THE Malaysian government's top ethnic Malay language institute said it may impose fines on lawmakers and officials who use English in Parliament and other formal events without permission. "If there is a need to use words or phrases in English, members of Parliament will have to seek permission to do so," said Noresah Baharom, the language department director at the government's Institute of Language and Literature. Most Malaysians speak the national language, Malay, also known as Bahasa Malaysia. But English is widely spoken, even in Parliament. A mishmash of both languages, known as "Manglish", is also commonly used in Malaysia.
Speak into this machine, please
IBM推出基于网络英语语言训练系统
IBM'S India Research Laboratory recently announced that they have developed a Web-based, interactive language technology. It is supposed to help people who speak English as a second language improve their speaking skills. The technology evaluates grammar, pronunciation, comprehension and other spoken-language skills. It uses speech recognition software to score the pronunciation of passages and the stressing of syllables for individual words. The technology also consists of voice-enabled grammar evaluation tests which identify areas for improvement by highlighting shortcomings.
