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First Language–based
Multilingual Education Can Help
Those Excluded by Language
Kimmo KosonenSIL International & Payap University, Thailand
Presented by
Catherine YoungSIL International
Photos by Apiwat Gokhui, Kimmo Kosonen, Tuula Kosonen, Ari Vitikainen & Chris Wilde
Number of Languages spoken in Asia
Country Languages
Indonesia 742
India 427
China 241
Philippines 180
Malaysia 147
Nepal 125
Myanmar 113
Vietnam 104
Lao PDR 86
Thailand 83
Pakistan 77
Iran 75
Afghanistan 51
Bangladesh 46
Kazakhstan 43
Country Languages
Uzbekistan 40
Tajikistan 33
Kyrgyzstan 32
Bhutan 31
Singapore 30
Turkmenistan 27
Cambodia 24
Timor Leste 19
Brunei 19
Japan 16
Mongolia 15
Sri Lanka 7
Korea, South 2
Maldives 2
Korea, North 1
TOTAL: ~ 2200
Source: Ethnologue (2005)(30 countries)
National / Official Languages in Asia
Assamese,
Bengali (Bangla) 2,
Bodo,
Dogri,
Dzongkha,
Eastern Farsi (Dari),
Eastern Punjabi,
English 4 (1),
Filipino,
Gujarati,
Gurung,
Halh Mongolian,
Hindi,
Indonesian,
Japanese,
Kannada,
Kashmiri,
Source: Ethnologue (2005)
Kazakh,
Kirghiz,
Khmer,
Konkani,
Korean 2,
Lao,
Maithili,
Malay 3,
Malayalam,
Maldivian (Diwehi),
Mandarin Chinese 2,
Marathi,
Meitei,
Myanma,
Nepali 2,
Northern Uzbek,
Oriya,
Portuguese,
Russian 2,
Sanskrit,
Santhali,
Sindhi 2,
Sinhala,
Southern Pashto,
Tajiki,
Tamil 2,
Telugu,
Tetun,
Thai,
Turkmen,
Urdu 2,
Vietnamese,
Western Farsi
(50 languages)
(22 in India)
Population with access to education
in mother tongue in 2000 (Source: UNDP 2004, SIL International 2004)
13
62 6674
87 91
0
20
40
60
80
100
Sub-Saharan
Africa
East Asia and
the Pacific
South Asia Central and
Eastern
Europe and
the CIS
High-income
OECD
Latin America
and the
Caribbean
Region
Pe
rc
en
t
Population with access to education
in first language - Asia (Source: SIL International)
100100 99 9895
91 90 90
83
76 7569
61
5450 50
45
33 3226
10 9 85
2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Kore
a,
South
Kore
a,
Nort
h
Japan
Sri L
anka
Mald
ives
Vie
tnam
Cam
bodia
Mongolia
Bangla
desh
Afg
hanis
tan
India
Chin
a
Myanm
ar
Nepal
Laos
Thaila
nd
Mala
ysia
Sin
gapore
Iran
Phili
ppin
es
Indonesia
Bhuta
n
Pakis
tan
Tim
or
Leste
Bru
nei
Perc
en
t
Language map
of Thailand (70
living
languages)
Language map
of Thailand (70
living
languages)
Linguistic
diversity is
evident
No monolingual
nations in SEA
Many education
systems use
mostly one
language only
Many ethnolinguistic minority
groups face a ‘language
barrier’ in education
Quality of Literacy in
OECD’s PISA (2000-2002) report
• In Indonesia 69% of 15-year-old students
performed at or below the lowest of five
proficiency levels for reading literacy.
– (94% at level 2 or below)
• In Thailand the figure was 37%
– (74% at level 2 or below)
http://www.pisa.oecd.org
‘Language barrier’ - Quality
‘Language barrier’ – Quality
Lao PDR - Tested "Secured Functional Literacy"
rate in the Lao Language (Lao National Literacy Survey 2001)
37.4
47.6
28.6
22.1
28.7
24.5
33.5
17.214.6
6.8
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
National rate Tai-Kadai Austroasiatic Sino-Tibetan Hmong-Yao
Language Family
Pe
rce
nt
Male
Female
60 Million Out-of-School Girls
• Lewis & Lockheed (2007): Nearly 70% of world‟s
out-of-school girls belong to the ethnic, religious,
linguistic, racial and other minorities,
• Language of education is a reason for exclusion
• World Bank (2005): “50% of the world’s out-of-
school children live in communities where the
language of schooling is rarely, if ever,
used at home.”
‘Language barrier’ - Quality
Thailand – surveys on educational quality (2005-07)
Minority children with poor Standard Thai skills
had 50% lower learning results than Thai-
speaking students in all main subjects
About 13% of Grade 2 students could not read
or write Standard Thai
Over 25% of students in 10 education areas
have problems in reading and writing Standard
Thai
A reason: teachers and students speak different
languages
Mother tongue, Home language,
Community language
A language:
that one has learnt first;
one identifies with or is identified as a
native speaker of by others;
one knows best; and/or
one uses most.
(UNESCO 2003, Education in Multilingual World, p. 15)
First Language (L1)
Learners whose
home language is
the language of
instruction and the
language of literacy.
Minority language
learners who do not
speak the language
used when they
enter school or an
education
programme
Source: Kosonen, Malone, Young (2007)
Multilingual Education for building a
strong foundation and good bridge
Chart concept by Dennis Malone Source: SIL International
Multilingual Education (MLE)
Using several languages as:
• Language (or medium) of instruction (LoI)
• Language of literacy (initial and recurrent)
• Subjects of study
‘Ideal’ model of first language-based
multilingual education (ECCD and PE levels)
L1 (LoI)KG1
L2SL
(oral)L1 (LoI, literacy)KG2Pre-
primary
level
L2SL (oral)L1 (LoI, literacy)G1
L2SL (oral + written)L1 (LoI)G2
L2SLL1 (LoI)G3
L2 (LoI) + L2SLL1 (LoI + subject)G4
L2 (LoI + subject)L1 (LoI + subject)G5
L2 (LoI + subject)L1 (LoI + subject)G6
Primary
Level
First Language-based MLE
• Learning starts in a language the learner already
speaks (L1) (known -> unknown)
• Initial literacy in the first language (L1)
• Other languages (e.g. L2, L3) learned as „second‟
languages with appropriate methods
• Later both L1 and L2 used as the languages
instruction and languages of literacy
• Both L1 and L2 are studied as school subjects
• New languages can be added later
• L1 remains a means for lifelong learning (L2 also)
How Can Multilingual Education
Benefit Learners?
The use of mother tongue (L1) helps
learning
Learning in L1 doesn‟t hinder, but helps learning of L2
(e.g. official, national or foreign language) and L3, L4
etc.,
Learning to read in L1 is easier and faster,
What is learned in L1 transfers to L2 (and vice versa),
L1 allows students to learn curriculum content from the
first day in school,
Strong L1 helps students perform better in L2
academic work,
(1.)
L1 allows parents to participate more in their
children‟s education,
Multilingual education (in L1, L2, L3 etc.) improves
thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of the
learners
L1 helps teachers in identifying what students have
learned,
Long-term use of relevant learning strategies
support students to become multilingual and
multiliterate.
(2.)
The use of mother tongue (L1) helps
learning
Conclusions
• If the language of education issue is not
addressed, and
• if the use of L1-based multilingual education
does not increase,
• the EFA & Millennium Development goals
will not be met in most Asia Pacific countries
by 2015,
• and hundreds of millions learners will not be
any closer to receiving quality education.
