4th International Conference on Language and Education:

Multilingual Education for ALL in Asia and the Pacific – Policies, Practices and Processes

6-8 November, 2013

Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Abstracts

Language and education: A global, human rights perspective

By Fernand de Varennes

Education is a basic human right in international law, one widely accepted by governments throughout the world, East and West. Despite its importance, in the early years of human rights law there was no clear agreement concerning the relationship between language and education. This has in recent years begun to change through the contributions of many, including educationalists, activists, sociolinguists, and jurists, to name but a few. From avoidance to gradual acceptance, language as a central component of human communication and interaction is also increasingly being embraced as an important constituent of the international human right of education, even if it must be admitted that its application will depend on a number of local considerations. What should not be doubted is that many individuals – and at the same time many societies generally – can benefit by a generous, flexible understanding of the right to education and the significance of language as medium of instruction or subject-matter.

A 10 year journey towards MLE Pilot in the Solomon Islands 2004-2013

By Marion Luihenue, Franco Rodie, Emele Siriki and Margaret Saumore In 2010 the Solomon Islands Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) developed a Policy Statement and Guidelines on the Use of Vernacular Languages and English in Education. The immediate priority of the policy is to plan and implement pilot projects using the mother tongue as the language of instruction in early grade education in selected schools and to build the capacity of personnel involved in policy implementation. MEHRD identified two small-scale pilots in schools with the Sa’a (Malaita province) and Arosi (Makira province) vernacular languages – eight schools and 16 teachers in total. The pilots will be used to learn lessons so later expansion of the use of instruction in vernacular languages in Solomon Islands schools is successful. This paper outlines the development, implementation, and early progress of the pilot program, presenting key issues of significant relevance to the Solomon Islands context, and involves analysis of the progressive development of the pilot, the challenges being faced, and options for the way forward. The key issues for development in the pilots are retaining the support of the Solomon Islands government and, more importantly, the support of the parents and the school communities in which these pilots are occurring. This presentation will hopefully stimulate responses from conference delegates that will assist the future direction of the Solomon Islands pilot and may assist other countries considering use of mother tongue in the classroom with their design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Cultural resources: Integrating relevant cultural ethnic art forms and values into materials development of mother tongue-based education programs

By Liz Foerster and Mary Saurman

The library of information for most ethnic cultural groups is not found in books on shelves. Instead, each unique cultural library of resources and values is found in a community’s own ethnic art forms (which may include song, dance, drama, verbal arts – including, poetry, stories, and proverbs and visual arts). Integrating this rich supply of existing resources into mother tongue-based education programs allows for relevant, exciting, and effective material development. The Whole Brain Learning Theory validates this approach. In this session we will give examples from communities where their own ethnic art forms and cultural values serve as the foundation for the materials they are actively using within their mother tongue-based education programs. We will highlight the methodology used for supporting ethnic minority groups in a process of discovering their own rich reservoir of resources and in a process of developing materials that integrate appropriate cultural resources into the education curriculum. Examples of some outcomes will also be presented.

A story in the mother tongue is not necessarily a mother tongue story

By Doerthe Schilken If “Reading makes Readers” then the production of extensive reading materials in the target language is crucial for the long-term success of any literacy program. For mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) programs this means producing a large body of reading material in the minority language. If those materials are being developed by the production of graded readers with highly controlled vocabulary and translation of good picture books from the majority language, then those materials are modeled after the majority cultures. In the material development process, patterns, literary values, and conventions of the existing oral literature of the minority language societies are often being ignored. This in turn disconnects the learners from their own heritage and often from those that represent them: their society’s cultural guardians. As literacy often leads to the discontinuation of oral practices, the oral texts will not survive the transition, rendering the culture effectively mute. But do Literacy for All and MTB-MLE need to devalue the culture of the mother tongue, replacing it with a minority language literature modeled after the majority culture? This paper introduces a process that helps elicit traditional story and song patterns and includes two generations: the older illiterate cultural guardians, and the young literate, more educated members of the society. It helps build a written form for traditional oral texts and offers an essential step in material development based on indigenous non-tangible heritage patterns as a culturally necessary precondition for successful MTB-MLE and adult literacy programs.

The unstoppable MTB-MLE caravan and the reconfiguration of the MTB-MLE discourse in the Philippines

By Maria Mercedes Arzadon

The Philippine government institutionalized mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) as a major component of its new K-12 Program, ending the 35-year-old language-in-education policy that prescribed only two languages, Filipino and English, as media of instruction in basic education. This study describes the vigorous advocacy actions that led to the recognition of MTB-MLE as a “fundamental educational program” in the Philippines. This study utilizes auto-narratives of the author being a facilitator in the formulation of MTB-MLE policy and training and advocacy programs. Other sources of data include Department of Education and Congressional committee reports and minutes of meetings, and online forums of MTB-MLE advocacy groups. Data show that the opening opportunity for MTB-MLE came about with the need to provide a counter discourse to the English-only policy in education. This provided an opportunity to reconfigure language issues, steering a deliberate discursive shift from a politicized terrain marked by intense conflicts within the language community toward a discourse of urgency to address concerns in basic literacy and education reform. The reconfiguration of the discourse provided the energy for intense advocacy efforts, notwithstanding the lack of formal organization and resources. It also provided space for the formation of a new discursive community on MTB-MLE with members coming from language, education and development communities. Varying levels of partnership were demonstrated in every aspect of MTB-MLE implementation, especially in awareness-raising, teacher training, and materials development. However, the political lull was not permanent as residues from past conflicts continue to pose a threat to MTB-MLE implementation.

Politics of MTB-MLE in the Philippines

By Schedar Jocson The implementation of MTB-MLE in the Philippines, through Department Order 79, s.2009 and the Department Order 16, s.2012 of the Department of Education, has faced a lot of opposition and questions, both from those pushing the implementation of MTB-MLE and those who are against the new medium-of-instruction policy. This situation has given language policy makers new insight on how to manage language-in-education policies. The paper looks into the selection process of the 12 languages that are included in Department Order 16, s.2012. Using data from the National Statistics Office and the Ethnologue, the paper argues that although the languages selected and included in the aforementioned Department Order are those languages with the highest number of native speakers, it may be possible that political factors influenced the selection process. The political factors relate to how the different funding agencies and NGOs lobbied for the inclusion of languages with which they were involved. The paper argues that DepEd officials have sometimes confused the meaning of mother tongue and regional lingua franca, resulting in decisions that focus on the number of target learners rather than mother tongue issues.

Students’ performance in science tests using three languages and their language preference in learning science concepts

By Jualim Datiles Vela and Hideo Ikeda

Language diversity in the Philippines poses a constant challenge in science education. At

the elementary level, there exists a never-ending argument over which language should be

used in educating Filipino students particularly in science and mathematics, which are

mainly taught in English. Past and recent studies in some regions in the Philippines indicate

that elementary students perform better when using the language they are most familiar

with. This study aimed to determine the following: a) students’ performance in science

tests using English, Filipino and Bicol languages, b) students’ language preference in

learning science, c) the extent of their use of the local, national and academic languages in

learning science concepts. The study was administered in Region 5, also known as the

Bicol region. It involved Grades 3 and 4 Bicol-speaking Filipino students from one of the

six provinces of the region. To achieve the objectives, the researcher administered science

tests to determine in which language students perform best and in which they perform

worst. Furthermore, the students answered survey questionnaires to reveal in which

language they prefer to learn science concepts and the extent of their use of the language

both at home and at school. The findings show that most students performed best using

Filipino, and that they prefer using Filipino in studying and understanding science

concepts.

Towards a curriculum for the Thai Lao of Northeast Thailand

By John Draper This paper considers recent moves to develop a curriculum for the Isan (Thai Lao) of Northeast Thailand (also called Isan), Thailand’s largest ethnolinguistic minority of approximately 15 million speakers. This curriculum is being spearheaded by one of Thailand’s largest language maintenance and revitalization initiatives, a 540,000-euro program, the Isan Culture Maintenance and Revitalization Programme (ICMRP). The ICMRP is 90 percent funded by the European Union and consists of a consortium of four quasi-autonomous Khon Kaen Province municipalities, representing over 170,000 people, together with the College of Local Administration at Khon Kaen University, Northeast Thailand’s regional university. In 2012 the ICMRP conducted an attitude survey of 1,500 citizens of Khon Kaen Municipality regarding whether or not to introduce the mother tongue as a subject in the curriculum as part of a multilingual education. This paper reports on the positive results of this survey and also describes the draft curriculum and materials developed for the purpose by a special commission of schoolteachers, education officials and university lecturers. This process drew on four years of existing experience in the municipality in developing an award-winning Isan cultural studies program. In total, the Isan curriculum is expected to be introduced in approximately 17 municipality schools in the four municipalities by 2016. In order to teach literacy, the curriculum employs a revitalized traditional Thai orthography, Tai Noi, which was widely used in the Middle Mekong River Basin until the seventeenth century and survived in the Khorat Plateau area until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Karen education in Myanmar: A case study

By Naw Ler Htu and Scott O’Brien

The Karen ethnic group of Myanmar has a strong history of multilingual education and

has maintained mother tongue instruction in their ethnic education system throughout

decades of conflict. Local organizations working in both Thailand and Myanmar have

been instrumental in supporting education in conflict-affected areas through a host of

community education support initiatives, including mobile teacher-training programs, the

provision of teaching and learning materials, and support for school management

structures that promote quality teaching practices in the Karen language. In the rapidly

evolving reform process currently taking place in Myanmar, a key challenge for ethnic

education stakeholders is the question of how to improve overall teaching and learning

practices for multilingual education (MLE) in the classroom and how to ensure that MLE

is institutionalized in culturally appropriate ways through the education reform process.

This paper uses Karen education as a case study through which to broaden regional and

global understanding of the challenges of MLE in Myanmar. The paper draws attention to

the key challenges faced by local Karen ethnic education stakeholders in advocating for

culturally appropriate MLE in the current reform process.

Reviewing mother tongue-based multilingual education in Nepal

By Pushker Kadel This paper first reviews the background to education policies addressing minority language use in basic education in Nepal. The post-conflict 2007 interim Constitution states that every child has the right to receive basic education in its own language. The 2011 census reports that only 44.64 percent of the population use Nepali as their mother tongue. The paper then reviews Nepal’s commitment to international agreements and national policies that provide the framework for implementing Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in Nepal. The impact on the community, students and teachers of pilot MLE programs (initiated through the Department of Education in eight languages) and MLE projects initiated by I/NGOs will also be examined. Recommendations will be made based upon the reported outcomes of the existing MLE projects. This includes the author’s own experience working with two local NGOs that support MTB-MLE projects in two primary schools in the Dangaura Tharu community in Dang (population 500,000) and two primary schools in the Limbu community in Panchthar (population 343,603). In relation to the Limbu community, the paper will also review attitudes towards Sirijonga and Devanagari scripts for Limbu.

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Steps towards effective MLE in Bangladesh

By Alpona Kujur SIL Bangladesh has been providing technical support for preschool multilingual education

(MLE) programs for different non-dominant language communities in Bangladesh since 2006.

The language communities have distinct social structures, languages and cultures but they

share a common context of language and culture loss, poverty and low levels of education.

This paper will describe the challenges that SIL has faced and the strategies we have used to

help communities to improve their programs. The communities are scattered and sometimes

there are too few children to run MLE schools in the same villages every year. Attendance is

also affected during harvest season when children accompany their parents to work in the

fields. Families sometimes migrate to find work and cannot send their children to school

regularly. Many people are influenced by the majority Bengali culture and sometimes think

that there is no value in learning in the mother tongue. Parents often prefer to send their

children to Bengali medium schools, even though many drop out. It is difficult to recruit

teachers and supervisors who have studied beyond Class 8 and can read and write fluently.

This paper presents strategies used by SIL Bangladesh to address these issues, for example,

sharing educational materials between villages, raising awareness among parents of the value

of mother tongue education, regular teacher training, developing an accessible monitoring tool

for school supervisors, and building strong relationships with teachers. The paper also

examines some of the challenges for sustainability of MLE programs in different minority

ethnolinguistic communities.

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Mother Tongue – Based Multilingual Education in Timor-Leste: challenges and solutions

By Francisca Soares

One of the problems encountered in the education system in Timor-Leste relates to language

issues. The use of an unfamiliar language hinders children beginning school to learn effectively

in the classroom. In order to solve this problem and to achieve EFA goals, the government of

Timor-Leste, through the Ministry of Education, developed a pilot project for Mother Tongue

Based-Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE). This policy targets students in pre-school and the

first cycle of basic education (grades 1-4) in 12 schools. The goals of MTB-MLE are to achieve

learning goals, linguistic goals, and social and economic goals. It uses the principle of building

on what learners know to facilitate beginning literacy and to support their identity formation.

Other principles are to make learning relevant and enjoyable, and to promote learner-centered

methodologies.

However, some problems still need to be addressed by the government of Timor-Leste. One of

these is the low level of teachers’ education qualification. Because of this, teachers do not

thoroughly apply the MTB-MLE pedagogical method and principles. Another problem is

infrastructure. Some classrooms are crowded and consequently teachers cannot deliver

methodologies properly to the students. Some of the solutions are that the government of Timor-

Leste has to set an adequate teacher career regime and give sufficient budget to build schools. If

these problems can be addressed by Timor-Leste’s government, it is expected that the quality of

education in multilingual context of Timor-Leste can be improved.

Impact and challenges of MTB-MLE in Northwestern Pakistan

By Muhammad Zaman Sagar The Gawri Community Development Program in Northwestern Pakistan was established in 2008. A pilot MLE project using the Gawri language was started the same year. Similar projects were launched in the Palula and Torwali language communities in nearby areas. By December 2012, 161 students had completed the Gawri MLE program, in three batches. Some of these children now study in public or private Urdu-medium schools. A research study carried out in 2011 under the auspices of the British Council in Islamabad found that, in those schools, Gawri students with an MLE background generally perform better than other Gawri-speaking students. At the same time, we also saw an attitude change in the community regarding mother tongue education. Parents, community leaders, and teachers in private and public schools applauded the pilot program. Many now want their children admitted in the MLE schools. Women and men who have never received education are requesting the project staff to start MLE programs for adults. An adequate response to the community requests for more schools is far beyond our capacity. Financial constraints are a major issue. Another challenge we are facing concerns the seasonal migration practiced by many Gawri-speaking families, where they spend summers in their home area in the mountains and winters in the lowland cities. The performance of some children in our MLE schools suffers significantly due to long periods of absence from the home area.

A comparison of schooling experiences of Saora children in MLE Plus- and Odia-medium schools of Odisha, India

By Sakshi Manocha

India and many countries around the globe narrate a gloomy story of schooling experiences of minority group children, who are compelled to leave their language and identity at the school door. This paper examines the schooling experiences of Saora tribal children studying in Multilingual Education Plus- (MLE Plus) and Odia-medium schools (non-MLE) in Odisha, India. The Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) provides the theoretical framework for the study. The study was carried out in two schools – one MLE Plus and one non-MLE school – in Gajapati district of Odisha. The data includes classroom observations, interviews, and focused group discussions with children. The content analysis of the data revealed that the inclusion of children’s language and other everyday activities created spaces for Saora children in the MLE Plus school to fearlessly participate in classroom processes and learn. As teachers in the MLE Plus school were from the Saora community and used their cultural tools in teaching-learning processes, this led to the development of a strong bond between Saora children and their teachers which further facilitated fearless voices in the classroom and enabled children to engage in academic discourses. In contrast, children in the non-MLE school could not comprehend the language in which their teacher was teaching and depended heavily on the blackboard and rote memorization of texts. Experiences of Saora children in the non-MLE school were marked by passive learning patterns with a poor relationship between the students and teachers.

MLE practices in Nepal: A case of Rajbanshi

By Surya Prasad Yadav Multilingual Education (MLE) is a relatively new phenomenon in Nepalese education. It has been in practice in Nepal for almost half a decade, with MLE programs run by both government and non-government agencies. This paper is an attempt to undertake a case study of a Rajbanshi-medium school in the Jhapa district of Nepal. In this paper we try to describe the situation of Rajbanshi-medium schools, looking especially at the demography of languages in the selected area, available reading materials, MLE awareness among local people, measurement of the quality of education in comparison to Nepali-medium schools, and other related factors. It has been found that Rajbanshi-medium school children are more motivated for education and are more regular in class attendance. It has also been found that owing to the use of the mother tongue the rate of their dropouts has decreased and that there has been a reduction in the number of out-of-school children. MLE has been found to be an effective tool in improving literacy. However, the way MLE has been practiced at these schools is not immune from problems and challenges. In this paper we discuss ways to address these problems in the context of MLE practices in Asia and the Pacific region. To sum up, we are optimistic of achieving quality education for primary school children if mother tongue-based MLE is properly implemented. This case study may also be helpful in improving MLE practices in other similar schools in Nepal.

In between oppression and resilience: Sociolinguistic situation of Kurds in Turkey

By Mehmet Şerif Derince

The politics of language has been a most contested issue in the Turkish state’s dealings with minoritized communities, especially the Kurds, since the inception of the state. The political position of the state has been grounded in linguistic homogenization, aiming at killing all the other languages spoken within its borders. In such an agenda, the linguistic and cultural rights demanded by the Kurdish community, the second largest group after the majority Turks, were suppressed severely and rights campaigns often ended in long prison sentence or exile. Moreover, millions of Kurds had to emigrate from their homeland due to forced migrations and a long-lasting war. However, as the political struggle of the Kurdish national movement gained power over the years and this struggle overlapped with international developments reshaping the Middle East in the last decade, we have observed new discourses around languages. Namely, both the state and the Kurdish movement have now emphasized the notion of “multilingualism,” yet with mostly different meanings attached to it. From such a background, I will discuss the sociolinguistic situation of the Kurdish community in Turkey with special focus on how Turkish state policies create obstacles for the community; how the sociolinguistic situation has been reshaped due to forced migrations and the war in the Kurdish homeland; how Kurdish children and their parents have been affected by migration and war; how they resist the multifaceted and recurring language policies of the state; and finally how can we understand the new discourses produced on multilingualism in Turkey.

The meaning of bilingual education within the South Korean multicultural education policy

By Younsun Lee

The South Korean government has supported and developed bilingual education programs for children from multicultural families for the last three years. Two bilingual educational programs targeting Chinese and Vietnamese mothers of young children who have married and immigrated to South Korea are supervised by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST). I used Fairclough’s (1995) critical discourse analysis as a methodological framework to focus on the lexical and thematic analysis of bilingual education to investigate how MEST deals with the minorities’ linguistic rights and differences in Korea, examine what bilingual education means for MEST, see the ideologies being promoted through bilingual education, and why they have invested money in the development of bilingual education. In other words, what does the Korean government want bilingual education to mean in the Korean context, especially because Korea is seen as a monolingual country whose official language is Korean? The major findings highlight three aspects regarding the conception of bilingual education in the policy layer: (1) its compensatory framework: strengthening parenting skills and children’s basic learning skills; (2) its early childhood educational approach: developmentally appropriate education; and (3) its “tourist” approach in actual lessons. Despite the rhetoric promoting learning about “mothers’ home languages and cultures” (MEST, 2010), the purpose is not to maintain their heritage culture and identity. The program does not promote the presence of different languages throughout the country. Therefore, the MEST suggests using bilingual education programs in multicultural families’ homes or in multicultural education centers, but not in public schools.

Development and implementation of bilingual education policy in Cambodia’s highland provinces

By Khath Samal and Pa Satha

Due to Cambodia’s recent history of civil war, delayed development, and other geopolitical factors, the indigenous minority peoples in the country’s highlands have remained isolated from the rest of the country until recent years. This paper examines government strategies in developing and implementing policy to close the socio-economic gap between highland and lowland provinces through the provision of bilingual education. Policies developed or amended through consultation with indigenous minority communities, CARE International, and International Cooperation in Cambodia (ICC) include Education Law Article 24, the Indigenous Minority Development Policy, and the Bilingual Education Guidelines. Committees have been established at national, provincial, and community levels to develop, approve, oversee, and inform policies and curricula in Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, and Adult Education (Non-Formal Education). They have been implemented through curriculum development and the provision of training on teaching methodologies and monitoring procedures with the support of CARE International and ICC, and all involved face the upcoming challenge of supporting government staff to assume full responsibility for the programs through the handover period.

Language-in-education policy in Malaysia: Context, implementation, and challenges

By Helen Ting

Malaysia has a unique public education system whereby students can choose from three languages (Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil) as the language of instruction for their primary education. This is due to a combination of historical and socio-political circumstances and pragmatic compromises rather than an official embrace of mother tongue education. Former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, for instance, stated publicly that the government promotes the Malay-medium education as the choice education for all and the platform for national unity. In recent times there have been isolated attempts initiated by ethnolinguistic minority communities themselves to preserve or develop their respective languages for inclusion as a subject in the school system.

This paper begins by charting an overview of internal and external factors that over time have exerted influence on the language-in-education policies in Malaysia. These factors include domestic socio-political development, evolving international norms and perspectives on the role of language and ethnic identities in fostering national cohesion, changing international geopolitical and economic contexts, and the current trend of benchmarking against international academic standards. Second, this paper compares the dilemma, performance, and problems faced by the Mandarin and Tamil primary schools as well as challenges of weaker students in their transition to the Malay-medium secondary schools. Last, the paper touches on some recommendations and assessments made by community leaders and educationists in resolving current problems confronted by the two-streams-of-schooling system. Information gathering is based on literature and document review as well as interviews of stakeholders and informants.

Education, language and gender equality in East Asia and the Pacific: An interactive panel discussion

By East Asia Pacific United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative

The East Asia Pacific (EAP) region has made progress in increasing net enrolment rates in

education. Nonetheless, inequalities persist. Areas of marginalization, including linguistic group

and gender, impact children’s access to and completion of quality education. Fifty percent of

the world’s out-of-school children live in communities where the language of schooling is

rarely used at home (World Bank, 2005). In addition girls often bear the burden of domestic work

and early marriage (UNICEF, 2011), which negatively impacts their education. Areas of

marginalization compound each other. In many linguistic-minority communities “it is girls and

women who tend to be monolingual, being less exposed through schooling, salaried labour, or

migration to the national language” (UNESCO, 2003). Examining how cross-cutting issues of

language and gender in education intersect and how policies and programs that address specific

barriers can support the wider goal of inclusive education is critical to achieving education for all.

Our interactive panel discussion on multilingual education (MLE) and gender equality in the EAP

region will discuss scenarios portraying regional language and gender issues pertaining to

teachers and innovations in education and noteworthy practices that have increased gender

equality in education within linguistic-minority communities. Panelists include women and girls

from linguistic minorities and experts from NGOs and UN agencies. The discussion will

highlight challenges and good practices in MLE and gender equality in education. It will

support expansion and mainstreaming of MLE by showing how analysis of gender and

language can contribute to Education for All.

MTB-MLE practice and challenge in Bangladesh

By Nahar Meherun In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh the enrolment rate in primary school is not

more than 55.5 percent and there are high dropout rates. One of the most critical contributing

factors is that children do not understand the language of instruction (Bangla) and the curriculum

does not relate to their culture. To address this issue, Save the Children (SC) is implementing a

quality Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education program (MTB-MLE) for the CHT. The

MLE program provides relevant learning materials in five indigenous languages: Chakma,

Marma, Kokborok (Tripura), Mro and Rakhaing. SC also developed a bridging program to

national (Bangla) and international (English) languages. There is a two-year preprimary

education model with a plan for transition to nonformal primary school in grades 1 and 2. SC

has significantly influenced national-level policy to support mother tongue-based education in

Bangladesh. The government has acknowledged mother tongue-based education for ethnic

communities in the National Education Policy 2010. Also there is a possibility that the

Bangladesh government is planning to implement MTB-MLE in six ethnic languages from 2014.

So, with this experience, the specific objective of our paper is to highlight the MTB-MLE

delivery in the Bangladesh CHT. The sections are as follows: i) MTB-MLE curriculum; ii)

MTB-MLE teaching-learning materials; iii) building teachers’ capacity in pedagogy; iv) roles of

community and local organization; v) school supervision strategies; vi) challenges and solutions,

and vii) policy change.

Quartet multilingual card : The way to teach multi-language education in Elementary School

By Briliyan Syarifudin Ahmad and Yoni Wijayanti

Quartet multilingual card can be an effective way to support multi language education

programs for elementary scchool students. The purpose of this study is to make a fun media

to learn foreign language through the development of Quartet Multilingual Card games.

Quartet games played in a group, or at least played by two students.The winner of this game

is person who collect the most card. This media made from 36 cards with interesting design

for Elementary School students. This cards contain pictures and name of the picture in

different languange in each set. This scientific paper written in descriptive qualitative

approach. The purpose of making this paper is to determine the needs, draft of Multilingual

Card media, and explain the steps of play and learn using Quartet Multilingual Card. Need

analyze is determine the materials to make Quartet Multilingual Card. Next step is designing

draft and the contain of the cards. By using Quartet Multilingual Card, students can learn

multi language together through game.

Language-sensitive and culturally-appropriate pedagogy to lower grade ethnic

minority students in Yunnan, China

By Du Yuan

Language is one of the obstacles to children’s success in education. In Yunnan province,

China, many ethnic minority students know little or none of the national language

Mandarin before they enter primary school. Although strangers to Mandarin, many are

also unfamiliar with their customs and culture; moreover, primary school teachers don’t

know how to teach Mandarin in a bilingual way, and have little access to training and

resources.

Language-sensitive and culturally-appropriate pedagogy enables ethnic minority children

in lower grades of primary school develop in an all-round manner, by employing a) Total

Physical Response (TPR) as the language teaching method for teaching Mandarin based

on the coordination of language and physical movement; b) social and cultural

development through respecting and valuing children’s own cultural identity; and c)

physical and healthy development through playing local games and sports activities.

The pedagogy package includes a) an updated understanding of multilingual education in

the context of promoting education equity and quality in China; b) a set of effective

teaching methods and techniques for assessing students’ real levels of Mandarin and

promoting children’s learning performance in communication and mathematics; and c)

guidance on encouraging children to bring their culture into school, through developing

local curriculum about local culture and history; identifying local games/sports etc.

We conclude that the theoretical analysis on the challenges involved in implementing the

pedagogy indicates that the school administration, school/parents relations, and teacher

trainers’ education philosophy are important factors affecting the effectiveness and

sustainability of the pedagogy application.

Being able to speak English is not the same as being an outsider [abandoning your nationality]: Narratives of complexities in English language teaching and the

maintenance of Indonesian languages and identities

By Christine Manara This article reports some preliminary results of a research project that looks at the views of

English teachers and teacher educators on the teaching of English, as well as the position of

Bahasa Indonesia (and local vernaculars) in an Indonesian context in today’s globalized era.

Eighteen participants were involved in in-depth interviews with the researcher. The

participants share a common understanding that English provides access to the globalization

process so that more and more Indonesians are learning the language. It is a route to equal

opportunities to compete internationally. Yet, the participants’ narratives also depict tensions

and conflicts between the teaching of English and the position and maintenance of Bahasa

Indonesia and local vernaculars as affected by globalization in Indonesia. On the one hand,

there is an urgent need to master English, seen from the phenomenon of increasing use of

English as the medium of instruction (EMI) in private schools and international schools in

Indonesia. On the other hand, there is the view that this change/development in Indonesia will

threaten the position of Bahasa Indonesia and local languages. The narratives display the

participants’ ambivalent feelings towards and complex opinions of the teaching of English in

today’s Indonesia, suggesting a shift of paradigm that seems to lead to a transnational view

of language education (Risager, 2007).

Delivering quality and inclusive MLE: Teachers, pedagogy and innovations

By Julia Lachet and Kim Green In an international education context, it can be argued that it is the school’s responsibility to

promote mother tongue languages. In an international education “particular attention should

be given to the mother tongue as the first language and bearer of the cultural identity”

(UNESCO, 1995). Through the application of a whole school language philosophy, whole

school practices, horizontal and vertical programs of learning, and common assessment

schools can ensure the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and sustainability of quality

mother tongue program. This presentation addresses the challenges faced by one International

Baccalaureate World School, such as: teacher accessibility, development of common

curriculum understandings, establishment of a cohesive and collaborative team, and the

development of shared cultural norms. Based on action research, the presentation

demonstrates that through a shared language, inclusion in the school culture, a community

approach, professional learning, positive perceptions of school management, and the

accessibility to resources a school can influence the effectiveness, sustainability, and quality

of its mother tongue language education. The presentation will also open discussions on the

implications of these findings, including: equality in accessing mother tongue learning and the

lack of concurrency in learning if sustainability is not achieved through implementation.

Fostering a sense of identity through language maintenance – The implications of language of instruction of choice in refugee camps along the Thai-

Myanmar border

By Matumon Katerenchuk Language is one of key issues in refugee camps along the Thai –Myanmar border with many

ethnic minority communities settled together. Perhaps surprisingly, the issues of mother

tongue language, language of instruction, second language and foreign languages are

discussed without regard to ideas of ethnic or national identity. The BEST consortium (Basic

Education Support towards Transition) supports the study of language in the context of

inclusion and transition. This paper will explain the role of identity preservation within the

predominantly Karen refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. It will explore how the

use of Sgaw Karen as a language of instruction in schools and as language of communication

in communities contributes to representation of an imagined identity. This will be compared

to the approach practiced in the predominantly Karenni ethnicity camps where Karenni and

Karen languages are used in the primary schools up to grade 4 with Burmese being introduced

as a language of instruction in grade 5 through grade 10. These practices will be linked further

to the challenges of developing

L2 and L3 competencies in the refugee camp schools and the implications that this has had for

the quality of the education provided, for those who complete their schooling in the camps,

for resources used in education and for future accreditation of learning. There will be an

overview provided showing the factors and context that led to these decisions and the lessons

that have been learnt as a result of the approach taken in the refugee camp schools and how to

incorporate good practice into programming.

Identifying early evidences of the impact of MTB-MLE in Mindanao: A stakeholder analysis

By Xinia Skoropinski

This paper explores the responses of stakeholders to a mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) program in three of ten schools in Mindanao, Philippines, in which Save the Children has been managing the implementation of MTB-MLE, as part of a nationwide transition to using the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in Grades 1 to 3. The goal of this study is to identify early evidences of the impact of MTB-MLE through first-person accounts of immediate stakeholders, primarily parents and teachers of Grade 1 pupils. The qualitative Most Significant Change methodology and direct observation in MTB-MLE classrooms were used to monitor changes throughout an academic year in two research domains: (1) changes in teachers’ practices and attitudes toward the MTB-MLE program and (2) changes resulting from the use of the MTB-MLE instructional materials. The findings revealed that, formerly, the non-mother-tongue educational materials were largely ineffective. Educators and parents were frustrated to see the pupils’ low rate of success and lack of enjoyment in their educational experience. In contrast, where MTB-MLE was implemented, stakeholders reported increased comprehension by pupils, success in learning to read, and improved teacher-pupil relationships. The stakeholders perceived the MTB-MLE program as the starting point in the restoration of a dysfunctional educational system. Analysis of emergent domains in stakeholder accounts revealed overwhelmingly positive perceptions of mother tongue instruction. It is seen not only as motivating children to learn, but also essential for improving teachers’ morale; thus supporting the high value the community places on education for their children.

Assessing the educational consequences of teacher deficits in content matter and

language of instruction (L2)

By Stephen L. Walter

Well-implemented multilingual education (MLE) programs in low income countries

have demonstrated convincingly their potential to improve children’s learning

outcomes in early primary. Many policy makers, however, remain cautious about

endorsing MLE strategies for at least two reasons. First, they see research data from

initiatives which have produced poor results and, second, children transitioning out of

L1-medium classrooms seem to lose much of the educational advantage gained

initially under the MLE umbrella. Such “contrary” evidence certainly raises questions

which need to be investigated and understood before the credibility of MLE is fully

established.

The recently published EFA Global Monitoring Report Policy Paper 07 argues that

marked deficits in teachers’ knowledge of content material and lack of pedagogical

skills are major factors contributing to low educational efficiency. Not mentioned are

the educational consequences of limitations in teacher proficiency in the language of

instruction. Such limitations are not so much an issue when teaching in L1 but have

significant implications for (a) preparing children to transition to L2 instruction in

later grades and (b) teaching children once they have transitioned to L2 instruction.

This paper examines and reports the results of several empirical studies examining the

“teacher variable” within MLE instructional programs in multiple countries and

regions. It also documents specific deficits in both content knowledge and mastery of

L2, the language of continuing education for children participating in MLE programs.

A probabilistic communications model is proposed as a heuristic for predicting the

impact of such deficits on learning outcomes.

Language attitudes and multilingual education in Timor-Leste

By Melody Ann Ross Timor-Leste declared independence from Portugal in 1975 and was then immediately invaded and occupied by Indonesia. After three decades of resistance, it was declared a sovereign nation in 2002. Currently, the two official languages are Portuguese and Tetun, and the working languages are English and Indonesian. However, there are 15-25 local languages spoken throughout the country that do not have official status. These language policies, combined with lingering effects of the societal disruption from the Indonesian occupation, have created complicated problems for the education system. Low achievement and high dropout rates indicate that overlooking the critical issue of mother tongue language and educational access has had very serious repercussions. To address this, in 2011 the Ministry of Education implemented a mother tongue-based multilingual education curriculum in selected test schools. This paper is the second stage of an ongoing project to assess the effect that MLE has on mother tongue language attitudes. The 2012 pilot project used quantitative analysis of online survey data from 63 participants and qualitative interview data to assess the degree to which Timorese people valued their mother tongues and other languages, and for what purposes and to what extent. Preliminary results suggest that Timorese value their mother tongues symbolically and for their cultural significance, but not as languages of education, commerce, or civic involvement. The second stage of this project will specifically investigate the language attitudes of stakeholders in key communities where MLE has already been implemented through interviews and surveys conducted in 2013.

Building inclusive, rights-based and effective language policies

By Joseph Lo Bianco The talk will focus on how we can defeat the “impossibilizing” tendency of modern education administration. I refer to the tendency of policy makers, often shared by educators and internalized by parents, to build education delivery on international research evidence and reasoning based on notions of competitiveness (personal and national), efficiency (of program delivery, of curriculum design, assessment, and teacher education ) and effectiveness of outcomes. In their quest for competitiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness questions of equity, justice, culture, and language rights struggle to be heard or are only granted token recognition. Impossibilizing discourses are those which imagine that national populations are too heterogeneous to be accommodated within “efficient,” effective, and competitive education systems. I will trace some of this reasoning and show not only its internal contradictions but discuss some points of weakness and fragility where we can inject reasoning that balances considerations of efficiency, effectiveness, and “competition” with the right of fair, equitable, just, and humane education in the interests of the cultural and linguistic rights of populations.

Multilingual Education: contexts, theories and practices

By Kathleen Heugh

What is understood by terms used in bilingual and multilingual educational contexts differs

depending upon whether we are located in the Global South or in the Global North. Even in

the Global South, there are different understandings of mother-tongue, bilingual, and

multilingual education policies and practices on the ground. In this paper I explain how our

understanding of bilingual and multilingual education and theory have changed over the last

three decades, and how the terms “mother tongue-based bilingual education” and “mother

tongue-based multilingual education” originated from within the South African experience. I

also discuss the limitations and inexactness of the terminology and theory we use, and try to

distinguish between educationally and socially productive responses to linguistic diversity,

and those which become trapped in models which may not suit each context. Finally, I point

towards the work and agency of teachers as language education policy makers at the micro-

level of the classroom.

Reducing tensions for additive multilingual education through research

By Anwei Feng

Debates on multilingual education (MLE) for minority groups often center on issues

in three dimensions: economic, cognitive, and affective. Is teaching of children’s

home language (L1) as part of MLE economically beneficial for the region where the

minority group dominate? Does MLE enhance or hinder children’s cognitive

development? What implications does MLE have for the group with regard to

ethnicity and national identity? Debates on these questions cause tensions among

stakeholders in minority education. Policies for language education, some of which

are informed by research and the debates, give rise to strong or weak forms of MLE in

schools. While the former seek to develop children’s competence in all languages in

use and in education (that is, additive bi- or multilingualism), the latter give priority to

the acquisition of children’s L2, the majority language, and then L3, usually a

powerful international language such as English, paying little attention to their L1.

This talk evaluates how discussions about these dimensions could affect/inform policy

making and how they could help address tensions among the stakeholders. Using the

growing literature on trilingual education for minority groups in China as an

illustrative point, it reviews the economic, cognitive, and affective arguments in MLE

respectively and argues that while all three dimensions attract researchers’ attention

the affective one is under-discussed as it is often poorly researched. However, quality

research into this dimension holds the key to addressing the tensions, leading to

effective policies to develop additive MLE.

Whither MLE? Rethinking Multilingual Education in India

By Minati Panda

Despite constitutional recognition of the multilinguality of Indian society, school education projects

are built on the principles of a mono- or bilingual nation state privileging the majority languages.

Recent efforts to bring minority languages into the fold of school education created early-exit

bridge models for tribal children in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states, to help them shift from

mother tongues to state and international languages. To show the benefits of early-exit programs for

indigenous minority children, I undertake a micro-analysis of the multilingual education (MLE)

programs of these states and MLE Plus. Paradoxically, the same analysis has done at a macro level

reveals how these programs are marginalized because of their invisibility and the “only-for-tribal-

children” status. Hence, we need to assess, “where is Indian MLE going?”

The second part of this presentation examines why Indian states have avoided the question, “why

should MLE be for tribal and other minority children only,” when Indian educational goals are

clearly multilingual. How do international agencies contribute to this uncritical myopic view and

approach of Indian educational reform initiatives? What are the new traps of post-1993 India reform

discourse?

The goal of school education in India is to create “a zone of contact between self and the society.” It

is argued that a substantive MLE paradigm, and not the bridge model, can create this zone by

providing children with specific literacy tools that may allow them to critically engage with the state

and themselves. I lay down some conceptual, cultural-psychological, and dialectical foundations of

such a MLE paradigm.

Two decades of language and development

By Hywel Coleman This presentation reports on the deliberations of the 10th Language & Development (L&D) Conference, which takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, just three weeks before the 4th International Conference on Language & Education in Bangkok. When the first L&D Conference was held in Bangkok in 1993, “development” was generally conceptualized in terms of large, internationally funded, top-down projects. The improvement of English language skills was often considered to be an important element in achieving project aims. Not surprisingly, therefore, the first L&D Conference consisted largely of reports on English-language components of development projects. However, in the intervening twenty years (in line with deepening understanding of the concept of development) the L&D Conferences have broadened their scope and now take a critical approach to the roles that all languages (not only English) play in development. With the 2015 target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaching, the theme of the 10th Conference is “Opportunity, Equity and Identity beyond 2015.” Two key issues are explored: retrospectively, how lessons learnt in earlier L&D Conferences relate to the MDGs and, prospectively, how language can support development in the post-MDGs era. The conference has four themes: language policy; language, literature, and education (including multilingualism); language in socio-economic development; and language and cultural identity. Many of these themes will also be of interest to participants in the 4th International Conference on Language & Education. It is hoped that this presentation will help to strengthen communication between our two series of conferences.

Multilingual education standards and practices: The European perspective

By Elżbieta Kuzborska

The European perspective of multilingual education (MLE) standards and practices could be useful for countries of the Asia-Pacific region in implementing and expanding MLE programs. First, Europe developed fairly clear and detailed standards in national minority language protection and education. European standards reflect experience in working with the role of education in promoting intercultural dialogue and tolerance. I will present the regulations adopted under the Council of Europe (in particular European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Commentary on Education under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities) and OSCE (The Hague Recommendations regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities). Second, European countries have developed disparate MLE models. Regulations are determined mainly by a country’s ethnic structure, socio-political landscape, and historical background. Individual countries face various challenges when it comes to balance the maintenance and development of the culture, the essential elements of the identity of persons belonging to national minorities, and, their free integration and participation in the societies in which they live. I will present the experience and achievements of Poland, the Baltic States, Sweden, and Hungary. Trilingual schooling as used in a number of multilingual regions in Europe could be an example of a good practice. It may also be useful to examine other perspectives and examples of good practices from which might be extracted common threads that could prove useful in other parts of the world, including Asia, in order to improve and develop regional and national MLE policies in different contexts.

The role of the mother tongue in national language acquisition in rural primary schools in Myanmar

By Naw Khu Shee, R. Wyn Owen, and Ramzi W. Nahhas

The official language of oral and written instruction in all government schools in Myanmar is the national language, Burmese. However, in many ethnic minority communities the national language is not well known. In such communities the only place where the national language is regularly used is in school, so children do not encounter the language until they start school. This paper investigates the role of the mother tongue in facilitating the acquisition of the national language – a crucial foundation for all subsequent study in government schools. Although the present education policy does not permit the implementation of full multilingual education, this paper sheds light on the potential benefit of a greater role for the mother tongue by investigating the informal oral use of the mother tongue in classroom teaching. Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data is presented from 19 rural primary schools. Results from classes with a teacher who employs the informal oral use of the students’ mother tongue are compared with those from classes in which the teacher only speaks the national language. Statistical analysis of student test scores from written Burmese tests show that the teacher’s use of the mother tongue is a significant benefit to the students’ performance. Observation of classroom processes in selected classes shows that in classes where only the national language is used, not only is communication impaired, but also the relationship between student and teacher.

Using three different scripts: Benefits and difficulties as seen in the Dai Han program in China

By Heidi Cobbey and Mr. Ai Bian

The People's Republic of China has one of the most diverse script situations in the world. All school children must demonstrate mastery of two different script systems. The first script is Chinese characters, or Hanzi, of which approximately 3,000 different characters are taught in primary school alone. The second script is Hanyu Pinyin, the roman alphabetic sound representation system used to describe the sounds of Mandarin Chinese for standard pronunciation and which is used in dictionaries and for entering Hanzi characters into computers or mobile phones. In addition to these two scripts, many linguistic minorities in China use other scripts to write their languages. In the Dai Han Bilingual Education program in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, Dai children are taught for two years of preschool in their mother tongue, Xishuangbanna Dai. Modern Dai is written using the “new Dai script,” which is an alphabetic Lanna script. As they continue to acquire literacy skills in their mother tongue, the children are then introduced to Hanyu Pinyin during the last semester of preschool. They then move on to learning Hanzi in primary school. This paper examines the following questions: What benefits are there for learning three successive and very different scripts – a non-Roman Lanna script, an alphabetic Roman script, and Chinese characters? Are there any detrimental effects these Dai children face in learning and achievement as they negotiate three different scripts in the early years of schooling? Conclusions are drawn from interviews and grades of former project students who have now advanced to primary school. Words: 251

The inconsistent implementation of language policy and the underdevelopment of the Cham language teaching program in

Ninh Thuan, Vietnam

By Can D. Quang

This paper focuses on the concern that many minority cultures worldwide are experiencing regarding the loss of their languages as they are slowly replaced by dominant languages. This paper will discuss one such minority culture, the Cham of Vietnam, and its experiences over many years. The creation and the implementation of the Cham language teaching program (CLTP) in Vietnam will be described as one example of Vietnamese government policy towards the maintenance of minority languages. This policy is reasonable and is recognized by the government as fundamentally important. However, more recently the government has not supported the full implementation of the policy. The most negative effect is that, after 35 years of satisfactorily applying a sound policy, during which Cham community members and government leaders cooperated, recent evidence suggests that the Cham language is at risk of extinction. How is it that a longstanding and apparently successful program has led to this situation? The answer lies in the incomplete implementation of several key policy elements. Description of these elements will be a central part of this paper. To complete the paper, a set of recommendations will be presented based on existing policy and stipulations whose timely implementation will avoid the loss of the Cham language. An important element is the idea that language and culture must be maintained and revitalized simultaneously both in schools and the larger community.

Multilingual education: Policy manifestations and pedagogical practices in Nepal

By Lava D. Awasthi This paper presents a case of multilingual education (MLE) in Nepal, focusing on the evolution of language policies and how they are practiced in schools. It analyses Nepal’s construct of indigenous language policies; looks at changes due to the importation of monolingual ideologies; and discusses linkages between Nepal’s MLE policies, plans, programs, and interventions and their manifestations in schools. The paper highlights how MLE is intrinsically linked with pedagogical practices in relation to curricular design, material development, teacher preparation, and classroom delivery and shows how horizontal and vertical links have also been assessed in order to understand the linkages of critical functions of central-level agencies while implementing policies and reinforcing the program at the local level. The roles of local institutions in implementing the MLE Guidelines have been examined and critical gaps between policies and practices assessed in view of attaining Nepal’s MLE targets and Education For All objectives. The paper shows efforts made to see how MLE piloting and local-level initiatives contributed to developing models for MLE expansion and mother tongue-based pedagogies in different languages with the focus on creating indigenized materials, setting strategies and processes, and identifying good practices that have shown visible results in multilingual classroom settings. Finally, the paper shares field-level observations and highlights the achievements of MLE implementation; discusses the challenges MLE has faced and offers options for its effective implementation; and identifies key actions to follow and provides a road map for immediate and long-term engagements in the MLE process.

Language education, multi-ethnicity and conflict:

Practices and challenges in Assam, India

By Parismita Singh My paper examines the “language question” in the government primary schools of Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of Assam (a state in North-East India) and the larger issues of language policies in India. It discusses how discriminatory languages policies have lead to ethnic identity mobilizations and movements that have often created tension in multiethnic environments. The schools of this region have children from as many as seven diverse linguistic communities, but the languages of instruction are Assamese and Bodo. Both districts come under the Bodo Territorial Council, which has limited autonomy within the state of Assam. I examine how language rights in school were central to the Bodo people’s political struggle, and reflect on the current situation of children from other communities in the area who do not have access to education in their home language. I also briefly speak about a pilot program (that I am working with) where additional language support is provided to children whose home language is different from the school language. I look at how this program is able to meet the varied challenges of a conflict landscape, including ethnic tensions, poverty, violence, and the pressures of identity mobilization, while working with the question of language in education.

Walking among durians: The Malaysia Bidayuh schools’ journey

By Josak Siam and Jim Smith The Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) started early childhood education in the

Bidayuh languages in Sarawak, Malaysia, as a UNESCO project in collaboration with SIL

International. There are five primary Bidayuh languages with a total population of 200,000

people. The first schools were started with children aged three to four years in 2007, using

only Bidayuh, the mother tongue/heritage language, with the intent of forming a strong

foundation for a multilingual education program. In 2009, kindergartens were started for

five-year-old children in several villages. These kindergartens are also taught in Bidayuh,

with the national language taught orally as one subject. The schools operate on the principle

of community ownership and parental involvement, with DBNA giving administrative

oversight and SIL providing technical expertise. The schools have faced many challenges

such as competition with the government-run kindergartens, weak community involvement,

funding, lack of understanding of the importance of the mother tongue in education,

materials needing revision and ongoing teacher training. Despite the challenges DBNA has

persevered with the schools and is continually looking for new strategies to move ahead.

Their goal is to make these schools sustainable in order to provide the children with a sound

beginning education while reinforcing the intergenerational transmission of the Bidayuh

language and culture. Can DBNA and the Bidayuh communities succeed? We invite you to

walk with us as we document the progress made to date, discuss the challenges faced, and

examine possible ways to overcome them.

A successful MLE program among the Rajbanshi community in Nepal: Contributing factors, resulting impacts

By Pamar Rajbanshi

This paper presents a case study of a multilingual education (MLE) program

implemented in the Rajbanshi speaking areas of Jhapa and Morang in southeast Nepal.

This case study shows how a quality MLE program can provide efficiency,

effectiveness, and sustainability of education for students who speak non-dominant

languages. A quality program in which the teachers speak the language of the students

and consistently utilize sound education practices increases efficiency by reducing

grade repetition. Effectiveness is realized when a community sees their children

learning in school, in this case study inspiring the community to work for the

sustainability of their culture and language. The case study also illustrates that high

quality program can persuade local governments of the value of providing education in

the students’ strongest language, creating a sustainable policy and funding environment

for MLE program. Three key factors in making the Rajbanshi program successful will

be discussed. First, community involvement as implementers of the program is crucial.

Second, teaching methods create a child-friendly environment in which students’

learning is enhanced. This includes choosing a language of instruction that the students

are comfortable with, and that they understand and speak fluently. Third, teachers

should be provided with professional development activities that allow them to learn

and practice new methods in a safe environment and learn how to use the methods in

an MLE classroom. This paper also provides an overview of the education system in

Nepal and address the need of improving the quality of education in Nepal.

Inclusion of children’s home language in classrooms and the possibilities of transcending the transmission models of teaching

By Shivani Nag

The dominant models of pedagogy assume teaching learning to be a unidirectional process

where children are mere passive receptacles. Any instance of a mismatch between the child’s

home and school languages further thwarts any possibility of bi-directionality. However,

even when the child’s home language is brought inside the classroom, it may not by itself

bring forth a simultaneous transformation in pedagogy. This paper is based on a study

conducted in multilingual education (MLE) schools located in the tribal blocks of Gajapati

district in India. The study explored the experiences of teachers while using children’s home

language in classrooms, and examined if the inclusion of children’s home language resulted in

a change from a transmission model to a more collaborative model of teaching and learning.

The analysis of the data revealed that the inclusion of children’s home language was

unanimously viewed as advantageous by the teachers. However, a transformative change in

the classroom pedagogy was not observed. Only a few teachers were able to use the children’s

home language to create a learning space that was reciprocal, recursive and collaborative. For

most others, the utilities of linguistic inclusion remained confined to a transmission model of

teaching. Most teachers were found to view the child’s language as a “bridge” aimed at

acquiring adequate skills in the dominant language rather than as a pedagogic tool to gain

conceptual competence. The paper’s theoretical framework is drawn from the social learning

theory of Vygotsky and works on intersubjectivity and collaborative learning by Matusov and

Rogoff.

Implementation of the mother tongue-based approach: Challenges encountered by Philippine public school teachers and their coping strategies

By Geraldine Siagto-Wakat, Vicente Yaccao, Jr., Jelly June Anas, Louise Anne Estolero, et al

Planning, implementing, and sustaining a quality multilingual education program poses formidable challenges (Kadel 2010; see also UNESCO 2003, and Malone2010). With the implementation of the Department of Education Order No. 16, s. 2012, or the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE), in all public schools in the Philippines starting School Year 2012-2013, the researchers endeavored to explore the challenges encountered by the Baguio City, Philippines, public school teachers in the implementation of MTB-MLE and the strategies the respondents use to address these challenges. Respondents to this descriptive study are 29 percent of the total population of kindergarten and grade 1 teachers in Baguio City, Philippines. L. R. Gay suggests 10 percent of large populations and 20 percent of small populations as minimums (Yount 2006). The researchers used random sampling. Results reveal that the lack of materials written in the mother tongue is the biggest challenge the respondents encounter in the MTB-MLE implementation. To address this challenge, the respondents create their own visual materials; moreover, they discuss using the first language that the majority of the students understand, and they also employ bilingualism. Results further show that respondents consider undergoing a seminar on the structure, phonology and syntax of the mother tongue the teachers are required to use as a medium of instruction as well as a seminar-workshop on teaching strategies focusing on MTB-MLE necessary to address the challenges they encounter.

Evaluating the quality of MLE program delivery in classrooms in Northern Thailand

By Janice Hillmer Anyone who has ever put plans into action knows that much can change between the development and the delivery of a project. The same is true when it comes to the execution of multilingual education (MLE) programs, especially in remote locations. Agencies involved in program planning have little opportunity to observe the day-to-day interactions between key participants in the classroom. Of necessity, they rely on occasional site visits, teacher feedback and student grades to evaluate the program. This paper presents findings from a study into L1 and L2 language use in MLE classrooms in Northern Thailand. During four week-long visits over nine months, the researcher stayed at the elementary school in a Pwo Karen village, observing and recording the daily classroom interactions in situ. Seventeen hours of video and audio recordings, in addition to interviews with parents and teachers, have been used to analyze and evaluate the everyday interaction of teachers, teachers’ assistants and students involved in the MLE program. Based on these observations, it seems that the balance of L1 and L2 in the classroom is demonstrably different in practice, compared to the curriculum. This imbalance may influence both the maintenance of students’ L1 and their progress in the development of L2. This study identifies key factors involved in creating this imbalance and discusses possible solutions. Conclusions and recommendations drawn from this study may be of benefit to those involved in teacher training, curriculum development, and/or delivery of MLE programs operating in similar contexts.

Nature and effect of mother tongue-based multilingual education on the learning of pupils at Casiguran Central School in Bicol Region, Philippines

By Jessica de Jesus Dogaojo

This study assesses mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) in Casiguran Central School (CCS), in the municipality of Casiguran province of Sorsogon, Bicol region, Philippines. It is a qualitative study which employed a descriptive case study design, with the aim of describing the implementation of the MTB-MLE program at CCS, and to determine if the program has had a positive effect on the learning outcomes of pupils. The learning aspect was measured through the performances of the pupils in their classes as reflected by their grades during the First and Second Grading Periods. Cummins’ BICS/CALP theory of ideal transition of learning was used in the evaluation. The researcher conducted observations in MTB-MLE classes and interviews with teacher-coordinators. The study involved two groups – a Treatment Group (those with previous MTB-MLE instruction), and a Control Group (those with previous bilingual instruction) – which were compared based on their class performances and their teachers’ evaluations. The analyses revealed that the manner of implementation of the MTB-MLE at CCS concentrated on the oral skills development of the children, and that the Treatment Group consistently outperformed the Control Group in all subjects during the First and Second Grading Periods. It is hoped that the findings from this study will serve as a potential reference for further improvements and expansion of the MTB-MLE program in other areas.

One hour per week in the Mother Tongue: Can it make a difference? An analysis of

reading skills of children in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

By Alice Eastwood

Many children enter school in the rural areas of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, with little

knowledge of the national language, Indonesian; however, this is the medium of instruction

in all subjects except “Local Content.” Many children struggle to learn to read and write, and

some fail.

The “Local Content in Schools Project” is a collaboration between the Moma and Tado-

speaking communities, two district departments of education, and SIL International. The goal

of the program is that children should finish primary school able to read and write in their

mother tongue/heritage language and have significant understanding of their local culture.

Over 700 children between Grades 2-5 are now learning to read and write in their mother

tongue for just one hour per week.

The author has been involved with the design and implementation teams since the inception

of the project, which has now entered its fourth year of implementation. She has just

completed field research among Grade 5 children who are in the Local Content project, and

among Grade 6 children who are not. This research analyzes their reading abilities,

investigating their command of the syntax of Moma, their local language, and Indonesian,

their national language. It also describes reading comprehension levels, and whether there is a

positive correlation between command of syntax and reading comprehension.

This paper presents the research findings and will be of particular interest to mother tongue

curriculum developers and mother tongue literacy researchers.

Supporting Multilingual Education for Ethnic Minority in Northern Thailand: An evaluation study

By Wiyada Lemtrakul, Jutima Methaneethorn, Pongwat Fongkanta, and Setthawit

Chanowan

The study objectives were to evaluate the output, outcome, and impact of Phase II (2010–2012) of the “Supporting Multilingual Education for Ethnic Minority in Northern Thailand” project; to evaluate the project implementation; and to learn about factors and conditions affecting project success and/or limitation. The theory-based evaluation was used in the evaluation program and the logic model was developed to be used to formulate the conceptual framework. Sources of data were: project documents; project holder and educators; students, parents, and villagers in three provinces (Mon community, Kanchanaburi; Karen community, Chiang Mai; Hmong community, Chiang Rai). The data from documentary study, observation, and interviews were analyzed to compare actual practices with the designed activities indicated in the logic model of the project. Summary of major evaluation results: (1) The MLE program was established in six pilot schools. Students in those schools showed self-confidence, enjoyed learning, and reached better learning achievements. Stakeholders in the project supported and participated in the project. (2) Basic research was adequately done for planning and developing the project. Activities that helped raise awareness and mutual understanding regarding the values of multilingual education were carried out. Villagers were invited to participate in the development and production process of reading materials for bilingual education. An inter-agencies collaboration network has been set up for both government and non-government sectors. (3) Causal relationships between inputs, processes, outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the project were proved to conform to the initial logic model used in the evaluation of the project.

Investigating multilingual education in the context of the elementary reform in Papua New Guinea

By Jens Meyer

The Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has returned to an English-only education policy from preschool level onwards. The local language may only be taught as a subject if certain conditions are fulfilled. This is a radical shift away from their previous commitment to multilingual education based on the learners’ first languages. The Elementary Reform, as the implementation of multilingual education (MLE) was termed, faced various challenges that have contributed to its crisis in PNG. Some of these were identified using a questionnaire sent to a variety of language groups throughout the country. The challenges included: incomplete teacher and trainer training; misunderstanding of the importance of a well-thought-out bridging period between the L1 and L2; confusion about the curriculum; lack of follow-up by education authorities; and inadequate community awareness. This paper takes a closer look at these challenges, and shows that the concept of mother tongue-based MLE in the first years of education is still very sound. It indicates that where the Reform had been fully implemented with trained teachers, children were above average in reading and writing, and more confident in learning after they have moved on to the mainstream primary school.

Exploring language attitudes through linguistic landscaping: A case study from the Maldives

By Naashia Mohamed

Linguistic landscape (LL) refers to the visibility and salience of language use in public space. As an emerging method of examining the sociolinguistic composition of a geographical area, it can serve as a means of understanding the underlying social realities and linguistic attitudes in a society.

This paper proposes that the LL may serve important informational and symbolic functions as a marker of the relative power and status of the linguistic communities inhabiting a territory. It reports on empirical research carried out in the capital city of the Maldives where the forces of globalization and the nationwide adoption of English as a medium of instruction have raised the visible status of English to such an elevation that it overshadows the indigenous language of Dhivehi. Using photographic evidence to portray the extent to which both English and Dhivehi are observed through public signs, this study describes the LL of Malé and the power imbalance it depicts. Despite this linguistic discrepancy, the study shows how there exists little concern among the young people about the eroding status of their indigenous language.

The implications of this study point to the immediate need for a compelling language policy in order to raise the status of Dhivehi and create a more equal balance between the two languages while reversing the prevalent linguistic attitudes.

Promoting Kupang Malay in the local curriculum on the primary and university levels in Eastern Indonesia

By June Jacob

Recent policy reforms by the Indonesian Ministry of Education call for more local development and the use of muatan lokal ‘local curriculum’ to better reflect the multicultural diversity of Indonesia. These reforms reflect some awareness of contemporary models for education in multilingual societies, but successful implementation is extremely challenging in the language-rich regions of eastern Indonesia. This paper looks at numerous issues facing local-language education in the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur where language diversity is high (over 65 languages), and where there is considerable confusion about the actual purpose of muatan lokal among teachers, government officials, and local communities. Some locally produced muatan lokal has been developed, highlighting aspects of local geography, economy, and culture, but the material is presented exclusively in Indonesian, with little thought given to the role and use of local languages. A special challenge, particularly relevant in the urban provincial center of Kupang, is confusion and debate over the use of Malayu Kupang, a creolized form of regional Malay, in education. Given these challenges, the author discusses some efforts to promote Kupang Malay in the local curriculum (bahasa lokal dalam muatan lokal) at Artha Wacana Christian University in Kupang.

Increasing latitude for MLE in Papua, Indonesia

By Sheridan Indarto and Rachel De Ruiter

Indonesia’s large and sparsely distributed population, containing high diversity in terms of ethnicity and language, has resulted in a complex challenge for the government as it attempts to address educational needs within varying provinces. This paper focuses on the province of West Papua, as this area has the lowest literacy indicators and the highest primary and secondary school dropout rates in Indonesia. Historically and at present, in the majority of provinces, the national language of Bahasa Indonesia is used as the language of instruction in formal education. Indonesian education law has advocated a national curriculum in Bahasa Indonesia, arguing that this preserves uniformity and unity within the archipelago. Use of this curriculum, which is predominantly suited to an urban context and therefore largely irrelevant to the Papuan agricultural society, leaves indigenous Papuan students unmotivated and facing huge linguistic and cultural barriers. There are real obstacles in the development of multilingual education (MLE) programs in Papua, such as a lack of funds, corruption regarding the use of education funds, a lack of competent teachers, the poor conditions of schools, and a lack of understanding of MLE in local communities. This paper provides an outline of these challenges from the perspective of a teacher with personal experience in the area. It also aims to balance the challenges with the hope of positive policy developments and recent local government plans that have increased the latitude for MLE in West Papua.

Mother tongue-based education in Malaysia: A case of Chinese independent secondary schools

By Wei Keong Too

The language education policy in Malaysia as related to the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction has been a contentious issue. To foster national unity, the Malay language, the language spoken by the majority of Malaysians, was established as the official language, national language and the language of instruction in all government schools. Vernacular or mother tongue-medium schools were allowed only at the primary level and the number of such schools was also controlled. The 1961 Education Act, which enforced the use of Malay as the language of instruction, was not well received by the Chinese community, which insisted on having Mandarin as the medium of instruction from primary school to secondary school level. In this paper I present the Malaysian education system, focusing on how the Chinese-medium schools are positioned in the public education system. I will show how the Chinese community has supported a private education system as a viable option for those in the Chinese community who still want Mandarin used as the main medium of instruction. In relation to this. I will discuss the model of Chinese Independent Secondary Schools developed by the Malaysian Chinese community to sustain mother tongue education, present the challenges faced by the Chinese community and how it has attempted to overcome them, concluding with how Chinese Independent Secondary Schools position themselves within the multicultural tapestry of the Malaysian context.

Ambon-Malay based early childhood education: Towards mother tongue-based multilingual education—A progress report

By Johnny Tjia and Tara Huberty

There are many ways to implement multilingual education (MLE) in elementary schools. However, mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) starting in early childhood programs is the most effective and beneficial philosophy to adopt. Its implementation varies depending on context, but a set of best practices can be used as a model in most situations. This paper discusses best practices of MTB-MLE programs, explains how MLE has been implemented in Ambon-Malay speaking preschools in Indonesia through the PAUD-B2S program, and evaluates these best practices in light of the Ambon-Malay context. We believe that what has been learned from the PAUD-B2S experience can help serve as a model of MTB-MLE in early childhood programs throughout Indonesia.

Teacher development through learning communities: Monolingual teacher research and curriculum development in a multilingual urban school

By Joseph Rumenapp

This paper presents a year-long study of four monolingual teachers in a predominantly Asian-American urban school in the United States. The four teachers implement ethnographic field methods to study their students’ home lives and use their findings to develop culturally and linguistically responsive curricula. Through the use of classroom discourse analysis, the teachers seek to privilege the students’ voices, especially those from non-dominant ethnolinguistic groups. This is a story of dynamic changes as the four teachers stand up to a restrictive top-down, mandated curricula and provide opportunities for students to use multiple linguistic and cultural resources. Through the analysis of participant observation field notes, classroom videos, teacher planning meetings, and focus groups, this study sheds light on what ongoing teacher development can accomplish when teachers are provided with action research tools. I address the problem of insufficient professional development in complex language environments by displaying how a professional learning community can learn to struggle through restrictive schooling. The learning community examines teaching practices to provide meaningful opportunities for minority language students to be included rather than marginalized. I find that teachers become aware of “best practices” of language acquisition by using discourse analysis to study their own classrooms. As teachers look closely at small group and whole group learning contexts, they become aware of the value of multiple linguistic resources being used to accomplish classroom goals. This study, from a US context, frames the findings in a meaningful and relevant way to be applied in multilingual educational contexts.

Incorporating local wisdom into Pwo Karen reading materials

By Bharistha Sreshthaputra Since 2009, one school in northern Thailand has used the Pwo Karen language in teaching

Kindergarten through Grade 3. I worked with Pwo Karen people who know their culture to

collect local wisdom, select local wisdom to use in reading materials, and create reading

materials. The local wisdom was collected through interviews and three two-day

workshops. During the first workshop, 33 participants from four villages discussed the

question “What shows that our village is Pwo Karen?” They also discussed housing, herbal

medicine, textiles and food. Participants worked in groups, discussing everything in Pwo

Karen. Notes were taken in Thai by Pwo Karen teaching assistants. Workshop participants

suggested that they also share local wisdom about Pwo Karen games and toys. This became

the focus of the second workshop. In the third workshop, participants from five villages

selected their own local wisdom topics. They drew pictures to explain things that were

difficult to explain in words. After the third workshop, participants selected the topics that

they felt were most important to pass on to Pwo Karen children. A book with 18 stories

about two Pwo Karen children was developed in Thai and translated into Pwo Karen.

Things learned in the process: the workshop participants were enthusiastic about the process

and proud of their local wisdom; and, I needed to rely on Pwo Karen people to identify and

correct errors in the stories.

Malaysian indigenous minority children on the education chessboard

By Joemin Maratin and Karla Smith There are many early childhood education programs in Sabah, Malaysia, but none like the

Heritage Language and Culture Playschools (HLCPs). These schools, for children aged three

to four years, use a culturally relevant curriculum taught in the mother tongue by trained

teachers, so building a quality educational foundation. In 2007 the Iranun Cultural Association

(BKI) and Tobilung Cultural Association (TOBISA) started the first HLCP in Sabah in

cooperation with Language Development SIL–Sabah. Before long the Cultural Associations

of other language groups were also starting HLCPs. There are currently eleven HLCPs in

operation. In April 2012 six Association leaders and Language Development SIL–Sabah

signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the HLCPs. The event was

officiated by the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Education Y.B. Dr. Haji Mohd Puad Zarkashi

and hosted by Y.B. Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia, Speaker of the

House of Representatives, Malaysia. This event demonstrated to the Ministry of Education

that the indigenous minorities of Sabah are serious about education in their own languages.

However, much work still needs to be done, including policy change, to advance into an

actual multilingual education program. We give an overview of the HLCPs, the role of

community organizations and the challenges of navigating linguistic diversity and cultural

norms that the HLCPs face. We also address relevant education policies and sustainability

issues.

Co-creating spaces for multilingual practices in Turkey’s state-run monolingual educational system

By Muge Ayan Ceyhan

Turkish society is going through a painful transformation process, one that also presents

opportunities for democratization. As part of this process, suppressed groups whose basic

rights have been unrecognised have become visible in the public sphere, and have begun

voicing their claims to equal citizenship. Arguably, this process carries not only the potential

for democratization, but also the potential for conflict, and multilingual education (which caters

for the needs of all the pupils in the education system) lies at the heart of the matter.

Ethnographic evidence gathered at a primary school located in a socioeconomically

disadvantaged, migration-receiving area in Turkey indicates that the child and adult actors of

the school both stereotype and stigmatise other ethnic groups. I therefore argue that the social

climate needs to be analyzed while designing an effective schooling in multilingual contexts

based on realistic strategies. Building on one year’s fieldwork, this presentation also aims to

investigate the extent to which the school handles linguistic and cultural diversity and meets

the needs of its pupils coming from ethnically and linguistically diverse backgrounds. By way

of analyzing videos and fieldnotes taken over the year I examine how pupils’ home

languages/cultures are treated in school and how pupils adapt to the exclusion of their home

languages/cultures.

Speaking the same language about multilingualism?: International development partners’ roles in supporting an enabling environment for multilingual

education

By Amanda Seel Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vanuatu, and Myanmar are countries that require attention to multilingual education if quality basic education is to be achieved; they all receive substantial international assistance to education through coordinated assistance modalities. Examples from these countries illustrate that often, far from such modalities supporting “policy coherence,” discourse on language in education is confused and contradictory and multilingual education initiatives are isolated from wider sector frameworks. In this context, pioneering multilingual education (MLE) initiatives, even where technically sound and supported by high level policy/legislation, struggle to take root owing to a range of weaknesses in the mid-level “enabling environment” (teachers’ general pedagogic competence, language-sensitive teacher deployment, assessment procedures, school management functionality, equity in school resourcing, etc.). Strategies being simultaneously encouraged can even directly undermine progress in mother tongue-based approaches, for example, conceptualisations of Early Childhood Development (ECD) as “school readiness” and the introduction of national reading assessment in the dominant language of instruction in the early grades of primary school.

For international agencies to support greater policy/strategy coherence in relation to language in education requires addressing gaps in internal policy articulation; revisiting organizational practices and structures to ensure balance and communication between “generalist” and “specialist” expertise; ensuring that “SWAp” coordination mechanisms include the agencies at the forefront of implementation support for MLE; supporting capacity for the design of MLE initiatives as “policy pilots” (not stand-alone projects) and a recommitment to serious harmonization of technical assistance where this has lapsed into detrimental “cherry picking.”

Developing quality community-based multilingual education initiatives in the Cambodian highlands

By Anne Thomas

Cambodia faces continuing challenges in the remote communities of the Cambodian

Highlands where education and social services lag far behind the rest of the country. The

mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) approach in Cambodia was first

trialed in the Cambodian Highlands fifteen years ago, using a community-based non-

formal education approach. Community members of all ages, male and female, are

gaining access to education for the first time. They find themselves better equipped to

maintain their cultural identity in the face of rapid modernization. That teachers volunteer

their time to instruct fellow villagers indicates the high value they place on the education

initiatives. By pooling their experience and knowledge community members are playing

ever-increasing roles in all aspects of project delivery: planning, monitoring, teacher

training, material production, and establishing community libraries. The broad range of

challenges encountered requires creative solutions. A wealth of experience has been

gathered concerning all aspects of program delivery. Initial challenges focused on

instruction in languages recently reduced to writing. This was in addition to training

teachers, producing materials, and ensuring that the results of pilot classes provided input

to national and local policy. Today, challenges focus on ensuring quality training, local

production of reading materials, establishing community libraries, and expansion. This

paper documents the experience of communities and organizations in several provinces of

northeastern Cambodia: the various models, challenges, solutions, best practices, and

lessons learned implementing MTB-MLE projects over the past decade and a half.

Community involvement in implementing MTB-MLE

with the Dumagats in the Northern Philippines

By Marilyn L. Ngales and Leonora H. Astete Social exclusion has been the lot of most Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in the Philippines, hence their

inability to freely put across their ideas as citizens of the country. Venues for participation have

not been made fully accessible to them for various reasons. Recently, the Philippine Department

of Education (DepEd) promulgated its K to 12 program of which one feature is the inclusion of

mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE), where the first language will be used

as a medium of instruction and will be taught as a separate subject in the elementary grades.

While the pronouncement is welcomed by the Dumagats (IPs in the northern Philippines) with

their desire to strengthen their identity as a people through their language, there are many

challenges besetting MTB-MLE implementation. First is the teaching of the mother tongue by

teachers who are non-native speakers. Second is the make-up of schools with both IP and non-IP

pupils. Third is the absence of learning materials in the mother tongue. This paper looks into the

challenges and opportunities of the MTB-MLE initiative as experienced by K-1 Dumagats

enrolled in six pilot schools in the northern Philippines. A collaborative effort was launched

where community teachers (non-degreed community members, but fluent in the mother tongue)

were tapped to assist non-native speaking DepEd teachers during the program’s implementation.

Participatory action research and case studies involving the various stakeholders in the area are

used in the study.

Building community involvement in MLE in northeast Cambodia

By Srom Bunthy and Mariam Smith Since the mid-1990s, the Bunong people of northeastern Cambodia have experienced rapid

social, political and environmental changes causing widespread disempowerment, with

communities ill equipped to participate in governance processes and institutions. The

Cambodian government has been introducing bilingual education for indigenous minorities

to help create a more inclusive society, but has struggled to build the community

involvement necessary to make programs successful. In this session, we will share our

findings from an action-research project which explored the research question, “How can

the Bunong people be involved in an education relevant to them?” One of the main findings

has been that education, even when provided in the mother tongue, needs to be strongly

connected to the Bunong people’s environment, livelihood and identity. Processes need to

be developed which help communities formulate a local construct of education, where the

school is seen as part of the local community rather than a foreign institution. The research

highlights approaches that help communities explore their education priorities in relation to

their cultural and development priorities. By placing value on local knowledge in

education, community members are empowered to be involved at all levels of the program,

supporting partnerships between education service providers and local communities.

Specific solutions discovered by staff and community members include the importance of

creative learner- centred methods, the use of traditional arts, engaging communities in

critical reflection on local and external knowledge, and facilitating the emergence of

networks in order for the Bunong to engage with quality education.

Viet Nam experience on Language Classroom Mapping: A tool for planning and managing bilingual education

By Dinh Phuong Thao and Nguyen Anh Ninh

One of the critical needs for bilingual education is a tool to help education officials understand the specific language needs and resources within the current teaching staff. This paper talks about Viet Nam experience of Language Classroom Mapping in Lao Cai province. The approach identified the strongest language of each student in every primary school class in the province, as well as their academic performance, and recorded the teacher's ethnicity and second language abilities. The results showed that: (1) 60 percent of the sites were monolingual and potential sites for bilingual education expansion; (2) 70 percent of the teachers are Kinh and speak Vietnamese as their mother tongue but Vietnamese is the strongest language of only 22 percent of the students; and (3) Mong students in mother tongue-based bilingual education (MTB-BE) schools performed above the provincial average and well above their peers in non-MTB-BE schools. The results were analyzed and key messages were presented graphically to provincial authorities to evaluate: monolingual sites where bilingual education can be applied; the number of teachers who are potential bilingual education teachers; and how the MTB-BE program is helping Mong children close the learning gap between themselves and other ethnic groups. The tool contributes to developing a more relevant education system. The initiative was supported by the Ministry of Education and Training, Lao Cai Department of Education and Training, and SIL International; UNICEF carried out a language mapping exercise in Lao Cai province in 2011-2012.

Different influences of visual-spatial skills on Chinese and English word recognition: The example of Fourth Grade students in Taiwan

By Ya-Chin Chuang and Chien-Ju Chang

Few studies explore the relationship between visual-spatial skills and word recognition (NELP 2009). The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of visual-spatial skills on Chinese and English word recognition. The study focused on visual-spatial skills and eliminated the influence of phonological awareness and the ability to detect or analyze components of spoken words independent of meaning. Subjects were 35 Fourth Grade students who passed the phonological awareness screening test. They took the Ray Complex Figure Test to assess their visual-spatial skills and visual memory. They also took Chinese and English word recognition tests and a vocabulary test from Weschler Intelligence Test to assess their vocabulary knowledge. In Taiwan, English is regarded as a foreign language, and the majority of students are Mandarin native speakers. Nonetheless, most students started learning English in Kindergarten. The researcher used Statistical Product and Service Solutions – (SPSS) to analyze the data and correlation and multiple regressions were applied. There were three major findings from this study. First, vocabulary was positively correlated to English word recognition, but the correlation with the Mandarin word recognition test was not significant. Second, English and Mandarin word recognition tests were significantly correlated to each other. Third, the scores of the Ray Complex Figure Test explained the score of Chinese word recognition, but not the score of English word recognition. It is concluded that vocabulary knowledge is important to learn a foreign language and visual-spatial skills are more important in Chinese word recognition than in English word recognition.

Improving student mastery of multilanguages: The use of a technology-based education

program in Indonesia

By Nurrina Dyahpuspita

Globalization has had a great impact in Indonesia, including in the development of science,

economics, and art, and the development of technology. Such development has helped to create a

variety of tools to facilitate human development. However, globalization has also brought

changes that harm traditional knowledge and customs, including harming the existence and use

of ethnic minority languages among the various regions of Indonesia.

Without languages, cultures, and science human creativity cannot be developed. A language is a

mark of identity and it is key to human civilization. The loss of a language is tantamount to the

disappearance of a civilization. Therefore, students should master multilanguages not only for

language preservation but also to support mother-tongue competence, language unity, and

international language acquisition.

In this paper, the author initiates an idea to revitalize Indonesian languages through a

technology-based education program via television and radio programs. Through these mediums,

students will be able to learn their local language, their national language, and an international

language. It is expected that teachers and students would be actively involved in every broadcast

as both speakers and listeners.

The method used in this paper is qualitative, whereby the author collects, analyzes, and makes

conclusions based on the data obtained.

Strengthening Networks – How can we improve regional and national MLE networks

This parallel session aims to bring together MLE practitioners and members of MLE communities from

the Asia and Pacific region to brainstorm on the ways in which the role of national MLE networks could

be strengthened and how they could collaborate effectively at the regional level. In this session,

representatives from the Philippine and Indian national networks as well as regional networks, such as

the Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) and the United Nations Girls’ Education

Initiative (UNGEI) East Asia and Pacific Secretariat will be present to facilitate the discussions and share

their experiences and lessons learned in building up and expanding their respective regional and

national networks. Participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns and visions

of an Asia-Pacific Regional MLE Network which will be shared in the final Summary Plenary session on

the last day of the Conference. It is expected that the outcomes of this session will serve to generate

greater understanding about the roles and functions of an effective regional network, and more

specifically to gather ideas on how the momentum for MLE could be maintained and strengthened

across the Asia-Pacific region.

Guiding questions:

1. What are the key strengths of your national/regional network? What are the main challenges

your network has faced? How have they been overcome? Or could be overcome?

2. Who/which agencies/organizations are part of your network? What were the processes in

identifying and inviting partners?

3. What was/were your advocacy method(s) in generating greater understanding and awareness

of your network’s vision and goals?

4. Please could you share a few tips in creating an effective and well-functioning

national/regional network?

Multi-language education in Afghanistan: Achievements, challenges, and policy options

By M Javad Ahmadi

Afghanistan is a multicultural and multilingual country. Afghan people speak more than 30 languages. According to the Afghanistan Education Law (2004), all Afghans must learn two official languages (Dari and Pashto), and the language of instruction in schools must be one of the official languages that the majority of residents in school neighborhood speak. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has developed textbooks in both official languages and also one textbook per grade in eight minority languages. However, challenges faced by the MoE include: a lack of reliable data on the number of school-age children of linguistic minorities; a lack of consensus within the ministry on the importance of mother tongue education in the case of small ethnic minorities; negative perceptions of linguistic minorities toward education in local languages; shortage of qualified teachers for teaching local languages; the possibility of losing future opportunities and further marginalization of ethnic minorities by studying in local languages; and the political fear of weakening national unity by strengthening local language, especially through possible interference of neighboring countries. In addition, there are several policy questions with regard to the language of education such as: Which official language should be used in multicultural schools where students are mixed? Should all textbooks for Grades 1-3 be in local languages or just keep local languages as separate subjects? I will explain recent developments and challenges toward providing education in local languages in Afghanistan, current policy questions and options, and the lessons learned so far.

Education in local languages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: A case study on political will and its implementation

By Faizi Inayatullah

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the northwestern province of Pakistan, is home to a heterogeneous population speaking 29 languages of different families and sub-groups. Education in learners’ mother tongues was a long-standing dream of native speakers of these languages, but there was no political will to support adequate language policy. In 2010, the current coalition government comprising the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) took bold steps toward using local languages in education in KP for the first time. These steps make an interesting case study for researchers and practitioners of multilingual education, because they include many dimensions, the most important one involving the standardization of the orthographies. This initiative was approved at different provincial government levels, and initially five languages—Pashto, Hindko, Seraiki, Khowar, and Kohistani—were selected to be taught as school subjects up to the secondary level. Also, to facilitate the process of mainstreaming all local languages spoken in the province, a Regional Languages Authority was constituted. The political will of the KP provincial government can provide lessons for other governments in South Asia. The case study deals with the subject in detail and gives salient features of an initiative in increased use of local languages in education.

Best practices, different beneficiaries: How language acquisition practices for children’s MLE apply to Lhomi adult literacy in Nepal

By Yee-may Chan and Chhejap Bhote

Literacy programs in rural Nepal are quite common, but practitioners often experience

low literacy rates among these rural communities. One difficulty related to literacy

programs in Nepal is that many people do not speak Nepali as their first language, but

literacy programs are required to teach literacy in Nepali. However, literacy programs

are allowed to teach literacy in another language, as long as literacy in Nepali is

included at some point. This paper explains how the Lhomi Mother Tongue-based

Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) Adult Literacy program applies principles from

MLE programs designed for children to literacy programs for adults. For example,

culturally appropriate mother tongue teaching materials relevant to the participants’

daily lives are created and used; teaching materials used in the classrooms move from

simple to complicated, from known to unknown; the participants’ mother tongue is the

medium of instruction. The experience of the program shows that participants will

master basic literacy, numeracy skills, and simple mathematics within five months.

Our experience also shows that after participants learn to read in Lhomi, they quickly

learn to read Nepali (which uses a similar writing system). Some participants go even

further, learning English, which uses a different writing system. The next step in this

program is to identify methodologies for effectively teaching English in this rural

community. The Lhomi program has demonstrated that best practices of language

acquisition for children can be relevant for teaching adults as well, a finding that

makes the local community, funding partners, and government authorities very

pleased.

Tailoring language and education programs for the adult learner

By Ellen Errington Multilingual education for adult learners presents some unique challenges for the literacy provider. The contexts, the motivations and the expected outcomes all vary somewhat from programs designed for children. This presentation considers each of those variables to help us understand best practices for multilingual education geared to the mature learner. Adult learners come with a wealth of knowledge and experience on which to build new skills. These strengths are important to utilize as learners encounter printed materials, first in their own language and then in a language of wider communication. In this process participatory methods are especially useful to engage learners and design programs that meet the learners’ felt needs. Time will be given in this presentation for seminar attendees to discuss two key questions in small groups: (1) In your experience, how have adult programs been tailored to the needs of particular adult audiences? and (2) Have the anticipated outcomes of second-language literacy been realized in programs with which you are acquainted; and if so, what was the impact?

Research on identification of model of literacy promotion for learners from ethnic groups in Thailand-Lao PDR border areas of Phusang District,

Thailand

By Suchin Petcharugsa

Phusang District Non-Formal Education (NFE) Service Center, Office of Non-Formal

and Informal Education Commission, Ministry of Education, faced difficulties in

providing appropriate education services, especially literacy skill promotion. Teaching

using only the national language (Thai) was not suitable because of cultural and

language diversity. In 2012, through support from the Thailand Research Fund, a

project researching what would be an appropriate model of literacy promotion for

learners from various ethnic groups got underway. The sample of 20 learners were

ethnic Lao living in three villages of Phusang Sub-district; the researchers were the

Director of Phusang District NFE Service Center and all NFE teachers. NFE teachers

were trained in various community-based research methodology (CBR) tools and

applied them in the project area. They identified five topics of literacy content: (1)

traditional practices, (2) education, (3) geography, (4) politics and public

administration, (5) community economy. On the education topic, target learners were

divided into two groups: those who could read and write Lao (they would learn both

Thai and Lao), and those who were illiterate in both languages (they started learning in

Thai only). The teaching process emphasized group discussion, increasing roles and

responsibilities of learners in discovering solutions through joint efforts, friendships,

openness in sharing ideas, and the contribution of local experts. It was found that the

attendance rate of learners was higher than in the past, learners were more responsive

to learning activities in class, their learning skills also improved, and they could

communicate better in both languages.

A ‘sinkhole to doom’, or ‘tarmac’ to academic success: The journey of Lugbara teachers in Uganda's mother tongue policy

By Willy Ngaka

Learners are believed to engage more meaningfully with content, question the unknown, and

even enjoy the challenge of new tasks when taught in a mother tongue as compared to a

second language. Uganda’s mother tongue policy, which took off in 2007, stipulates that (except

for schools in urban areas where the medium of instruction will be English throughout the

primary cycle) children from Primary 1 (P.1) to P.4 in rural schools will be instructed in the

relevant local language, while from P.5 onwards, English will remain the medium of

instruction. Six years down the road, not much is known by way of sharing the teachers’

experiences. This paper traces the journey by those teaching the Lugbara language in Uganda’s

primary schools in North-western Region with a view to documenting their personal experiences,

achievements, pedagogical obstacles, coping strategies and the future prospects for contributing

towards the attainment of Education for All goals. The paper argues that considering the known

and anticipated complications linked to the Lugbara language, this policy could act as a tarmac

for a quick move by the young generation speaking minority languages to educational glory if

handled well, or become a sinkhole to lead them to doom, if carelessly handled. A descriptive

account of Uganda’s language context will precede a brief analysis of the key issues in the white

paper; to be followed by methods, findings and discussions. The paper will end with conclusions,

the way forward and implications for policy for multilingual literacy and educational practices.

Teaching in a bilingual education pilot project: Insights from public school teachers and local teachers in Northern Thailand

By Katherine Dooley

This paper explores the roles and experiences of teachers in a Mother Tongue-based Multilingual Education pilot project in Northern Thailand. As the school teachers in the rural project schools do not speak the local language, and there are no qualified teachers in the community, young people with nine years of education have been hired as “local teachers.” With minimal training these local teachers have become responsible for the majority of the teaching activities in the classroom using the local language, under the supervision of a qualified teacher. They have also developed reading materials in their local language. Meanwhile, the qualified teachers have remained responsible for the lesson plans and Thai language materials. They have become mentors to the local teachers, and are responsible for the introduction of Thai as a second language in pupils’ learning. Early indications are that pupils in the first four years of this project have benefited, learning to read both languages and approaching their studies with confidence. This paper seeks to understand the challenges faced by teachers in the project, as well as what encourages and motivates them, using data from interviews and focus groups. This includes an examination of the working relationships between the two groups of teachers, and the views of parents and pupils. Through analysis and reflection, the study draws out lessons and recommendations which can be applied to other such contexts.

Guaranteeing quality education: The Indian scenario – A case study

By Avantika Thakur

The lack of qualified teachers and school administrators in India renders the education provided by

a school bereft of a strong foundation. Teaching Hindi, the mother tongue of many, is a critically

important instance of this lack, with under-qualified teachers, many of whom often speak

phonetically incorrectly. And writing the language is an even more difficult task than speaking it.

Amidst this, teaching English, a foreign language on which the entire Indian education system both

primary and higher is based, is a Herculean task. My 30 third grade students studying in a low-

income private school in New Delhi proved appropriate subjects through which to check my

observations and conclusions in the area: (1) the lack of a proper transition from Hindi to English,

with the latter being introduced in Kindergarten, has had a significant impact on the foundation of

the language; (2) while community ownership promotes the importance of education, illiterate

parents are unaware of the indicators that show learning in their children; (3) Indian students have

become proficient at copying from the blackboard and repeating the material the next day—rote

learning without questioning anything; and, (4) under-qualified school administrators fail to

comprehend the link between teacher training and student achievement. These challenges can be

overcome with a multi-pronged approach starting with better implementation of education laws at

the grassroots, and involving stakeholders like parents, teachers and school administrators of both

private and government schools.

Participatory approaches in orthography development for mother tongue-based multilingual education: Insights from non-dominant language communities

By Mansueto Casquite

A systematic approach to orthography development is a crucial component for starting a mother

tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) program. For the program to be strong and

sustainable, writing systems need to be acceptable to the speakers and to other stakeholders. A

participatory process from within, incorporating the language community and technical experts is

ideal to achieve appreciation, acceptability, accuracy and ownership. This paper reviews the

different components of developing a good orthography and highlights how participatory

approaches inspire and give premium importance to local voices in making quality decisions on

how to write their language. Several case studies are considered, particularly of non-dominant

language groups in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in Southern

Philippines. It will be shown how community participation, consultation and validation, as well

as technical assistance from linguistic researchers and trained facilitators help these language

communities make informed choices, empowering them and preserving local ownership. Finally,

the positive effects of the refined orthographies on other aspects of their localized language and

development programs will be considered.

Effects of the communicative approach on the essay writing performance of junior students

By Dick Balmocena Lapitan This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of the Communicative Writing Approach

in enhancing the writing skills in English as second Language of junior students at Solano High

School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines, for the School Year 2011–2012. In light of the

results of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) There is a very significant

difference between the pre-test mean scores and post-test mean scores of the experimental group

in personal and issue essay writing. (2) There is a significant difference between the post-test

mean scores of the experimental and control groups in personal essay writing and a very

significant difference between the post-test mean scores of the experimental and control groups

in issue essay writing. (3) The experimental and control groups encountered the following

difficulties in writing personal and issue essays: developing their topic, supplying other examples

or details to support their statements/ideas, presenting/arranging ideas (beginning, body and

conclusion), using different transition words and vocabulary, expressing ideas in English, writing

figures of speech and idiomatic expressions, using appropriate verb tenses in their written work,

using correct grammar (subject–verb agreement, pronouns, negative words and the use of

active voice and passive voice), constructing sentences, using punctuation (for example, period,

comma, question mark, exclamation point and others) in writing sentences and paragraphs,

spelling words correctly.

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Plenary Session III - Special invited panel:

“Policy support for multilingual education: Southeast Asian experiences” Invited panelists: Her Excellency Under Secretary of State Ton Sa Im, Cambodia

Congressman Magtanggol T. Gunigundo, Philippines Professor Suwilai Premsrirat, Thailand

Moderator: Dr. Sheldon Shaeffer

Abstract

This plenary panel highlights three recent Southeast Asia country cases on language and education policy that strengthen support for: 1) more inclusive education practices in terms of language of instruction, and 2) the use of all learners’ mother tongues in multilingual education, including the speakers of minority and non-dominant languages.

Brief introductions to the country settings (that is, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand) will be provided with a special focus on recent education and language policy developments.

The panelists will discuss policy issues by addressing three sets of questions:

Policy positions: • What does the current language-in-education policy say? • What are the desired outcomes of the recent policies that support the increased use of non-

dominant languages in education? • What are the main reasons such policies have been developed? • Who are the main intended beneficiaries of the policy?

Processes and challenges in developing the policies:

• What has been the policy development process? • Who have been the main stakeholders and actors in policy development? • What have been the main challenges in the policy development process and how have they

been overcome?

Policy implementation: • What is the current status of the implementation of the policy? • How is the implementation of the policy financed? • What does the future of multilingual education look like in Cambodia, the Philippines, and

Thailand?

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4th International Language and Education Conference: Multilingual Education for ALL in Asia and the Pacific – Policies, Practices and Processes

FRIDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2013 - 10.30-12.00

Parallel Session VI – Special Panel Discussion:

“Analyzing cost and benefit of multilingual education: For evidence-based policy development and funding”

Invited panelists: Dr. Kimmo Kosonen

Dr. Kathleen Heugh Dr. Steve Walter

Moderator: Mr. Min Bista

Planning and facilitation team: Mr. Min Bista, Ms. Satoko Yano, Ms. Kristy Kyungah Bang

Background

There is a substantial body of study showing the effectiveness of using mother tongue-based bilingual/multilingual education (MTB-BLE/MLE) in enhancing students’ overall learning, reducing dropout and grade repetition, and boosting students’ self-esteem. In addition, MTB-MLE in the early years of learning especially plays a crucial role in ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all. However, the perception that the MTB-MLE has high economic costs discourages policymakers from accepting considering it as a policy option. Many a times the implementation of MTB-MLE is challenged by the initial upfront cost without realizing the long-term benefits of the program. While studies have attempted to examine the impact of MTB-MLE on a number of educational outcomes, systematic studies examining the economics and financing of MTB-MLE are largely lacking. So far only a few studies have analyzed MTB- MLE from cost-benefit point of view. Available evidence tends to suggest that MTB-MLE is cost-effective in the long term, since it can significantly reduce financial wastage related to student repetition and dropout rates.1 In this context, UNESCO Bangkok has initiated a research project with the aim of strengthening national capacity in planning and implementing MTB-MLE and language policies. This session aims to highlight the importance and challenges of cost-benefit analysis of MLE programs, identify knowledge gaps, and develop an agenda for future research.

The panelists will discuss the issues by addressing four sets of questions:

The financing of MTB-MLE: • What are the choices that policymakers must address while formulating language policies in

a multilingual context? • What are the economic considerations for language policymaking in a multilingual

environment? • What is the role of research in policymaking?

Key findings and policy implications:

1 One well-known study is Patrinos & Velez (1996), which concluded that the simulated savings from reduced dropout and repetition rates among bilingual

education program students in Guatemala, even after considering increased initial unit cost of the bilingual programme, was equivalent to the cost of providing

primary education to about 100,000 students per year.

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• What are the main reasons you conducted your studies on cost and benefit of MLE programs?

• What are the key findings of your research on cost and benefit of MLE programs? • What are the policy implications of your key findings? • What are the reactions from the government(s) and other stakeholders?

Knowledge gap:

• What do you know about cost and benefit of MLE programs? • What do we not know about cost and benefit of MLE programs? • What are the main reasons of such knowledge gap?

Agenda for future research:

• To bridge the knowledge gap previously discussed, what needs to be done? • What type of theoretical and mythological challenges do you think we will face? • What kind of roles can different stakeholders (e.g., international organizations,

governments, academia, etc) play in advancing such a research agenda?

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Cultural revival through MTB-MLE: The case of the Singpho of Northeastern India

By Palash Kumar Nath

Multilingual education can be instrumental in the cultural revival of an ethnic minority community. This paper specifically refers to the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) program developed in the Singpho language community in Northeastern India. It presents an account of this on-going MTB-MLE program, focusing on how and why the issue of cultural revival has gradually become one of the main motivating factors for the community to continue the program. The paper also discusses the steps that have been taken by the community to incorporate cultural aspects into the curriculum. The inter-related issue of the community’s assertion of cultural and ethnic identity through the on-going MTB-MLE program will also be addressed.

Mother tongue-based multilingual early childhood education in the context of tribes in Odisha, India

By Priyadarsini Mohanty

India, known for its diversity and rich cultural heritage, is also characterized by individual as well as societal multilingualism, and to this extent every state has government-run schools where the language of instruction is the official state language. However, Odisha is home to more than 62 tribes, including 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups, who speak their own dialects that are entirely different from mainstream Odia. This, coupled with difficult geographical, demographic and socio-cultural factors, makes it difficult for children from tribal communities to learn mainstream languages. Thus, when children from these tribal groups come into mainstream schooling, learning becomes a challenge as they do not understand the language that is the medium of instruction.

Taking all these factors into consideration and towards achieving its commitment to fulfill the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring quality education to all students, the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), in collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, is instituting the first program of mother tongue-based multilingual education in early childhood development. This program not only aims to improve the quality of education of children enrolled in KISS, but also aims to be the first Centre of Excellence on mother tongue-based early childhood education in the state. The program aims to make holistic mainstream education more accessible to young tribal children by introducing innovative teaching and learning tools using tribal dialects. It also aims to become a nodal centre for tribal mother tongue-based education in the state, promoting knowledge exchange, advocacy, and collaboration.

Developing an MLE policy toward language spoken by tribals, with special relation to Santali, India

By Shweta Sandilya and Deepak Kumar Singh

It may not be possible to find a society, especially in Asia and the Pacific, without a multilingual social context. Brunei, Vanuatu, India and Pakistan, for example, all have sizeable populations speaking tribal languages as their L1. Little attention has been paid to using the L1 to help tribal language speakers learn an L2. This paper focuses on one such language, Santali, with 7 million speakers spread across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, and Bhutan. Santali’s script was developed in the 1940s. While languages such as Santali need to be further enriched with literary activities, an attempt to teach L2 or other subjects through L2 (which in most cases happen to be more widely accepted) or even national languages having far richer language and literature, may receive silent chauvinistic protests from tribal people. One of the problems faced by teachers and pedagogy specialists is that L1 speakers of tribal or even regional languages might be willing to disown their first language. With special focus on the use of Santali in rural schools, this paper attempts to present the issues related to multilingual education, an analysis of language policy practices, and the curriculum and syllabi. It includes a case study on challenges faced by teachers attempting to teach subjects through the L1. We need to both develop a policy that creates a conducive environment for inculcating deep respect for such tribal languages and also provide teachers with specific technical and subject knowledge with necessary facilities and incentives to work for this cause.

Ascertaining access to mother tongue-based multilingual education for ethnolinguistic communities of Nepal

By Ambika Regmi

This paper discusses some strategies for ascertaining access to mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) for ethnolinguistic communities in Nepal. Nepal is a multilingual and multiethnic country. There are 123 languages and more than 103 ethnic communities. Still, children in most ethnolinguistic communities are deprived of basic education in their respective mother tongues. Quality basic education is far away for them. Teaching in unfamiliar languages has hindered cognitive development in the children.

Language not only helps promote equality and empowers people but also is a key factor for the social inclusion in ethnolinguistic communities. MTB-MLE is the most important mechanism for achieving the goal of education for all among minority communities. In Nepal, attempts have been made to encourage the children from every speech community to get educated. However, the policy adopted by the government is not conducive for such a purpose. Curriculum and textbooks as well as reading materials must be compatible to the socio-cultural setting of the communities. Another important factor is the attitude of the communities.

At present, most of the children in basic education are not learning the basic skills, but are focused instead on learning the Nepali language, which is almost alien to them. Only through MTB-MLE can life-crucial knowledge embodied in the language can be passed on from generation to generation in these communities. And only with appropriate strategies can access to MTB-MLE be guaranteed in all ethnolinguistic communities of Nepal.

MLE policy and practices in Nepal: An appraisal

By Yogendra P Yadava

Despite being small in area, Nepal possesses a striking linguistic plurality comprising 123 languages (Census 2011). Nonetheless, Nepali is the sole official language used as the medium of instruction in primary education throughout the country. However, there have been recent initiatives on multilingual education (MLE) in Nepal's primary and adult education. This paper aims to analyze Nepal's existing linguistic diversity and assess MLE policy and practices in the country. It consists of four sections. In section 1 we present the linguistic demography of the country noting that many of the 123 languages are threatened with extinction owing to heavy language shift, lack of use, and so on. In section 2 we tease out the MLE policy enshrined in the various constitutional and legal provisions in relation to MLE-related international laws and human rights obligations. In section 3 we evaluate the MLE practices in Nepal introduced by Government of Nepal as well as national and international agencies and show their variations, challenges, and gaps in implementation. It is observed that MLE-related policies in Nepal have been implemented in varying ways locally by the agencies. Finally, we summarize MLE-related issues and challenges and suggest measures for overcoming them in terms of recent policy developments related to MLE, particularly in Asia and the Pacific, to ensure quality education for all.

MLE for the Rana Tharu in Nepal

By Prithvi Chaudhary The Rana Tharu language is gradually being lost due to influence of the dominant language, Nepali. Nepali is the official language of Nepal and is broadly used in schools and outside the community. The Rana Tharu people are the indigenous inhabitants of Kailali District, Seti Zone and Kanchanpur District Mahakali Zone of Nepal. Rana Tharu children have difficulties in education because the media of instruction are Nepali and English. Adult literacy programs use only Nepali. As a result, the literacy rate of the Rana Tharu community is lower than similar Nepali-speaking communities. This paper presents the linguistic context of Rana Tharu language and how speakers of Nepali minoritize speakers of Rana Tharu. This paper also provides a perspective on language development for the sustainable use of Rana Tharu in schools and literacy classes. Further, the findings from a linguistic survey utilizing participatory tools, informal interviews and observations conducted in Kailali and Kanchanpur in 2012 are examined. According to the information gathered from 12 villages, the Rana Tharu community lacks access to education, particularly in the mother tongue. This community lags far behind other Nepali communities in education, awareness, development, and technology, a point supported by the fact that most of the participants in our survey were uneducated.

Development of listening skills in English through listening-based instruction in Western Subanon, Philippines

By Sharon Joy Estioca

This paper reports on a study that (1) investigated the effect of listening-based instruction in

Western Subanon (L1) on the listening comprehension skills in English (L2) of grade one native

Western Subanon students; (2) examined the relationship between L1 and L2 listening skills and

(3) determined if the listening skills in focus are transferable from the L1 to L2 and, if so, which

are the most easily transferrable. The investigation involved thirty-eight grade one Western

Subanon pupils of a public elementary school in Zamboanga del Norte, southern Philippines. The

participants were exposed to listening-based language lessons over three months. Quantitative and

qualitative data were gathered using a pre-post standardized listening test in English, a counterpart

test in Western Subanon, and a language proficiency level indicator in Western Subanon for

identifying the participants’ current L1 proficiency. A high significant difference between the

participants’ pre- and post-listening test scores in English was noted after students had completed

listening-based instruction in both the L1 and L2. There was a positive linear relationship between

the listening skills in L1 and L2 and the analysis revealed that the listening skills were transferable

from the L1 to the L2. For the qualitative data, the participants were better able to understand the

system of their own language. This study further revealed the potential use of the L1when learned

in developing the academic skills necessary in learning an L2. Thus, it is language that makes

possible the transfer of academic skills needed in both first and second languages.

Applying the principle and practice of two-way language immersion programs in pre-primary and primary schools in Southern Thailand

By Vilasa Phongsathorn

The benefits of language immersion programs have been documented for decades, be it in terms

of children’s academic achievement, language and literacy development in two or more

languages, or in cognitive skills. The immersion model has also been used in the revitalisation of

indigenous languages in regions across the globe, and has been found to contribute towards

intercultural exchange and social change by bringing people from different communities together,

and particularly by helping children from majority and minority groups to see themselves and

each other as equal participants in school and society. This paper seeks to provide a rationale for

the adoption of the principle and practice of two-way language immersion (TWI)—the use of the

local language or mother tongue (L1) and the mainstream national language (L2) as the medium

of instruction for ethnic minority and majority students)—in the context of Southern Thailand,

namely the use of Patani-Malay and Thai for Patani-Malay-speaking students and Thai-

speaking students in the early grades. The paper provides examples of program strategies,

pedagogical and assessment frameworks, and ways in which language and content can be

integrated in immersion classrooms, looking at successful models from around the world. It

then outlines the challenges that must be overcome in order for the immersion program to have

real positive impact on students and the society at large. The ultimate goal of this paper is to

offer an alternative pathway to multilingualism in this restive region that will eventually lead to

better integration and social cohesion.

Viet Nam experience on delivering quality mother tongue-based bilingual education

By Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao This paper discusses Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)’s experience of

Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTBBE) in three provinces. The initiative

follows two groups of children from three ethnic minority groups (Mong, Jrai and Khmer)

using their ethnic language as the language of instruction in preschool and early grades of

primary school. The experience started in 2008 and is supported by UNICEF. Students’

learning achievement is assessed annually to monitor and ensure the effectiveness of the

approach. Results consistently show that MTBBE students perform better than non-MTBBE

students: for instance, in 2011 MTBBE students in Grade 2 outperformed non-MTBBE

students in mathematics, scoring 85.42 out of a maximum 100, while the non-MTBBE scored

74.42. The assessment is the primary source generating evidence to attract government and

community support of MTBBE. Engagement of a wide range of stakeholders has been

effective for program sustainability. Within the context of decentralization, MOET and

UNICEF work with provincial authorities to support the continuation and expansion of the

approach. For instance, in 2011 the province of Lao Cai started to expand the approach, and

allocated local budget in the provincial education plan. MOET and UNICEF support Lao Cai

to partner with Lao Cai Teacher Training College to institutionalise MTBBE teacher training

to ensure sustainability. The National Assembly also recognizes the positive results of the

approach, and is influential in advocating with participating provinces for the continuation

and expansion of the program, as well as advocating for application of the approach in other

provinces.

Readiness of teacher education institutions in the Philippines for the implementation of the MTB-MLE program

] By Mary Sylvette T. Gunigundo

In May 2013, President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines signed Republic Act 10533

(The K to 12 Act). It is a milestone law for mother tongue-based multilingual education

(MTB-MLE) advocates because of the provision to institutionalize MTB-MLE in elementary

education. However, even before this law was signed, the Bureau of Elementary Education of

the Department of Education (DepEd) was already providing in-service training to early grade

teachers to enable them to implement MTB-MLE. This was done on the basis of DepEd Order

74, s. 2009, which had already institutionalized MTB-MLE. Although the in-service training

seems to be already established, the pre-service training is slow in keeping up with the

changes in the basic education program. Currently, teacher education institutions (TEIs) in the

Philippines continue to follow the government-prescribed curriculum for Bachelor of

Elementary Education issued in 2004. In addition, MTB-MLE is still not yet fully understood

by the general public. This paper seeks to determine how TEIs understand MTB-MLE by

considering the questions: (1) In the absence of a new teacher education curriculum, how do

they plan to incorporate MTB-MLE in the existing curriculum? and (2) In what subject areas

do they think that the discussion and training of MTB-MLE most appropriate? A survey will

be administered to TEIs in the National Capital Region. Results of the survey should be useful

to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as it revises its curriculum in order to better

address the needs of DepEd.

No teacher left alone: Institutionalizing teacher education for mother tongue-based multilingual education in non-dominant language communities

By Dennis L Malone

Among the many challenges facing implementation of quality education for children

from non-dominant language communities, effectively training and equipping bilingual

teachers (or bilingual teacher-teams) ranks at, or near, the top along with political will

and financial support. An evidence-based theoretical framework, culturally appropriate

curriculum, and innovative instructional materials production have each been

adequately achieved in various and difficult circumstances. However, developing

effective training and support of bilingual teachers and/or bilingual teams of teachers

continues to be difficult. The purpose and focus of this paper is to highlight the

problems facing teacher educators in institutionalizing adequate pre-service and in-

service training for mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) teachers,

many of whom are products of the same less than adequate education programs that

MTB-MLE efforts attempt to rectify. The paper provides an analysis of teacher

education efforts in different non-dominant language communities around the world,

along with accounts of and recommendations based on teacher training efforts in

Thailand, Ethiopia, and Liberia.

Towards alternative models of MTB MLE for multilingual classrooms in Nepal

By Laxman Ghimire Monolingual teaching practice, either in the medium of dominant language or through the mother tongue of the majority students, is inappropriate in the context of multilingual classrooms. The language composition of the local communities shows that most of the schools in Nepal are linguistically diverse, with the presence of two or more languages. Thus, the mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) program with a single mother tongue as medium of instruction fails to ensure equal access to quality education and language rights for all students. Effective implementation of a MTB-MLE program depends on the appropriateness of the model in each school environment. Some innovative strategies have emerged in the multilingual classrooms from the continuous interaction between the principles of MTB-MLE and classroom language situations during the initial phase of program implementation. These strategies include the development of multilingual textbooks, preparing multilingual teachers and allocation of school hours for each language in the classroom. Some other strategies are also employed informally, such as policy negotiation and reformulation in the local context. These strategies emerged in the local context and can be crucial for the development of an appropriate model of MTB-MLE in the linguistic and sociolinguistic context of Nepal.

MTB-MLE long-term impact: A case study of the Dong minority in Guizhou Province, China

By Jacob Finifrock

Are the benefits of MTB-MLE worth the time invested? Are the expected outcomes ever attained? What is the long-term impact of this approach in terms of first language (L1) development, second language (L2) capability, or third language (L3) competence? Are students in these projects able to succeed in majority language schools? In the Dong minority village of Zaidang, Guizhou Province, China, a MTB-MLE pilot project was conducted between 1999 and 2009. This project consisted of an eight-year mother tongue-based bilingual preschool and primary school program which has been previously described in academic journals. Within the overall framework of this pilot project a comparative study on the impact of mother tongue-based biliteracy on third language (English) acquisition took place from 2005 to 2007. This paper briefly details the project and its long-term results and hopes to shed light on the role of MTB-MLE in developing competencies in three languages. This will be done by looking at two groups of children from Zaidang village over a period of time ranging from preschool to senior secondary school. This paper compares the last group of village children to study prior to the inception of the MTB-MLE project with the first group to receive their entire preschool and primary school education within the scope of the project. Student attitudes towards education and cultural heritage, performance, dropout rates, and self-perceptions will be explored.

An assessment of multilingual education (MLE) in primary schools in Thailand’s Deep South

By Supalak Sintana

While Thailand as a whole has made great advances in education, some areas of the country have lagged behind. This is particularly the case in the Deep South, where the majority of students speak Melayu as their mother tongue. Many remain illiterate in Thai, despite many years of studying in government schools where Thai is the only medium of instruction. In recent years, the Thai Ministry of Education has permitted MLE to be used experimentally in a few schools in the Deep South. A coalition of partners, including Mahidol University, UNICEF, local education officials, and community leaders, has developed a complete MLE curriculum for Kindergarten 1, Kindergarten 2, and primary Grades 1-3. In the future, materials will be developed for Grades 4-6. This paper assesses the learning achievements of Melayu-speaking students in Grades 1-3 in three experimental MLE schools and three “typical” monolingual Thai schools. The research instruments were test papers in science, mathematics, social studies, Thai language, and reading skills. The learning achievement of the MLE students was found to be significantly higher than that of the students in the comparison schools in all subject areas. This was especially true in Grades 1-2, although there was a slight drop in science and social study scores among some Grade 3 students. This demonstrates that MLE could play an important role in helping thousands of children in the Deep South.

School success among Bastar tribals in India: Does home language make any difference?

By Stanley V. John

Poor performance of tribal children in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, India, has always posed challenges within the educational system. This study investigated academic performance of 279 high school students in relation to the language spoken at home. The medium of instruction in school and home language was identical for 95 students. However, 184 students had a different home language that was not used in school settings at any level. All students in the sample were enrolled in similar government schools following the same curriculum, with Hindi as the medium of instruction at all levels. They were administered a high school scholastic achievement test to investigate the effect of home language on scholastic performance. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that, though gender differences with regard to performance in different subjects were found insignificant, the group (N=95) with home language the same as the medium of instruction performed significantly better. Interaction between gender and language groups was found significant for Hindi language, Science, and Social Science.

The study indicates deleterious effects of overlooking the implications of home language during entry levels of schooling on performance, particularly in tribal areas, and connotes educational benefits of the inclusion of tribal language as the medium of instruction. It also proposes a road map to include home language and elements of tribal culture in classroom delivery mechanism. As an outcome, two Meena stories were adapted into a tribal language to stimulate school affinity within tribal children at primary level.