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Mother tongue-first programs that are valued by students, parents and communities and sustained within or outside the formal education system share" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.sil.org/literacy-and-education/mother-tongue-based-multilingual-education-programs" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.sil.org/node/449" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="SIL Global" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.sil.org/literacy-and-education/mother-tongue-based-multilingual-education-programs" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Programs" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Children from non-dominant language communities are often forced to begin their formal education in classrooms where their language is not allowed and the medium of instruction is a language they do not speak and barely understand. Mother tongue-first programs that are valued by students, parents and communities and sustained within or outside the formal education system share several general features: Teachers use what the children already know鈥攖heir language, culture and the knowledge and experience they bring from their home community鈥攖o help them learn new concepts in school." /> <meta property="og:updated_time" content="2024-11-01T13:30:46-05:00" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.sil.org/literacy-and-education/mother-tongue-based-multilingual-education-programs" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Programs" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Children from non-dominant language communities are often forced to begin their formal education in classrooms where their language is not allowed and the medium of instruction is a language they do" /> <meta property="article:published_time" 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