Example from Viet Nam
Preliminary Research: Classroom Language Mapping in Lao Cai Province 4
In 2009, the Ministry of Education and Training( MOET) in Viet Nam, with support from UNICEF, implemented a Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education Action Research project in three provinces. In Lao Cai Province the programme was established in the Mong language community. Lao Cai education officials recognized the value of the programme for the Mong children and wanted to expand the programme to additional schools.
The Lao Cai Department of Education and Training, the Ministry of Education and Training’ s Primary Education Department, SIL International and UNICEF worked together to implement a“ Classroom Language Mapping Project” in Lao Cai Province. The purpose was to identify the languages used by students in primary grade classrooms.
To help the Lao Cai government plan for MTB BE expansion, the Language Mapping team needed to get information relating to these questions 5:
••
Are there classrooms and schools in which all or most of the students speak the same MT? What is the academic performance of students in those classrooms?
•• Where are the classes and schools in which students do not share a common language?
••
What is the ethnic background of teachers in each school and what languages do they speak and understand?
The results of the Classroom mapping are shown in the two diagrams below
PIE CHRT 1: SINGLE LANGUAGE VS MULTI-LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS
36 %
13 %
51 %
Single Language( Mong, Dao, Tay...) Single Language( Kinh) Multi Language
4 See http:// www. unicef. org / vietnam / Lao _ Cai _ mapping _ profile _ set. pdf
5 Adapted from a presentation by J. Owen at the 4th International Conference on Language and Education,
Bangkok, Thailand, 2013.
Booklet for Programme Implementers
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