Dr Lizzi Okpevba Milligan, Department of Education English Medium Instruction – how do children learn if they don’t understand? Dr Lizzi Okpevba Milligan, Department of Education

Learning as a new global priority Sustainable Development Goal calls on all countries to provide inclusive quality basic education for all children by 2030. Heralded learning crisis worth 38% of primary aged children in the world finishing primary school without learning basic numeracy and literacy. The UN and the World Bank calling on a shift from talking about access to schooling to what children are learning.

Little attention paid to the role of language in learning SDG 4.5.2: ‘The percentage of students in primary education whose first or home language is the language of instruction’. Research and advocacy tends to focus on mother tongue education, particularly in the early years. While language-in-education policy is often underpinned by an instrumentalist approach and outdated linguistic practice. Despite the fact that it is increasingly clear that children cannot learn if they cannot understand, we find that there remains limited attention paid to Language is only mentioned once in more than thirty targets and indicators for Sustainable Development Goal 4, Language relegated to a single optional indicator. much of the existing debate on the use of English as a medium of instruction in postcolonial countries tends to be highly polarized. On the one hand there is a dominant, instrumentalist view held by many policy makers, which links the use of English to economic growth. This instrumentalist approach also tends to be shared by many parents who can perceive early immersion in English as essential for success in the labour market. On the other side of the debate, exponents of mother-tongue based education advocate education in the mother tongue as a human right. These scholars argue convincingly for mother-tongue based education for a minimum of six years, seeing it as both essential for pedagogical reasons and to support the maintenance of wider language rights in and through education. While there is significant value in this literature promoting mother tongue based education, the polarised nature of the debate has tended to leave issues related to the processes of learning in EMI classrooms under-researched.

‘There is little reliable data nor any theoretical underpinning/model for current EMI research, which is mainly descriptive and/or perceptions based’ (Simpson, 2017: 7) Recent British Council policy paper where

Conducting impactful research within EMI policy parameters English Medium Instruction (EMI) in a Multilingual Francophone Context: An Investigation of the Learning Strategies and Resources of Primary School Children in Cameroon (2017-2018, the British Council) How does my research address this problem? Through working explicitly within the parameters of English Medium Instruction policy to seek ways to support the children who are learning in a language they don’t understand. Enabling greater understanding of existing challenges for learners and educators and potential strategies that can support more effective teaching and learning in EMI classrooms can improve the quality of education in a range of postcolonial contexts. Potential strategies Language supportive textbooks Learning strategies that children use that may help to better inform language supportive pedagogy Improving learning outcomes through language supportive textbooks and pedagogy in Rwanda (2014-2015; UK Department for International Development)

Developing the theoretical underpinning for EMI research Exploring the opportunities for learning justice: a case study of girls’ educational experiences in English medium Rwandan basic education (submitted 2018, ESRC) Explain learning justice to develop a theoretical underpinning for EMI research Understanding of learning processes (cognitive, critical thinking, ways to support eg materials or teacher) Wider contexts that enable or act as a barrier for children’s learning. Does not assume that what works for children in EMI private schools will work in disadvantaged communities. Submission of ESRC proposal (next week!) about learning experiences and how they can link to more positive outcomes and contribute to achievement of SDG4 and inclusive and quality basic education for all.