Papers by Diane E Dekker, PhD
There are more than 6000 languages spoken by the 6 billion people in the world today – however, t... more There are more than 6000 languages spoken by the 6 billion people in the world today – however, those languages are not evenly divided among the world’s population – over 90% of people globally speak only about 300 majority languages – the remaining 5700 languages being termed ‘minority languages’. These languages represent the ethnolinguistic diversity of our world and the rich cultural heritage embedded within cultural communities. Within the Philippines, language-in-education planning reflects issues associated with the needs of a culturally and linguistically diverse nation. This paper examines language policy and planning at national level as it relates to elementary education for ethnolinguistic minorities. It includes a case study of one innovative community based approach being implemented by a northern Philippines language community to provide multilingual education using the first language of the learners as a foundation for quality language education in the national and international prescribed languages of instruction in the Philippines.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
In the modern era, the prevailing model of public education has been that of ‘‘one size fits all’... more In the modern era, the prevailing model of public education has been that of ‘‘one size fits all’’, with private schooling being a small but notable exception. Language (of instruction) was generally viewed as a minor variable readily overcome by standard classroom instruction. As researchers have sharpened their focus on the reasons for educational failure, language has begun to emerge as a significant variable in producing gains in educational efficiency. This paper reports the intermediate result of a controlled study in a very rural area of a developing country designed to examine the effect of language of instruction on educational outcomes. In the experimental schools, children are taught to read first in the local language (via the local language) and are taught other key subjects via the local language as well. English is taught as a subject. Teachers in the control or standard schools continue the standard national practice of teaching all subjects in either English or Filipino, neither of which is spoken by children when they begin school. Year-end standardised testing was done in all subjects throughout grades one to three as a means of comparing the two programme methodologies.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Philippine Journal of Linguistics, 2003
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
With the growing awareness of the importance of the learners’ first language in educational achie... more With the growing awareness of the importance of the learners’ first language in educational achievement, several countries have experimented with MTB-MLE in small pilot projects. These experiments continue to reveal educational benefits. However, international and donor agencies such as UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, USAID and AUSAID are recommending that governments move beyond small test projects to provide the benefits to all learners by scaling up their programs to the national level. Perpetual experimentation is no longer justifiable in light of the positive outcomes. Moving from pilot projects to national implementation is not easily done. In this chapter we will examine contextual considerations that are important to address for successful MTB-MLE implementation.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Contextualizing "Best" Practices, p. 53-59
While some scholars contend that there is no specific ... more Contextualizing "Best" Practices, p. 53-59
While some scholars contend that there is no specific definition to the term “best practices”, this term is generally known as representing pedagogies that most effectively produce desirable educational outcomes. However, teachers in southern or low- income contexts see the work they do differently and respond to their own contexts differently than do teachers in economically developed contexts. Local analysis should identify contextual constraints before assuming effective transfer of pedagogies between contexts.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Thesis Chapters by Diane E Dekker, PhD
Language issues in education raise multiple and complex challenges due to our diverse multilingua... more Language issues in education raise multiple and complex challenges due to our diverse multilingual world. Choosing the most appropriate language of instruction has been a contentious debate for decades with a global drive for English prominence. Post-colonial contexts have histories of foreign language education and marginalization of local languages. UNESCO (2008) suggests that failure to address the issue of language is a persistent problem affecting completion of Education for All goals and hampering global education reform efforts.
The Philippines Department of Education has initiated a language policy change from double immersion bilingual education to mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB MLE) which for the first time validates previously marginalized languages as languages of instruction within the formal education system. Such a paradigmatic shift requires time to re-train teachers, adjust curriculum, develop first-language, or mother tongue learning materials, and cultivate social support for the policy. Such a policy change requires significantly more of teachers than just changing the language used in the classroom. In addition, teachers’ personal and professional identities are a core issue, because, as I show in the research here, identity affects both how a teacher delivers instruction, and the attitude of the teacher in the process. All in all, identity plays a crucial role in how the policy is implemented. Teacher identity, therefore, is the primary focus of this study.
Teacher responses to MTB MLE in the interviews I conducted are characterized along a continuum from fear of losing highly valued English proficiency, intimidation at using previously marginalized home languages as primary languages of instruction, and joy in the new freedom to incorporate what teachers know intuitively and have learned through experience. Regardless of response to the policy, teachers commonly agree that use of the mother tongue as language of instruction produces more engaged, active, responsive and joy-filled learning.
This qualitative multiple-site case study explores how Filipino educators negotiate complex and changing personal and professional identities and practices within this paradigmatic language policy change. I interviewed 36 teachers, seven principals, groups of parents and several teacher educators at each of six different school sites. I visited each school four different times which allowed time to develop respect and trust to explore more deeply the issues of teacher identity negotiation. Rich data from multiple individual interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations and materials analyses point to the realities of multiple challenges teachers face as they learn to use the mother tongue as the primary language of instruction in the early grades. Further findings reveal that despite the complex difficulties, teachers and students alike are enjoying school more than ever because of unhampered communication through their own mother tongues. Critical interpretation of findings reveals the benefits of including Filipino educators and parents in discussions related to the dominance of English and resulting societal power relations, sociocultural discourses and language ideologies, in order to impact perspectives of and implementation of MTB MLE. Implications emanating from the study include suggestions for supporting teachers in the negotiation of their identities and reflecting on their own underlying assumptions and ideologies through critical discussions that aim to impact sociocultural discourses.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Books by Diane E Dekker, PhD
Good Answers to Tough Questions in L1-based Multilingual Education Volume 2, 2023
In 2016, SIL published the first Good Answers to Tough Questions in MTB-MLE, a volume dedicated t... more In 2016, SIL published the first Good Answers to Tough Questions in MTB-MLE, a volume dedicated to providing “what works”-type responses to some of the most difficult challenges being faced by practitioners in the field. At that time, global awareness of the power of L1-medium learning was growing, and there were many questions about the “hows” of L1-based MLE. In this first volume, experienced literacy and MLE consultants from across the globe provided a set of practical responses to some of the most pressing questions of the time.
Seven years later, governments, NGOs, and local communities around the world are developing local languages as languages of instruction and initial literacy for a range of learners, while also ensuring that local culture is well represented in curricular and material resources. United Nations agencies, the World Bank, bilateral donors, and others are focusing attention on “inclusive and equitable quality education” (SDG #4) for all learners, through the provision of classroom instruction in local languages—as well as official languages—to increase learning and comprehension. This increased focus on local languages has resulted in positive changes in policy and implementation of L1-based multilingual education in many countries around the world.
However, the “tough questions” have also changed somewhat over time. So, this second volume of Good Answers to Tough Questions addresses new issues and questions related to the implementation of local language-medium multilingual education programming. In this volume we explore some of the more recent questions related to policy, school language mapping, orthographic challenges, digital tools for learning, early childhood education, education in emergencies, and more.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Diane E Dekker, PhD
While some scholars contend that there is no specific definition to the term “best practices”, this term is generally known as representing pedagogies that most effectively produce desirable educational outcomes. However, teachers in southern or low- income contexts see the work they do differently and respond to their own contexts differently than do teachers in economically developed contexts. Local analysis should identify contextual constraints before assuming effective transfer of pedagogies between contexts.
Thesis Chapters by Diane E Dekker, PhD
The Philippines Department of Education has initiated a language policy change from double immersion bilingual education to mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB MLE) which for the first time validates previously marginalized languages as languages of instruction within the formal education system. Such a paradigmatic shift requires time to re-train teachers, adjust curriculum, develop first-language, or mother tongue learning materials, and cultivate social support for the policy. Such a policy change requires significantly more of teachers than just changing the language used in the classroom. In addition, teachers’ personal and professional identities are a core issue, because, as I show in the research here, identity affects both how a teacher delivers instruction, and the attitude of the teacher in the process. All in all, identity plays a crucial role in how the policy is implemented. Teacher identity, therefore, is the primary focus of this study.
Teacher responses to MTB MLE in the interviews I conducted are characterized along a continuum from fear of losing highly valued English proficiency, intimidation at using previously marginalized home languages as primary languages of instruction, and joy in the new freedom to incorporate what teachers know intuitively and have learned through experience. Regardless of response to the policy, teachers commonly agree that use of the mother tongue as language of instruction produces more engaged, active, responsive and joy-filled learning.
This qualitative multiple-site case study explores how Filipino educators negotiate complex and changing personal and professional identities and practices within this paradigmatic language policy change. I interviewed 36 teachers, seven principals, groups of parents and several teacher educators at each of six different school sites. I visited each school four different times which allowed time to develop respect and trust to explore more deeply the issues of teacher identity negotiation. Rich data from multiple individual interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations and materials analyses point to the realities of multiple challenges teachers face as they learn to use the mother tongue as the primary language of instruction in the early grades. Further findings reveal that despite the complex difficulties, teachers and students alike are enjoying school more than ever because of unhampered communication through their own mother tongues. Critical interpretation of findings reveals the benefits of including Filipino educators and parents in discussions related to the dominance of English and resulting societal power relations, sociocultural discourses and language ideologies, in order to impact perspectives of and implementation of MTB MLE. Implications emanating from the study include suggestions for supporting teachers in the negotiation of their identities and reflecting on their own underlying assumptions and ideologies through critical discussions that aim to impact sociocultural discourses.
Books by Diane E Dekker, PhD
Seven years later, governments, NGOs, and local communities around the world are developing local languages as languages of instruction and initial literacy for a range of learners, while also ensuring that local culture is well represented in curricular and material resources. United Nations agencies, the World Bank, bilateral donors, and others are focusing attention on “inclusive and equitable quality education” (SDG #4) for all learners, through the provision of classroom instruction in local languages—as well as official languages—to increase learning and comprehension. This increased focus on local languages has resulted in positive changes in policy and implementation of L1-based multilingual education in many countries around the world.
However, the “tough questions” have also changed somewhat over time. So, this second volume of Good Answers to Tough Questions addresses new issues and questions related to the implementation of local language-medium multilingual education programming. In this volume we explore some of the more recent questions related to policy, school language mapping, orthographic challenges, digital tools for learning, early childhood education, education in emergencies, and more.
While some scholars contend that there is no specific definition to the term “best practices”, this term is generally known as representing pedagogies that most effectively produce desirable educational outcomes. However, teachers in southern or low- income contexts see the work they do differently and respond to their own contexts differently than do teachers in economically developed contexts. Local analysis should identify contextual constraints before assuming effective transfer of pedagogies between contexts.
The Philippines Department of Education has initiated a language policy change from double immersion bilingual education to mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB MLE) which for the first time validates previously marginalized languages as languages of instruction within the formal education system. Such a paradigmatic shift requires time to re-train teachers, adjust curriculum, develop first-language, or mother tongue learning materials, and cultivate social support for the policy. Such a policy change requires significantly more of teachers than just changing the language used in the classroom. In addition, teachers’ personal and professional identities are a core issue, because, as I show in the research here, identity affects both how a teacher delivers instruction, and the attitude of the teacher in the process. All in all, identity plays a crucial role in how the policy is implemented. Teacher identity, therefore, is the primary focus of this study.
Teacher responses to MTB MLE in the interviews I conducted are characterized along a continuum from fear of losing highly valued English proficiency, intimidation at using previously marginalized home languages as primary languages of instruction, and joy in the new freedom to incorporate what teachers know intuitively and have learned through experience. Regardless of response to the policy, teachers commonly agree that use of the mother tongue as language of instruction produces more engaged, active, responsive and joy-filled learning.
This qualitative multiple-site case study explores how Filipino educators negotiate complex and changing personal and professional identities and practices within this paradigmatic language policy change. I interviewed 36 teachers, seven principals, groups of parents and several teacher educators at each of six different school sites. I visited each school four different times which allowed time to develop respect and trust to explore more deeply the issues of teacher identity negotiation. Rich data from multiple individual interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations and materials analyses point to the realities of multiple challenges teachers face as they learn to use the mother tongue as the primary language of instruction in the early grades. Further findings reveal that despite the complex difficulties, teachers and students alike are enjoying school more than ever because of unhampered communication through their own mother tongues. Critical interpretation of findings reveals the benefits of including Filipino educators and parents in discussions related to the dominance of English and resulting societal power relations, sociocultural discourses and language ideologies, in order to impact perspectives of and implementation of MTB MLE. Implications emanating from the study include suggestions for supporting teachers in the negotiation of their identities and reflecting on their own underlying assumptions and ideologies through critical discussions that aim to impact sociocultural discourses.
Seven years later, governments, NGOs, and local communities around the world are developing local languages as languages of instruction and initial literacy for a range of learners, while also ensuring that local culture is well represented in curricular and material resources. United Nations agencies, the World Bank, bilateral donors, and others are focusing attention on “inclusive and equitable quality education” (SDG #4) for all learners, through the provision of classroom instruction in local languages—as well as official languages—to increase learning and comprehension. This increased focus on local languages has resulted in positive changes in policy and implementation of L1-based multilingual education in many countries around the world.
However, the “tough questions” have also changed somewhat over time. So, this second volume of Good Answers to Tough Questions addresses new issues and questions related to the implementation of local language-medium multilingual education programming. In this volume we explore some of the more recent questions related to policy, school language mapping, orthographic challenges, digital tools for learning, early childhood education, education in emergencies, and more.