VOA标准英语2011--Pilot Program Teaches Sarawak Indigenous Children in Mother Tongue

Pilot Program Teaches Sarawak Indigenous¹ Children in Mother Tongue

 

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. It is home to 28 ethnic² groups, each with a distinct language, culture and lifestyle. Many groups are afraid of losing their traditional ways, as modern life encroaches. An indigenous farming community in a remote part of Sarawak is teaching pre-school children in their mother tongue, instead of in the dominant³ Malay language.

Natural learners

Dozens of three- and four-year-olds enthusiastically surround a group of visitors. They are not in the least bit shy of the strangers. They are curious and engage the visitors in animated⁴ chatter⁵. An official says the children are always this rambunctious⁶.

“They are just as themselves. They are not putting on a show. When I come over here once a month or even twice a month, they will be doing the same thing. That is what we want to teach them, to be confident. They have a lot of interactions with the teachers, you know,” said Josak Anak Siam, the coordinator⁷ for the Multilingual Education Program in Kampung Bunuk, a small farming community in this remote part of Sarawak. He helped set up the pre-school, which conducts lessons in the native Bidayuh language.

Pilot program

A Malaysian mother picks her daughter up from a pre-school after it was closed in Kuching, the capital of Malaysia's Borneo state of Sarawak. (File Photo)

The community pilot program began in January 2007, in association with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Malaysian branch of the Summer Institute of Linguistics⁸.

Josak says the village launched the pre-school program after receiving a briefing by SIL officials on the benefits of multilingual education.

“That is the time when SIL officers explained to us that many languages are dying off because the people are not taking an initiative to preserve the languages," Josak said. "So, before the Bidayuh language dies off in this world, we have to take this action to develop the curriculum and then we start off with the play schools where we intend to let the children have a strong foundation in their mother tongue before they learn other languages.”

Changing lifestyles

It is becoming more difficult to keep indigenous languages alive as many of the communities in which they are spoken are at risk of vanishing.

Children from the Batek tribe play in the jungle near their village next to the entrance of Kuala Koh National Park in the northeastern Peninsular Malaysia state of Kelantan. (File Photo)

Siti Rodziah, senior manager in Sididik’s Business Development and Financial Division, notes only about 2,000 people live in Kampung Bunuk. She says young people are leaving the village and migrating to Sarawak’s administrative⁹ capital, Kuching, and other cities in search of work. The old people are left behind to do the farming, she says.

“Now, when their children start to grow up nowadays, they are more educated and they have a better job in a big town or cities," she said. "This is why now, you can see, the numbers are getting lower in the village compared to in the city. My hope for my state here is we still preserve whatever natural culture that we have for all ethnics¹⁰.”

UNICEF

The U.N. Children’s Fund is supporting several maternal-language pre-school programs among the ethnic-Hmong people in Vietnam.

UNICEF’s deputy representative for Malaysia, Victor Karunan, says he is impressed with the results coming out of this three-year project. He believes such programs would be similarly advantageous¹¹ for other children in Malaysia.

“In fact, evidence shows that those children who actually began their initial learning in pre-school and in early primary in their mother tongue have actually performed much better, even if they have had to switch languages, later on," Karunan said. "That is what evidence has shown and that is why in different countries UNICEF has supported what we call mother-tongue-based bilingual education.”

Classroom

Back in Kampung Bunuk, the teacher begins the day’s lesson with a prayer. This is intended to develop the spiritual values of the children in this Christian¹² community. The rest of the three-and-a-half-hour session is given over to simple reading and math, art and playtime.

When the children reach age six, they go through a so-called bridging year, in which they are taught in both the indigenous and Malay languages. When they enter primary school, at age seven, lessons are conducted in Malay. English is gradually introduced. Officials here believe the children maneuver¹³ this transition very well.

The community remains¹⁴ enthusiastic about the program, but is afraid it may have to close the pre-school for lack of funds. UNESCO stopped financing the project last year, saying it wants to support similar programs in other countries. Kampung Bunuk is hoping the government and private sources will come up with the money they need to keep the program alive.

1 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

4 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

5 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

6 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

7 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

8 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

9 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

10 ethnics   

n.伦理学，人种学

参考例句：

• Philadelphia may be known as home of the establishment and ethnics. 费城也许是名门和族裔之乡。 来自辞典例句
• For ethnics who want to add their culture to the mosaic that is America. 为想把自己的文化添入美国万花筒的少数族裔说话。 来自演讲部分

11 advantageous   

adj.有利的；有帮助的

参考例句：

• Injections of vitamin C are obviously advantageous.注射维生素C显然是有利的。
• You're in a very advantageous position.你处于非常有利的地位。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。