Seven Reasons Children Should First Learn to Read in their Home Language

Children should learn to read in their home language first because it helps them develop a strong foundation for reading and learning other languages: 

• Transferable skills: Reading skills developed in a child's first language can be applied to other languages. 

• Cognitive development: Learning in a child's mother tongue helps build a strong foundation for cognitive development. 

• Communication skills: Learning in a child's mother tongue improves communication skills. 

• Emotional connection: Learning in a child's mother tongue helps children connect emotionally with their learning environment. 

• Engagement: Learning in a child's mother tongue makes education more engaging and enjoyable. 

• Dropout rates: Learning to read in a child's mother tongue helps reduce dropout rates. 

• Performance in a second language: Children who learn to read in their mother tongue perform better in a second language. 

What other reasons can you think of? Please comment!

---

Sources:
Antonique Dick, "Why Children Should Learn in their Mother Tongue," Save Our Seas Foundation, February 21, 2024.
Maddie Matsoff,  "The Importance of Home Language Literacy," Read Naturally, October 6, 2022.
Oxfordshire County Council, "The Importance of Home Languages," accessed September 12, 2024.
Idhries Ahmad, "Learning in the Mother Tongue is the Best Start to Education," UNICEF India, February 21, 2024.
Andrew Ofosu-Dankyi, "The Importance of Learning to Read in My Mother Language," World Vision, February 16, 2017.
Jason Weaver, Alison Marie Grimsland, and Fatim Lahonri Diabagate, "Learning to Read in a Language Children Understand," September 19, 2023.

Literacy is a Right, Not a Privilege

If you are reading this, you are privileged. It’s not that you are privileged to read this particular post, you are privileged because you can read. But reading should not be a privilege. Reading is, or at least should be, a fundamental human right.

In the powerful documentary The Right to Read (https://www.therighttoreadfilm.org/), Kareem Weaver is asked why reading is so important. His response (and I am paraphrasing) is, “What if you lived in the Stone Age and had no stone? What if you lived in the Bronze Age and had no bronze?” This is the reality for hundreds of millions of people in the Information Age who lack the most essential tools needed to participate in modern society - the ability to read and write.

International Literacy Day (September 8) is a timely reminder that literacy remains out of reach for hundreds of millions. It is estimated that over 750 million people aged 15 and older can not read. This is not just their problem. It is ours.

The World Bank estimates that “in low- and middle-income countries … an estimated 70% of 10-year-olds [are] unable to understand a simple written text.” Before the COVID-19 pandemic, this figure stood at “just” 59%. Entire generations are being left behind.

Illiteracy further raises barriers to healthcare, economic participation, legal protections, and climate change adaptation. Illiteracy tends to be significantly higher among women and girls, adults and children with disabilities, and speakers of minority languages. Vulnerable populations are made even more vulnerable because of illiteracy.

For over twelve years, SIL LEAD has worked to uplift minority language communities through mother tongue-based literacy and education programs. We have been privileged to support the efforts of USAID, AusAid, UNICEF, the African Development Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and others to promote literacy worldwide, particularly for minoritized languages. It is fulfilling and meaningful work, but sometimes it feels like the task is too great and that people who CAN read don’t really care about those who CAN’T.

Do you recognize the privilege you have as a reader? If so, how will you use that privilege? Do you agree that every child should be given the opportunity to learn to read and write? That reading is a fundamental human right?

The work of organizations like SIL LEAD has never been more vital. Helping children and adults learn to read and write, first in the language(s) they speak at home and then in the language(s) of broader communication in their country, promotes equity in our increasingly complex, tech-driven world. As we are just beginning to see the impact of AI on technology and communication, we can only wonder how much wider the gap will become between those who CAN and those who CAN’T read and write.

Literacy opens doors to better health, education, legal protection, economic prosperity, adaptation to climate change, and self-determination. This International Literacy Day, I challenge you to do whatever you CAN to make literacy a right rather than a privilege.

SIL LEAD to partner with RTI in the Reading for East Africa’s Development (READ) program

PRESS RELEASE
April 26, 2023

SIL LEAD is thrilled to announce its support of the Reading for East Africa’s Development (READ) program in partnership with RTI International, which has been awarded as a holder of the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Please read RTI’s press release here.

The READ program aims to improve access to quality education for children in eight East African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, by reducing barriers to education, improving classroom equity, and increasing learning opportunities.

“SIL LEAD is honored to have been selected by RTI as a partner on its bid,” said Christof Weber, SIL LEAD’s executive director. “We hope to provide technical expertise and support wherever we are most needed, particularly in the areas of early grade reading and writing instruction, curriculum development, teacher training, and, if needed, language mapping and analysis.”

Through sociolinguistic research, SIL LEAD works with local experts to help determine the languages used by children, schools, and communities to inform programmatic decisions. SIL LEAD is uniquely qualified to address issues of African language linguistics, orthography, and reading, and can provide language and reading scope and sequence support. SIL LEAD also supports the development of local language supplementary reading materials using Bloom, a tool that simplifies the process of developing new books, including non-fiction and informational texts, and promotes disabilities inclusion with features like Sign Language and talking books.

SIL LEAD's expertise in teaching and learning materials development helps to ensure that pedagogical approaches and content are appropriate for the targeted population of learners. SIL LEAD can also support teacher training and community engagement using a community-based literature development approach, to better understand vital social issues and develop materials that align with them.

Programs under USAID’s READ IDIQ will seek to improve foundational skills in reading. SIL LEAD recognizes the critical importance of such skills for continued retention in school and success in future grades and beyond. SIL LEAD is, therefore, very excited to partner with RTI International and USAID to improve access to quality basic education and student learning outcomes in East Africa.

About USAID: USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people progress beyond assistance. Working in over 100 countries, USAID’s work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. Learn more at www.usaid.gov

About RTI: RTI International is both a global research institute and a leading international development organization. We combine these powerful capabilities with those of our partners to co-create smart, shared solutions for a more prosperous, equitable, and resilient world. Learn more at www.rti.org/idg_education

About SIL LEAD: SIL LEAD, a subsidiary of SIL International, seeks to see people flourish in community using the languages they value most. We advocate, build capacity, and work with local communities to apply language expertise that advances education and meaningful development. Learn more at www.sil-lead.org and www.sil.org.

Give to help minority language communities

DONATIONS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED FOR THIS PROJECT.

Thank you to those to those who donated in the past.

SIL LEAD is a faith-based nonprofit. Through our network of expert consultants and local partners, SIL LEAD offers extensive capabilities in language, communication and education. You can donate to the SIL LEAD general fund and help to further the work of our staff and consultants.

Invest in a Minority Language Community's Future

Your donations help local community-based organizations around the world pursue their development goals while maintaining and developing their unique language and culture.  SIL LEAD's Community-Based Language Development fund seeks to help fund efforts by these organizations. Click here to donate now and select "Community-Based Language Development" from the drop-down menu.

Literacy and Development through Partnership

Literacy and Development through Partnership (LDP) exists so that children and adults in northern Ghana can learn to read and apply their literacy skills to better their lives. Local trainers from the Dagomba community work together with the public schools in northern Ghana to improve the quality of basic education. LDP works with these Dagomba trainers to provide teacher training in literacy, to develop reading materials, and to advocate for and implement Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education in schools. Currently, 1,500 in-school-children from 47 rural communities in four districts of northern Ghana are benefiting from LDP’s basic education work. Your support for LDP enables children and adults in the Dagomba community to read and to receive basic education, unlocking opportunities to improve the quality of their lives. 

Click here to donate now and select Literacy & Development through Partnership (Ghana) to designate your gift.

Learn about Learning

In belated recognition of International Literacy Day (September 8, 2017), we would like to tell you about SIL LEAD’s involvement in the Ghana Partnership for Education: Learning. Learning is part of the USAID Partnership for Education project. This project supports the early grade reading and literacy improvement activities implemented by the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service. Through this project, the work of SIL LEAD consultants may benefit over one million children and 30,000 teachers in eleven different local languages.

Earlier this year, seven SIL LEAD consultants led a 9-week materials development workshop in Tamale, Ghana. This workshop focused on the development of Kindergarten (KG2) Term 1 and Grade 1 (P1) Term 1 reading instructional materials comparable to materials developed during the Dagbani reading prototype. These materials were developed in 11 official Ghanaian languages and will be used in a national scale-up prototype program. The workshop included 44 mother-tongue authors, eleven illustrators, seven SIL LEAD reading consultants, and five experts from Ghanaian partner organization GILLBT. We are pleased to report that the workshop was very successful and that the materials development goals were accomplished.

Hard at work in Tamale, Ghana

A second 9-week workshop is now underway in Tamale and another will be held in early 2018. During these workshops, SIL LEAD consultants will facilitate the development of the remaining pupil and teacher materials for KG2, P1, and Grade 2 (P2). In addition to scripted lessons, new pupil books (including both decodable and leveled texts and exercises) and supplemental teaching and learning materials will be developed.

In other news related to this project, the first ever Spelling Bee in a local Ghanaian language was held in July. Competitions among 20 schools prior to the Spelling Bee resulted in 77 children qualifying to compete. These top spellers gathered in the town of Yendi and competed in 11 rounds to determine a winner, runner-up, and a third place winner. Prior to the start of this project, Dagbani children could not sound out more than three letters in a minute. During the Spelling Bee they were asked to spell four to eight syllable words. Now that is progress!

To learn more about this project please see:

Dagbani Prototype Brochure
Ghana Learning Brochure

Bloom: Did You Know?

Bloom training workshop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SIL International’s innovative Bloom software eases the process of bookmaking so that more people can participate – if you can type on a computer, you can create a book in Bloom.

Bloom users can create an original text or select a template, called a “shell book,” and insert culturally appropriate pictures and local translations of text. The books created can then be saved as a PDF and distributed in printed or electronic form.  It is also possible to use Bloom to create EPUBs and “talking books.”

SIL has been developing and using Bloom since 2011. For the All Children Reading Enabling Writers competition, SIL added features to let Bloom users create decodable texts and leveled readers. Literacy specialists can create “Reader Templates” that help writers create texts for specific languages that are decodable at various stages of learning and conform to leveling guidelines.

SIL International has also created 31 Bloom Training videos.  The videos are narrated in English but subtitles are currently available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bangla, English, and Swahili.  For example, Why Bloom is a 10-minute video which explains the role Bloom software can play in aiding literacy development. It also gives an overview of the key features of Bloom.

Click on the screenshot above to watch this video on YouTube. Once the video is playing, click on the gear icon to enable subtitles and/or to change the subtitle language.

Additional videos can be viewed on either Vimeo or YouTube.

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/channels/bloomlibrary/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SILLEADInc

• Bloom has been launched on Internet-connected computers more than 100,000 times in 117 countries, with a high of more than 12,000 times in one month alone.

• Of those 117 countries, Bloom was launched more than 1,000 times in 10 different countries (USA, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cameroon, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Bangladesh, Nigeria) and more than 300 times in an additional 10 countries (India, Kenya, Mexico, Australia, Senegal, Chad, Nepal, China, Burkina Faso, Mali).

• Bloomlibrary.org currently contains 1,211 books (as of August 29, 2017) and new books are being added all the time. The library currently contains books in 86 languages.

• The USAID-funded Enabling Writers Workshop Program with awardees in Bangladesh, Haiti, Indonesia, Nepal, Nigeria, and the Philippines will result in about 3,000 books being added to Bloomlibrary.org in 15 languages.

SIL LEAD conducts Bloom training workshops as one of the services it offers.  A Bloom training workshop can be held on its own or in combination with a SynPhony training workshop.

SIL LEAD also offers a Bloom Trainer Certification program.

Veteran and aspiring Bloom users are invited to join SIL LEAD's Bloom User Group (BUG) on Facebook.

Please contact us for more information.

Enabling Writers Produce 2,000 Books in Nine Months!

Enabling Writers authors in the Philippines.

SIL LEAD has assisted the Enabling Writers Workshop Program through the provision of Bloom training workshops, Bloom Trainer certification and support, and through the localization of Bloom software and training videos.  It is wonderful to see the amazing progress being made by this program! Please read the following article from our friends at the Global Reading Network, reproduced here with their permission.

Succeeding months ahead of schedule, local authors in five countries working with the Enabling Writers Workshop Program (EW) have created nearly 2,000 different books for children in grades 1, 2 and 3. Written in the language the youngsters hear at home and illustrated with culturally sensitive imagery, the titles are being field tested for use in schools and under review for adoption by the Ministries of Education in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Haiti. Negotiations for a sixth project in Kiswahili/Kenya have been put on pause over budgetary limitations.

Funded by All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD)-a partnership of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), World Vision and the Australian Government - the Enabling Writers Workshop Program supports the Global Book Alliance's goal to transform book development, procurement and distribution to ensure that no child is without books. The objectives of the program are to develop substantial sets of high-quality decodable and leveled books for adoption by ministries of education and use by schools in developing countries, develop sustainability for local capacity to continue creating quality decodable and leveled books beyond the scope of the funded project, and to produce a large set of quality books, using the Bloom book-writing software, for sharing via the Global Digital Library and other online e-book access points.

Participants in the Enabling Writers workshop in Bangladesh display their creations.