Promoting Literacy in Multilingual Settings

This compilation of resource papers and findings is from a regional workshop on mother-tongue/bilingual literacy programmes for ethnic and linguistic minorities in multilingual settings. It was organized by Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL), United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Bangkok, 6-10 December 2005 in Chiangmai, Thailand and included nine participating countries--Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. APPEAL supports pilot projects in these countries which provide mother-tongue or multilingual education to ethno-linguistic minorities. Each chapter summarizes an aspect of multilingual education programme development including issues and positive problem solving experiences. Chapter titles are as follows: (1) Linguistic Diversity, Literacy and Education (resource paper); (2) Education in Ethnic Minority Communities: Questions to Consider and Problems to Solve (resource paper); (3) Multilingual Education Practice in Eight Asian Countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand); (4) Developing Low Cost and Effective Materials for Multilingual Education Programmes; (5) Training Effective Community Teachers for Multilingual Education Programmes; and (6) Teaching Methods for Effective Multilingual Education Programmes. (Contains 7 tables, 10 figures, and 21 footnotes.) [This report was published by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.]