For three years from 2002 to 2005, four other primary schools in the same administrative area as Zaidangconvened two years <strong>of</strong> preschool in Kam. Although all four headmasters asked for support to continuethe Kam preschools, financial support was not available in 2005. Two <strong>of</strong> the headmasters wrote asfollows:Guiliu Primary School HeadmasterDuring these three years the project classes have been pitched at the right level for 5-6year-old children. The textbooks are designed for children <strong>of</strong> these ages, with the content<strong>of</strong> the texts facilitating study for them. In mathematics classes, the children master simpleaddition and subtraction, with the help <strong>of</strong> various games. In language class there are“experience stories”, and the workbook track approach with syllable initials and syllablefinals, exercises for distinguishing different shapes, and so on. These are all appropriatefor developing the children’s intelligence, and they help to build a good foundation forfuture education. Each week there are also music, physical education and art classes, andthese are favourites with the children. These all improve the children’s educational skills,develop their reasoning abilities, and improve their ability all-round. They help by buildinga good foundation for entering grade 1 <strong>of</strong> primary school.Those children who have never been in the Dong preschool are far behind those whohave, with regard to studying quickly, studying well, and ability to receive and understandthe teaching given. Parents and children have learned that “For the children to have goodexamination results, they need first to study in the Dong preschool.”(Zaima Township, Rongjiang County, 20 May, 2005, translated from Chinese by D.N. Geary)Miaolan Primary School HeadmasterMiaolan primary school has researched the children and parents involved in the project.We have found that those children who first studied Dong and then studied MandarinChinese are superior in every respect to those who never studied Dong. This appliesnot only to reading and writing Chinese pinyin, to simple mathematics, and to verbalexpression, but also to music, physical education and art. In every respect, those childrenwho have not studied Dong are not as good as those who have. Those children who havestudied Dong are more independent and have more initiative with respect to study andto life generally.The parents <strong>of</strong> Dong preschool children reckon that the curriculum studied by thechildren in the bilingual program is strong on knowledge and on interest value, andthese are important ingredients in the preschool process <strong>of</strong> initiation into the schoolingsystem. Moreover the studies are simple, and the academic demands are light, so that thechildren do not feel much pressure. They enjoy going to school to study and to play. Thiseliminates from the very beginning the feeling <strong>of</strong> nervousness that the children typicallyhave towards study. They themselves are willing to go to school, and they look forward toschool life. This has a decisive impact on the whole future course <strong>of</strong> the children’s lives.(Zaima Township, Rongjiang County, 20 March, 2005, translated from Chinese by D.N. Geary)Interestingly, the preliminary reports have also highlighted a key assumption <strong>of</strong> the bilingual educationprogramme model followed in Zaidang: beginning in the language they know best and learning to readand write in that language helps the Kam children do better in learning Chinese.[ 87 ]
Capacity to Learn the National LanguageMastering the Chinese writing system by learning as many as 6,000 distinct characters is a long, dauntingprocess, even for Han children. The idea that minority children will improve their learning <strong>of</strong> Chineseliteracy by developing their literacy skills in their mother tongue through preschool and grades 1 to 6seems absurd to many people. How can you take away that much time and have the learners do better?As illogical as it sounds, it works. The confidence, knowledge, and skill the children develop in readingand writing their own language prepares them for learning a second language much better and morethoroughly than if they were “submerged” in the second language immediately.Headmaster <strong>of</strong> Zaidang Primary SchoolPeople aged above 50 or 60 in Zaidang cannot speak local Mandarin correctly, never mindstandard Mandarin. In practice, some women cannot communicate at all in Mandarin. Inthe school, grade 1 and 2 students do not understand Mandarin. This is a great hindranceto education. In light <strong>of</strong> this situation, after implementation <strong>of</strong> the bilingual educationpilot project in the village, Grade 1 students only studied Dong. 8 By the time they reachedGrade 2, students studied both Dong and Mandarin, comparing and contrasting the two.In this way, progression was from simple to complicated, step by step, and easier for thestudents to grasp. This has been advantageous for the Mandarin levels <strong>of</strong> the children,and standards have clearly improved. For example: before the project, the averageMandarin language mark in Grade 1 was 42%, and average mathematics mark was 53%.After the project, the average Dong language mark in Grade 1 was 81% and the averagemathematics mark was 79%. The first ever project children have now reached Grade 4,and have always been producing good examination marks. You can already see the goodeffects <strong>of</strong> bilingual education on Mandarin Chinese.Mid-Project Report by Yang Shengqi, Headmaster at Zaidang Primary SchoolSocio-economic Impact on LearnersKam people are among the poorest in China. They work very hard, day-by-day, to maintain a subsistencestandard <strong>of</strong> living. Their hard life and the difficulty <strong>of</strong> earning cash income make employment outsidethe Kam geographic areas a strong temptation.A recent investigation shows an amazing phenomenon taking place in Zaidang village (and likelyelsewhere in the Kam nationality): the migration <strong>of</strong> villagers to paid employment in the economicallybooming large cities within traveling distance.Both parents at home: 59 (21 in Zaidang, 38 in Jiasuo)Both parents working outside the village: 65 (38 in Zaidang, 27 in Jiasuo)Father working outside the village, mother at home: 31 (19 in Zaidang, 12 in Jiasuo)<strong>Mother</strong> working outside the village, father at home: 3 (3 in Zaidang)Total: 158 children (N. Geary, personal communication, July 2006)8 For the first six years <strong>of</strong> the Kam/Han Bilingual Education Pilot Project, the curriculum for Grade 1 <strong>of</strong> primaryschool was taught almost entirely in Kam. Beginning in the 7th year, the curriculum for Grade 1 was weightedmore towards Han Chinese, with children studying the usual Mandarin textbooks used by all their contemporaries.[ 88 ]
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Mother Tongue-basedLiteracy Program
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Mother Tongue-based Literacy Progra
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ContentsAcronymsviPartI 1Mother Ton
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AcronymsIndiaZSSTLCPLPCEIPCLGZSSSRC
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PartI
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Mother TongueLiteracy Programmesin
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Entrenchment of the common (majorit
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Table 1: Linguistic Contexts of the
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It may be noted that there is no re
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“If we stop using our language, i
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their normal lives and communicatio
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the project ensured that community
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Also, it was important to identify
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conservation. Tharu traditional pra
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In Thailand, participation in schoo
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would there be projects to cover al
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© UNESCO/D. Riewpituk
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BackgroundBangladesh is a delta lan
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As a consequence, literacy rates am
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Orthography DevelopmentDuring early
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The Key Word Approach was used whil
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In short, the Tharu mother tongue l
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In 2006, Thailand celebrated an aus
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Minister of Education Chaturong Cha
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All of the NPKOM teachers have asso
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simple sentence structures and much
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Teaching Plan: Bridging to the Nati
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Impact of the ProjectImpact on Educ
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Annexes
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Annex 2: ReferencesMother Tongue Li
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Lindholm-Leary, K. 2001. Dual Langu