Volunteers to teach asylum seekers English

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–A campaign aimed at embarrassing the government into revoking its ban on free English lessons for asylum seekers by mobilising volunteers to teach them is being launched today. The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) full story

Academics petition over ‘spying’

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–Academics and students have presented a petition to Downing Street, urging the government to withdraw new immigration rules for overseas students in the UK. From next March, universities will be expected to monitor whether full story

Asylum seekers need free English classes, urges campaign

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–Asylum seekers should be entitled to free English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and not have to wait until their claims for asylum have been approved. This is the principle aim of A Right to a Voice – a campaign being launched in London today, full story

EC acquires 3rd US school

NEW YORK, NY–EC, the Maltese-owned group of language schools, has acquired a well-established language school in Manhattan, New York. This is EC’s 8th school, its third in the US. EC’s first steps in the American market came with 2007’s acquisition in Boston and were soon followed by a San Diego acquisition earlier this year. The New York school, which will be full story

Downturn ‘could hit universities’

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM–Universities could be in serious financial trouble if foreign students decide they can no longer afford to study in Britain. Many British universities rely on funds brought in by overseas students. But the British Council, which promotes education overseas, fears the economic downturn may deter international students from coming to the UK. full story

BRITISH COLLECTIVE PLURALS

LANGUAGE HAT–Most of us probably have a general sense that U.K. usage favors “the [group] are” where Americans say “the [group] is”; if you’re curious about the details, check out Mark Liberman’s post at the Log. He investigates committee and government, and discovers that the singular is favored overwhelmingly for the former and significantly for the latter; various full story

International students pay £29m in fees to universities

BELFAST, IRELAND–International students paid over £29m in course fees to attend Northern Ireland’s two universities over a two year period, it was revealed yesterday. One student paid a staggering £21,830 for one year of a clinical course (medicine and dentistry) at Queen’s University, Belfast, during 2007/08. The figures have been released following a request full story

English is the second language at some schools

SOUTHEND, UNITED KINGDOM–More than a third of pupils at some Southend primary schools do not speak English as their first language, a new report has revealed. The study by Southend Council showed 39 per cent of pupils at Porters Grange Primary School are learning English as an additional language. Visitors to the school, which has 450 pupils, will hear 34 different full story

Terror fear for foreign students

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND–Colleges fear that terrorist attacks could deter overseas students from coming to Scotland, a new report revealed. The study, by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), also warned college bosses that they should not underestimate the competition from other countries for foreign students. Inspectors visited 10 colleges in Scotland as they full story

‘More money’ plea to handle foreign school pupils boom

BRACKNELL, UNITED KINGDOM–Teaching in the borough has had to adapt quickly to the sharp rise in the number of pupils who speak English as a second language. Mike Pyle reports on the changing face of the borough. Schools must find new ways of teaching foreign pupils to cope with the huge number of languages now spoken in the borough, according to a new report. full story