ACCORDING to a report in Britain’s The Guardian, although 1.2 million people took IELTS last year, the exam’s dominance is currently under scrutiny. Language assessment experts in Australia and Canada are concerned that a test that evaluates students’ performance in English in an educational setting could be a less effective measure of the skills people will need at work or as they settle in new countries. There are also signs that some immigration authorities are starting to question their dependence on IELTS. Australia and Canada are considering adopting new tests.
English literature GCSE takers?numbers falling
英国参加GCSE文学考试人数较五年前减少5%
MORE than a quarter of British teenagers are not taking English literature GCSEs, according to figures published by the Conservatives. The numbers of those doing an English literature GCSE are declining, with 72 percent of state school students doing the literature GCSE last year compared with 77 percent five years ago. The decline is sharpest among underprivileged students, with almost two in five missing out. Michael Gove, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said it was “shocking that (English literature) is in decline to the extent that more than one in four pupils does not even sit it at GCSE”.
NZ English skills for migrant workers
新西兰新推移民读写能力提高计划
ENGLISH Language Partners New Zealand, the country’s largest organization providing English language instruction for migrants, recently launched a new national program to boost English language and literacy skills in the workplace. The English for Employees program is part of the NZ government’s strategy to raise literacy. It provides language and literacy training free of charge for migrants whose first language is not English. The contents cover communication, reading, writing and cultural issues, and focus on the “language of work”.
