Textbook Scandal

JOURNALIST  FACES LEGAL ACTION FOR EXPOSING ERROR

 IN ENGLISH SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

 By Stephen Wilson 

 

              'Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation ! ' Shouts

              the character of Shakespeare's  Cassio, from his play, Othello , after being

              arrested for drunken misbehavior. However, the publishing company Edu,

              Stream, founded in 2014, having a partnership with the more famous Express

              publishing, seems to have overreacted in the same hysterical tone as Cassio  

              by hastily taking a Journalist from Kazakhstan, Gulbanu Abenova to court

              on the grounds her published allegations 'have ruined the reputation of the

              company.'

 

              The dispute has arisen over the introduction of a school textbook for children

              known as 'Smiles'. Abenova claims that the textbook is full of all kinds of gross,

              and blatant linguistic mistakes not to mention violations of copyright. Many

              concerned parents complained to the school authorities about those errors as

              they understandably don't want their children to be taught with mistaken books.

              Those errors are not misprints or just the odd blunder. The translation guide is

              riddled with mistakes. Abenova stated that the publishing company did not

              employ professional translators, used the photos of children in the textbook

              without requesting their permission and may well be using the names of native

              speakers without proper consultation.

 

              Second City Teachers was sent a copy of the translation guide. It is embarrassing

              to read this. Inept would be to call it an understatement. For example, the word

              of motion, the verb :  cross , is translated as 'крест', when it should be ' переитй'.

              The Russian translation suggests a religious cross Christians wear which is out

              of context. Hare is translated as both заяц /кролик . No subtle distinction is made

              between a hare and  a  rabbit. Wooden basket is translated into Russian as :

              Плетенная корзинка. The adjective might be translated back into wicker basket

              which is of course misleading. I could go on but it would weary the reader.

 

              Believe it or not  those misleading textbooks have been published , printed

              and are currently used through all the schools in Kazakhstan. They were approved

              at the highest level by the Minster of Education . The publishers claimed that they

              had consulted 'experts'. Those Smiles books were not only introduced to the first

              grade but the 2nd,3rd,4th,5th .and so on... Despite justified complaints, nobody

              wants to replace those textbooks. It it too much trouble and expense for people.

              Abenova, worried about the education of children, has placed her child in a private

              school which has cost her a lot of money. When she tried to phone the head

              quarters of the firm Edu Stream in Greece, nobody answered the phone. She

              discovered that the person responsible for the translation has no linguistic

              qualifications. The book for 1st Grade school students , published by Express

              Publishing in 2016, claims to have been translated by N. Mukhamedjanova as

              well as written by Jenny Dooley and Virginia Evans. Perhaps those native

              speakers were not properly consulted or don't know basic Russian. Who knows?

              But those names surface again and again in many English language textbooks

              for school students published by Express Publishing. Those publishing companies

              often boast about their connections with English Universities which approve of

              them. Edu Stream claims to specialize in  increasing the standard of English

              language teaching in schools. They even offer to train school teachers on how to

              use their books free of charge.

 

              You would have thought that Express Publishing and Edu Stream had got the

              sense to employ a professional Linguist. Moscow is full of them and there are a lot

              of native speakers who would have happily helped them avoid embarrassing errors.

              What is amazing is how so many foreign language companies won't employ

              translators because they think it is too expensive or that anybody can do this job

              because it is just basic English conversation in some of those textbooks. They forget

              the axiom that it is just as easy to make basic mistakes as avoid them. If many

              linguists can make innocent errors then you can imagine the potential mistakes an

              amateur who badly knows languages can make. Linguistics is a demanding and

              daunting art that requires many years of hard training and practice. Not anyone can

              do this !

 

              A Russian Linguist called Kate {Not her real name} ,told me "We should fight

              against such books. If there is no justice or punishment for those publishers it

              will be very bad for the education of school children." Second City Teachers would

              happily support those who are fighting for justice and truth against poor education

              standards. School children should be granted the best education possible. We

              think the court case against the  journalist Gulbanu Abenova should be

              dropped and that the textbooks should at least be corrected if not withdrawn.

              Honesty is the best policy. It would raise respect for the publishing companies

              in the long term rather than damage them. So it is not too late to make

              corrections and improve the textbooks in a civil way.