UNEMPLOYMENT in the UK is causing many people to rethink their careers. A significant number of unemployed people are retraining as primary and secondary school teachers. They take training courses in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and look for new openings overseas. The Guardian newspaper recently reported on this trend and commented that getting a TEFL qualification provides "a chance to escape the UK and its particularly gloomy predictions for the near future."
Malaysian teachers to get foreign training
马来西亚:英语教师前往国外高校深造
THE Malaysian Ministry of Education announced that the Teaching Of English As The Second Language (TESL) program would be conducted by its teachers' training institutes in connection with foreign universities. The Education Minister said this would assist in increasing the number of English teachers and enhancing the quality of English teaching. About 500 teachers from 10 teachers' training institutes will take courses at selected universities. Before taking the degree courses, the primary school teachers will have to take preparatory courses for one-and-a-half years, while secondary school teachers will take two years.
Seoul's schools to set English speaking tests
韩国:首尔中学英语口语考试比重加大
SPEAKING tests will account for 10 percent of English proficiency evaluations for secondary students in Seoul, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has said. Listening, speaking and writing scores will take up more than a half of the total score of English tests by the spring semester, starting in March. English-only classes will be conducted more than once a week. By 2010, each school will have an English conversation teacher. The current English curriculum includes listening, speaking and writing, but schools have usually given reading comprehension tests since they are easiest to evaluate.
