Speaking at the 2015 CCIH Annual Conference, Paul Frank, Executive Director of SIL LEAD, explained the organization's program to improve literacy and education in developing nations by helping children learn to read in their native languages.

1. Reading in the Mother
Tongue
Paul Frank
Executive Director, SIL LEAD, Inc.
Christian Connections for International Health
Annual Meeting 2015

2. Benefits of Education for Development
• One additional year of education for the female population can
avert six deaths per thousand in child mortality rates
• Educating girls for six years or more drastically and consistently
improves their prenatal care, postnatal care and childbirth
survival rates
• A country’s performance on international learning
assessments…accounts for 64% of the variation in economic
growth
• 10% increase in students reaching basic literacy translates into
0.3% higher annual growth rate for a country

3. Educational Access and Quality

4. USAID’s Reading Agenda (2011)
• In Mali, Pakistan and Peru more than 70% of children in primary
grades could not read at grade level
• In Mali, 94% of children at the end of grade 2 could not read a
word in a simple sentence
• Goal 1: Improved reading skills for 100 million children in
primary grades by 2015
• “This strategy recognizes the importance of educating children
in their native languages where possible in the earliest grades”

5. SIL LEAD—Reading in the Mother Tongue
• SIL International: searching for a way to become in international
development projects
• Formation of SIL LEAD (Language, Education and
Development) in 2011
• SIL International and SIL LEAD became sought-after for our
mother tongue expertise
• Large projects: Uganda (12 languages), Ethiopia (7 languages),
Nepal (4 languages) plus a variety of smaller language and
education-related consultancies

6. Mother Tongue Learning Materials

7. Results to Date: Good News
• Done together with the National Curriculum Development
Centre and Primary Teacher Colleges—systemic change
• Building capacity within the government and communities

8. “My learners are so excited when they see the books—they
want to take turns in collecting and distributing them.”
“It is overwhelming to see the upper class students lining up to
borrow our P1 and P2 books for reading during their free
time.”
“Now each learner has a book. They adore these books and
seem to have a longer attention span.”
“I never imagined I would teach a class where every learner
has a text book…I must say I am proud. 2014 (when these
books arrived at our school) is by far the best year in my
teaching career. I pray to be alive to see how my learners will
perform in the P[rimary] L[eaving] E[xams] in 6 years.”

9. Results to Date: Not so Good News
• Though improvement in reading ability mid-term is statistically
significant, far too many students still cannot read at all
• Inadequate attention to “reading readiness” and pre-reading,
pre-writing activities
• Children come to school never having handled a book or been
read to at home
• Also a need for more fidelity in implementing the new practices
in the classroom

10. Why are We Doing This?
• Deep concern for minority language communities
• Language is identity, not just a neutral tool for communication
• Mother Tongue and other languages; multiple identities
• Educational outcomes are better overall when first learning is in the
Mother Tongue
• Kom longitudinal mother tongue instruction research, Cameroon:
• Children receiving instruction in Kom scored better, even when tested for
their English ability
• Children in the Kom-medium schools scored 22 points better on average on
their primary school leaving exams

11. What does the Future Hold?
• USAID projects that include Mother Tongue instruction in
Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, Ethiopia, DRC, Philippines, Nepal
• More such programs expected over the next several years
• Hope to see Mother Tongue instruction in the early grades
become firmly established in international education “best
practice”
• Hope to see the overall quality of life in these communities
improved as a result

12. References
• Gove,A and P. Cvelich (2010). Early Reading: Igniting education for
All. A report by the Early Grade Learning Community of Practice.
ResearchTriangle Park, NC: ResearchTriangle Institute.
• John Peasbody, et al. Policy and Health: Implications for
Development in Asia, 1997, Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press
• http://www.unicef.org/mdg/
• Hanushek, E. and L.Woessmann (2009). Do Better Schools Lead To
More Growth? Cognitive Skills, Economic Outcomes, and Causation.
NBER Working Paper 14633. National Bureau of Economic
Research