Multilingual education, knowledge systems & community participation: what we know from southern experience & research Transatlantic Forum on Inclusive Early Years 8-10 July 2015 Washington Kathleen Heugh

• Research on bilingualism & biling. ed. in South Africa since 1930s • Research on extended use of local languages and delayed exit to English

medium after Grade 6 – Nigeria in 1970s • Research on failure of early-exit from MT/HL to English, French &

Portuguese in Africa • e.g. Bamgbose 1980s, Heugh 1990s, Alidou et al 2006, Ouane & Glanz 2010, 2011, ongoing studies in

Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Burkina Faso etc. 2005-2014

• Longitudinal research across Africa confirms that: • Most students now receive some form of bi/multilingual education (MT+

international language, MT, regional + international language) • The longer the use of MT medium, the higher student retention & achievement • 3 years of MTM is better than none, 4 years increases opportunities, • 6 years increases opportunities to reach secondary, • 8 years offers best chances to reach end of secondary successfully • 3 languages may be more beneficial than 2 • Children can learn 2 / 3 orthographies successfully (e.g. Latin, Ethiopic, Arabic) • MT = the local repertoire not necessarily a discrete language

Summary of 100 years of research on bi/multilingual education across Africa

Interdependence of diversity, languages & epistemologies in the

world ‘outside’ of formal education

Implications for education: bringing the ‘outside’ into the classroom

Drawing on research & knowledge of multilingual practices &

education in Africa & S/SE Asia, w.r.t. 3 case studies

What we learn from bilingual/multilingual education systems & assessment data

Teacher education & training of teacher educators & education

officials

Monitoring & evaluation

Outline of argument

Using children’s repertoires (resources) of language, culture & epistemology

• Home language/s / language of immediate community

• Spoken language ≠ written language

• Teaching the local/ home & international languages in school

• Schools are institutions e.g. hospitals, courts, executive board rooms, governments, universities

• Epistemological foundations: • Northern? • Southern / local? • Both? Is one set enough?

• Mother tongue, first language, local language, mixed languages, repertoire, ‘translanguaging’

• Learning to read any language is different from learning to speak that language

• Means something different from learning to speak the home language in the community

• Language in institutions is usually different from community language use

• Language & epistemology are intertwined; most systems ignore contextual implication of epistemology/ies

Main Findings of a Study of Medium of Instruction in Ethiopian Schools: across 11 Regions 1994-2012

• Students learn 2/3 languages; 2 scripts (Ethiopic & Latin - also Arabic – informally in Afar & Somali Regions) Grades 1-8+

• Students learning three languages through primary achieve higher scores across the curriculum

• Students with MTM 8 years achieve highest in sciences • Students with MTM 8 years have:

• higher overall achievement • best opportunities of retention through end of secondary • best opportunity to reach higher education

• Students with MTM 6+8 have highest English language (subject) scores • Students with MTM 6/6+8 achieve highest in mathematics • Earlier introduction of English medium accompanied by declining

achievement in English and across curriculum Heugh, Benson, Gebre Yohannes and Bogale (2007, 2010, 2012)

5

Decentralisation of Federal education administration to Regions, Zones, Woredas, Kebele

Resulted in localisation of language development (32 lgs)

Local orthographic development Writing of educational materials

Stimulated local industry

Local printing businesses, children take books home Economic enterprise related to education

Parental/community involvement

Community plantations – produce sold to fund school buildings & resources But:

Centralised control in Addis Ababa

Parents/communities not engaged Lowest student achievement

Risks External English language industry

Ethiopia findings contd.

NGO

Village elects representatives → parent educators

School principal & teachers

District teacher educator

District education officials

National Curriculum Development Centre officials

National teacher development guide

Interdependency of community participation & education stakeholder capacity development: from village to national centre - Uganda

Multi-stakeholder collaboration NGO-led rural project – post 30 years of civil conflict Links adult education and primary education

Enrolment & retention increases, gender parity achieved Builds stakeholder capacity

Parents, community leaders Teachers, teacher educators Language boards & writers Local government capacity development National government capacity development

Unexpected results Parents share learning with children Villages establish Home Learning Centres homework, early child care, adult education Adult literacy & numeracy village saving schemes micro-economic enterprises Implementation handbook national use Teacher development handbook national use

Risks Predatory agencies – external publishers, External linguists promoting separation of languages

Key findings: Mother-tongue education Project, Uganda 2009-2013

History of Language and Mathematics Assessment in South Africa 1910- 1955-1976 Apartheid Education 1977 - 1994 Apartheid ends but bilingual assess continues 1997 New Multilingual education policy, but assessment does not match policy HSRC-Western Cape Province Trilingual Assessment 2006

100 years of Bilingual English & Afrikaans Assessment • System-wide, high-stakes exit, side-by-side constructions

Multilingual Education & Assessment – Mother tongue ed for all children who enrol, enrolments increase from low base • Multiple parallel language assessments to end Grade 8 • Biling assessment end of secondary - Grade 12 • Highest secondary exit pass rate for African language students –

in 1978

• MT medium reduced to 4 years & achievement of speakers of African languages declines, widespread failure end of secondary

• Bilingual assessment in English & Afrikaans continues even 20 years after end of apartheid; student achievement catastrophic

Trilingual Design (2006) Afrikaans, English & Xhosa versions Purpose: attempt more equitable, valid testing African-language speakers within dominant English-Afrikaans hegemonic system

2005 Grade 6:Language of learning & teaching (LoLT) & assessment Achievement by home language and province (DoE 2005: 77)

64

8174 77

56

7166

5865

69

2932

45

3225

34 3340 38

32

0

20

40

60

80

100

EC FS GP KZN LP MP NW NC WC National

Ave

rage

%

Home language same as LOLT Home language different to LOLT

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1. Experimental trilingual assessment 2006/7 - 75k students

a. Purpose – to attempt linguistic equity & to close the gap b. Instrument design – provincial authority required ‘benchmarking’

2. Language instruments: 3 versions (Afrikaans, English, Xhosa) a. ‘International’ standards setting, equivalence, authenticity

3. Maths instrument: 2 versions (A, E +) (standardised to TIMSS) a. Translations/ glosses of the question b. Achievement slightly higher on these items

4. Additional student data on use of translations /glosses a. Collected during administration of instrument b. Post-testing focus group interviews c. Most students used glosses in order to check understanding

5. Student responses point towards: a. Bi/trilingual assessment corresponds with community practices b. Students view linguistic equity positively

Trilingual assessment in Western Cape

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In the figure, PQ and RS are intersecting straight lines

Translation Kulo mzobo, u-PQ no-RS yimigca ethe ngqo enqumlanayo. In die figuur is PQ en RS twee reguit lyne wat sny. What is the value of x + y?

Translation Liyintoni ixabiso lika-x + y. Wat is die waarde van x + y.

Maths Instrument – sample item

Implications of trilingual assessment study for future system-wide MLE teaching & assessment – in South Africa

• Multiple choice items have limited value in contexts of weak literacy for

assessment across the curriculum & should only be used in conjunction with a significant % of CR items

• Literacy/language assessment needs to be conducted in both language learning area and across the curriculum to offer more penetrating diagnostic information

• It is possible to accommodate linguistic diversity in system-wide assessment

• Teacher development potential / value in the marking/coding process

• Diagnostic feedback possible at student, parent, class teacher, school, district and provincial office levels

• Towards a functional multilingual approach to teaching: using repertoire & mlg practices PLUS teaching of high level proficiency in at least 2 languages for academic purposes (Heugh 1995, van Avermaet 2015)

Changing contexts require regular M & E Policies and plans need regular updating/adjustments

S African 1997 policy has not been implemented, monitored or evaluated systematically; vs. regular M & E in Ethiopia

Reliability and integrity of monitoring & evaluation is a concern ADEA-UIL 2006 Study (Alidou et al.; Ouane & Glanz 2011) found serious problems

• Development/funding agencies budgetary restrictions influence decisions of whom to appoint as consultants for intervention and or evaluation

• Proximity of evaluators to interventions, vs. independence of evaluators

• Background experience or expertise in ESL/EFL ≠ experience or expertise in multilingual education, especially in Africa or India

• Pre-populated report templates

Quality of monitoring & evaluation

References Heugh, K. 2006. Theory and practice — Language education models in Africa: Research, design, decision-making, and outcomes. In Alidou, H., Boly, A., Brock-Utne, B., Diallo Y. S., Heugh, K., and Wolff, H.E. Optimizing learning and education in Africa — the language factor. A stock-taking research on mother tongue and bilingual education in Sub-Saharan Africa, 56- 84. Paris: Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). http://www.adeanet.org/adeaPortal/adea/biennial-2006/doc/document/B3_1_MTBLE_en.pdf.

Heugh, K., Diedericks, G., Prinsloo, C., and Herbst, D. 2007. Assessment of the language and mathematics skills of grade 8 learners in the Western Cape in 2006. Human Sciences Research Council: Pretoria. http://www.hsrc.ac.za/research/output/outputDocuments /4616_Heugh_Assessmentofthelanguageandmathsskills.pdf

Heugh, K., Benson, C., Bogale, B and Gebre Yohannes, M.A. 2007. Final report: Study on medium of instruction in primary schools in Ethiopia. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Ethiopia. September to December 2006. (Commissioned by UN Development Programme in conjunction with Pooled Donor Consortium including DfID, Irish Aid, Royal Netherlands Embassy, and FINNIDA.) http://www.hsrc.ac.za/research/output/outputDocuments/4379_Heugh_Studyonmediumofinstruction.pdf

Heugh, K. 2011. Theory and practice — language education models in Africa: Research, design, decision-making and outcomes. In Ouane, A. and Glanz, C. (eds). 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, 105-156. Hamburg and Tunis Belvédère: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)/African Development Bank. (Also in French.) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002126/212602e.pdf

Heugh, K. 2011. Cost implications of the provision of mother-tongue and strong bilingual models of education in Africa. In Ouane, A. and Glanz, C. (eds). 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, 255-289. Hamburg and Tunis Belvédère: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)/African Development Bank. (Also in French) http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002126/212602e.pdf

Heugh, K. 2014. Shades, Voice and Mobility: Remote Communities Resist and Reclaim Linguistic and Educational Practices in Ethiopia. In Prinsloo, M. & Stroud, C. (eds) Educating for Language and Literacy Diversity. Mobile Selves, pp.116-134. Houndsmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Heugh, K and Mulumba, BM 2014. Implementing Local Languages Medium Education in the Early Primary Curriculum of Ugandan Schools: A Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE) intervention in six districts in North and North West Uganda. Kampala: LABE. http://labeuganda.org/reports/LABE%20MTE%20Evaluation%202013%20Final%20SEPS%20jan.pdf Prinsloo, C and Heugh, K. 2013. The role of language and literacy in preparing South African learners for educational success: Lessons learnt from a classroom study in Limpopo Province. HSRC Policy Brief. http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/3339/2013marLanguage%20and%20literacy.pdf Reeves, C., Heugh, K., Prinsloo, C P., Macdonald, C., Netshitangani, T., Alidou, H., Diedericks, G. 2008. Evaluation of literacy teaching in the primary schools of the Limpopo Province. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. http://www.hsrc.ac.za/research/output/outputDocuments Sentumbwe, G. and Heugh, K. 2014. Local languages and primary education in Northern Uganda: post-conflict community and local partnerships. In McIlwraith, H (ed) Language rich Africa. Policy dialogue. The Cape Town Language and Development Conference: Looking beyond 2015, pp. 132-135. London: British Council. Van Avermaet, P. 2015. Functional Multilingual Learning. Presentation at TIFEY, 8 July, Washington.

Refs contd

Latest news on multilingual education in southern countries British Council UNESCO-Unicef The Philippines Myanmar East Timor

Formally announced change of policy from promoting English mainly education to continued development and retention of primary/home language alongside English, 2013 2013 call for Mother-tongue-based multilingual policy for SE Asia 2013 National Education Policy: Mother-tongue-based multilingual education policy, 2013 2014 following other SE Asian countries, opposition pressure to introduce Mother-tongue-based Multilingual Policy 2011-2013 Piloting mother-tongue-based multilingual policy