Using Data for Language in Education Decisions: Part 2: Programming in the Multilingual Context

Group Submission Type: Panel Session

Proposal

For decades, education in many countries has been conducted in a former colonial language. More recently, there has been a shift toward the use of national and local languages for education, acknowledging that children learn to crack the code of reading best in a language they speak an understand, and success in the foundational skill of reading can lead to success across the curriculum for the rest of schooling. In countries where there are only a few languages, using local languages can be clear cut. However, in highly multilingual contexts, identifying the appropriate language(s) for education can be more challenging. Decisions require an understanding of language use in and around the school community, and the language spoken by teachers and pupils. Without a clear understanding of community sociolinguistics, teaching techniques and learning materials may not reflect the local language context, and learning outcomes may be affected. In this two-part panel, we will consider different approaches that have been taken to understand the linguistic landscape and how the resulting data can be used for programming decision making.

Part two of this two-part panel asks how we respond to the linguistic context that we have come to understand through language mapping. There is substantial global energy around teaching children in their own language, but limited bandwidth to provide materials, place teachers, deliver instruction, and assess in the number of languages that children speak. In many cases, as in Ghana or DR Congo, it is practical to work in just a handful of the local languages, thereby only partially realizing the promise of “mother tongue” instruction. This panel explores new ways to adapt to the nuances of local linguistic contexts, affirms a commitment to take the idea mother tongue instruction further, by acknowledging the language diversity in the countries where we work and adapting strategies accordingly. Presenters will build upon the language mapping strategies in panel 1, describing strategies used to develop programs in multilingual contexts to meet the needs of learners and their communities and what outcomes have resulted.

At the end of this group panel, presentation attendees and the discussant will engage in a discussion about the programming design and learning outcomes in multilingual contexts. Through the panel presentations and subsequent discussion, we will attempt to answer the following questions:
• What does linguistically responsive programming design look like?
• What factors contribute to improved learning outcomes in multilingual programming?
• How do we balance programming decisions so that we arrive at designs that are linguistically and culturally appropriate while still being practical for implementation and uptake by MOEs?

Sub Unit

• SIG: Language Issues

Chair

• Julia Frazier, FHI 360

Individual Presentations

• How different is different? Evaluating variations of Malagasy to determine if multiple versions of instructional materials should be developed - Carrie Antal, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Leveled books and read-aloud strategies: Addressing the diglossia challenges in the teaching and learning of the Arabic language - Eva Kozma, World Learning

• Experience implementing non-mother tongue reading: Tusome in Kenya - Dunston Kwayumba, RTI International

• Linguistic differences in mother tongue reading performance - Rachel Jordan, RTI International

Discussant

• Rebecca Rhodes, US Agency for International Development (USAID)