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<DIV>Hi Hal,</DIV>
<DIV>How are you doing? I hope you're feeling well today.</DIV>
<DIV>I'll be at HUMC tonight for an IHOC board meeting starting around 530.
<BR>Stop in and say hello if you're around.<BR>Tom</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 2/16/2016 12:00:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>Send
lgpolicy-list mailing list submissions to<BR>
lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu<BR><BR>To subscribe or unsubscribe via the
World Wide Web, visit<BR>
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list<BR>or, via email,
send a message with subject or body 'help' to<BR>
lgpolicy-list-request@groups.sas.upenn.edu<BR><BR>You can reach the person
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lgpolicy-list-owner@groups.sas.upenn.edu<BR><BR>When replying, please edit
your Subject line so it is more specific<BR>than "Re: Contents of
lgpolicy-list digest..."<BR><BR><BR>Today's Topics:<BR><BR> 1.
Malaysia: Do not fail English as well (Harold Schiffman)<BR> 2.
South Africa: Department of Higher Education and Training<BR>
publishes its Draft Language Policy, Xhosa excluded By
Political<BR> Analysis South Africa Feb 15, 2016 On 12
February 2016, the<BR> Department of Higher Education and
Training (Harold
Schiffman)<BR><BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Message:
1<BR>Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 09:14:55 -0500<BR>From: Harold Schiffman
<hfsclpp@gmail.com><BR>Subject: [lg policy] Malaysia: Do not fail
English as well<BR>To: lp
<lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu><BR>Message-ID:<BR>
<CAB7VSRDEoxmbBE9s1oR8Mz7yN+a_xjmNj1SjAkFbQ287cZqMJg@mail.gmail.com><BR>Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="utf-8"<BR><BR>Do not fail English as
well<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>SINCE 2008, the Parent Action
Group for Education (PAGE) has been seeking<BR>the non-abolition of the
mandatory policy of teaching and learning of<BR>Science and Mathematics in
English but we were thwarted at every turn. We<BR>persevered and the policy
was resurrected in the form of the Soft Landing<BR>in 2011, which will end in
2020, allowing students who started in English<BR>to finish in
English.<BR><BR>In the meantime, this scientific English policy was replaced
by a language<BR>policy in 2011 called “Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu,
Memperkasakan Bahasa<BR>Inggeris or MBMMBI (Uphold Bahasa Melayu, Strengthen
the English Language),<BR>which continues to be expanded and
developed.<BR><BR>In 2015, the Prime Minister with the Economic Council sought
a radical<BR>approach towards rectifying the appalling state of the English
language<BR>that has resulted in over 400,000 graduates to date to be
unemployed. The<BR>Education and Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRI) Human
Capital Development<BR>of Pemandu (Performance Management and Delivery Unit),
comprising highly<BR>analytical, dynamic and outstanding professionals in
their respective<BR>fields carefully hand-picked from the private sector, was
tasked to explore<BR>and recommend this radical solution.<BR><BR>Numerous
stakeholders, including the Federation of Manufacturers Malaysia<BR>(FMM),
Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), British Council, advocates
of<BR>English, think-tanks and scholarship foundations, tertiary
education<BR>professors and, most importantly, high-ranking officials from the
Education<BR>Ministry were invited to brainstorm and articulate an effective
approach.<BR><BR>A lengthy and detailed process was undertaken which
culminated in three<BR>main recommendations as an expansion of MBMMBI
programmes in enhancing<BR>English as advocated in Wave 2 (2016-2020) of the
Malaysia Education<BR>Blueprint 2013-2025 (MEB). These were the High Immersion
Programme (HIP)<BR>for all schools, Dual Language Programme (DLP) as a pilot
project involving<BR>300 schools (or a mere 3%), and Dual Language Programme
Plus (DLP+).<BR><BR>The DLP+ which would have been the closest we would ever
get to the return<BR>of English medium schools, excluding the subjects of
Pendidikan Islam/Moral<BR>and History, although endorsed by the Prime
Minister, the Education<BR>Minister and the Economic Council, was withdrawn by
the Education Ministry<BR>from lack of resources.<BR><BR>The philosophy behind
DLP is it is a parents’ option (as stated by the<BR>Education Act 1996 where
“pupils are to be educated according to the wishes<BR>of their parentsâ€)
and not teachers nor critics to choose the medium of<BR>instruction; students
cannot achieve operational proficiency through the<BR>15% to 20% English hours
offered in classrooms (as indicated by<BR>international research) and
therefore other subjects had to be explored;<BR>and the majority of Science
and Mathematics teachers had a minor in English<BR>unlike those of other
possible non-core subjects.<BR><BR>Parents would fill in a standard form
providing consent for their children<BR>to be taught in Bahasa Melayu or
English for the four STEM subjects. This<BR>was done at the start of the year
for Primary One and Primary Four, and<BR>Form One. A class would be provided
where there is a minimum of 15 students<BR>in either language. There is no
plan to have all the approximately 10,000<BR>schools nationwide offer DLP next
year or at any point in time as long as<BR>parents do not consent.<BR><BR>DLP
is designed for students to immerse themselves in an environment
where<BR>English can be applied and practised beyond the English classroom.
Students<BR>who are already proficient can assist the teacher and mentor those
who are<BR>not. Parents too have a role to play alongside the teachers,
providing<BR>support, encouragement and a positive attitude. There is no magic
formula.<BR>Children and grandchildren of teachers, past, present and future
will<BR>benefit tremendously too.<BR><BR>Giving up from the start without even
trying would be a great injustice to<BR>the innocent children who have
infinite potential if they were guided by<BR>visionary adults. Critics,
especially politicians who reject the DLP, are<BR>selfish hypocrites who want
only their own children to excel by quietly<BR>enrolling them in international
schools where they get to enjoy an English<BR>education.<BR><BR>Parents who
are level-headed and thinking adults will not want their<BR>children to add to
the 400,000 unemployed graduates. Or do
you?<BR><BR>http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2016/02/16/do-not-fail-english-as-well/<BR><BR><BR>--
<BR>**************************************<BR>N.b.: Listing on the
lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<BR>members<BR>and implies
neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<BR>sponsor of the
list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<BR>disagree with
a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<BR>directly to the
original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<BR>may be
forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<BR><BR>For
more information about the lgpolicy-list, go
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next part --------------<BR>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...<BR>URL:
http://groups.sas.upenn.edu/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20160216/9fc5352b/attachment-0001.html<BR><BR>------------------------------<BR><BR>Message:
2<BR>Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 09:17:24 -0500<BR>From: Harold Schiffman
<hfsclpp@gmail.com><BR>Subject: [lg policy] South Africa: Department of
Higher Education and<BR> Training publishes its Draft Language
Policy, Xhosa excluded By<BR> Political Analysis South Africa Feb
15, 2016 On 12 February 2016, the<BR> Department of Higher
Education and Training<BR>To: lp
<lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu><BR>Message-ID:<BR>
<CAB7VSRDa2p5GvcgyNFFjqJgX1uWqa5VgS1jF0VKKSHRq2oyrZg@mail.gmail.com><BR>Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="utf-8"<BR><BR>DHET publishes its Draft Language Policy,
Xhosa excluded<BR>By Political Analysis South
Africa<BR><http://www.politicalanalysis.co.za/author/political-analysis-south-africa/><BR>Feb
15, 2016<BR><BR>On 12 February 2016, the Department of Higher Education and
Training<BR>published its Draft Language Policy (Gazette No.39679). Comments
can be<BR>submitted within 30 days after the publication of the notice in the
Gazette.<BR><BR>The Use of Official Languages Act (2012) requires (amongst
other things)<BR><BR> - the regulation and monitoring of the use
of official languages by<BR> National Government;<BR>
- the adoption of a language policy;<BR> - the establishment of a
national language unit by the Department.<BR><BR>The Regulations to the Act
came into effect on 5 February 2014 and the<BR>Department of Higher Education
and Training (DHET) developed this Language<BR>Policy in order to fulfil the
requirements of the Act and the Constitution.<BR>Section 29 of the
Constitution guarantees equal access to education<BR>including the rights to
receive education in the official language or<BR>languages of choice and to
establish and maintain independent educational<BR>institutions. The rights to
equal access to information are guaranteed in<BR>sections 9 and 32
respectively of the Constitution.<BR><BR>The purpose of the Language Policy is
to outline how the DHET will use<BR>official languages to meet its
communication needs and deliver information<BR>to citizens as well as
articulate articulate policy and
services.<BR><BR>Objectives<BR><BR> 1. to adopt, implement a
language policy and monitor its application by<BR> its entities in
the use of official languages for government purposes<BR> 2. to
promote equal respect and treatment of official languages<BR> 3.
to facilitate equitable access to services and information of
DHET;<BR> and<BR><BR>Principles<BR><BR>The principles of this
policy derive from the Constitution and the Act;
and<BR>involve:<BR><BR> 1. the recognition and promotion of the
use of all eleven official<BR> languages to ensure language
equity.<BR> 2. the elevation of the status and use of indigenous
languages<BR> 3. equal respect and treatment of official
languages<BR> 4. good language management by the DHET to ensure
efficient public<BR> service administration that meets public
needs and equitable access to<BR> services and information of the
DHET;<BR> 5. preventing the use of languages for domination and
discrimination<BR> 6. supporting special redress programmes for
previously marginalized<BR> official indigenous
languages<BR> 7. the learning and teaching of all the official
languages.<BR><BR>*Factors taken into account*<BR><BR>This policy takes into
account the language needs at national and provicial<BR>level.The following
factors have been taken into consideration when<BR>choosing the official
languages that the DHET will use in
each<BR>context/situation:<BR><BR> - Usage;<BR> -
Practicability;<BR> - Expense;<BR> - Regional
circumstances; and<BR> - The balance of the needs and preferences
of the public it serves<BR><BR>The national DHET will use for official
government business, the following<BR>languages:<BR><BR> -
*English*<BR> - *Sepedi *<BR> - *isiZulu
*<BR><BR>Provinces can adopt at least three or more official languages and
will<BR>adopt an additional, reserve or alternative language:<BR><BR>Gauteng:
English, Setswana and isiZulu<BR><BR>Mpumalanga: English, Sepedi, Xitsonga,
isiNdebele and siSwati<BR><BR>Free State: English, Sesotho and
Afrikaans<BR><BR>Northern Cape: English, Sesotho and Afrikaans<BR><BR>Eastern
Cape: English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans<BR><BR>Western Cape: English, Afrikaans
and isiXhosa<BR><BR>North West: English, Setswana and
Afrikaans<BR><BR>Limpopo: English, Sepedi, Xitsonga,
Tshivenda<BR><BR>KwaZulu-Natal: English and isiZulu<BR><BR> - In
addition to the above languages, the DHET will also use other<BR>
official languages as and when required.<BR> - The chosen
languages may not apply to electronic communication<BR> platforms
such as the DHET website content<BR><BR>*Diversity Priority*<BR><BR>As the
second most spoken language in South Africa (spoken by 16% of
South<BR>Africans) the DHET should have included isiXhosa in the list of
languages<BR>used for national official government business, considering that
Sepedi<BR>(Sesotho sa Leboa or Northern Sotho) is only the fourth most
common<BR>language in South Africa.<BR><BR>*Vanessa
Freerks*<BR><BR>*v.freerks@politicalanalysis.co.za
<v.freerks@politicalanalysis.co.za>*<BR><BR><BR>*http://www.politicalanalysis.co.za/2016/02/15/dhet-publishes-draft-language-policy-xhosa-excluded/<BR><http://www.politicalanalysis.co.za/2016/02/15/dhet-publishes-draft-language-policy-xhosa-excluded/>*<BR><BR><BR>--
<BR>**************************************<BR>N.b.: Listing on the
lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its<BR>members<BR>and implies
neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or<BR>sponsor of the
list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who<BR>disagree with
a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write<BR>directly to the
original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this<BR>may be
forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<BR><BR>For
more information about the lgpolicy-list, go
to<BR>https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/<BR>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<BR>*******************************************<BR>--------------
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