Browsing by Author "Ball, Mary-Claire"

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    Effective bilingual education in Francophone West Africa: Constraints and possibilities
    (2023-03-24) Ball, Mary-Claire; Bhattacharya, Jasodhara; Zhao, Hui; Akpe, Yapo, Hermann; Brogno, Stephanie; Jasińska, Kaja
    Bilingual education that incorporates a local language alongside the official language has become an increasingly common approach in sub-Saharan Africa for improving literacy rates and learning outcomes. Evidence suggests that bilingual instruction is largely associated with positive learning and literacy outcomes globally (Bühmann & Trudell, 2007; Takam & Fassé, 2020). However, the adoption of bilingual education does not guarantee positive learning outcomes (e.g., Ball et al., 2022). This paper reviews bilingual programs in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on programs in six Francophone West African countries (Niger, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon). We identified factors critical to high-quality and effective bilingual programs. Implementation factors, such as teacher training and classroom resources, and socio-cultural factors, such as perceptions of local languages in education, constrain and contribute to the quality of bilingual education. These insights may help inform policy-makers and other stakeholders seeking to improve bilingual education programs in Francophone West Africa and other contexts.
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    Variability in the age of schooling contributes to the link between literacy and numeracy in Côte d’Ivoire (Draft)
    (2022-09-19) Whitehead, Hannah; Ball, Mary-Claire; Brice, Henry; Wolf, Sharon; Kembou, Samuel; Ogan, Amy; Jasińska, Kaja
    Literacy and numeracy are correlated throughout development, however our understanding of this relation is limited. We explored the predictors of literacy and numeracy covariance (i.e., shared fluency between literacy and numeracy) in children (N=1167, girls=563) in rural Côte d’Ivoire, with specific focus on how developmental timing of instruction may relate to covariance. Many Ivorian children experience late enrollment and grade repetition, leading to variation in age-for-grade; participants were between grades 1 to 6 but their ages ranged from 5 to 15 (M=9.19, SD=2.07). Phonological awareness, numerical magnitude, ordinality, working memory, and inhibitory control were cognitive predictors of covariance. Age-for-grade was negatively related to covariance suggesting that covariance is related to timing of instruction.