Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...
Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ... Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...
ForewordEducation for All Goal 6 focuses on the quality of education. Quality education also involves impartinguniversally recognized moral values to the individual and integrating these with the ethnic-specific ecocentricvalues, cultural norms, and worldview. If these are not in place in an education system, a gapbetween the education system and the society will arise. This gap is often a result of using a languageother than the language of the society in providing education. Curricula, syllabi, teaching methodologiesand lesson contents that are not suited to the community situation and a society’s needs contribute tothis gap. The outcome is often an increase in the school dropout rate among minority linguistic and lessprivilegedcommunities.Realizing the importance of mother tongue/bilingual education to improve the quality and reach ofeducation, the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) at UNESCO Bangkok has beensupporting eleven countries to establish mother tongue/bilingual literacy programmes throughout theAsia-Pacific region. Countries undertaking pilot projects include Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India,Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Afghanistan.In a number of participating countries, the project is showing promising results following work doneto develop orthographies for the different languages, create socio-cultural- specific curriculum andteaching-learning materials, and organizing classes for adults and children. The country experiencesfrom the project show that the classes are very effective in transferring knowledge, skills and attitude tolearners and the learner can learn desired skills faster in their mother tongue.This publication, “Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good Practice in Asia”presents success stories from mother tongue-based literacy programmes in seven Asian countries. It isdivided into two parts. Part I provides a synthesis of the seven case studies as it discusses the differentsituations, strategies used and activities undertaken.Part II features a more detailed study of each of the projects. Project organizers, themselves, havecontributed these country project studies, which has allowed for the inclusion of much greaterexperiential insight into the projects. Part II covers elements such as selection of project sites, orthographydevelopment, curriculum and materials development, teacher training, organization of classes, resourcemobilization, community participation, project impact, and future directions. It should thus be ofparticular interest to policy makers, planners and programme implementers from both formal and nonformaleducation department, as well as those individuals from non-governmental organizations whoare involved in mother tongue/bilingual literacy activities.People learn to read - to become literate - only once, and they build on that experience to learn otherlanguages. It is our hope that this publication will help to create more literacy programmes that openthe doors of education to much greater numbers of people.Sheldon ShaefferDirectorUNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau forEducation, Bangkok, Thailand[ iii ]
ContentsAcronymsviPartI 1Mother Tongue Literacy Programmesin AsiaA Review of Selected Case Studies 3Providing Quality Education for All 4Pedagogic Considerations 6The Asian Context of Linguistic Diversity 7An Overview of Language Policy 8Country-Specific Contexts of Bilingual/Mother Tongue Literacy Programmes 10On the Selection of Language and Location 13Common Purpose but Differing Approaches: Orchestrating the Intervention 14Curriculum Development and Training 17Assessing the Impact 21Deriving Lessons from the Action Projects 23PartII 27BANGLADESHA mother tongue-based education programme for children of the Oraon community 29Background 30Strategies and Implementation Process 32Challenges 50Recommendations 51Conclusion 52CAMBODIAA bi-lingual education programme for youth and adults from the Bunong community 55Background 56Strategies and implementation Process 58Impact of the Project 64Challenges 68Recommendations 69CHINAA Kam-Mandarin bilingual education pilot project for children 71Background 72Strategies and Implementation Process 76[ iv ]
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ContentsAcronymsviPartI 1<strong>Mother</strong> <strong>Tongue</strong> <strong>Literacy</strong> <strong>Programmes</strong>in AsiaA Review <strong>of</strong> Selected <strong>Case</strong> <strong>Studies</strong> 3Providing Quality Education for All 4Pedagogic Considerations 6The Asian Context <strong>of</strong> Linguistic Diversity 7An Overview <strong>of</strong> Language Policy 8Country-Specific Contexts <strong>of</strong> Bilingual/<strong>Mother</strong> <strong>Tongue</strong> <strong>Literacy</strong> <strong>Programmes</strong> 10On the Selection <strong>of</strong> Language and Location 13Common Purpose but Differing Approaches: Orchestrating the Intervention 14Curriculum Development and Training 17Assessing the Impact 21Deriving Lessons from the Action Projects 23PartII 27BANGLADESHA mother tongue-<strong>based</strong> education programme for children <strong>of</strong> the Oraon community 29Background 30Strategies and Implementation Process 32Challenges 50Recommendations 51Conclusion 52CAMBODIAA bi-lingual education programme for youth and adults from the Bunong community 55Background 56Strategies and implementation Process 58Impact <strong>of</strong> the Project 64Challenges 68Recommendations 69CHINAA Kam-Mandarin bilingual education pilot project for children 71Background 72Strategies and Implementation Process 76[ iv ]
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