Irish schools in English debate 爱尔兰拟实施小学 英语新政策引发争议

　　THE recent statement by Ireland’s

　　minister for education and science, Mary Hanafin, that the Irish-only policy in

　　infant classes in all-Irish schools is to be curtailed, has been disputed by those

　　involved in Irish medium education. Most all-Irish schools do not want to teach

　　English in infant classes even for 30 minutes a day. They believe that if the

　　teacher speaks English to the children in the early years, it will weaken the

　　status of Irish as the school language.

　　Orange award to Nigerian novelist 全球知名女性英语 文学奖揭晓

　　NIGERIAN novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has won the Orange Prize for

　　Half of a Yellow Sun. Set during the 1960s Biafran civil war, the book tells the

　　story of three characters: a poor houseboy, a glamorous woman and a shy Englishman.

　　They are caught up in the conflict and have to run for their lives. The Orange

　　is one of the literary world’s top awards given to the best book written in English

　　by a woman in the past 12 months. The award had an international flavor in 2007

　　with authors shortlisted from Britain, China, India and the US.