Early reading success:
The language factor
Barbara Trudell, Ph.D.
barbara_trudell@sil.org
SIL International, Africa Area
All Children Reading by 2015:
From Assessment to Action
Washington, DC
April 12-14, 2010
Planning for language of instruction:
what you need to know
• Mental development and language
acquisition in the young child
• The role of the mother tongue in early school
experience
• Learning a second language
• Implications for planning mother-tongue
based BE or MLE
Section 1.
Mental development and language
acquisition in the young child
• Development of
language ability
and
• cognitive (mental)
development
go together.
First language acquisition:
A summary of research
• From around six months of age, babies make language-like
sounds.
• The word ‘mama’ for ‘mother’ is found all over the world.
• At about 18 months, babies discover that things have names.
• Children then start to notice patterns in language.
• By three and a half years of age, children talk freely.
• Basic communication skills are learned first; after that,
language proficiency is built for conceptual information and
abstract learning
When the child enters school…
Schooling is
supposed to build on
what the child has
already begun to
learn:
– Vocabulary they
know
– Their general ability
to communicate
– Experiences they
have had
The first-year school child is not yet
fully proficient in any language!
• The child is not a mature speaker of his/her
mother tongue until around age 10.
• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills vs.
Cognitive and Academic Language Proficiency
• Play-yard conversation does not require the
same language ability that conceptual learning
does.
A HUGE pedagogical mistake:
Beginning school instruction in a second language
when the child does not yet have strong
proficiency in his/her first language
“Cognitive hijacking”
The interruption in the process of a child’s
cognitive development that happens when a
language of instruction is used that the child
does not speak.
– Teacher’s oral input is not comprehensible
(directions, explanations, questions)
– Their communication skills don’t work in class
– The learning processes they know are now useless
Ensuring that the child understands
what is taught
The teacher can do this by:
– Giving instructions that relate to the students’
experience
– Providing background knowledge
– Using context or visual cues
– Allowing students to express their own ideas on the
topic
What language has to be used to ensure
understanding?
A language that the child speaks.
Section 2. The role of the mother
tongue in early school experience
Research on reading levels in English:
Northwest Cameroon
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Non
reading
Pre
reading
Early
Reading
Level of Proficiency
Fluent
Reading
Grade 1 performance: English vs. Kom
But using the MT is not enough!
Eritrea National Reading Survey (2005):
“How can mother tongue-based primary
education reach its full potential?”
“Phonemic awareness” of L1 needs to
be taught
– sounds and letters
– blending sounds to
make meaningful
words
– Identifying individual
sounds and parts of
words
Teachers need to know how to teach
reading
Invest in a lot of L1 reading material:
practice, practice, practice!
Three goals of mother tongue-based
bilingual or multilingual education
• Language development, in L1 and L2 (and L3)
• Academic development
• Sociocultural development
Language development of the child
L1 fluency
– listening, speaking, reading and writing
– Gains here will make L2 learning easier
L2 fluency
– teach oral L2 first
– use oral fluency to bridge to L2 reading and writing
L3 fluency
- as for L2
Academic development
Academic skills that are learned well in L1 will
transfer to L2 also: maths, reading skills, science
Sociocultural development
• The MT is based in the
culture of the child.
• The child’s identity is
based in the community
which speaks the MT.
• MT-based education
draws the community
into the school
experience.
Section 3.
Learning a second language
• It takes 2-3 years to learn a new language well
enough to use for everyday communication.
• It takes 5-7 years to learn a new language well
enough to use it to learn abstract concepts.
Teach oral L2 before written L2
Research shows that
oral proficiency in a
language is crucial for
developing reading
proficiency in that
language.
At the same time, teach curriculum
content in the child’s mother tongue
Continue oral and written L1 and oral
and written L2
Use both languages for teaching
Bridge to written L2
Continue oral and written L1 and oral L2
Use both languages for teaching
Introduce oral L2
Continue oral and written L1
Use L1 for teaching
Develop children’s oral and written L1
Use L1 for teaching
Some reading skills that transfer
from L1 to L2
•
•
•
•
•
•
Knowing that print carries meaning
Knowing that print is broken into words
Knowing that direction of print is important
Using context to guess unknown words
Knowing that letters represent sounds
Knowing that sounds can be blended together to
form words
Reading skills that have to be taught
for each language
• The set of sounds used in the language
• The sound-letter correspondences for the
language
• The grammar and vocabulary of the language
Section 4. Implications for planning
mother-tongue based BE/MLE
(ADEA 2010)
•
•
•
•
The target languages
Policy setting and implementation
Teacher training
Curriculum development and materials
production
• Evaluation
Target languages
• Which local language(s)?
• Bilingual or multilingual education?
• Development of the target languages so that
they can be used in school
– Writing system
– Literacy
– Written materials
Policy
Setting a policy is not
enough!
Implementation is
CRUCIAL. . . .
including finances
It doesn’t cost as much as you may
think…
• Adds 1% – 5% to the
education budget
• cost is recuperated over
time
. . . and it is much less than
the cost of school failure!
Teacher training and recruitment
• Initial and in-service
training must be provided
for BE/MLE teachers
• Recruitment must take
into account BE/MLE
competencies needed
(including language
fluency)
• All teacher training must
address the issues of the
multilingual classroom
Developing curriculum and materials
(1)
A multilingual curriculum
is not just the current
curriculum, carried out
in several languages!
– The timetable prescribes
the use of the different
languages
– Curriculum reflects the
learner’s growing
language proficiencies
– Content-area teaching
takes language
proficiency into account
Developing curriculum and materials
(2)
Mother-tongue
materials (including
teachers’ guides) should
be made for every
subject to be taught in
the mother tongue.
Evaluation
The child’s mother tongue as the language of
instruction – and of examination
Summary
• Learning the mother tongue and cognitive
development are linked in young children.
• Using a language of instruction which the child
does not speak severely impedes learning.
• Mother tongue-based bilingual or multilingual
education means better learning in the early
grades, and greater success in second
language learning as well.
• Mother-tongue based BE or MLE programs
can be done!
Some resources
• Teacher Training Manual for Multilingual Education (MLE
Network, 2009)
• PRAESA materials (Project for Alternative Education in
South Africa) www.praesa.org
• Child-Friendly Teaching Steps Toward Learning (Save the
Children UK, 2009)
www.ineesite.org/uploads/documents/store/Steps_Towa
rds_Learning_LR.pdf
• Breakthrough to Literacy program (Molteno Institute)
www.molteno.co.za
• Policy Guidelines for the Integration of African Languages
and Cultures into Education (ADEA 2010)
• Optimizing Learning and Education in Africa: The
Language Factor (ADEA, UIL, GTZ, 2006)
Questions for working session on
language of instruction
• If your country’s language policy does not permit the
use of local languages in school, how could this be
changed? If your country’s language policy is positive
towards the use of local languages in school, what
practical steps could be taken to ensure that MTfriendly language policy is actually implemented in
the classrooms?
• Would bilingual or multilingual education be the best
model, given the linguistic realities of your country?
Questions for working session on
language of instruction
• How can you ensure that MT-based bilingual or
multilingual education is given the attention and
resources it needs?
• What are the implications of MT-based education for
teacher recruitment and training in your country?
What policies or processes will need to be changed
or added? What are teachers’ attitudes towards
using the MT in school?
• In which language communities would you plan to
start BE or MLE, and why? Would you plan to cover
all of the language communities in your country? If
so, by when would they have BE or MLE programs?