Turning on the LITES: Sparking Change through the Language of Instruction Transition in Education Systems (LITES) Study

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

There is a learning crisis in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) evidenced by the large number of learners failing to acquire foundational skills (World Bank, 2018). Less than half of all children in these contexts are able to read a simple story by the time they are 10 years old; with that number reaching 80% of all children in some countries (World Bank, 2020).
All learning, in school and at home, occurs through language. A child will learn well only in a language they use and understand (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005; Hoover & Tunmer, 2020). Indeed, recent reviews of evidence on learning in LMICs affirms that instruction in a child’s first language (L1), or most familiar language, is one of the most significant inputs for consistent learning gains across a variety of programs and contexts (Evans & Acosta, 2020; Nag, et al., 2019).
Despite this evidence, many children in LMICs are often taught content and foundational skills in an unfamiliar language while they are concurrently attempting to learn the language itself. An estimated 37% of learners are still not taught in the language they frequently use and understand (World Bank, 2021). There is thus still much work to be done to realize effective L1 instruction and transitioning to a second or additional language to facilitate learners’ bi-literacy.
Considerable research, advocacy, and practice efforts have focused on expanding home language instruction. However, much less is understood about how education systems should effectively transition instruction from L1 to a second language (L2) and additional languages. Language of instruction (LoI) transition has emerged as a prominent concern for policy-makers and development partners in LMICs in recent years. Many LMICs begin to offer some instruction in learners’ L1 in the early grades. They (almost universally) require an eventual shift in the LoI to a regional, national, and/or international L2 at some point in learners’ school experiences (often occurring in grades 3-6) (Trudell, 2016). We refer to this shift in LoI and the multilingual curricular sequence that leads up to this eventual shift in LoI as the LoI transition.
Successfully transitioning from L1 to L2 learning requires careful attention to learning and contextual factors such as building learners’ language comprehension in the L2 while teaching foundational skills and content knowledge in the more familiar L1. The success of this skill development, in turn, relates to a complex array of inputs, conditions, and processes.
Apart from the evidence supporting home language or familiar language programs and policies in the early grades, there is limited evidence from LMICs regarding how to design and implement a strong LoI transition policy and the various factors that enable or impede the success of these efforts.
Under the USAID-funded Supporting Holistic and Actionable Research in Education (SHARE) activity, the Language of Instruction Transition in Education Systems (LITES) research study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by generating empirical evidence on factors that contribute to the success of LoI transitions for learners’ L2 literacy skills in a cross-country study in Kenya, Mozambique, the Philippines, Senegal (and possibly other countries such as Mali and Rwanda). The LITES study will answer the overall question: How do different LITES policy approaches, system factors, and local-level conditions and practices explain variations in key language and reading outcomes in target languages in primary grades? Evidence generated from this study will inform bi- and multilingual education in low-resource settings. The panel will provide an overview of the LITES study and share emergent findings from Kenya and Mozambique. Recommendations and implications for policy and practice in bi- and multilingual contexts will also be drawn.

Sub Unit

• Language Issues SIG

Chair

• Kelsey Woodrick, DDI Center for Education, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Individual Presentations

• Turning on the LITES - Kenya Context - Hellen Inyega, Makerere University, ResilientAfrica Network

• Turning on the LITES - Mozambique Context - Carlos Joaquim Manuel, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane

Discussant

• Carolyn J Benson, MLE International