[MLE] Forum on Multilingual Literacy

Dear MLE Interest group,
Several of you will probably enjoy joining the below mentioned forum. Let the Indian voice be heard!
Shalom,
Karsten

Karsten van Riezen
Education Consultant, SIL Int.
Director
SIL, South Asia Group.


From: Dave_Pearson@sil.org [mailto:Dave_Pearson@sil.org]
Sent: 26 August 2006 20:24
To:
Subject: Forum on Multilingual Literacy


Dear Colleagues,

You can join a forum to discuss " literacy theory, practice, & policy in multilingual contexts worldwide" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Multilingual_Literacy
I have pasted below a description of the forum. The most recent post is about a SIL research project in Cameroon.
Dave Pearson
Permanent Representative to UNESCO
SIL International

Tel:        +44 1604 583693
Mob:        +44 7985 256581
Web:        www.sil.org
E-mail:        dave_pearson@sil.org

Description
The United Nations launched a Literacy Decade on 13 February 2003 with the mission of "Education for all" and the mottos "Literacy as freedom" & "Literacy for all: voice for all, learning for all." What does this all really mean in practice for multilingual societies & minority language communities?

The goal of Multilingual_Literacy is to serve as a forum for discussion & exchange of information about literacy theory, practice, & policy in multilingual contexts worldwide during the Decade, & to facilitate consideration of such questions as:
  • What approaches to adult literacy & basic education for children work best on the countrywide, community & individual levels?
  • Should measures of "literacy" (% literate) be more complex in countries or communities where multiple languages & maybe even scripts are used?
  • What other issues arise with various approaches to literacy in countries where many languages are spoken (e.g., language survival, national unity, prioritizing limited education resources, production of materials for post-literacy, role of ICT, meaning of literacy to the people...), & how can they be addressed?
  • What about terminology & related concepts? (e.g., multiliteracy, pluriliteracy, multi/bilingualism)
Multilingual_Literacy is mirrored on the Linguist list.