Comments on: Building bridges through multilingual schooling: a mother-tongue pilot in East Timor is showing the way

By: Mindful about multilingualism – Language on the Move

Mindful about multilingualism – Language on the Move — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 23:29:39 +0000

[…] We believe that, given a better fighting chance, the MTBMLE could work wonders as it did in East Timor. Our formal response and appeal (posted in the UST Department of English Facebook page) is pictured […]

By: Blade

Blade — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 12:59:20 +0000

11. It is so good to read this blog post which is very interesting and fascinating. The EMBLI program is undeniable a great step of UNESCO to facilitate the study of minority languages speaking children. Mother tongue spoken in the very first days of school will be a perfect helping tool for those kids to learn new things. I hope that EMBLI could become a good method for education policies makers all over the world to apply and give minority languages speakers opportunities to have a strong education results in the future.

By: Nguyen Thien Duyen Ngo

Nguyen Thien Duyen Ngo — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 07:24:22 +0000

This article shows a great effort of the teacher to adapt students’ culture and literacy in literacy education. This is the essential way to support the multicultural students’ academic achievement because only when teachers come to a deep and comprehensive understanding of school and home cultural practices can they help minority students arrive at a cultural recognition of their social realities.

By: tting

tting — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 13:37:50 +0000

The multilingual language situation has generated much debate over the use of languages for instructional purposes. Educational reform and the new emphasis on social inclusion have prompted a reappraisal of language-in-education policy. The educational process itself is, perhaps, more multidimensional than it seems on the surface. In order for educational innovation to be the most effective and responsive to the needs of learners
from non-dominant language communities, a number of components need to be considered.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 02:06:53 +0000

EMBLI is admittedly a smart initiative by UNESCO. There are a lot of short and long-term benefits, indeed, the key stakeholders may obtain from the program. The teachers have a golden opportunity to improve their teaching skills through the assistance provided by the program. The students, on the other hand, may receive the qualified learning experience that they may reflect to at some points later in their future language learning stages. It does provide access to a good education for the children in a remote area and chance to be equal in education with those in urban areas as well. There are some similar programs I had involved with in Indonesia such as English language teaching assistance provided by Australian government for teachers of Islamic school, Kangaroo Radio English program also by Australian government providing a short intensive teacher training course for Islamic school teachers and other programs, seminars and workshops sponsored by the USA and Australian government. These, as I have experienced, like EMBLI are a prestigious moment where I could improve my English through the direct context with the native speakers and so are the students. Not to mention that there were also a lot of fun and fruitful activities besides the learning.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 14:58:09 +0000

I like the contents and idea of this article which the teachers use the resources which they can find (sticks, pebbles, coconut shells, palm leaves, seeds, cardboard, buttons and plastic bottles) for the progress of the students to learn their mother tongue creatively. This is a good educational article which points out to us that we do not need any fancy resources to teach, and it matters a lot about the students’ interests and motivation in studying. As long as the students are motivated and have interest in learning language acquisition, then it will be easier for the teachers to teach.

By: Fern

Fern — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 11:41:27 +0000

The project is fascinating and could be a pilot for many other contexts where remoteness and lack of resources are a barrier for literacy in early education. The significant features of this project are the teacher agency, parental and community involvement and the resource management. Empowering teachers is a vital part of educating children in their mother tongue which we can see possibly happening in the aboriginal context in Australia as well as in the remotest part of my country, Sri Lanka. Community and parental involvement give them ownership of the education process which otherwise would have been seen as responsibility of the government. Further, the traditions and practices related to the surroundings of children would encourage creativity of children. Resources not being limited to books but pictures and creative works of children all contribute to avoid the mismatch between the home environment and the schools’ expectations of the early educational stages of children.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 06:49:13 +0000

The EMBLI pilot is an amazing initiative that I hope will influence education policies affecting other minority languages around the world. It is so unfortunate that due to globalisation and associated socio economic pressures as well as a government’s quest for national unity and control, that minority languages are being increasingly marginalised and in many cases disappearing. For a language to survive it is essential the younger generation embrace it and the EMBLI pilot is evidence that this can occur despite these external pressures. As we can see from the blog, not only are the children excited to learn in their mother tongue, but the teachers are excited to instruct in it and this is creating significant benefits for students’ learning outcomes. An existing initiative indeed!

By: Karly

Karly — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 04:24:35 +0000

The article is a very heart-warming piece illustrating the lengths some teachers are going to in an attempt to improve the literacy of their students in low resource and difficult situations. Apart from this, the finding that teaching students in their mother tongue leading to strong education results is perhaps an expected but very important finding. The pilot should continue to its investigations, as the results from these studies appear to be very helpful to these low socioeconomic and rural environments.

By: Mengyao APPL941

Mengyao APPL941 — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 10:49:50 +0000

The East Timor schooling example shows that mother-tongue based multilingual education pilot also effective for low-level young learners’ learning. As I know if education institution only considers teaching students through the target language, it probably hampers the students’ L2 language improvement, because students may feel confused about the content what they are learning when they can’t understand the teaching language, they probably lose confidence and motivation to continue their L2 language learning. Also, I really appreciate these teachers in this example, they can create innovative teaching materials for supporting students learning.

By: Xinyue Ji

Xinyue Ji — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 06:19:15 +0000

It’s really a great essay! Mother tongue can be bridge to connect students’ knowledge in school and their experience in different communities. From this blog, I also know that foreign languages can also be developed basing on the first language. It’s really useful because following from this essay, I can develop myself and bring my students effective ways in my teaching in the future.

By: AzPc

AzPc — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 00:19:52 +0000

I really like the point of using different materials in nature as the setting for language classed and I do love making my own materials. It is trued that it takes a lot of time but you will feel that it worths. Also, by using natural materials for language teaching and especially for young learners in a rural area is a good idea. Nature is not just the place for them to live but the place for them to learn, the materials from nature are the bridge between teachers and the students.

By: Yan Yan

Yan Yan — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 15:56:54 +0000

The EMBLI pilot provides a model for collaborative and sustainable practices. Compared with monolingual habitus of multilingual schools and submersion education, EMBLI trial has many advantages. The EMBLI pilot gives more rights to teachers, students and parents than to policymakers, which mobilizes the three’s enthusiasm for literacy. I am glad to see that the EMBLI pilot can be promoted to a greater extent

By: Camilla

Camilla — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 00:10:23 +0000

What a heart-warming blog! I feel that this is an example of teachers and children and local languages really being respected and valued. It must be really empowering to the teachers, whose commitment is demonstrated in their creative gathering of classroom resources, to see that children who once lagged behind many others are able to excel. This really reinforces how essential instruction in their first tongue is for children and the importance of policy in determining how well children can learn and how effective the teaching of even the most enthusiastic teacher can be.

By: Hasnahana Hasnahana

Hasnahana Hasnahana — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 01:12:30 +0000

The project EMBLI has shown the mother tongue based multilingual schooling process where the teachers encourage the learners with their active participations and interactions to make sure for effective and interesting learning. Their active participations will grow their confidant which will be helpful in their future lives. They not only make sure the involvement of the students but the parents too which is really a good initiative.

By: XQX

XQX — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 11:16:25 +0000

The EMBLI teaching pilot presents a considerable result of developing students’ language literacy in the context of multilingual schooling. In other words, the EMBLI pilot contributed on the language education which reflects the facts of the learning circumstance can be preceded by individuals in the language learning process of students by the dual track adaptation. Also, the teachers play an important role in the language classroom. It is necessary for teachers to know more about the EMBLI.