanied by his photographer and his personal assistant, Li Yang stepped into a Beijing classroom and shouted, “Hello, everyone!” The students applauded. Li, the founder, head teacher, and editor-in-chief of Li Yang Crazy English, wore a dove-gray turtleneck and a black car coat.
The classes were part of a campaign that is more ambitious [...]
