Mozambique's oldest and most prestigious higher education institution, Eduardo Mondlane University, will from this year introduce a degree course in Chinese, making Mozambique one of the first countries in the Southern African region to do so, reports Xinhua. Read more...
La glottophobie ou la langue comme outil de discrimination
« Acò m’agrado ! », la provençale locutrice passive que je suis a eu comme une réaction épidermique quand est arrivé à point nommé un ouvrage écrit par Philippe Blanchet pour éclairer le fait que cette mise en agenda de la question linguistique particulièrement sensible en France se réfère à notre histoire républicaine. Voir l'article...
Dinter, bitz and gwop: a guide to British youth slang in 2016
Why is English so hard to learn?
Most of us who have tried it probably feel that learning a new language is difficult, even if that new language is similar to our own. So how difficult is it to learn English and especially if your first language is quite different?
The difficulty of learning a new language will depend on how similar that language is to one you already know. Despite English speakers often rating certain languages as being particularly difficult – languages such as French, which indicate the gender of nouns with articles like le and la, and the Chinese writing system – there are similarities between these languages. More...
Could the dominance of English harm global scholarship?
By Matt Pickles. Are we "losing knowledge" because of the growing dominance of English as the language of higher education and research?
Attend any international academic conference and the discussion is likely to be conducted in English. For anyone wanting to share research, English has become the medium for study, writing and teaching. More...
Intensivkurs oder App – Wie lernt man eine Sprache am besten?
Von Sophia Schirmer. Ende Februar fliege ich nach Chile, um einen Freund zu besuchen. Das Problem: Ich spreche kein Wort Spanisch. Weil ich keine Lust habe, zwei Wochen stumm daneben zu sitzen und mir alles übersetzen zu lassen, fasse ich einen Entschluss: Ich will versuchen, bis Februar so viel Spanisch wie möglich zu lernen. Mehr...
Le gouvernement veut renforcer l’apprentissage des langues vivantes
Par Thibaut Cojean. Les langues étrangères sont dans le viseur du gouvernement. Point faible de l’éducation en France, il souhaite en renforcer l’apprentissage et favoriser la mobilité des élèves. Voir l'article...
The Forgotten Fields
By Matt Reed. I was heartened to see that the MLA spent some time discussing the realities of teaching English at community colleges. The discussion sounds like it was a good and honest first-level attempt to deal with some basic realities. More...
Selling the English Major
By Scott Jaschik. At her college, when she started teaching not that long ago, there were 122 English majors, said a professor in the audience at a panel here at the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association. Read more...
Ireland to introduce long-awaited English language reforms this month
By Sara Custer. The Irish Department of Justice has confirmed reforms it laid out in May for Ireland’s international educators will come into force this month, including the publication of an updated list of providers eligible to accept international students. More...