Enhancing learning of children from diverse language backgrounds : Mother tongue-based bilingual or multilingual education in early childhood and early primary school years

The purpose of the report is: (1) to inform policy-makers of existing research and practices in mother-tongue instruction in early childhood and early primary school years; and (2) to raise awareness of the value of maintaining the world‘s languages and cultures by promoting and resourcing mother tongue-based education for young children. [...] The report calls for increased investments in the provision of pre-primary education for children aged 3 and above, and for policy measures to provide care and education to children below age 3. UNESCO (2007a) emphasizes the role of early childhood care and development in laying the foundation for learning and setting the stage for successful engagement in formal education. [...] Mandarin, for example, one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, which is spoken by almost 900 million people, is a majority language in China, but in other countries where only part of the population is of Chinese language and culture, it has the status of a minority language in the face of other. [...] Language(s) of instruction The language of instruction in or out of school refers to the language used for teaching the basic curriculum of the educational system. [...] The choice of the language or indeed the languages of instruction (educational policy might recommend the use of several languages of instruction) is a recurrent challenge in the development of quality education.