TEFL blog » 2007 » April

Idaho has become the 29th US state to adopt English as its official language. 13 more states have legislation pending to do the same.

But isn’t English the official language everywhere in the US, I hear you ask? Have a look at this post to find out.

In this post in January we debated whether there is a place in writing today for abbreviated English of the type found in emails, text messages and chat rooms, or whether this is just a menace to ESL students and teachers.

Well, according to the Jamaica Observer, this type of English is becoming a problem in Jamaican schools, as it creeps into students’ essay writing. One teacher, quoted in the article, blames the problem on a lack of reading: “If you ask students to read a novel, the first thing they ask is ‘how many pages, Miss? Is it long?’ Everything is about instant gratification.”

What do you think? Would students use less chat room slang at school if they read more and watched less TV? Have a look at the article and post a comment below…

Here are some more conference dates for your diary:

April 18-22, IATEFL Annual Conference and Exhibition
The IATEFL Conference attracts 1500 ELT professionals from over 70 countries, and includes a programme of over 300 talks, workshops and symposiums. This year’s conference is being held in the Scottish city of Aberdeen.

June 8-10, Asia TEFL International Conference
Billed as the “biggest and most widely participated English Language Teaching Event in Asia”, the Asia TEFL International Conference is this year being held in Malaysia.

October 27-28, Korea TESOL International Conference
The theme of the 15th Korea TESOL Conference is “Energizing ELT: Challenging Ourselves, Motivating Our Students”, and is being held at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul.