Issues in
Medium of Instruction
-Rebat Kumar Dhakal 28 Sept. 2010 Kathmandu University
• Medium of instruction as an issue
• Arguments for MT • Arguments for national / international language • How it has been addressed (SSRP)
Language is contentious, and the debate between national languages and mother tongues more so so. – MARK TURIN
As an issue
☯ Should local language or official language or international language be the medium of instruction (MOI)? ☯ Should we use language as a subject of study or an MOI? ☯ What is the appropriate level to shift from MT- NL-IL? ☯ When and for how long should the MT be used as an MOI and taught as a subject? d h bj ? ☯ When and how should English be introduced as a subject and as an MOI?
. . . .
☯ What about the right of ethnic minorities to have primary education in their own mother tongue?
.
☯ Sh ld it be th mother t Should b the th tongue of th majority of students f the j it f t d t whereby it would not be fair to some of the students whose mother tongue is different; or should it be g Nepali the lingua franca and the national language; or should it be English?
The Essay on English vs. Mother tongue as a medium of instruction
I. Introduction Background of the Study Before we discuss the so-called Gullas bill or the proposed act strengthening and enhancing the use of English as a medium of instruction, let’s get a backgrounder on the state of education in the Philippines. For every 100 children that start grade one in our country, only 65 will reach Grade 6, the others having dropped out along the way (with 18 of ...
@)^% ;fnsf]] P]]g िशक्षा tyf v]n]ns”b ;DaGwL s]]xL g]]kfn P]]g ;++zf]]wg ug{ ag]sf] P]g -^_ bkmf & sf] pkbkmf -@_ sf] v08 -s_ sf] ;66f b]xfosf] v08 -s_ /flvPsf æcfwf/e”t tx;Ddsf /flvPsf] 5M æcfwf/et tx;Ddsf] िशक्षा dft efiffdf lbg ;lsg5 . (k]h #) dft[ ;lsg]5 (kh A trilingual model for Nepali primary education: 1. Mother tongue
2. Nepali as the national or second language of education 3. English as the international language.
Why Mother Tongue ? It promotes access, equity, self-esteem, faster acquisition of basic literacy and contributes to higher academic achievement (CDC 2005, p.11) achievement. (CDC. 2005 11) There are significant human and linguistic resources in the regions that can be built upon to support mother tongue as MOI throughout primary schooling and teacher training.
Why International Language ?
Can C MT educated students compete in the d t d t d t t i th global market? Can MT education be equivalent to International language education? g g
SSRP
Chapter 2
Early Childhood Education and Development
With a view to promoting a child friendly environment in ECED centre and to ensure children s children’s rights to learn in their own mother tongue, children’s mother tongue will be employed as the medium of instruction. ECED facilitators will be recruited locally.
(p.9) ( 9)
SSRP
Chapter 3
Basic education
Basic and Secondary Education
Policy direction
Introducing mother tongue as a medium of instruction
Key results (p.14) (p 14)
95 learning facilitation materials produced in different languages Multilingual education implemented in 7,500 schools Secondary education Policy direction Adopting the NCF as the basis for core curricula and local curricula.
SSRP
Chapter 4
Literacy and Lifelong Learning
Implementation arrangement (p. )
Mother tongue medium literacy programmes will be emphasized. emphasized
Implementation matrix
Introduce and expand mother tongue literacy courses in local languages.
SSRP
Annex 3-2: Anne 3 2
The Essay on What Are Some Disadvantages Of The Mother Tongue?
... education with an emphasis on developing a strong literacy foundation in the early years. Children educated in a second language are taught their mother tongue ... reading proficiency. Grade 4 and 5 learners’ were tested in the language in which they had learned to read, usually their mother tongue. Children tested ...
Quality Ed cation Q alit Education
Instructional provisions Children’s right to basic education through mother tongue will be guaranteed in at least the first three grades. The choice of MOI in school will be determined by the SMC in consultation with the local government. English will be taught as a subject from grade one onwards onwards. The MOI in Gumbas/Vihars, Madrasas and Gurukuls will be determined by their respective management in consultatoin with the DEO.
SSRP
Annex 3-2: Anne 3 2
Instructional pro isions Instr ctional provisions
To ensure that children learn in their MT at least in the early grades up to three, SMC can determine the language(s) of instruction in consultation with the local body. Grades four and five can follow a body transition from the mother tongue MOI to Nepali. From grade six to eight, the MOI can be fully in Nepali. g g , y p English will be taught as a subject from grade one onwards. (p. 82)
NCF
Provision of mother tongues as a medium of instruction and learning from grade 1 to 5 and language transition at grade 6. (p. 42) • C i l Curriculum will give opportunity t l ill i t it to learn i mother l in th language i in early grades in line with the child-development approach g g g to learning, the language of instruction will be the Mother tongue in early grades i.e. Pre-primary to grade 5. There will be provision for language transition from the mother tongue to Nepali and/or English from grade 4 (p 22) 4. (p.
•
Indigenous languages as medium of education only in a few cases: g g g y • • • • Newari (one school in the Kathmandu valley), Some of the Kirati languages, namely Bantawa, Limbu (formal education) and education), Khaling (adult literacy, non-formal education).
are f the most part not distributed due to the lack of teachers. for th t t t di t ib t d d t th l k f t h • Because of the continued use of Nepali as the medium of instruction, there is a high dropout rate in village schools. ( Toba & Rai, 2005, p. 19) g g
• Textbooks in a number of languages of Nepal have been produced but they
4 M d l of Education Models f Ed ti
assimilation model: Starting in the mother tongue, and continuing to national language immersion • The pluralistic model: Recognises the importance of the language p ; , g g g y spoken at home; thus, first language teaching is not restricted only to the early grades • The immersion model: Initial instruction is given in the national language with oral discussion and instruction permitted in the local language p g g • The national language model: Sole instruction in the national language, with no teaching in the mother tongue
The Essay on “Mother’s Tongue” by Amy Tan
1. Amy uses emotional appeals throughout her essay as she does in her first couple paragraphs. Amy says “I am a writer” to show that she simply loves to write down her mind and that is it. 2. Tan’s argument is simply referring to the somewhat embarrassment she has when people notice her mother’s broken English. As she goes on it begins to bother her to a point where she feels sympathetic for her ...
(UNESCO, (UNESCO Bankok 2007 p 63) 2007,p.
• The
Challenges for Implementing MT as MOI • Practical only in homogenous communities communities. • No teacher recruitment and training modalities have been developed yet. (CDC, 2005, p.12) • As a result of external funding, the Text Book Production Centre has prepared some basic elementary readers in nine different ethnic languages, but it is hard to ascertain to what extent these primers are in use. • Current political unrest makes it difficult to implement changes in local contexts contexts. (Advocacy Kit, p 6) Kit p.6)
References
Advocacy kit for promoting multilingual education: Including the excluded. Language in Education P li and P ti i A i and th P ifi R t i Ed ti Policy d Practice in Asia d the Pacific. Retrieved f d from CDC. 2005. National curriculum framework for school education (pre-primary-12) in Nepal. (p p y ) p Bhaktapur: Author. Toba, S.I. & Rai, N.K. (2005).
Diversity and endangerment of languages in Nepal. UNESCO Kathmandu Series of Monographs and Working Papers, 7. Kathmandu: UNESCO. UNESCO. 2005. First language first: Community-based literacy programmes for minority language contexts in Asia. Bangkok. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001402/140280e.pdf 2065 salko ain Retrieved from http://planipolis iiep unesco org/upload/Nepal/ ain. Nepal_%20Education_law_2065_Draft.pdf
Unceasing Debate
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