Good answers to tough questions in MLE
(April 2016) The 60th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) was recently held in Vancouver, Canada. This year’s event offered 600+ sessions and attracted 2,700 participants from more than 100 countries. As the world’s largest conference focusing on educational development, CIES brings together policy makers, education development agencies, education specialists, graduate students, researchers and professors from North America, Europe and Asia.
The theme of the 2016 CIES conference was “Six Decades of Comparative and International Education: Taking Stock and Looking Forward.” Several of SIL’s literacy and education specialists contributed in the planning of the conference, chaired sessions and presented research focused on facilitating more effective implementation of language and education initiatives for non-dominant language communities.
Dr. Barbara Trudell introduced the panel discussion entitled, “Good Answers to Tough Questions in MLE,” which announced an upcoming resource from SIL which is soon to be released. The “Good Answers to Tough Questions” resource and the issues addressed have their roots in current research on education in multi-language environments, including: the cognitive and academic impact of first language- and second language-medium learning; the linguistic and sociolinguistic issues related to writing system development; and, systems issues related to implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) programs.
Dr. Kristine Trammell presented on approaches that have proven effective for managing the use of two or more languages in a bilingual/multilingual curriculum. Dr. Catherine Young offered strategies for multilanguage classrooms. Ellen Errington addressed issues around program implementation in areas where multiple varieties or dialects of a language are present. Rudy Klaas described non-formal approaches to language and education in contexts where language policy status does not permit implementation in the formal sector.
Other SIL presentations addressed language-related issues:
- Dr. Mike Cahill explained the complexities of the process of creating orthographies in his topic, “Essential factors for effective orthographies.”
- Norbert Rennert from CanIL presented, “SynPhony: Language Analysis Capabilities and Considerations,” outlining the ways in which SIL's software, SynPhony, which Rennert developed, supports the development of effective reading materials for non-dominant language communities. Mackenzie Lawrence from International Rescue Committee reported on the experience of using SynPhony in Pakistan for developing the scope and sequence. Dr. Agatha van Ginkel, with SIL LEAD, presented a comparison between SynPhony and Primer Pro, explaining additional factors needed when developing a scope and sequence. Both of these tools aid in the tedious task of finding language materials quickly and easily.
- Dr. Agatha van Ginkel presented another paper: "Recent empirical evidence on MTB-MLE models."
- Diane Dekker of SIL Asia, currently in a doctoral program at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, presented her research on teachers’ roles and identities in the Philippines during a time of language policy shift.
- Dr. Joel Trudell discussed adult mother tongue literacy issues in a paper entitled, "We also want to learn: African adult literacy on the margins,” addressing an educational issue that had limited attention at this Conference.
SIL serves language communities worldwide, building their capacity for sustainable language development, by means of research, translation, training and materials development. SIL has been an official NGO partner with UNESCO since 1993 and has had special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1997 and is a founding member of Maaya, the World Network for Linguistic Diversity.
Related links
- 60th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society
- Literacy and education publications in the SIL Language & Culture Archives
- Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Programs
- Literacy education in SIL
- News article: SynPhony: A tool for creating sequenced learning resources
- SynPhony
- PrimerPro
- News article: Bantu Literacy Tool software introduced