As noted , these are only a few of the many challenges to MTB MLE . The good news is that people involved in MTB MLE programmes have identified strategies to overcome the challenges , even in difficult situations . As you read this booklet and others in this MTB MLE Resource Kit , you will learn about some of the creative ways that policy makers are working with programme implementers and community members to develop and sustain strong and successful MTB MLE programmes .
Q3
How does MTB MLE help minority language children achieve a quality education ?
When children begin their formal education , they bring with them the language , knowledge and skills that they have learned from parents and others in their home and community . All of these are essential resources for helping them to achieve success in school .
Students in “ mainstream ” schools who use the official school language at home can learn to read and write in that language because they already understand it . MTB MLE students , who do not hear the official language at home , learn to read and write in their MT — the language they know best . As they gain confidence in reading and writing their MT and have achieved a basic level of oral fluency in the official school language , they are ready to begin reading and writing that language . As noted in the introduction to this booklet , there is no longer any argument among researchers regarding the benefits of bilingual and multilingual education . MTB MLE students who achieve fluency in reading and writing their MT are prepared — and have the confidence — to transfer their literacy skills to additional languages .
Language education in well-planned six-to-eight year MTB MLE programmes ( ideally one or two years of pre-primary and six years of primary school ) follows a step-by-step process . This process is based on the principle that underlies all good education : We learn best when we can use what we already know to help us understand what is new . Because MTB MLE students know their MT when they begin school , it is their foundation for learning other languages . MTB MLE students may take longer than mainstream students to achieve fluency in reading and writing the official school language , but they achieve success because they understand .
The step-by-step diagram below displays the essential features of language education in successful MTB MLE programmes . As noted above , students continue learning and using their MT throughout primary school as they also learn other languages . The diagram ( starting at the bottom step ) thus includes MT as subject and as language of instruction from the first year ( pre-primary or Grade 1 ) to the last year of primary school .
Booklet for Policy Makers
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