Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
24 Results found
Multilingual education in Nepal: hearsay and reality? A report Year of publication: 2011 Author: Vishnu S. Rai | Maya Rai | Prem Phyak | Nabina Rai Corporate author: UNESCO Kathmandu The present study entitled “Multilingual Education in Nepal: Hearsay and Reality?” was started in April 2011 and completed on 25th May 2011. The main aim of the study was to explore and analyze the realities of the Multilingual Education (MLE) programme being practiced in seven schools from six different districts. The MLE programme was launched by the Department of Education (DOE) with the technical assistance of the Government of Finland in 2007. Nepal Government has planned to implement MLE in 300 schools in the coming years but there have been no comprehensive studies conducted to give an accurate picture of the MLE programme. In this context, the present study was carried out.
Optimising learning, education and publishing in Africa: the language factor; a review and analysis of theory and practice in mother-tongue and bilingual education in sub-Saharan Africa Year of publication: 2011 Author: Adama Ouane | Christine Glanz Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) | Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) This analytical review consists of three sections. The first section lays the theoretical foundations and is covered by Ekkehard Wolff and Kathleen Heugh: 1) language politics and planning in the light of development and 2) theories of bi- and multilingual education models and their implementation in the African context. A second section analyses teaching practices and classroom interaction in schools in two chapters by Birgit Brock-Utne and Hassana Alidou. This is followed by a review of the use of African languages in literacy and non-formal education by Hassana Alidou1 . Next, a review study by Kathleen Heugh addresses the critical issue of costs by assessing the costs related to implementing mother tongue and strong bilingual education programmes. Finally, the third section explores the role of locally-based multilingual publishing in supporting and promoting African languages and developing the language industries and the creative sector. Here, Yaya Satina Diallo from Guinea and Peter Reiner2 from Namibia shed light on the promise and pitfalls of publishing in African languages.Each of these sections focuses on theoretical frameworks and specific strategies designed to optimise learning and education in multilingual Africa. The language issue is dealt with at the levels of: policy and development; costing and financing; educational reform and governance; education models; classroom interaction; formal and non-formal education settings; literacy and publishing.
Why and how Africa should invest in African languages and multilingual education: an evidence- and practice-based policy advocacy brief Year of publication: 2010 Author: Adama Ouane | Christine Glanz Corporate author: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) | Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) This advocacy brief seeks to show the pivotal role of languages in achieving such learning. It aims in particular to dispel prejudice and confusion about African languages, and exposes the often hidden attempt to discredit them as being an obstacle to learning. It draws on research and practice to argue what kind of language policy in education would be most appropriate for Africa.
The Russian Language in the Central Asian Region Year of publication: 2014 Author: Ksenia .P. Borishpolets This article focuses on the role of the Russian language in Central Asia and The Russian language has been used in Central Asia for a long time now.
Advocacy kit for promoting multilingual education: including the excluded Year of publication: 2007 Corporate author: UNESCO Office Bangkok and Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific Who Can Use This Kit? This kit was prepared for all of those who want to ensure that “Education for All” does, indeed, include everyone! The kit will be especially valuable for policy makers, education practitioners and specialists who want to improve access to and quality of education for those excluded by language. It will also be helpful for speakers of ethnic minority languages who want to improve the education situation in their own communities.This kit is designed to raise awareness on the importance of mother tongue-based multilingual education (MLE). It presents key arguments and facts about MLE and provides important insights about the value and benefits of providing education in learners’ mother tongue. The kit also presents ideas, research findings and concrete examples that you can use to think about your own situation and suggests steps for taking actions to make your school system more responsive to linguistic diversity.The kit is not a definitive textbook, and it will not have an answer for every problem that you might face. To help you as much as possible, at the end of each booklet we have included lists of references. In addition, each booklet contains a glossary of terms and, at the front of each booklet is a one-page summary of its contents.How Can You Use This Kit? This kit contains three main booklets. Each booklet has a designated audience: 1) policy makers, 2) education programme planners and practitioners and 3) community members. Please remember that developing MLE requires contributions from everyone at all levels. For that reason, we encourage you to use all three booklets along with other available resources as you work together to plan, implement and sustain your MLE programmes.This kit can be used in many different ways. For those who are already involved in MLE programmes, you might use these ideas to help you to promote mother tongue instruction and strengthen your programme. Those who are not familiar with multilingual education but want to improve educational access for minority language students might use these booklets to identify specific points that they can investigate and discuss in their own contexts.
Addressing language of instruction issues in education: recommendations for documenting progress Year of publication: 2016 Author: Carol Benson Corporate author: Columbia University (USA). Teachers College This paper offers evidence-based recommendations for documenting international progress towards addressing language issues in education. The focus is on adapting the school language(s) of instruction to the home language(s) of learners. The paper begins by defining terms like L1 and explaining the concepts underlying multilingual education (MLE). Next there is a discussion of how to capture relevant linguistic and educational information from policy documents and linguistic sources, with examples from lowincome countries. This is followed by a set of questions that can and should be asked of any program to evaluate progress in addressing instructional language issues, focusing on the approach/methodology, teacher languages and skills, learner assessment, and program management, monitoring and evaluation. The paper concludes with some possible global indicators and suggestions for further research.
If you don't understand, how can you learn? Year of publication: 2016 Corporate author: UNESCO Key Messages:1. Children should be taught in a language they understand, yet as much as 40% of the global population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand.2. Speaking a language that is not spoken in the classroom frequently holds back a child’s learning, especially for those living in poverty.3. At least six years of mother tongue instruction is needed to reduce learning gaps for minority language speakers.4. In multi-ethnic societies, imposing a dominant language through a school system has frequently been a source of grievance linked to wider issues of social and cultural inequality.5. Education policies should recognize the importance of mother tongue learning. 6. Linguistic diversity creates challenges within the education system, notably in areas of teacher recruitment, curriculum development and the provision of teaching materials.
Languages in adult literacy: policies and practices during the 15 years of EFA (2000-2015) Year of publication: 2015 Author: Clinton Robinson Linguistic diversity characterises many countries with large literacy needs. Meeting these needs will require a multilingual approach based on learning initial literacy in the learner’s mother tongue, with other languages used subsequently. This paper identifies five major challenges in implementing multilingual programmes, and traces the international policy developments over the 15 years of the EFA period. Four case studies – Mexico, Morocco, Papua New Guinea and Senegal – illustrate a range of policies, showing differing approaches and levels of commitment in providing literacy acquisition based on the mother tongue. The paper concludes with six policy orientations to guide action as part of the post- 2015 agenda. 