Semantic Fluency: Measuring Oral Language Proficiency to Enable Informed Decision-making on Language of Instruction

• In Event: Innovative Foundation Literacy and Language Assessments

Proposal

In monolingual contexts, the language of instruction (LOI) is usually the majority language, the official national language, or the de facto national language. For countries of the global south, which are home to several languages and many bilingual and multilingual speakers, it is difficult to determine which language(s) children use and understand well when they start school. Although it may seem likely that all children in a particular area speak a particular mother tongue (MT), given the widespread bi- and multi-lingualism, it is unknown the extent to which all children do in fact speak that MT, and furthermore, how well they speak and understand each language they may have some proficiency in. However, children are unlikely to succeed in school if they are forced to start in a language they do not use or understand, necessitating a systematic investigation of children’s baseline oral language skills.

To address this gap, we have conducted semantic fluency tests across diverse contexts, including West Africa, East Africa, and South Asia. We tested the “richness” of children’s semantic networks in each of their spoken languages. This allowed us to determine how well a child functioned orally in a particular language, providing a basis for determining how likely they were to have the foundation required to begin learning to read in that language. Furthermore, this test provided us with information on the skills children do have when they begin instruction, not only those they may be lacking. All typically developing children should have at least one language they use and understand well.

In this presentation, we will present cross-country frameworks and comparisons semantic fluency data and language mapping research, to provide lessons and recommendations for policy and practice. We will explore language dominance in children who self-reported as bilingual or multilingual, which is a key consideration for LOI policy in multilingual contexts, where there may be multiple first (or primary) L1’s in a classroom, mismatches between LOI policy and linguistic proficiency of students, and where an L2 (or additional language) may be a viable option for the LOI, if enough students are highly proficient in it. Further, we will talk about implementation challenges and advice for integrating and fielding these in learning surveys. Program developers and policy makers can use ideas and lessons from this research to decide which initial LOI (L1) is likely to be effective for the greatest number of children, and to develop program options for remedying or “catching up” children who may be required to begin their education in a language they do not speak.

Authors

• Pooja Nakamura, American Institutes for Research

• Chinmaya Holla, American Institutes for Research