Catherine Young SIL International - Asia Good practices in the design and delivery of multilingual education for minority language communities. Catherine Young SIL International - Asia

What is the educational situation for minority language communities? The choice of the language…is a recurrent challenge in the development of quality education... Speakers of mother tongues, which are not the same as the national…language, are often at a considerable disadvantage in the educational system… (UNESCO 2002. Education in a Multilingual World.).

Fifty percent of the world’s out-of-school children live in communities where the language of schooling is rarely, if ever, used at home. This underscores the biggest challenge to achieving Education for All (EFA): a legacy of nonproductive practices that lead to low levels of learning and high levels of dropout and repetition. (World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.).

(World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.). Fifty percent of the world’s out-of-school children live in communities where the language of schooling is rarely, if ever, used at home. This underscores the biggest challenge to achieving Education for All (EFA): a legacy of nonproductive practices that lead to low levels of learning and high levels of dropout and repetition. (World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.). Colonial legacies that are not always appropriately responsive to the needs of nations

(World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.). Fifty percent of the world’s out-of-school children live in communities where the language of schooling is rarely, if ever, used at home. This underscores the biggest challenge to achieving Education for All (EFA): a legacy of nonproductive practices that lead to low levels of learning and high levels of dropout and repetition. (World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.). Quality Education for All

(World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.). Fifty percent of the world’s out-of-school children live in communities where the language of schooling is rarely, if ever, used at home. This underscores the biggest challenge to achieving Education for All (EFA): a legacy of nonproductive practices that lead to low levels of learning and high levels of dropout and repetition. (World Bank, June, 2005. “In their own language… Education for all”.). Universal access to primary education

What are the desired outcomes of mother tongue based MLE? A responsive system to address local and national needs Equity and access to quality education opportunities for all – in the multiple languages of the nation Retention of learners in school Maintenance of heritage language and culture Non-academic outcomes of education

How do we get there? Systematic, theoretically grounded practices Appropriately funded innovation Clear processes for moving to “scale”. Information to ensure shared understanding of reasons for implementation Training (initial and on-going) to support practice – teachers, administrators, others Classroom materials for students and teachers Initial language acquisition studies and second language acquisition studies outline the ways in which children acquire and develop basic interpersonal communication skills in their L1 and the ability to use languages for academic purposes. Concentrated Language Encounters – language experience approach - If huge sums of money are poured into pilot programmes through external sources in order to develop systems, what processes are maintained in order to expand that innovation

Supportive language and education policies that… Provide clear, non-conflicting legal status and support for ethnic minority languages, Institutionalise infrastructures for implementation and support of MLE programmes in both formal and non-formal education systems Non-conflicting … what are the policies and practices of the National Textbook Board-equivalent, the teacher training institutions, post-qualification training given to teachers, training given by external national, international and multilateral organisations. How money/budget is allocated for innovation and practice? Also, international statements and positions to which your nations are signators .. Particularly in situations where decentralisation is encouraged, important to analyse ways in which policies are mutually supportive. Conversation – need for non-conflicting and mutually supportive social development and economic policies – social, political and economic participation. Infrastructures at multiple levels – local language committees (community input in decision making on the use of the local languages in education), regional level, national level etc.

Begin in the mother tongue of the learner and promote full, continuing literacy in the mother tongue and oral and literacy skills in the additional languages of education. It is found that the most effective programmes maintain the use of the mother tongue for as long as possible – up to six years or longer. The first language of the learner should be used not only for basic literacy but also to support transfer of learning to additional languages throughout schooling.

Thomas & Collier study (Wayne P. Thomas & Virginia P. Collier, 1997) Original Question: How well does an English language learner (ELL) need to speak English before he or she can function effectively in the English language classroom? Revised Question: For ELLs, what model of bilingual education comes the closest to achieving educational parity with native English children at the end of their educational experience? www.crede.ucsc.edu/research/llaa/l.l_final.html http://njrp.tamu.edu/2004/PDFs/Collier.pdf Six school districts scattered around the US Optimal versions of six (6) models of Bilingual Education Standardized test scores

Longitudinal study 42,000 students tracked for 11 years ESL pullouts – 22,000 ESL academic content – 5,400 Standard early exit – 7,100 Early exit with academic content – 3,700 One-way developmental – 2,900 Two-way developmental – 1,250

To the surprise and consternation of many educators (and parents), those children who received ALL of their education in English learned the least amount of English and scored the most poorly on nationally normed and standardized tests of academic achievement finishing, as a group, at the 11th percentile nationally (the bottom ten percent). They were also the most likely to drop out of school before finishing (see Thomas and Collier, 1997 for full details). Conversely, children participating in one of the 6-year programs actually completed their secondary education scoring well above the national norm for their native English speaking peers.

Resultant model: 4 processes that drive language education Sociocultural Linguistic Academic Cognitive At the heart of the figure is the individual student going through the process of acquiring a second language in school. Central to that student’s acquisition of language are all of the surrounding social and cultural processes occurring through everyday life within the student’s past, present, and future, in all contexts--home, school, community, and the broader society. For example, sociocultural processes at work in second language acquisition may include individual student variables such as self-esteem or anxiety or other affective factors. How comfortable is the student in school … is the school “child friendly” to students from all social, religious and ethnolinguistic backgrounds. At school the instructional environment in a classroom or administrative program structure may create social and psychological distance between groups. Community or regional social patterns such as prejudice and discrimination expressed towards groups or individuals in personal and professional contexts can influence students’ achievement in school, as well as societal patterns such as subordinate status of a minority group or acculturation vs. assimilation forces at work. These factors can strongly influence the student’s response to the new language, affecting the process positively only when the student is in a socioculturally supportive environment.

Thai policy presentation – using Thai local wisdom – listen to ways in which culture and the home/community background of the learner is affirmed in the curriculum and in the materials used in the classroom..

Not just language of instruction but … WHAT is taught? WHO teaches? WHY something is taught? HOW is it taught? WHICH materials are used to teach? WHEN and for HOW LONG does teaching happen? Reflective process of teaching -

Components of a sustainable MLE programme

All programmes need to be concerned with each of these components All programmes need to be concerned with each of these components. To ignore one of these components will weaken the potential impact of a MT-first multilingual education programme.

Challenges to address? Lack of understanding of purpose of MT-first MLE Linguistic challenges Political challenges – lack of political will Rapid implementation with poor preparation Brunei – not just language but politics and history, division between rich and poor (poverty related issues) – social issue, financial issues.

What are the indicators of strong MLE programmes? Time Training Tools

Time Short, early-exit programmes Rapid implementation (short preparatory phase) Short pilot programmes Thai – “successfully and quickly”!

Training Limited or no awareness raising for parents and other community stakeholders Limited training for teachers in MLE specific pedagogical and curriculum issues Training for teachers from minority language communities No training for educational administrators or supervisors How to train key personnel to run projects in other parts of Thailand. (How can training be “cascaded” to different partners.) Lao PDR creative model for equipping teachers from minority language communities

Tools No systematic, multiagency process towards an agreed writing system Too few reading materials in L1 to promote reading fluency as a foundation for skills transfer Lack of advocacy and awareness raising strategies for stakeholders Testing, evaluation and documentation procedures

Time Training Tools

Task List issues relating to: Time (preparation phase for programme, for how many years is MT used, time allocated for teacher training) Training (what training is given to whom and when? Who are the trainers?) Tools (agreed writing system, awareness raising materials, teaching/learning materials, teachers guides,