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1. Language and student learning: Evidence from an ethnographic study in Mozambique

Author:
Feliciano Chimbutane and Ritva Reinikka
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This ethnographic study explores the implementation of bilingual education in Mozambique: how it is understood, adapted, and resisted by school directors, teachers, and local officials. Bilingual education uses local languages in early grades before a gradual shift into Portuguese, which most Mozambican children do not speak when entering school. Our study confirms that students participate actively and understand content better in bilingual classes. Regardless of education policy, school directors decide whether or not to form bilingual classes. They report pressure from parents for Portuguese-only instruction because of misunderstanding about the nature of bilingual education, poor resourcing, and fears about students failing tests. Some teachers demonstrate an impressive ability to provide bilingual education despite a lack of training and materials. Others resist and do little to hide their negative attitude. District officers are not able to supply schools with basic materials for local-language teaching. We conclude that bilingual education has lost momentum in Mozambique.
Topic:
Education, Ethnography, Language, and Policy Implementation
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

2. Learning Equity Requires More than Equality: Learning Goals and Achievement Gaps between the Rich and the Poor in Five Developing Countries

Author:
Maryam Akmal and Lant Pritchett
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education include the goal that “all youth...achieve literacy and numeracy” (Target 4.6). Achieving some absolute standard of learning for all children is a key element of global equity in education. Using the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) data from India and Pakistan, and Uwezo data from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda that test all children of given ages, whether in school or not, on simple measures of learning in math, reading (local language), and English, we quantify the role of achieving equality between the richest 20% and the poorest 40% in terms of grade attainment and learning achievement toward accomplishing the global equity goal of universal numeracy and literacy for all children. First, excluding Kenya, equalizing grade attainment between children from rich and poor households would only close between 8% (India) and 25% (Pakistan) of the gap to universal numeracy, and between 8% (Uganda) and 28% (Pakistan) of the gap to universal literacy. Second, children from the poorest 40% of households tend to have lower performance in literacy and numeracy at each grade. If such children had the learning profiles of children from rich households, we would close between 16% (Pakistan and Uganda) and 34% (India) of the gap to universal numeracy, and between 13% (Uganda) and 44% (India) of the gap to universal literacy. This shows that the “hidden exclusion” (WDR, 2018) of lower learning at the same grade levels—a gap that emerges in the earliest grades—is a substantial and often larger part of the equity gap compared to the more widely documented gaps in enrollment and grade attainment. Third, even with complete equality in grade attainment and learning achievement, children from poor households would be far from the equity goal of universal numeracy and literacy, as even children from the richest 20% of households are far from universal mastery of basic reading and math by ages 12-13. Achieving universal literacy and numeracy to accomplish even a minimal standard of global absolute equity will require more than just closing the rich-poor learning gap, it will take progress in learning for all.
Topic:
Development, Education, Sustainable Development Goals, and Language
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Kenya, Africa, Middle East, India, Asia, and Tanzania

3. Wole Soyinka: Writing and Speaking Peace

Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
The state, one of Nigeria’s major agricultural hubs, has experienced in- cessant attacks by herdsmen ostensibly seeking grazing grounds for their cattle. At a crowded early-morning meeting with the state governor, Sam- uel Ortom, reporters and members of civil society groups, Soyinka spoke with his signature directness.42 He not only pronounced the killings by the herdsmen an act of ethnic cleansing, he also accused President Muham- madu Buhari of abdicating his responsibility to act. And he contended that the time had come to invite the international community to intervene in the festering crisis. He was clear what the international mandate ought to be: to reverse the forcible removal of farmers from their land and end the oc- cupation by the invading herdsmen. The vehemence of his criticism of Bu- hari’s administration was significant. Although grudging, Soyinka’s support of Buhari as a candidate in the 2015 presidential election had scandalized many of the laureate’s fans. For me, the trip to Makurdi was a fitting finale. It showcased Soyinka in his vocation and constituency as both an artist-intellectual and a voice of con- science—a tireless advocate for the restorative balm of justice. As Soyinka told me, in what seemed like a parting shot, “When a community is careless and doesn’t nip in the bud, in time, those with [a] power obsession, with that need to dominate, then they find themselves enslaved. Belatedly they real- ize it, and then they try to struggle out of the net that has been spun around them.”43 At its best, his work has been to urge us all to vigilance, resistance, and a commitment to justice.
Topic:
Political Activism, Language, Peace, and Free Speech
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

4. Multilingual Assessment of Early Child Development: Analyses from Repeated Observations of Children in Kenya

Author:
Heather A. Knauer, Patricia Kariger, Pamela Jakiela, Owen Ozier, and Lia C.H. Fernald
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
In many low- and middle-income countries, young children learn a mother tongue or indigenous language at home before entering the formal education system where they will need to understand and speak a country’s official language(s). Thus, assessments of children before school age, conducted in a nation’s official language, may not fully reflect a child’s development, underscoring the importance of test translation and adaptation. To examine differences in vocabulary development by language of assessment, we adapted and validated instruments to measure developmental outcomes, including expressive and receptive vocabulary. We assessed 505 2-to-6- year-old children in rural communities in Western Kenya with comparable vocabulary tests in three languages: Luo (the local language or mother tongue), Swahili, and English (official languages) at two time points, 5–6 weeks apart, between September 2015 and October 2016. Younger children responded to the expressive vocabulary measure exclusively in Luo (44–59% of 2-to-4-year-olds) much more frequently than did older children (20–21% of 5-to-6-year-olds). Baseline receptive vocabulary scores in Luo (β = 0.26, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001) and Swahili (β = 0.10, SE = 0.05, p = 0.032) were strongly associated with receptive vocabulary in English at follow-up, even after controlling for English vocabulary at baseline. Parental Luo literacy at baseline (β = 0.11, SE = 0.05, p = 0.045) was associated with child English vocabulary at follow-up, while parental English literacy at baseline was not. Our findings suggest that multilingual testing is essential to understanding the developmental environment and cognitive growth of multilingual children.
Topic:
Development, Children, Linguistics, and Language
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa