EdData II: Data for Education Research and Programming (derp) in Africa

Annex E: Planning for language use in education
includes a summary of activities and 
tasks to conduct during the planning process, including an estimate of the amount of time 
needed, for language planning.
•
Annex F: Language use planning worksheet
can be used to guide a situational analysis 
and consolidate information needed to guide planning. Information gaps in the worksheet 
can be used to identify areas for which information needs to be gathered to make 
informed decisions.
 
•
Table 3: Conditions for effective language plan development and implementation
contains a checklist outlining what needs to be in place for successful implementation of 
a language plan for education.
Additional resources related to planning for language use in education are available from the 
MTB-MLE network (
www.mlenetwork.org
).
Alternative approaches to L2/Lx language learning 
Aware of the myriad advantages of providing instruction in 
children’s familiar languages, most high-performing 
education systems (in particular, those in Europe and East 
Asia), have an opportunity to learn in their L1, or familiar 
language, through the end of secondary school and often at 
the tertiary level. Although overall good educational 
outcomes in these countries can be attributed to many 
different factors, the fact that most pupils understand the 
language the teacher speaks certainly helps facilitate 
access to learning. Even countries with national or official 
languages spoken by relatively few speakers worldwide 
continue to teach children in their L1 through secondary and 
even tertiary levels because of the advantages of L1-based 
instruction. Proficiency in additional languages is facilitated 
more often than not by teaching the languages as subjects 
rather than using them as languages of instruction. 

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