Research
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General - East Africa - West Africa - Southern Africa
General
Global Compact on Learning: Call for Working Group Applications
Application Deadline: September 24, 2012. The ‘Global Compact on Learning’ are now looking for technical experts to be part of the ‘Measures and Methods Working Group’, the second phase of their programme trying to define global standards for learning. Three subgroups (early childhood, primary, and post-primary) will be organized to make recommendations for measuring learning, taking into account current efforts and good practices in learning measurement globally. The working group will meet virtually from October 2012 to April 2013 to produce a draft outline of recommendations by November 2012, a working paper by February 2013, and a full report outlining their research and recommendations by April 2013. The full details are here: http://www.globalcompactonlearning.org/call-for-working-group-applications/
Transfer of reading from the language of wider communication to the first language
Contributed by: Agatha van Ginkel, SIL International
Multilingual education in Africa offers many opportunities for research into different aspects of reading. Between 2005 and 2008 a study was carried out to understand why transfer reading from the language of wider communication (LWC) to the first language (L1) of a person causes problems in certain linguistic and socio-cultural environments. It particularly focused on the linguistic and socio-cultural environment of the Sabaot people in Western Kenya. It used a qualitative mode of inquiry to explore what could be factors that contribute to transfer reading from the LWC to the L1.
This study has shown how studying the linguistic context, the literacy context, the socio-linguistic context, and the physical and economical context is necessary to develop a set of principles that guide the development of the transfer reading methodology suitable for a certain social and linguistic context. It proposes a contextual framework for developing guidelines for a transfer reading methodology for other, each unique reading transfer context. This study has shows that LWC to L1 transfer reading an area that needs its own attention, and cannot just be assumed.
A part of this research was presented at PAN African Reading Conference for All, Accra, Ghana, August 6 – 10, 2007 as Reading in two languages, transfer reading from the L2-L1. A part of the research has been published: Van Ginkel, Agatha (2007) Transfer of reading from the language of wider communication to the first language. In Brian Tomlinson (ed.), Language Acquisition and Development, Studies of Learners of First and Other languages. London, Continuum, pp. 32-45.
For more information e-mail Dr Agatha van Ginkel: Agatha_van_ginkel@sil.org
New in early childhood research: Early Childhood in Focus
This is a series of publications produced by the Child and Youth Studies Group at The Open University, United Kingdom, with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Netherlands. The objective of this series is to provide accessible reviews of recent research, information, and analysis on the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s key policy issues: strengthening the care environment, successful transitions, and social inclusion and respect for diversity of children. According to the Open University, consulting contributors are leaders of international research, policy, advocacy, and children’s rights….
International Professors Project (IPP) – Global
The International Professors Project (IPP) is a non-profit global network of professors who have begun working on university campuses in the so-called “developing world” – teaching, mentoring, and conducting local research as they internationalise college and university faculties in their respective host countries. A core goal of IPP is to enhance international and regional perspectives of developing and developed world universities, while meeting the developing world’s need for professors and instructors. The project consists of an interconnected web of academics, post-doctorates, independent scholars, and graduate students. The members provide global information, ideas, and knowledge channels – using both information and communication technologies (ICTs) and face-to-face interactions to share ideas, information, and knowledge of country and regional variations in teaching, learning, research, and living.
Contact Dr. Ron Krate info@internationalprofs.org
East Africa
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Update: Coordinating Education Development in Uganda The Forum for Education NGOs in Uganda (FENU) is a national coalition of civil society organizations working to bring about education rights in Uganda. The long term change the Forum wants to achieve is access for all learners to high quality education in Uganda resulting in a population of critical thinkers who contribute to the transformation of their own lives, their communities and global learning. FENU has worked hard to identify key priorities for the education sector, to articulate target outcomes for the sector, conduct stakeholder analyses, conduct joint monitoring missions, encourage coordination and undertake collaborative planning. The Forum has several thematic working groups which meet regularly including: Early Childhood Development; Coordination meeting; Adult Education; Access and Quality; Gender; Education in Emergencies; and Accountability. FENU is managing campaigns in several of these thematic areas as well. To get involved or to learn what’s happening across the sector, please contact the FENU Team at Info@fenu.or.ug.
Join Uganda’s Multilingual Education Network
SIL Uganda is coordinating a growing network of people and organizations interested in advancing mother tongue language use in Ugandan communities. Keep updated on their blog: http://ugandamle.wordpress.com/
West Africa
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CALL FOR PAPERS
The Committee on a Festschrift in Honour of Dr. Lateef Olatunde Jimoh welcomes papers that address the theme or any topics relating to ‘Religious Education and National Development’. Dr. Lateef Olatunde Jimoh is an Islamic Scholar of high repute who served in various capacities in the country as Director, Dean of School, Head of Department, educational facilitator, moderator and assessor to many tertiary institutions such as Universities, Colleges of Education and Monotechnics, and an evaluation expert in Islamic Studies to many national and international examining bodies. Therefore, the sub-themes include but are not limited to:
- Private Religious Schools and National Development
- Girl-Child in Religious Education and National Development
- Religion, Security and National Development
- Religious Fundamentalism and National Development
- Family, Moral Education and National Development
- Music in Religious Education and National Development
- Mysticism in Education and national Development
- Music in Religious Education and National Development
- Religion, politics and National Development
- Theatre and Drama in Religious Education and National Development
- Language in Religious Education and National Development
- Linguistics in Religious Education and National Development
- Religion in Media and National Development
- Literature in Religious Education and National Development
Submission Guidelines: All papers should be written in English. Each paper including the title, abstract, figures, tables and references must not exceed 15 pages. Each paper is to adhere strictly to the 6th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) publication manual. Each paper must be accompanied by a fee of Five Thousand Naira (N5, 000:00) or Thirty – Five Dollars ($35.00) as an initial publication fee to be paid to the account of Badiru, B. N at UBA Account Number- 2000932855. Deadline for Submission- 24th of August 2012. Publication Date: November 1st 2012. Papers must be sent electronically to the following addressees: a. Femi Adedina, Phone: +2348055332833 Mail: femiadedina@yahoo.com b. Ezekiel Bolaji, Phone: +2348089477138 Mail: ezekielbolaji@gmail.com
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Publication announcement ROBERTS, David (2008): Thirty years of tone orthography testing in West African languages (1977-2007). In Journal of West African Languages 35:1-2, 199-242 There is an ongoing debate about how tone should be represented in the emerging orthographies of African languages. One of the most significant strands in the debate is a small but growing body of literature describing formal experiments which test the different options. In this article, I present an overview of the existing repertoire which covers ten experiments and three decades. I adopt a comparative approach, examining all the experiments in parallel. I focus in turn on aims, design, sample profile, sample size, experience, training, test materials, tasks, scoring, results and interpretation. In conclusion, I offer some practical advice for future experimenters. I also attempt to identify whether any consensus is emerging about the profile of an optimal tone orthography.
Southern Africa
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Professional Association English Teachers formed in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province By Laurence Wright
‘Networking’, a conference for English teachers in the Eastern Province of South Africa held at Rhodes University (9-11 April 2010), saw the launch of a new professional association of English teachers. The event was attended by some 150 teachers, district managers, subject advisors and librarians. The aim of the newly formed Eastern Cape English Educators Association, which is open to all teachers in the province, is to enhance the professional standing of English teachers, to offer ongoing access to cutting edge educational research, and provide a forum in which discipline-specific challenges can be confronted and solutions shared. It is hoped the Association will spear-head a broad resuscitation and renovation of quality language teaching in the province after the devastations of apartheid. The Association has grown from the in-service education programs offered by the Institute for the Study of English in Africa (ISEA) at Rhodes University, in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Education and the ZENEX Foundation. A key feature of these programs is the emphasis on substantial in-school support (and in a province the size of the Eastern Cape this presents a considerable challenge) and the promotion of clusters within school Districts to enhance opportunities for networking. The Association was launched with a nucleus of teachers who had been through the Institute’s Advanced Certificate of Education and B.Ed programs over the past eight years. It was widely felt among these teachers that the bonds of friendship, collegiality and professional cooperation forged during their in-service contact sessions needed to be preserved and developed. To this end, a working party was established to see to the formation of the province-wide professional association, open to English teachers at all levels. On the final day of the conference, the Association’s Constitution was adopted and an inaugural Provincial Council was elected. The Association plans a biennial conference, a regular newsletter, and occasional workshops. Further information is available from the Association’s Secretary, Dr Monica Hendricks (m.hendricks@ru.ac.za).
New On-Line Self-Publishing Tool
Via Afrika has launched a brand-new division. Crink, a ground-breaking online self-publishing platform, is set to lead the way in e-publishing in South Africa by enabling authors to self-publish, sell, buy and market their books online. Customers will be able to order books from Crink’s online shop and have it delivered to their doorsteps in printed format. The Web 2.0-enabled Crink platform is 80 per cent automated and the success of publications is determined mainly by the involvement of authors who now have the luxury of managing their titles. Crink simultaneously runs traditional self-publishing services to guide authors through the publishing value chain from manuscript origination to the final product in the bookstore.
Please visit www.crink.co.za for more information.
Access Online Journals for Free
Visit South Africa’s Centre for the Book to find peruse their directory of Open Access Journals, as well as other free and open databases:
http://www.nlsa.ac.za/NLSA/databases
Attitudes of L2 Students towards Self-editing Their Own Written Texts
Daniel Kasule and Violet B. Lunga, University of Botswana, Botswana
Abstract: Recognizing students’ deliberate efforts to minimize errors in their written texts is valuable in seeing them as responsible active agents in text creation. This paper reports a brief survey of the attitudes towards self-editing of seventy university students using a questionnaire and class discussion. The context of the study is characterized by its emphasis on evaluating the finished written product. Findings show that students appreciate the role of self-editing in minimizing errors in their texts and that it helps in eventually producing well-written texts. Conceptualizing writing as discourse and therefore as social practice leads to an understanding of writers as socially-situated actors; repositions the student writer as an active agent in text creation; and is central to student-centred pedagogy. We recommend the recognition of self-editing as a vital element in the writing process and that additional error detection mechanisms namely peers, the lecturer, and the computer, increase student autonomy.
Key words: self-editing; learner autonomy; feedback; learner-centredness;
Attitudes of L2 Student1 to open the paper.
