Multilingual Education and India

Dear multilingual education friends, Last week I had the privilege to meet the new UNESCO director for this region at their Delhi office: Mr Shigeru Aoyagi . Only now I discovered he had just that week written an article on the issue of language: Languages are vehicles of understanding, tolerance . In that article he e.g. wrote: Mother languages, along with linguistic diversity, matter for the identity of individuals. As sources of creativity and vehicles for cultural expression, they are also important for the health of societies. Studies and researches show that use of mother language at initial stage of education would enhance children’s comprehension skills. We know how important education in the mother language is for learning outcomes. Mother language instruction is also a powerful way to fight discrimination

Congratulations with International Mother Language day! D e ar m ultilingual education friends, Yesterday was International Mother Language Day . A good reason for giving extra attention to the use of the mother tongue. Here are some relevant links to events and resources: Save the Children made a nice animation video clip to mark the occasion. An occasion at the Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) Imphal on the Manipuri language Even in the business world the days got some attention: Microsoft to add more languages to Project Bhasha Here is a link to the history of the International Mother Language day

Dear Multilingual Education Friends, At a recent consultation someone quoted several times from papers that were presented at the 9th International Language and Development Conference held last year in Sri Lanka. That made me look up the website to see what all was posted there. I found over 20 papers on Language and Social Cohesion. A selection from what is there: Prem Bahadur Phyak Language-in-education policy in Nepal and its implications for social cohesion Prof Marie Perera “Building bridges” - National Integration through the teaching of the Second National Language Dr Gladys Focho Education and the language dilemma in multilingual societies: The case of Cameroon Tony Capstick Language in education policy and multilingual literacies research in Pakistan Leslie Gumba Mother tongue based literacy a tool for indigenous people’s empowerment Helen