Developing pro MLE language policies in Cambodia and Thailand: The role of civil society and academia

Developing pro MLE language policies in Cambodia and Thailand: The role of civil society and academia Kimmo Kosonen SIL International & Payap University, Thailand 5th International Conference on Language and Education: Sustainable Development Through Multilingual Education 19 21 October 2016, Bangkok, Thailand UNESCO Bangkok

Outline o Non dominant language (NDL) o Multilingual education (MLE) o Cambodia and Thailand in Southeast Asia o Why pro minority developments towards pluralistic language in education policies? o The role of the actors on the side, in particular civil society and academia o Remaining challenges

Non dominant language (NDL) Language or language variety not considered the most prominent in terms of o number (of speakers), o prestige or o official use by the government and/or the education system in a given state (Kosonen 2010, 74)

(Benson & Kosonen 2013)

Policies toward increased NDL use in education Change from above (top down) approach National / state level Local / community level (Kosonen & Benson, forthcoming)

Policies toward increased NDL use in education Change from below (bottom up) approach National / state level Local / community level (Kosonen & Benson, forthcoming)

Policies toward increased NDL use in education Change from the side approach National / state level The side Local / community level The Side: actors between the grassroots and the government; e.g. academics, activists, INGOs, multilateral agencies etc. (Kosonen & Benson, forthcoming)

Mahidol PMT Project

Cambodia & Thailand in the Southeast Asian context

Languages of Cambodia: Percent of total population (more than 3000 speakers) Khmer, Central 91.7 Vietnamese 3.0 Chinese, Mandarin 2.7 Cham, Western 1.7 Tampuan 0.2 Mnong, Central 0.2 Lao 0.1 Kuy 0.1 Jarai 0.1 Kru ng 0.1 Stieng, Bulo 0.0 Brao 0.0 Chong 0.0 Tampuan & Jarai: New MLE pilot with longterm L1 use programs 2016 Kuy & Jarai: Added to MLE programs 2016 Kravet 0.0 Source: Lewis et al (2013)

Languages of Cambodia NDLs 8% Khmer 92%

Languages of Thailand (1,000,000+ speakers) Language group (with the ISO 639 3 code) Population Percent of total Percent of total Thai [tha] 20,200,000 39.1% Thai, Northeastern [tts] 15,000,000 29.1% Thai, Northern [nod] 6,000,000 11.6% 89.5% Thai, Southern [sou] 4,500,000 8.7% Khmer, Northern [kxm] 1,400,000 2.7% Chinese, Min Nan [nan] 1,080,000 2.1% Malay, Pattani [mfa] 1,000,000 1.9% Source: Lewis et al (2013)

Languages of Thailand Patani Malay 1.9% Minnan Chinese 2.1% N Khmer 2.7% Other NDLs 4.7% Thai related 90%

Languages of Thailand NDLs 11.4% Thai S 8.7% Thai N 11.6% Thai 39.1% Thai NE 29.1%

Country Languages of Instruction Brunei Darussalam Malay, English Cambodia Indonesia Lao PDR Malaysia Myanmar Khmer, 5 NDLs, 2 NDLs planned, new pilots Indonesian, NDLs in Papua province Lao Malay, English, Tamil, Mand., NDLs (pilots) Myanmar, 60+ NDLs in NFE and ECE Philippines Filipino, English, NDLs (now 19 212) Singapore English (main), other OLs (some subjects) Thailand Thai, some NDLs (pilots) (15+) Timor Leste Portuguese, Tetun, 3 NDLs (pilots) Vietnam Vietnamese, some NDLs (pilots)

Cambodia Toward multilingual education

Cambodia o The use of NDLs started in nonformal education in the mid 1990s pilot projects by INGOs and government partners o Language development: orthographies, literacy materials etc. (Brao, Bunong, Kavet, Krung, Tampuan etc.) o Expansion of bilingual education based on NDLs to the formal system CARE International and their government partners, 2002 > o 2016: 5 provinces, 88 schools providing multilingual education, 5500+ NDL students

Cambodia o Education Law, 2007 (Ch.4, Art.24) local authorities have a right to choose the language(s) of instruction in areas where Khmer related NDLs languages are spoken o Guidelines on the implementation of bilingual education [MLE] programs for indigenous children in highland provinces, 2010 o Bilingual Education Decree, 2013 o MENAP, 2014 15 (launched March, 2016): four year action plan on MLE implementation

Multilingual Education National Action Plan (MENAP) o Four year (2015 2018) action plan on MLE implementation o Vision: All ethnic minority children have the right of access to basic education, including the use of their mother tongue in the initial stages of education. This Multilingual Education National Action Plan (MENAP) aims to improve the quality of education and expansion of multilingual education in all its aspects.

Multilingual Education National Action Plan (MENAP) o Objectives: To ensure ethnic minority boys and girls have inclusive access to quality and relevant education; To build the capacity of national and sub national education officials to manage and monitor MLE implementation; To scale up MLE provision in relevant provinces; To promote demand for quality MLE amongst School Support Committees, parents and local authorities.

Thailand Toward multilingual education

National Language Policy (NLP) 2010 o By Thai Royal Institute (Society) o Prime Ministers Abhisit and Yingluck signed the policy in 2010 & 2012, respectively o The NLP provides strong support for the use of nondominant languages in general and all learners first languages in society and in education o Implementation plan being drafted o Implementation budget promised several times, also in early 2016 o Pilot projects continue, good outcomes so far o Political situation holding implementation back

Excerpts from NLP 2010 various ethnic groups have the right to use their mother tongues in their homes, in their communities, and in public places. This includes the use of their mother tongue in the education system for their young people. (Sect 4.) The NLP support[s] the use of the ethnic languages, or the mother tongue, as the first language of children in the education system. (Sect 4.) It is the policy of the government to promote bilingual or multilingual education for the youth of the ethnic groups whose mother tongue is different from the national language (Thai) in order to strengthen the study of the Thai language and to support the cognitive development and education of children. (Sect 5.)

Pro minority developments: Why? o Long term commitment of actors on the side (local and international academics, mid level govt. officials, local CSOs, local and international NGOs, and international organizations) advocacy & awareness raising corpus planning of NDLs (linguistic research, orthographies, standardization) pilot projects (ECE, NFE, Formal PE)

Pro minority developments: Why? o Fruitful partnership between external actors, local communities and government agencies o Persistent advocacy on the importance of the L1 based education by the actors on the side o Strong NDL community participation

Pro minority developments: Why? o In Cambodia: Progressive national leaders visionaries > official support for NDLs in education o In Cambodia: Timely and sustainable transfer of responsibility from external actors to government agencies o In Cambodia: Relatively small NDL population (~ 8 10%)

Policies toward increased NDL use in education Change from the side approach National / state level The side Local / community level The Side: actors between the grassroots and the government; e.g. academics, activists, INGOs, multilateral agencies etc. (Kosonen & Benson, forthcoming)

Remaining challenges o Limited understanding among many government officials of L1 based education, resulting in slow expansion of MLE o Lack of political will and technical resources which would enable MLE to be implemented in all NDL communities o Political sensitivities regarding many NDL communities due to increasing nationalism (of the dominant EL community), which hinder language development and MLE delivery

Remaining challenges o Government agencies vs. academics understanding of ethnolinguistic classification o Security concerns with some NDL communities in the border areas. o Policy implementation only in some not all non dominant languages

Kiitos! Thank you! kimmo_kosonen@sil.org

References: Benson, Carol & Kosonen, Kimmo (2012). A critical comparison of language-in-education policy and practice in four Southeast Asian countries and Ethiopia. In K. Heugh & T. Skutnabb-Kangas (eds.), Multilingual Education and Sustainable Diversity Work: From Periphery to Center (pp. 111-137). New York: Routledge. Benson, Carol & Kosonen, Kimmo (eds.), (2013) Language Issues in Comparative Education: Inclusive teaching and learning in non-dominant languages and cultures, Rotterdam, Boston, Taipei: Sense Publishers. Kosonen, Kimmo (2005). Education in local languages: Policy and practice in South-East Asia. In First Language First: Community-based Literacy Programmes for Minority Language Context in Asia, 96 134. Kosonen, Kimmo (2010). Ethnolinguistic Minorities and Non-Dominant Languages in Mainland Southeast Asian Language-in-Education Policies. In MacLeans A. Geo-JaJa & Suzanne Majhanovich (Eds.) Education, Language, and Economics: Growing National and Global Dilemmas (pp. 73-88). Rotterdam, Boston, Taipei: Sense Publishers. Kosonen, Kimmo (2013) The use of non-dominant languages in education in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam: Two steps forward, one step back. In Benson, Carol & Kosonen, Kimmo (Eds.) Language Issues in Comparative Education: Inclusive teaching and learning in non-dominant languages and cultures (pp. 39-58). Rotterdam, Boston, Taipei: Sense Publishers. http://www.sensepublishers.com/media/1624-language-issues-in-comparative-education.pdf Kosonen, Kimmo & Person, Kirk R. (2014) Languages, Identities and Education in Thailand. In Peter Sercombe and Ruanni Tupas (Eds.) Language, Education and Nation-Building: Assimilation and Shift in Southeast Asia (pp.200-231). Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

References: Leclerc, J.(2016) Cambodge, in L Aménagement Linguistique dans le Monde [Language Planning around the World]. Quebec: TLFQ, Université Laval. http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/index.html Lee, S., Watt, R. and Frawley, J. (2015) Effectiveness of bilingual education in Cambodia: a longitudinal comparative case study of ethnic minority children in bilingual and monolingual schools, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 526-544, DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2014.909717. Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). (2013). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17 th edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com MENAP (2015). Multilingual Education National Action Plan (MENAP) 2015 2018. October 2015. Phnom Penh: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Nowaczyk, M. (2015) Advocating for Multilingual Education in Cambodia: Experiences and Strategies, Phnom Penh: CARE Cambodia. Phnom Penh Post (2016) Multilingual education push, Wed, 2 March 2016. http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/multilingual-education-push Sun, N. (2009) Education policies for ethnic minorities in Cambodia, in Kosonen, K. and Young, C. (ed.), Mother tongue as bridge language of instruction: policies and experiences in Southeast Asia, Bangkok: Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), pp. 62-68.

References: UNICEF (2016) National action plan launched to promote multilingual education in Cambodia. http://www.unicef.org/cambodia/12681_25291.html Wong, K., Li Y.Y. and Benson, C. (2015) Evaluation of the state of multilingual education in Cambodia. Undertaken June 2015 for CARE Cambodia. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, unpublished.