1. Seminar on multilingual education Kabul, 13-18 March 2010 Susan Malone
“Strong foundations” and “good bridges” in Multilingual Education: Lessons from current theory and practice
Seminar on multilingual education
Kabul, March 2010
Susan Malone

2. What is the situation for many minority language students in dominant language education programs?

3. They are expected to learn a new language (the official school language);
They are expected to learn to read and write in the new language; and…
They are expected to learn academic concepts in the new language.

4. What is the result of this kind of program?
For the students themselves…
High repetition and drop-out rates
Lack of knowledge and skills for employment
For their communities…
Lack of access to social, political economic, health resources
Poverty, higher rates of mortality
Loss of heritage language and culture
For society in general…
Loss of the knowledge and wisdom that are embedded in those languages and cultures

5. How can we improve educational access and quality in minority language communities?

6. A good “rule” to help us plan:
The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learners already know. Ascertain this and teach them accordingly (Ausubel, D. P Page 235)…

7. Why? Because there is no learning without meaning and…
There is no meaning unless we can relate new ideas and information to what we already know (our “prior knowledge”)

8. How does that relate to languages in school?

9. “Bridging” from home to school for children who come from the dominant culture and speak the dominant language.
Bridging from home to school for children from other cultural groups who do not speak the dominant language

10. What does research tell us about the process by which children acquire languages?

11. It takes children about 12 years to gain the level of proficiency in their first language that will enable them to continue developing that language for the rest of their lives;

12. 2) In a good language learning program, it takes people about 2 years to gain the level of L2 proficiency they need to use L2 for ‘everyday’ communication

13. In a good language learning program, it takes people 5-7 years to develop the level of L2 proficiency they need to learn abstract concepts.

14. Therefore, a good multilingual education program uses the students’ L1, along with the L2, to ensure that they understand new concepts (math, science, etc.) as they are learning the “academic L2” they will need to continue their education.

15. Phases of a strong MLE program—2 languages
Continue oral and written L1 and L2, for daily communication and for learning academic content
Phases of a strong MLE program—2 languages
Bridge to literacy in L2
Continue oral and written L1, oral L2 Use L1 and L2 for teaching and learning
Build oral L2
Continue oral and written L1 Use L1 as LOI for teaching & learning
Begin literacy in L1, introduce oral L2
Continue oral L1 Use L1 for teaching & learning
Build oral L1
Use L1 for teaching & learning

16. FROM THE RESEARCH: The most powerful factor in predicting educational success for minority learners is the amount of formal schooling they received in their L1. …
Only those language minority students who had 5-6 years of strong cognitive and academic development through their L1— as well as through [L2]—did well in Grade 11 assessments (Thomas and Collier, 1997, 2004) 16

17. How do we help students use their L1 to build this strong foundation for learning?

18. Teach the L1 as a subject through primary school
Use the L1 as the only language for teaching and learning in early grades and use it with the L2 in later grades
Relate new concepts to the knowledge and experience that students bring from their home communities.

19. Photo: Nguyen Thi Quyen
Singing L1 songs

20. Learning traditional L1 dances
Photo: Eunice Tan
Learning traditional L1 dances

21. Responding to the teachers’ questions; sharing ideas
Photo: Heidi Cobbey
Responding to the teachers’ questions; sharing ideas

22. Reading L1 stories together with the teacher
Photo: Heidi Cobbey
Reading L1 stories together with the teacher

23. Writing creatively (and then talking about their stories), even before they can form letters and words

24. Writing creatively using letters and words
Photo: Heidi Cobbey
Writing creatively using letters and words

25. Celebrating young children’s creative writing efforts
Photo: Dennis Malone
Celebrating young children’s creative writing efforts

26. Spelling practice
Photo: Heidi Cobbey

27. Photo: Pamela MacKenzie
Handwriting practice

28. Having fun with word games
Photo: Rebecca Wallin
Having fun with word games

29. Reading & writing longer and more complex texts and…
Photo: Diane Dekker
Reading & writing longer and more complex texts and…

30. Using L1 for teaching & learning in early grades

31. How do we help students build a “good bridge” to the L2?

32. First, students “listen, see and do”: They listen to L2 commands, observe the actions and then do the actions themselves.
The best language learning methods … do not force early speaking in the L2 but allow students to speak when they are ‘ready’. These methods recognize that the best way to build children’s L2 is though letting them hear and respond to meaningful communication, not from forcing and correcting speech (adapted from Krashan, 2001).

33. Listening and responding to directions
Photo: Heidi Cobbey
Listening and responding to directions

34. Listening to stories and acting them out
Photo: Dennis Malone
Listening to stories and acting them out

35. Then, when they are ready, they begin speaking in L2.
Additional research finds that when students use the L2 to talk about things that are meaningful to them—as they also listen to meaningful communication from others— they become aware of the structure of the language and become more competent in its use (adapted from Cummins, 2001).

36. Using L2 to talk about “Big Pictures”
Photo: Wanna Tienmee
Using L2 to talk about “Big Pictures”

37. Responding to teacher’s questions using L2
Photo: Susan Malone
Responding to teacher’s questions using L2

38. Then, having achieved basic fluency in L1 literacy and in oral L2, they begin reading and writing L2
Children's knowledge and skills transfer across languages from the mother tongue…to the school language (Jim Cummins, 2000)

39. Reading L2 story books alone or with a partner
Photo: Dennis Malone
Reading L2 story books alone or with a partner

40. Writing their own L2 stories
Photo: Dennis Malone
Writing their own L2 stories

41. Talking about what they have learned in small groups
Photo: Susan Malone
Talking about what they have learned in small groups

42. As they gain fluency… sharing their own written L2 texts with others
Photo: Dennis Malone
As they gain fluency… sharing their own written L2 texts with others

43. Photo: Dennis Malone
Using L1 and L2 as languages of instruction through primary school to achieve success in all their subjects

44. Questions for Group Discussion
What is the educational situation for girls and boys who do not speak Dari or Pashto when they begin school?
What are the challenges to providing quality education for those children—girls and boys alike?
What general ideas do you have for improving education for those children? (We will continue to think about this 3rd question over the next 5 days.)

45. A reminder: A strong foundation and good bridge provides the best “bridge” to success in multilingual education programs.