Laying the bricks for foundational learning through effective language of instruction decision-making

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

A staggering 70% of children across the world are not learning at grade level, and at least half of these children are being educated in languages they do not understand. When children learn in languages they are familiar with, they are more likely to achieve their foundational learning outcomes. Language is the medium through which all learning occurs, yet education decision makers globally do not have enough accessible empirical and strategic information to make decisions on how to structure effective multilingual education programs at multiple levels, or the planning and resourcing implications for doing so. While many countries and regions have made great strides in educating children in their mother tongue(s), a dearth of information still exists on when and how to transition to a new language of instruction (LOI), often an international language (English, French or Portuguese).

At the same time, many countries and regions continue to educate their children in language(s) they may not understand, and many others continue to oscillate between varying policies as political, economic, and other social tides shift, leaving children in educational systems with little likelihood of achieving foundational learning outcomes in any language. Several other clearly complex dimensions exist that dictate decisions of what languages to use in education systems, including linkages with socioeconomic mobility, the political environment, availability of teaching and learning materials, teacher professional development opportunities, and community demand. Significant, systemic, and sustainable improvements in foundational learning outcomes across low- and middle-income countries will remain unachievable as long as LOI decisions remain unresolved.

In this panel, we discuss the key, inter-working pieces that ministries of education need to build effective, language-appropriate education systems that facilitate improved learning outcomes for children. We begin with a presentation of our framework for language policy implementation, called the Blueprint for the Use of evidence In LOI Decisions (BUILD) which we will present with one of our local in-country experts from Rwanda. In the second presentation, we focus on teacher professional development for using local and regional languages in the classroom in three countries of francophone Africa including Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the third presentation, we provide findings from an impact evaluation of a reading instruction program in Ghana in which children were taught key reading skills in their familiar language, highlighting children’s literacy scores in both their home languages and in English. Finally, we will consider how digital tools, such as language mapping, digital analysis, and artificial intelligence can support the generation and utilization of evidence to create effective language of instruction policy and programming in Sub-Saharan Africa so that all learners can read and succeed.

Sub Unit

• Language Issues SIG

Chair

• Pooja Nakamura, American Institutes for Research

Individual Presentations

• BUILD-ing the case for language of instruction decision-making across Africa - Pooja Nakamura, American Institutes for Research; Michael Tusiime, University of Rwanda

• Strengthening multilingual teacher professional development in francophone Africa - Hamidou Dodo Boukary, International Development Research Center; Jill Pritts, American Institutes for Research

• Evaluating the causal impact of first-language reading instruction on the subsequent development of second-language reading proficiency in multilingual Ghana - Jeongmin Lee, University of Notre Dame

Discussant

• Nic Spaull, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation