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Blogger Fired for Homophone Phobia

Today’s bloggers need to get creative to attract readers and web traffic in a virtual world saturated by blogs about every imaginable topic. Some succeed on the merits of their writing alone, while others seek polemical subjects to satiate readers who love a juicy story. But when social-media specialist and former language teacher, Tim Torkildson, penned a piece on English language homophones for the website of a Provo, Utah language center, he wasn’t trying to stir up a scandal. Torkildson was fired for the piece after his boss, Clarke Woodger, thought it was too controversial. According to Torkildson’s personal blog, Woodger had to look up “homophone” in the dictionary and explained, “We don’t teach this kind of advanced stuff to our students, and it’s extremely inappropriate.”

“People at this level of English,” Woodger said, ”may see the ‘homo’ side and think it has something to do with gay sex.”

Homophones are actually two or more words that are spelled differently, have different meanings, but are pronounced the same, such as their and there and they’re. While grammarians may find homophones titillating, most people find them merely amusing. It’s also important to note that the prefix “homo-“ is a common prefix in English and found in words such as homogenous, homogenized, homograph, and even homo sapien.

August 2014

August 2014 Cover

Retool for Fall
A selection of the latest technological products for language educators

Bright Learners, Big City
Kristal Bivona returns from China full of its promise

We are Family
Mary Catherine Thomson enthuses about the long-term success of a sister school program

Cutting to the Common Core: My Student’s Can’t Read So How Will They Write?
Hillary Wolfe recommends building strategic scaffolds to assist adolescent writing

Tools for Achieving Oral Fluency
Marsha Appling-Nunez finds help for the multilevel ELL classroom

Operation Accent
Justyna Kozyra-Bober asks if later learners are on an impossible mission to sound like natives

Last Writes
Richard Lederer’s tribute to a fallen furry friend

Reviews Jobshop Source and more.

$2.5 million to Promote Tribal Control of Schools – Deadline 9/12/14!!

To help ensure that all students attending Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools receive an effective education delivered to them by tribes, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn have announced that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) will fund $2.5 million in Sovereignty in Indian Education competitive grants. The purpose of these grants is to provide funding to federally recognized tribes and their tribal education departments to promote tribal control and operation of BIE-funded schools on their reservations.
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MIT Study Reveals Secret to Language Learning – Don’t Try Too Hard

Proof that language learners should let it flow

In a new study, a team of neuroscientists and psychologists led by Amy Finn, a postdoc at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, has found evidence for an important factor that contributes to adults’ language difficulties: When learning certain elements of language, adults’ more highly developed cognitive skills actually get in the way. The researchers discovered that the harder adults tried to learn an artificial language, the worse they were at deciphering the language’s morphology — the structure and deployment of linguistic units such as root words, suffixes, and prefixes.
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US High School Internationals Triple

Over the past several years, inbound international students coming to the U.S. to earn a high school diploma have grown at a much higher rate and they now out-number those travelling to the U.S. to participate in exchange programs. The number of international students enrolled directly in U.S. secondary programs more than tripled from fall 2004 to fall 2013 (Student Exchange Visitor Program [SEVP], 2004; 2013), while the number of exchange students grew only about 15 percent during the same period (Council on Standards for International Educational Travel [CSIET] 2013; 2014). In October 2013 there were 73,019 international students pursuing a secondary-level education in the U.S., with 48,632 or 67 percent of these enrolled for a full diploma.
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The Community Speaks

Chi Anunwa is impressed by innovative, student-led bilingual education programs in rural Mexico

The state of Durango, Mexico, is a study in breathtaking contrasts. On the journey to the county of Mezquital in the southern tip of the state, dramatic desert landscapes give way to the lush, green peaks of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, which nestle a tiny, chilly village named Los Charcos. As one heads farther southwest in the direction of the Pacific Ocean, the climate becomes warmer and more tropical. In this area lies the village of Huazamota.

To read the full story, click here.

California Adopts First English Framework Based on Common Core

Today, the California State Board of Education adopted the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework for California Public Schools (Framework). This is the first time in the nation that a state has adopted dual guidelines in one publication for both English language arts and English language development.

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July 2014

July 2014 Cover

Cutting to the Common Core: The Positive Side of the Digital Divide
Judith Zorfass and Tracy Gray recommend using digital text to differentiate reading instruction

Lure of the Sur: A Study Abroad Extravaganza
Kristal Bivona finds there’s no time like the present to immerse oneself in Latin America

Spanish Steps
Britta Schneider explains what salsa dancing has to do with language learning in a globalized world

The Community Speaks
Chi Anunwa is impressed by innovative, student-led bilingual education programs in rural Mexico

Last Writes Richard Lederer marvels at Shakespeare’s knack of providing perfect titles posthumously

Reviews Jobshop Source and more.

St. Leo University

Saint Leo University

The Bridge Program offered at Saint Leo University (Tampa Bay area, Florida) is designed to help international students face and overcome the challenges of adjusting to a foreign culture, mastering the academic target language, and becoming part of their new academic community, while thriving academically.

Bridge is an English for Academic Purposes program designed for international students whose language proficiency does not meet the University requirements; the courses support the development of academic language skills and prepare students to successfully take their mainstream classes. Depending on the language proficiency level, students join either the fast one-semester track or the regular two-semester track.

The program is an excellent choice for intermediate and advanced-intermediate language learners. Unlike a traditional English language school, it provides a direct pathway to the university classes. Here are some examples of how students benefit from the curriculum and program design:

  • The credits earned are recognized as academic credits and are counted towards graduation. While in the program, students can earn up to 23 elective and 7 general education credits.
  • The programs overarching goal is to develop students academic skills.
  • While in the program, students take their first general education university courses.
  • Students become active members of Saint Leo University, an academic community that has a century-long tradition of welcoming students of all faiths.
  • The class size is capped at 10-15 students and the overall Saint Leo University student-teacher ratio is 14:1.
  • Students enjoy learning at the beautiful state-of-the-art campus of the oldest Catholic institution of higher education in Florida.
  • Saint Leo is ranked as one of the top universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report. 

After the program, students report that they feel more at ease and confident with American culture and their academic language skills as well as with the demands and requirements posed by academic life within the U.S., as demonstrated by the following quotes:

 

“Participating in the Bridge Program gave me the chance to meet students from all over the world. I made a lot of friends. The Bridge Program helped me improve my academic writing.” — Ammar Mohrat

“I feel really satisfied and happy with all my experiences during this semester, and I look forward to the next one.” — Valeria Vespolli

www.saintleo.edu

Brussels Summit for Global Education

Today the Global Partnership for Education held a summit in Brussels, gathering hundreds of global education leaders, ministers and representatives in a pledge to raise $3.5 billion in educational aid.

The summit follows the publication of a recent report by UNESCO, which shows a catastrophic decrease in financial aid to education over the past 4 years.

At today’s Second Global Partnership for Education Replenishment Campaign, nations and independent donors were urged to renew their contributions with aims of getting all children into education. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl and education activist shot by the Taliban, was also in attendance.

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