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

2. Facilitates reading acquisition 
Importantly, instruction in a familiar language also improves reading outcomes. Children learn to 
read faster if they speak the language of instruction because they already have a “mental 
storehouse” of vocabulary, knowledge of the linguistic construction of the language, and the 
ability to pronounce the sounds of the language. This prior knowledge facilitates learning to read, 
as well as comprehension.
Analyses from the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), conducted in 
49 countries, showed a clear relationship between language and reading outcomes. Higher 
average achievement in reading was associated with learners who attended schools where a 
greater percentage of pupils spoke the language of the PIRLS assessment as their L1 (Mullis, 
Martin, Foy, & Drucker, 2012). Specific country programs also show the influence of language 
of instruction on reading. An evaluation of the Primary Reading Programme in Zambia, which 
served 1.6 million children between 1999 and 2002, revealed that grade 2 pupils’ reading and 
writing scores in English showed 575% improvement compared to children in English-only 
programs. Grade 1 children’s reading and writing scores in Zambian languages improved 780% 
(Sampa, 2005).
In Kenya, a large randomized controlled trial demonstrated the effectiveness of teaching children 
in two mother tongues in comparison to teaching in one of the national languages, Kiswahili. 
The results of the USAID- and DFID-supported PRIMR project’s pilot of an instructional 
package including teacher training and materials in two mother tongues (Lubukusu and 
Kikamba) resulted in significant gains in reading outcomes for children learning to read in their 
mother tongue, as compared to Kiswahili. When they were assessed in fundamental reading-
related skills such as letter-sound fluency, decoding, oral reading fluency, and reading 
comprehension, the learners’ average scores were twice those of children learning in Kiswahili 
(Piper, 2015).
In Uganda, grade 1 students who received instruction from teachers trained in providing reading 
instruction in L1 and received materials in their language performed better than their peers in 
control schools (identified 20 letters per minute and read 7 words per minute compared to 6 
letters per minute and reading 1 word per minute) (Brown, 2011). Similarly, in Mali, children in 
an L1 program supported by the 
Institut pour l’Education Populaire
performed better than their 
peers in control schools at the end of two years of instruction, although results indicated that 
better instruction may still be needed to improve fluency (Spratt, King, & Bulat, 2013).