Five Writing Lessons: A New Take

SELI presented for a few hours at TISLL's (The Institute for Sierra Leonean Languages) Literacy Teacher/Facilitator Workshop, held Monday-Friday, May 27-31st in Freetown. The workshop trained people to teach literacy to nonliterate people in their mother tongue. Five different languages were represented.

On Wednesday, SELI introduced the idea that all classes are diverse: even in basic literacy classes there are always advanced learners that need to be challenged, and process writing can do this--a form of differentiated instruction. In this photo I'm presenting concepts, but then we went on to the practical: each participant drafted a personal piece of writing in his or her own language and then shared it in language groups in a content conference. It did not surprise us that many of the participants had never written a personal experience in their own language before. For nearly all Sierra Leoneans, the only road to literacy is through English. But the hardest part of the presentation was stopping the content conferences! Everyone was having such a good time being writers in their own language and having writing to share and discuss, that they didn't want to stop!

Five Writing Lessons (FWL)  Collaborating with TISLL has shown SELI how to make its Five-Writing-Lessons project work. This project been a struggle. After the first two successful units, in Kuranko and Krio, we could not seem to move forward. Even repeated radio announcements did not attract educated Sierra Leoneans to this opportunity of becoming writers (and potentially one day, authors) in their own languages.

By way of contrast, TISLL already operates literacy centers in six languages where adults and young people gain literacy in their mother tongues. TISLL also has literacy materials and the expertise to teach literacy. It is the only organization in the country that works exclusively with indigenous languages. The difference is that unlike the SELI FWL program, TISLL literacy classes teach initial, beginning literacy.  But what a great opportunity this provides us!  Literacy that is not maintained, can be lost.  What better way to empower and motivate TISLL's newly literate students than to include them in a writing workshop?

SELI is excited to be partnering with TISLL, and hope our contributors to the Five Writing Lessons project agree.

Collaborating with Five Writing Lessons

The Sentinel English Language Institute's Five Writing Lesson program has so much in common with The Institute for Sierra Leone Languages (TISSL) that the two organizations are looking into how we might collaborate and maximize our efforts. Today I visited a Limba adult literacy class conducted by TISSL's Limba coordinator, Mr. Gibrilla Kamara. It was held in a Quonset-hut building of a municipal school. Here we show a photo taken of the class (which meets five times a week) at 6 pm, and another photo taken two hours later when the lighting was provided by class members who brought LED flashlights or mobile phones. This class is one of three Limba literacy classes offered by TISSL in the Freetown area. TISSL's aim is to develop readers (who also write), while SELI's aim is to develop writers (who also read).

Tutors Needed in Sierra Leone Languages

On International Mother Language Day 2013 (February 21st), a meeting was held at SELI of tutors interested in teaching potential mother tongue authors to write in their own mother languages.  Here are the details:

The Sentinel English Language Institute (SELI) is resuming its Five Writing Lessons programme, in which five writing lessons are offered free of charge in each Sierra Leonean language. The students in this programme are educated adults who wish they could write stories or poems in their mother tongues but do not know the correct spelling.

SELI is seeking tutors for the Five Writing Lessons programme in all Sierra Leonean languages. If you feel that you are qualified to teach native speaking adults to write in your language and would like to participate in the Five Writing Lessons programme, please call SELI at 076 547540 or email jackie@seli.co . The students will already speak the language well; they just need to learn how to write it.

Five Writing Lessons supports mother tongue literature, whose importance is celebrated throughout the world every February 21st on International Mother Language Day. As a tutor in the Five Writing Lessons program, you will be doing a great service to your culture by enabling authors to write in your language. An honorarium will be paid to the successful tutors upon completion of the initial student interview and the five lessons.

Again, contact the Five Writing Lessons programme at 076 547540 or jackie@seli.co .

Teach Somebody (to Read and Write)!

September 8th is International Literacy Day. Here are some statistics from UNESCO's site at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/dakar/education/literacy/

·       "Learning to read and write is a fundamental right. Yet, 38 % of African adults (some 153 millions) are illiterate, two-thirds of these are women.

·       Africa is the only continent where more than half of parents are not able to help their children with homework due to illiteracy.

·       Adult literacy rates are below 50% in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

·       Only 1 % of national education budget of most African governments is earmarked to address the issue of literacy.

·       The situation is alarming as literacy is a crucial step to acquire the basic skills needed to cope with the many challenges children, youth and adults will face throughout their lives.

·       For many disadvantaged young people and adults, non-formal education is one of the main routes to learning. Non-formal education reaches people in their own context and ideally in their own local language."

SELI encourages mother-tongue literacy in Sierra Leone through its Heritage Writers program. We offer five writing lessons to formally-educated native speakers, and then try to move them toward authoring books in their own languages. Literacy isn't very useful if, once you achieve it, you can't find anything interesting to read. If you are not already teaching somebody to read and write, please support Heritage Writers by clicking on the DONATE button here!

Thank you, Lorna and Sandra!

 Because Lorna Johnson and Sandra Leigh sponsored mother-tongue writers at the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2012, SELI, through its Heritage Writers program, was able to offer five writing lessons for mother tongue speakers of an indigenous Sierra Leonean language. Participants in these classes then formed a writing group. SELI encourages writing groups to meet regularly to stimulate each other with feedback and support.

SELI offered five writing lessons in Krio from May 5th – June 9th, 2012. The instructor was Nathaniel Pearce, who has authored textbooks on Krio.

Krio is a creole language spoken natively by the Krio people in Sierra Leone. It is also the lingua franca of many people throughout the country. Some linguists say Krio stems from a widespread prototype creole; others say its history and grammar identify it as a Niger-Congo language which has borrowed and adapted a large number of words from English and other languages. Other linguists say it's both.

The Krio Five Writing Lessons class was a mixed group of working and retired people as well as students. We soon found that half the group already had mastered writing skills in Krio. Therefore, at each meeting while the beginners worked with Mr. Pearce, the writers took part in a writing workshop with the SELI director, where they were challenged to write personal experiences, do creative reflection, and write poetry in Krio and share it with their colleagues.

 The Krio Five Writing Lessons class now meets as one writing group, the Raytin Kabudu. Members read their work aloud to the group for constructive critique to help them revise. We thank Mr. Pearce for his offer to continue to work with this group on editing and other writing skills. While the Raytin Kabudu members are working on manuscripts, SELI is seeking funds to support publication because Heritage Writers aims to encourage the written literature of all Sierra Leonean languages.

Thank you, Simone!

By sponsoring a mother tongue writer at the International Mother Language Day on February 21, 2012, Simone Anderson made it possible for SELI, through its Heritage Writers program, to offer five writing lessons for mother tongue speakers of an indigenous Sierra Leonean language. Participants in these classes then formed a writing group. SELI encourages writing groups to meet regularly to stimulate each other with feedback and support.

Because Simone helped, SELI offered five writing lessons in Kuranko from April 6th – 21st, 2012.

Kuranko is a Mande language spoken by approximately 268,000 people in Sierra Leone with additional speakers in the region, particularly in Guinea. The language has a strong history of oral literature. Missionary organizations have taught literacy in the language but it is not widespread. The language itself thrives more fully in rural than urban settings, but many children are sent to cities for education. Children in urban areas understand some Kuranko but are more likely to respond in the lingua franca, Krio.

The Kuranko Five Writing Lessons class was a mixed group of working people with strong village oral language skills and secondary school students, some of whom joined under their own initiative and others whose parents saw this as an opportunity for them to get a firmer grounding in their family's language. I found it an exciting class with good, inclusive strategies. Some members have since met as the writing group, Tanyar°, where they are exposed to the writing-craft skills of free writing; of reading work aloud to the group for constructive critique; and of revision. The group was lucky to be visited by a Kuranko traditional poet and performer from New York, Kewulay Kamara, who challenged the members with the promise of an award for documenting Kuranko language traditions.

While the Tanyar° members continue to work on manuscripts with the occasional editing support of their Five Writing Lesson teacher, Saio Marah, SELI is seeking funds to support publication. Heritage Writers would like to see a stronger role played by Kuranko in Sierra Leone's written national literature.