Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...

Table 2: Overview of Project ElementsProvince/ Region Ethnic Group Language Target Group Nature of ProgrammeBangladesh Godagiri Upzilla Oraon Sadri Children Formal SchoolCambodia Mondulkiri Bunong Bunong Youth andAdultsNon-formalProgrammeChina Guizhou Kam Children Formal SchoolIndia Goalpara Rabha Rabha Adults Non-formalProgrammeIndonesia Subang District,West JavaSundanese Sundanese Adults Non-formalProgrammeNepal Dang District Tharu Tharu Adults Non-formalProgrammeThailand Northern Region Northern ThaiHilltribeNorthern PwoKarenChildren Non-formalProgrammeA quick review of the approaches adopted in different projects for deciding on the location of theproject, choice of particular language to work with and choice of script for writing highlights thecomplex nature of these mother tongue-based instruction programmes. Project organizers had not onlyto contend with the issue of difficult technical issues, but also to be pragmatic in making it acceptablewithin the framework of the national language policy. Generally, of mother tongue literacy projects orexperiments in using bilingual literacy programmes have been done with adult literacy programmes. Inthe present case, also, four of the seven projects focused on adult literacy. This is possibly because literacyprogrammes are more flexible and provide greater space for experimentation. Also, being non-formaland often non-linked to any prescribed curriculum and certification requirement, they can be designedand managed locally, unlike school-based programmes. Introducing formalized education in the mothertongue demands that a project arrange for the children to negotiate a smooth transition into learningthrough the national/majority language as they move up the school ladder. In this context, two actionprojects – Sadri in Bangladesh and Kam in China - should be of special interest as they demonstratethe ways and means of implementing mother tongue literacy and teaching through mother tongue inminority languages.Curriculum Development and TrainingOne of the most challenging tasks in designing and implementing any programme for mother tongueliteracy or bilingual education is that of developing suitable learning material. In the mainstreamlanguage, one would invariably find graded material for different categories of learners. However,for minority languages one has to start from scratch with no benchmarks on age- and grade-specificlearning material. This was a challenge faced by the implementers of all the projects reviewed here.The languages chosen in the seven cases were in different states of development. Some of them, suchas Bunong in Cambodia and Sundanese in Indonesia, had well-developed scripts of their own. Absenceof the script in some cases made it relatively easy to adopt the script of the majority language fordeveloping learning material; the situation was even more complex in some other cases such as for theKam in China. The organizers had to innovate uniquely appropriate procedures and make careful choicesin each case. A critical question that had to be examined was the relative value addition it brought inreviving old scripts, if available, in comparison to using vastly available resources for producing materialin the majority language script.[ 17 ]