Language of Instruction: Imagining Humanist Language Policy

• In Event: Research Development Activities at the USAID Africa Bureau

Abstract

Education research and practice have demonstrated benefits of using a child’s home language in the classroom, which has implications for national education policies. The USAID Bureau for Africa has supported the compilation and distillation of research and best practices surrounding language acquisition, reading development, language of instruction models, contextual factors and their influence on language planning, and education policy. This presentation would review the evidence and best practices by exploring:
• How children acquire language, learn to read, and learn a second or foreign language in low-resource environments.
• Best practices in different language environments.
• Key factors to consider in determining an effective pedagogical approach for using language in education, including languages to use, for what purpose, and if and whether children should transition from one language of instruction to another.
• Conditions necessary for teachers to be effectively prepared, placed in schools, and supported to teach in more than one language
• How education stakeholders can develop and provide appropriate language-specific materials and training to support reading acquisition in bilingual and multilingual environments.
• Conditions that are needed for success in teaching (and assessing) children’s language and reading skills in one or more languages, on a large scale and over the long term.
The presentation will share the findings for government and non-government actors from the USAID-developed reference document, Planning for Language Use in Education: Best Practices and Practical Steps to Improving Learning Outcomes, as well as case study information, specific to Senegal. Highlights include: how language factors into language instruction and reading acquisition, key language-related considerations when planning reading programs, conditions needed for successful implementation, and the use of language more broadly within the curriculum.

Authors

• Catherine Powell Miles, USAID

• Alison Pflepsen, RTI