L1-based multilingual education in South Asia: A report

By Carol Benson, Associate Professor, International and Comparative EducationTeachers College, Columbia Universitybenson@tc.columbia.edu

I was invited in November 2015 to visit the terai (lowland) region of Nepal to conduct an external evaluation of an innovative first language-based multilingual education program. I was able to combine the trip with a giving a paper entitled Empowering Non-dominant Languages and Cultures through Multilingual Curriculum Development1 at the bi-annual conference on Language and Development2 sponsored by the British Council, which was held November 18-20, 2015 in New Delhi, to meet old and new friends and colleagues working in Nepal, India and the region, as well as in Ethiopia and South Africa.

The Rajbanshi MLE program

In three pilot schools in Jhapa district of southeastern Nepal, a relatively strong, additive model of L1-based multilingual education (MLE) is being implemented using three languages—Rajbanshi, Nepali and English—from Kindergarten through grade 5. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of education for Rajbanshi-speaking learners, addressing issues of access, retention and school success. The first learner cohort to begin K in April 2010 will complete Gr 5 in March 2016 and will be followed for the next three years to determine how successfully they have been prepared to enter Nepali-medium schools from grade 6 on. Meanwhile, the supporting NGO and INGO, respectively the Nepali National Languages Preservation Institute (NNLPI) and SIL International, under a project agreement with the national Social Welfare Council, are planning their exit strategy with the schools. This puts pressure on the schools and their school management committees (SMCs), as well as the Ministry of Education at the district level, to make important decisions about continuing to implement or even expanding MLE for Rajbanshi speakers and beyond.

1 All presentations are available in video form; mine is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T46rKkRJklQ&list=PLUwf3cy5FZzgBPbUCLKj_KGy9ezdXwKRy&index=15 2 The conference website is https://www.britishcouncil.in/programmes/english-partnerships/research-policy-dialogues/language-and-development-conference-2015

MLE is seen internationally, in the Asia region and in Nepal as a key strategy for reaching speakers of non-dominant languages with educational services that have previously been unavailable to them. Current education policy in Nepal supports the piloting and implementation of programs that use learners’ own languages (L1s) for beginning and/or continuing literacy and learning, building on this foundation to teach the national language, Nepali, as a second language (L2) and English as an additional or third language (L3), all while teaching the rest of the curriculum. Despite the policy support, government commitment to, organization of and funding for L1-based MLE have been quite limited until recently. This has meant that local and international NGOs, in combination with local stakeholders as well as university linguists, have thus far taken the initiative and borne the costs of implementing programs in non-dominant languages. It is hoped that these programs will demonstrate to all stakeholders and to the Nepali government the potential for MLE to raise the quality and equitable provision of basic education to speakers of non-dominant languages.

My evaluation began with a brief preparatory phase for report reading and planning of field methodology, which was followed by a nine-day stay in Nepal that included three days in the southeast for school visits. Political issues resulting in a transport strike meant that only the Amgachhi School of the Korobari Village Development Committee (VDC) of Jhapa District could be visited, but through discussions I was made aware of accomplishments and issues at the other two schools. My report is thus based on observations and interviews conducted with teachers, learners and SMC members at one MLE school, discussions with technical and support

teams, and summaries of student assessment data collected two to three times per year by MLE teachers with the support of the technical team. I also conducted meetings with key actors in education in Kathmandu. Based on the information available, I was able to make recommendations for strengthening the quality and sustainability of the Rajbanshi program and using the lessons learned and momentum gained by this program to suggest strategies for expanding MLE programs at the preschool and primary levels in Rajbanshi and other non-dominant languages of Nepal.

Overall, I found that this MLE program offers a positive and practical model for Nepal. The language curriculum is theoretically sound and well thought out. This is due in no small part to technical support from the NGO/INGO team, most of whose members are specialists in language and literacy learning, along with its implementation by committed Rajbanshi-speaking educators, who have been giving their own input into the program through periodic feedback and editing sessions, as well as active and committed SMCs from the three communities. The progressive or “staggered” approach begins in Kg by introducing literacy in learners’ L1, introducing Nepali L2 orally in the second trimester of Gr 1, and introducing English L3 orally in the second trimester of Gr 2, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Approach to teaching the three languages

Language

Kindergarten Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 4 Gr 5Term

1Term

2Term

3Term

1Term

2Term

3Term

1Term

2Term

3L1Rajbanshi

Oral lang devel, stories

Alphabet, syllables, key words; story listening, comprehension

Continue developing literacy skills

More advanced literacy skills

Continue developing L1 reading and writing skills

L2Nepali

Oral TPR,soundspicture cards

Begin alph/ syllab rdng/ wrtng

Continue developing L2 vocabulary, comprehension andliteracy skills (based on L1 foundational skills)

Gradual progression toward using government textbook with supplementary materials from Gr 2 Term 2 onwards

L3English

Oral TPR

Begin alpha rdng/ wrtng

Continue developing L3 vocabulary, comprehension and literacy skills (based on L2 activities)

Gradual progression toward using government textbook with supplementary materials from Gr 3 Term 2 onwards

Based on the national curriculum, appropriate adaptations are made for students to learn Nepali as a new language and to gradually transfer literacy understandings from L1 Rajbanshi to Nepali. Many original materials have been developed for the teaching and learning of Rajbanshi literacy using familiar key words, syllable analysis of phonemes, relevant stories and other L1 literature, all of which promote participatory and student-centered learning and development of thinking skills, working against the rote methods characteristic of other schools. The use of Total Physical Response (TPR) and other internationally known approaches for teaching new languages has been effectively implemented for the teaching of L2 Nepali and L3 English. In addition, supplementary materials for each level have been developed so that government textbooks can be used as much as possible, with appropriate adaptations for level and content.

Regarding the language of instruction, as shown in Figure 2, the approach is late-exit transitional, meaning for content teaching L1 Rajbanshi is phased out as L2 Nepali is phased in through Gr 4 and 5. Like other transitional programs, this program assumes that learners need to be weaned of the L1 in preparation for all-L2 instruction at the next stage of learning—in this case, Nepali-only instruction starting at Gr 6. Current research on MLE (see e.g. Cummins 2009) would suggest that learners would benefit from a 50/50 approach throughout primary, which would continue strengthening learners’ foundation in both languages for as long as possible. However, it is also true that as a new program, it is still challenging to develop the L1 terms and materials necessary to teach academic content through Rajbanshi.

Figure 2: Bilingual approach to teaching academic content

Medium of instruction

K Gr 1 Gr 2 Gr 3 Gr 4 Gr 5L1 100% L1 100% L1 75%

L2 25%L1 50%L2 50%

L2 75%L1 25%

L2 100%

According to the program team, teachers are encouraged to use bilingual methodology such as presenting new content in L1 Rajbanshi, then reviewing content the next day in L2 Nepali. Both languages could be used in one lesson as well, by asking a question first in the L2 and then checking for understanding in the L1, but teachers are encouraged not to simply translate everything, or learners will lose their motivation to try to comprehend in the L2. Other methods to support content instruction include posters, realia and exercises, all of which are particularly important when the L2 is being used for instruction. The team continues working with linguists and the teachers to find appropriate terms in L1, especially for science and mathematics. I hope they will also consider strengthening the L1 as medium of instruction in the upper grades.

At Amgachhi School, stakeholders are seeing positive results in terms of learner achievement. Most are confident that current Gr 5 students will be able to adapt effectively to Nepali-medium Gr 6 at nearby secondary schools next year. The goal of the program, to improve the quality of education for Rajbanshi-speaking learners, is clearly being achieved. Children in these communities are going to school for the first time, and most are staying in school and learning successfully in this program. For example, the dropout rate since the programme began ranges between 2-4%, with average attendance rate at 79% across grades, which is much better than nearby schools for Rajbanshi speakers that operate only in Nepali. In a comparison of reading achievement in Nepali at Gr 2 and 3 among students in MLE and non-MLE classes, learners were given an unfamiliar text and asked comprehension questions. MLE student comprehension was so much better than non-MLE that results had to be reported carefully so there would be no negative repercussions for the comparison group.

With teachers at Amgachhi School Kindergarten students playing a gameProject team members Pamar, Yabesh and Philina

In sum, the key characteristics of the Rajbanshi-based MLE program in Nepal are:1. Staggered introduction of three languages2. Maintenance and development of the L13. Appropriate methods and proficiency goals for each language4. Billingual methods for content area instruction5. Adherence as much as possible to the Nepali national curriculum

My main suggestion for the program would be to expand use of the L1 as medium of instruction in the upper grades as soon as appropriate terms and materials can be developed, which would provide learners with a stronger foundation in language and academic content than the current transitional approach.

Reference

Cummins, Jim (2009) Fundamental psycholinguistic and sociological principles underlying educational successs for linguistic minority students. In Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove, Phillipson, Robert, Mohanty, Ajit & Panda, Minati (eds) Social Justice Through Multilingual Education, 19-35. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.