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All Children Reading
Lessons from the Kom MLE Project in Cameroon
Steve Walter – SIL/GIAL ([email protected])
Thematic Foci Language of Instruction
Teacher quality/training
Presuppositions Reading entails comprehension.
Reading is vastly easier to teach when the target language of reading instruction is one the learner understands and speaks well.
Language learning and learning to read are NOT one and the same activity(ies).
Background and Context In the (anglophone) North West Region of Cameroon Approx. 250,000 speakers The Kom language is the primary language of communication in the area. Almost all teachers are Kom speakers as are most administrative personnel One teacher training ‘college’ in the Division.
History and Design of Project
Early experience with MT education. Permission granted for an early exit model of MLE. Some Baseline studies—ToT, Reading fluency, and Reading Comprehension—completed in 2006. Experimental project launched in 2007. Mother tongue primary language of instruction in Grades 1-3 with English taught as a subject. All instruction in English from Grade 4 and on. 12 experimental and 12 comparison schools. KEPP = Kom Experimental Pilot Project
Primary Research Questions
1. Will a mother tongue instructional program in a developing country achieve improvements in educational outcomes similar to those seen in well-implemented models in developed countries?
2. What happens to the development of proficiency in L2 in a MTB-MLE program in a developing country?
3. How viable is the early exit MLE model in a developing country context?
4. What are the implications for MLE education when teachers are minimally prepared and skilled?
Documentation and Assessment Yearly end-of-year assessments done with research reports written and filed at various levels. The yearly assessments focused primarily on English, reading, and math. Content drawn from the curriculum (grade-level learning outcomes) All assessments (except some in Grade 3) were prepared and administered in the language of instruction. All testing was done by non-school personnel—adult literacy instructors, retired teachers, former teachers, etc.
Results for 2008 and 2009 – Oral English and Reading
Mean-
Comp.
Mean-
Exp, Gain (%) ES (D)
Grade 1
Language
Arts/Reading 8.4 62.8 648 2.79
English (oral) 35.4 52.5 48 .708
Grade 2
Language
Arts/Reading 26.2 51.5 98.6 1.203
English (Oral) 51.0 59.5 16.7 .410
Results for 2010 (Grade 3) – Language Arts and Reading
Mean
Comp.
Mean-
Exp,
Gain
(%) ES (D)
Language Arts
All Language Arts
(in English) 19.9 40.6 104 1.400
All Language Arts
(Kom) - 65.6 230 1.970
Reading comprehension when…
Reading in English 17.4 38.9 124 1.043
Reading in Kom - 66.4 282 2.070
Achievement in Reading Comprehension – Grade 3
967248240
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Comprehension
Pe
rce
nt
Grade 3 Reading Comprehension - English Only
1007550250
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Comprehension
Pe
rce
nt
Grade 3 Reading Comprehension - KEPP
Results for 2011 and 2012 – Language Arts and Reading
Mean
Comp.
Mean-
Exp,
Gain
(%) ES (D)
Grade 4
All Language Arts 28.1 38.9 38.4 .888
Reading
Comprehension 27.3 34.9 27.8 .565
Grade 5
All Language Arts 26.5 34.9 31.7 .777
Reading
Comprehension 28.2 36.6 29.8 .654
Reading Comprehension in English – Grade 5
847260483624120
40
30
20
10
0
847260483624120
ENGLISH
Reading Comprehension
Pe
rce
nt
KEPP
Panel variable: program
Reading Comprehension - Grade 5 (by MLE History)
Reading Comprehension in English: Grade 5 if Performance Were Based on Random Guessing
Reading Comprehension Across 5 Years and Two Languages
Distribution of Performance for Grade 5 Students by Model – the Hidden Impact
Plot of Effect Sizes for Reading Comprehension Across 5 Years and Two Languages
Reading Comprehension: a somewhat closer look
Texts of Differential Difficulty
Text 1 – “The Fire” Found in Grade 5 textbook/reader Locally themed Simple vocabulary Simple descriptive narrative with no embedded plot All immediate mood Estimated level of difficulty by US standards: 2.5 – 3.
Text 2 – “Tenali and the Thieves” Contains an embedded plot Narrative plus reflection, planning, scheming, etc. Estimated level of difficulty by US standards: 3.5
Comprehension Rates for Two Texts – Class 5
Comprehension of Various Text Features: Grade 5 (A less difficult text – “The Fire”)
Comprehension of Various Text Features: Grade 5 (A more difficult text – “Tenali”)
Mastery of English Vocabulary – Class 5
And What About the Teachers?
120100806040
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percent Comprehension
Pe
rce
nt
Mean 90
StDev 13.92
N 165
Normal
Performance Reading a Level 3.5 Text
Performance of Teacher Trainees Reading a Grade 3.5 Text
Performance of Teacher Trainees Reading a Grade 9 Text
806040200
25
20
15
10
5
0
Comprehension
Pe
rce
nt
Mean 50.12
StDev 17.11
N 165
Normal
Performance Reading a Level 9 Text
Text Difficulty and Comprehension: Level 3 Teacher Trainees
English Vocabulary Mastery: Level 3 Teacher Trainees
Best Predictors of Reading Comprehension
For the Grade 3 Text: Mastery of Grade 4 Vocabulary (R-sq = 14%)
For the Grade 9 Text: Mastery of Academic Vocabulary (R-sq = 22.5%)
English Vocabulary Mastery: Level 3 Teacher Trainees vs. Class 5 Children
Answering the Research Questions
1. Will a mother tongue instructional program in a developing country achieve improvements in educational outcomes similar to those seen in well-implemented models in developed countries? In the Kom case, the advantage in educational outcomes has been high AS LONG AS instruction continued in L1. Gains (relative improvement) of more than 60 percent are common. 2. What happens to the development of proficiency in L2 in a mother tongue program in a developing country?
Children in the L1-based MLE program have consistently demonstrated an advantage in reading comprehension, oral proficiency and general lexical knowledge of L2. This advantage persists at a statistically significant level at least two years after the MT instruction has creased.
Answering the Research Questions
3. How viable is the early exit MLE model in a developing country context?
Early exit MLE programs in developing countries appear to demonstrate deficiencies similar to those seen in similar experimental work in the US. Children are not yet ready for all-L2 instruction after 3 years in L1.
4. What are the implications for MLE education when teachers are minimally prepared and skilled?
Teachers cannot teach what they themselves do not know. Knowledge and skill in Reading and in English of the teachers appears to be approximately that of Grade 6 children in the US. (In math their level is approximately Grade 3-4.)
Teacher effectiveness is significantly enhanced when teaching in L1 and reduced when teaching in L2.
A Few Thoughts on Implementation and Sustainability
Need a tolerant or supportive national policy Implement one-way developmental programs Implement where the population is linguistically homogeneous, sizable, and current educational achievement is low Decentralize: Authority for Implementation as well as resources MUST be at a provincial or lower level Provincial level language panels for curriculum development, teacher training, literature development, other technical inputs External inputs (technical assistance) at the provincial level Rework the role and contribution of TT institutions Rationalize (strip down) the curriculum Develop teachers who are more solid in L2 Develop more adequate curricula for learning L2 (only one needed per L2) Put small libraries of reading material in TT institutions and require substantial reading activity