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

BackgroundThe Kam 1 of south central China are one of China’s minoritylanguage communities (nationalities). Many of them live in narrowriver valleys nestled in the mountains and hills of Guizhou Province.Famous for their architecture, the Kam often build their houses sothat they are connected with one another.© Rick Waggoner A Kam village in GuizhouIn Tongdao County in Hunan Province, a village namedYuton has 400 households, all connected to each other, sothat one can reach every family in the village in heavy rainwithout ever needing an umbrella…Edmondson, Somsonge and Zhou (2000) Introduction to the Kam-Chinese-Thai-English Dictionary (p. viii)© Dennis Malone A small preschool Kam girlImagine a rainy morning and a five-year-old village girl, with herlittle bag for Kam books and some baba (a snack of sticky rice), onher way to Kam preschool. She sings a Kam song as she makes herway along the connections among her neighbors’ houses. In herthoughts are happy tunes, and perhaps images of her friends andcousins also on their way to preschool. She expects to hear moreKam stories and to learn new Kam songs. She makes her way toa classroom where she learns in her own language. A year later,she will begin using a second language (Chinese) that she seldomhears outside of the classroom. It is a language of great importanceto her future life and learning. Two languages: she is participatingin an experiment called the Kam/ Mandarin Bilingual EducationPilot Project.The little girl imagined above is a member of the Kam minoritynationality, which number 2.96 million. About 1.6 million Kamlive primarily in the southeastern region of Guizhou Province withmost of the rest living in the adjoining Hunan Province (0.8 million),the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (0.3 million), and Hubei(0.07) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).The Kam are renowned in China for their remarkable architectureusing wood, especially the wind-and-rain bridges that visitorscross as they enter Kam villages and the unique drum towers atthe center of villages.© Rick Waggoner Wind-and-rain bridgeThe Kam people are also well known for their musical abilities,especially their choral singing. It is easy to imagine that their1 “Kam” is the name this nationality uses to refer to its own language and culture. It is pronounced “gum” as in“chewing gum.” People outside the ethnic community often refer to the Kam people as the “Dong.”[ 72 ]