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

 

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58 
Annex A 
Annex A. Detailed literature review of worldwide 
evidence and best practices on L1-based 
multilingual instruction 
A significant body of research demonstrates that providing education in familiar languages 
confers many advantages to an education system, its teachers, and children—and to society 
overall. These advantages include the following
8
:
 
1. Improves education access and equity 
Children who understand the language of instruction are more likely to enter school on time, 
attend school regularly, and drop out less frequently. A recent analysis of data from 26 countries 
and 160 language groups showed that children who had access to instruction in their mother 
tongue were significantly more likely to be enrolled and attending school, while a lack of 
education in the first language was a significant reason for children dropping out (Smits, 
Haisman, & Kruijff, 2008). If instruction in children’s L1 was available in half or more of 
schools, the percentage of out-of-school children in that group was 10 percentage points lower 
than if little or no access to L1-instruction was available. Moreover, the positive effects of L1 
instruction were stronger for groups concentrated in rural areas, a key finding for countries like 
Malawi with a large percentage of the population outside urban centers. In another study in Mali, 
learners in classrooms that used children’s L1 as the language of instruction were five times less 
likely to repeat the year and more than three times less likely to drop out (World Bank, 2005). 
Given the current high levels of repetition and dropout in Malawi, this evidence is particularly 
noteworthy. 
In a number of studies, L1-based instruction has had an especially positive effect on girls’ 
enrollment, attendance and school participation. This is likely to be because girls and women 
often have different opportunities than boys and men to access languages other than their L1 or 
home language(s). Research reviewed by Dutcher (2001) and O’Gara & Kendall (1996) showed 
that unless girls and women work in markets or factories, they are much less likely than their 
male counterparts to be exposed to an L2. Differences in language competence often go 
unnoticed at school, especially if girls are given fewer opportunities to speak, and if teachers 
expect them to do less well than boys. Any reticence on the part of girls to speak may be 
interpreted as lack of academic ability, rather than lack of exposure to the language of 
instruction. Researchers in Africa (e.g., Benson, 2004; Hovens, 2002, 2003) and Latin America 
(e.g., Sichra, 1992) have found that girls who learn in the L1 stay in school longer, are more 
likely to be identified as good students, do better on achievement tests, and repeat grades less 
often than their peers who do not learn through a familiar language. This evidence suggests that 
using the L1 for teaching and learning greatly improves opportunities for educational access and 
attainment for female students. 
8
The majority of this text first appeared in the document 
The influence of language on learning: Recommendations 
on planning for language use in Education,
developed for the USAID Malawi Teacher Professional Development 
Support (MTPDS) program (USAID, 2012a). 

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59 
Annex A