First Language (Dinka) Literacy as a Foundation for English ...

Section 1: Project Report
to decode unfamiliar words, at the start of the course six learners had no decoding skills
at all, while the rest could make an attempt at decoding. At the end of the course, only
two learners were still unable to attempt to decode unfamiliar words. The majority of the
group were also using the strategy of examining the context of the unknown word to
predict the meaning.
Promotion of confidence and self esteem in the learner group
There was a marked increase in learning confidence and motivation over the course.
There was a significant increase in self-initiated learning activities during class time, from
half the learners at the beginning to all the learners at the end. There was also evidence
that almost all the learners were voluntarily studying outside of class times by the end of
the course, compared to about a third at the beginning.
Enhanced capacity of the Dinka Literacy Association (DLA)
Three Dinka teachers had professional development support in teaching methodology.
This included a critical review of some of the main approaches to teaching reading and
their application to teaching Dinka and English as a second language. There was a more
intensive training session on the Language Experience Approach (LEA) as this
methodology was one that the was to be used during the English phase of the project.
The Dinka teachers had expressed concerns at the difficulties they were having teaching
numeracy to their community members so ACL also provided some training in this area.
Two of the teachers reported successfully trying some of the new ideas from the training
in their other Dinka classes. For example, one teacher used LEA to develop current
affairs content in Dinka, and the other used shopping catalogues to teach numeracy.
They also said they had tried out some activities they had informally observed in the
English class, with positive results and feedback from their other Dinka learners. For
example, one teacher reported using the independent study + testing method that the
ESL teacher used for sight word practice.
The Dinka and English teachers produced a set of Dinka teaching resources (See
Attachment 2) based on the resources developed in the English class. They also
produced a simple Dinka literacy and numeracy assessment tool. (See Attachment 1).
2. Other Outcomes
Numeracy
Almost all the learners improved significantly in telling the time using an analogue clock.
At the end of the course, nine learners were able to read an analogue clock, compared to
only one learner at the beginning. Reading dates was another area of major
improvement, with eight learners able to read numerical dates at the end of the course,
compared to only two at the start.
As well as an improvement in skill level, learners’ confidence in using numeracy also
increased. Most of the learners were able to independently use a sign-in book to register
their daily class attendance by the end of the course. Several learners reported that they
now use receipts to exchange goods and for tax purposes and two learners reported that
they are now teaching their children how to tell the time and can understand when their
children talk about times.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2009 Dinka-English Literacy Project Page 10