No School, No Future, No English

[Harry Smith]

The only foreign language taught in may schools in the USA is Chinese:

"The New York Times".

January 21, 2010

Foreign Languages Fade in Class — Except Chinese

By SAM DILLON

WASHINGTON — Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign languages in the last decade, according to a government-financed survey — dismal news for a nation that needs more linguists to conduct its global business and diplomacy.

But another contrary trend has educators and policy makers abuzz: a rush by schools in all parts of America to offer instruction in Chinese.

Some schools are paying for Chinese classes on their own, but hundreds are getting some help. The Chinese government is sending teachers from China to schools all over the world — and paying part of their salaries. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/educatio...agewanted=print

 

We see a similar problem in Russia where fewer and fewer children choose French or german as a foreign language to study at school. Do you think this tendency to stick mainly to English will change in the nearest future, or will it only become stronger?

 

I think one day the whole world will speak one language.... And this language will be either English or Chinese....

[Алексей Конобеев]

I think one day the whole world will speak one language.... And this language will be either English or Chinese....

It's interesting to see that currently there is a revival of interest towards studying the Russian language in the USA. here is a quotation from an article published in the Washington Post on march 1, 2010:

"Russian used to be hot, the must-learn language of ambitious Americans looking to talk to their rivals. But the end of the Cold War put the language in a deep freeze -- one from which it's just beginning to emerge.

Students now see Russia as a place to make money, and, with the highly charged rhetoric of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the country appears to be a bit of a rival again. Russian programs in high schools, which had been shrinking since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991, may have stabilized, educators say. " http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0022804407.html

[Radislav Millrood]

It's interesting to see that currently there is a revival of interest towards studying the Russian language in the USA. here is a quotation from an article published in the Washington Post on march 1, 2010:

"Russian used to be hot, the must-learn language of ambitious Americans looking to talk to their rivals. But the end of the Cold War put the language in a deep freeze -- one from which it's just beginning to emerge.

Students now see Russia as a place to make money, and, with the highly charged rhetoric of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the country appears to be a bit of a rival again. Russian programs in high schools, which had been shrinking since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991, may have stabilized, educators say. " http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0022804407.html

Of course there may be a return of interest in the Russian studies. Although my preference is to use facts. I have recently returned from Macedonia which is actively building up a relationship with Russia. This year they have cut the curriculum of Russian language and culture by half. They students now study Russian in the winter term during the first year and in the summer term during the second year. The teachers of Russian have lost part of their job. Most students know English to the extent that enabled me to give my lectures to them in English. Lecturing to them in Russian would have meant the need to pay the translator from Russian into Macedonian. I certainly preferred English. The choice of language is prompted by career and business perspectives. In this sense Macedonians might be interested in the Greek, Italian and other languages, including German and English. They students pay for the language studies and they need value for money.

[Алексей Конобеев]

I've read somewhere that because of the receccion more people go into teaching and other state-funded jobs.

Interestinly, the UK faces a similar situation. This is what The Guardian wrote yesterday:

"The number of men applying to become teachers leaped by almost 50% last year, figures revealed today.

 

And the total number of would-be trainees increased by more than a third, fuelled in part by career-changers reconsidering their jobs in the light of the recession.

 

The changing profile of the teaching applicant comes after years of calls for more men to go into the classroom, particularly in primary schools, to provide role models for young boys.

 

But even with the increase from 7,900 to 11,700, they still made up only 30% of the 38,800 applicants. There was a 52% increase in the number of men wanting to teach primary pupils, according to the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/m...o-into-teaching

 

And what's the situation in your schools like? How does it compare with the state plans to stop non-professional teachers from obtaining the highest qualification category and consequently lessen their numbers?

[mick]

I think one day the whole world will speak one language.... And this language will be either English or Chinese....

It looks like that. I personally vote for English - it's much easier in every aspect.

[Harry Smith]

It looks like that. I personally vote for English - it's much easier in every aspect.

 

 

So do I vote for English!

[Алексей Конобеев]

Here's an interesting piece written by a journalist in The Washington Post about learning foreign languages at school:

...“It is a waste of time and money in our schools,” said a parent who remembered seeing empty language lab stalls. A high school teacher said that “language study is complete nonsense for most people. I’d wager close to 80.percent of kids taking foreign languages in high school do so because they have to.”...

 

"Because much of the world is striving to learn English, Americans wonder why they should bother to learn other languages. We talk about the importance of foreign language learning to our national security, but we don’t mean it. If if we need speakers of exotic tongues, we import them.

 

We tell our children that their Spanish or Russian or Arabic or Japanese studies are important. But we give them high grades for little progress. Most colleges don’t require that applicants have more than two years. And from what I can see, based on what actually happens in high schools, learning a foreign language often is a waste of time. "

Read the complete article here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-str...foreign_la.html

 

Would you say that we have a similar situation with teaching foreign languages in Russian schools?

[Lyudmila]

I think one day the whole world will speak one language.... And this language will be either English or Chinese....

I don't think so! Every country has it's traditions, culture and language. No one wants to loose them! They take care of them and try to develope them.

[Harry Smith]

I don't think so! Every country has it's traditions, culture and language. No one wants to loose them! They take care of them and try to develope them.

 

 

Yes, I agree that every country has its traditions, culture and language.... No one wants to lose them. But it's really very hard to study so many languages. One of the leading languages is English nowadays.... First of all a lot of people can speak English and soon it will be spoken fluently in all continents. Secondly we can learn English in a very short period of time. And finally more than 90% of the information in the NET is in English....

[Laddy]

А Фурсенко все реформирует: http://news.mail.ru/society/4395407/

[Harry Smith]

А Фурсенко все реформирует: http://news.mail.ru/society/4395407/

 

No teachers, no school, no English!

[пять гор]

No teachers, no school, no English!

Harry, it is so amazingly typical of you to say that!

[Uchilka]

А Фурсенко все реформирует: http://news.mail.ru/society/4395407/

Нам-то казалось, что в школе детей обучают и воспитывают. Но теперь вот придут УПРАВЛЕНЦЫ и быстро со школами УПРАВЯТСЯ.

[Harry Smith]

Harry, it is so amazingly typical of you to say that!

 

I like saying things like that....We can save school if we stay there no matter we are well-paid or not.... Unfortunately I'm thinking of leaving school soon....

[пять гор]

... Unfortunately I'm thinking of leaving school soon....

Why is that?

[Harry Smith]

Why is that?

 

I want to open an English speaking centre... At school I have only 7 lessons a week....

[пять гор]

I want to open an English speaking centre... At school I have only 7 lessons a week....

7? didnt you tell it was 15 or I 'm just mistaken? 7 is really not enough...are you going to rent an office?

[Harry Smith]

7? didnt you tell it was 15 or I 'm just mistaken? 7 is really not enough...are you going to rent an office?

 

It was 15 last year! It's ten this year but I don't mind... We have a new-baked teacher this year... I live on the ground floor and I live alone... So I'll make my home an office....

[Алексей Конобеев]

Есть ли будущее у английского языка? Что может заставить его уйти в прошлое, как это уже произошло с другими языками международного общения - санскритом, персидским языком, латынью?

Об этом в интервью газете Гардиан рассуждает британский лингвист Nicholas Ostler. Несколько цитат:

In the contentious and overcrowded world of English language studies, Nicholas Ostler stands out as an original analyst of a subject that usually generates more heat than light. Ostler's Empires of the Word (2005) was a critically acclaimed history of the world's languages based on his deep knowledge of linguistic theory and a familiarity with around 26 languages.

In his new book, The Last Lingua Franca (Allen Lane), he brings a wide-ranging linguistic perspective to bear on the role and future of global English. His provocative conclusion – that English is likely to go the way of Persian, Sanskrit and Latin and, over many hundreds of years, inevitably die out – will bring hope to the French and dismay to many American linguistic patriots.

 

Ostler is the chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, a non-profit organisation that exists to support, enable and assist the documentation, protection and promotion of endangered languages.

 

Ученый отвечает на такие вопросы, как

Surely the historical circumstances that led to the decline of a language such as Persian are very different from the circumstances in which English finds itself today?

 

But global capitalism, global media, global politics – isn't that a lot to discount if English will ultimately disappear?

 

How will new technologies – the sort of things that allow instant translation between languages – shape the future?

 

Conventional wisdom used to be that new forms of English – Jamaican patois or Singlish [English-based creole spoken and written colloquially in Singapore] – would become mutually unintelligible. But that hasn't happened yet.

 

You run the Foundation for Endangered Languages. What does that do?

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/...-my-bright-idea

[Harry Smith]

Есть ли будущее у английского языка? Что может заставить его уйти в прошлое, как это уже произошло с другими языками международного общения - санскритом, персидским языком, латынью?

Об этом в интервью газете Гардиан рассуждает британский лингвист Nicholas Ostler. Несколько цитат:

In the contentious and overcrowded world of English language studies, Nicholas Ostler stands out as an original analyst of a subject that usually generates more heat than light. Ostler's Empires of the Word (2005) was a critically acclaimed history of the world's languages based on his deep knowledge of linguistic theory and a familiarity with around 26 languages.

In his new book, The Last Lingua Franca (Allen Lane), he brings a wide-ranging linguistic perspective to bear on the role and future of global English. His provocative conclusion – that English is likely to go the way of Persian, Sanskrit and Latin and, over many hundreds of years, inevitably die out – will bring hope to the French and dismay to many American linguistic patriots.

 

Ostler is the chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, a non-profit organisation that exists to support, enable and assist the documentation, protection and promotion of endangered languages.

 

Ученый отвечает на такие вопросы, как

Surely the historical circumstances that led to the decline of a language such as Persian are very different from the circumstances in which English finds itself today?

 

But global capitalism, global media, global politics – isn't that a lot to discount if English will ultimately disappear?

 

How will new technologies – the sort of things that allow instant translation between languages – shape the future?

 

Conventional wisdom used to be that new forms of English – Jamaican patois or Singlish [English-based creole spoken and written colloquially in Singapore] – would become mutually unintelligible. But that hasn't happened yet.

 

You run the Foundation for Endangered Languages. What does that do?

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/...-my-bright-idea

An interesting article!!!

I think that English will never die or disappear, but a new language will appear as a result of globalisation of the world.... This new language will mainly be based on English.... English has become part of our life....

[Алексей Конобеев]

Problems in English schools:

"Weak teachers the biggest problem in schools – Ofsted

 

• 'Dull and uninspiring' lessons hold back pupils, report finds

• Child protection services hindered by staff shortages

 

* Jeevan Vasagar, education editor

* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 23 November 2010 17.23 GMT

 

Children are being subjected to "dull and uninspiring" lessons, the schools inspectorate warns today.

 

On the eve of an education white paper proposing a shift in teacher training from colleges to classrooms, Ofsted's chief inspector, Christine Gilbert, said low expectation of pupils and teachers' poor grasp of their subject have led to confused lessons.

 

In the watchdog's annual report, inspectors found 37% of teaching was merely "satisfactory". The quality was too "variable" and not good enough in half of England's secondaries and over two-fifths of primaries.

 

Almost half of schools (45%) were judged satisfactory or worse this year, with one in 12 (8%) rated inadequate. Gilbert said: "The weakest area, and the area that I am most concerned about, is teaching. In many of our good schools we see pockets of weaker teaching.

 

"There is too much teaching that is dull and uninspiring. This means that too many young people are not equipped well enough to make the best of their lives."

 

She added that poor teachers should be encouraged to leave the profession. "

...

"Poor teaching means pupils are given mundane tasks that fail to engage their minds, the report says. "In less effective mathematics lessons, pupils tend to be given initial examples followed by many similar questions that do not go beyond the basic revision of a skill or technique."

...

"Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Our classroom teachers do an amazing job day in day out in often challenging circumstances.

 

"If there is anything that is 'dull and uninspiring' in our schools it is a curriculum that is narrowed by the series of hoops that schools have to jump through in order to satisfy arbitrary targets which can change with alarming regularity. This often results in a narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test, simply because schools are fearful of slipping down in the school league tables.""

Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/nov/23/weak-teachers-schools-ofsted

[Lyudmila]

An interesting article!!!

I think that English will never die or disappear, but a new language will appear as a result of globalisation of the world.... This new language will mainly be based on English.... English has become part of our life....

В результате глобализации и интеграции, новый язык, похоже, уже начал формироваться. Только, кажется, не лучший его вариант. Идёт смешение языков, возникают новые образования,названия привычных традиционных слов, процесс доходит, порой, до абсурда - типа "уборщица = менеджер по клинингу". Если таким темпом будет формироваться новый язык, то мы вернёмся к первобытному обществу...

[Алексей Конобеев]

В каждой российской школе в течение 2011 года будет создан проект "школы будущего". Об этом президент России Дмитрий Медведев рассказал в своем послании Федеральному Собранию.

 

Кроме того, в этом же году на программы переквалификации учителей и их стажировок в ведущих школах и университетах страны из федерального бюджета будет выделено более 2 миллиардов рублей. Еще одним нововведением, которое должно быть осуществлено в ближайшее время, Медведев назвал создание системы поиска и поддержки талантливых детей по всей стране, а также разработку нормативов подушевого финансового сопровождения одаренных детей. Президент порекомендовал правительству завершить работу над этими документами в ближайшее время.

 

Медведев отметил важнейшую роль школьного образования в развитии страны и наметил ряд тенденций, которые должны быть реализованы в недалеком будущем. В частности, президент заявил, что учителям необходимо следить за развитием современных технологий, чтобы не отставать от своих учеников, которые, по словам Медведева, лучше всех остальных групп граждан разбираются в них.

http://www.lenta.ru/news/2010/11/30/children/

[Harry Smith]

Что такое школа будущего? Школа будущего — это школа воспитания Личности, готовой к непрерывному образованию. Школа, где ребенку уютно, комфортно, где он ощущает себя успешным человеком независимо от полученных отметок. Для этого нужно создать определенную классную среду (ситуацию). Здесь ребенку должны быть предоставлены все возможности для самореализации, чтобы возникало стремление быть, проявлять себя и признаваться личностью. Все в школе должно быть подчинено этому, так как школа для ребёнка – это второй дом, где он проводит большую часть своего времени, это мир, в котором он живёт и, как губка, впитывает весь уклад и традиции школы, именно там формируется характер, личность. Школа будущего должна обладать принципиальной инновационностью по сравнению с сегодняшней школой: 1) обновленное содержание образования, в том числе в области русского и иностранного языков, 2) интеграция информационно-коммуникационных технологий в учебный процесс, 3) поддержка и укрепление здоровья детей, 4) инновационные формы организации образовательного процесса, в том числе проектная, исследовательская, дистанционная формы, 5) прямое взаимодействие школы с научными институтами и вузами, производствами, банками, властью. Школа будущего — это школа, оснащенная новейшими учебно-техническими средствами.

[Алексей Конобеев]

В интернете началось общественное обсуждение нового законопроекта "Об образовании". Вы можете высказать свое мнение на сайте http://www.zakonoproekt2010.ru/#law/edu до 1 февраля 2011 года.