Foreign student to serve 17 days in jail for faking visa documents

VANCOUVER, CANADA–The B.C. Court of Appeal has found that a two-month jail sentence was unfit after it imposed on a foreign student who faked records to stay in Canada. The B.C. Court of Appeal substituted a sentence of 17 days of “time served” for international student Shihao Hupang, now 20. “In my view, the sentencing judge erred in viewing the circumstances of this case full story

Future of English Language Teaching

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA–What is the future of English language teaching? The answers appear to be more students taking more exams and using more technology in the classroom. However, the question is whether this is really a surprise to anyone working in an ESL or EFL environment like Korea full story

At Zephyrhills High, lunch break a world away

ST. PETERSBURG, FL–Diversity is something to be celebrated. Just ask Jeffra Flaitz and Danielle Zinna, two teachers at Zephyrhills High School. Not too long ago, the two took a good look at their student population and decided it was time to mix things up a bit. “We have 35 different nationalities represented here,” said Flaitz, who is an ESOL full story

Overseas student ID cards begin

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–The fingerprinting of overseas students for biometric identity cards has begun for those extending their visas. It is the first phase of tighter visa restrictions which will eventually affect more than 300,000 people applying to study in the UK each year. The tougher rules are intended to prevent the abuse of student visas as a way of gaining entry to the UK. full story

Voter Suing Over Spanish Language Ballots

DELTONA, FL–Volusia County’s Supervisor of Elections is being sued by a voter who says ballots should be available in Spanish for Puerto Rican citizens who do not speak English. Crimilda Perez-Santiago filed a lawsuit with the help of a group known as Latino Justice out of New York. The group said based on a 1965 law, Puerto Ricans were granted the right to vote in their native full story

Schools to get ‘Immigrant Children’ grant from state

BETHEL, CT–Families of the six children in an English as a Second Language class at Berry School came to Bethel from Ecuador, Albania and China. “We’re working on vowels, short ‘a’ and short ‘i’,” ESL tutor Joanne Matteo told the children last week. About 10 percent of Bethel students come from families that do not speak English. Spanish or Portuguese is spoken in most full story

What the Feds Said About ‘Supplement Not Supplant’ for Title III

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE–I hope you’ve had a chance to read my reports on this blog of what officials from the U.S. Department of Education have been saying about the “supplement-not-supplant” provision of Title III, the section of the No Child Left Behind Act that authorizes funds for English-language-acquisition programs. The provision says that money from Title III full story

Most Native English Teachers in Seoul are Unqualified

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA–It has been reported that some of the native English instructors working in Seoul’s schools are uncertified or have not taken TESOL, a special course for teachers of English to foreigners. According to a report on an audit submitted to Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Monday by Nam Jae-kyong of Seoul Metropolitan Council, just 166, or 20.5 percent full story

21% of Foreign Teachers Hold Teaching Licenses

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA–About 21 percent of native English-speaking teachers at primary and secondary schools in Seoul hold teaching licenses. According to data provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to Nam Jae-kyong, a Seoul Metropolitan Council member, 166, or 20.5 percent of 810 foreign English teachers at schools in Seoul, have teaching licenses. full story

ESL students speak in future tense

YAKIMA, WA–Juli Salatino’s third-period class is a bit different from her others. Her portable classroom at Davis High School, generally filled with teenagers learning Spanish, is instead occupied by a variety of students working through English verbs and sentence structure. This is her English as a Second Language, or ESL, class. And, for these non-native English-speakers full story