Happy Mother Tongue Day!

It's International Mother Language Day again! Why not spend Saturday enjoying your mother tongue—reading, singing, writing, and talking only in your mother tongue?

For several years SELI held a celebration of this important UNESCO celebration on February 1st, commemorating the diversity of mother languages that exist in Sierra Leone and helping to do what it takes to keep them and the culture and identities they carry with them, alive.

We praise the efforts of The Institute for Sierra Leone Languages in encouraging pride and literacy in our mother tongues, and the goals of PEN Sierra Leone's Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee.

Here's how an area much bigger than ours (and with substantial financial support) celebrates this important day. We all need to put our heads together to come up with a meaningful celebration of our own. 

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.

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 .

Use Picture Books to Teach Essay Writing

Secondary school writing teachers, try reading Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems aloud to a class that is learning to argue, persuade or advise.

The problem this book presents is stated in the title: Gerald has an ice cream cone and is of two minds whether to share it with Piggie. The first half of the book uses all kinds of argument and gets nowhere.

• ·       Piggie loves ice cream. Piggie is my best friend. (concession, logos)
• ·       We should share with friends. (commonly-held value, ethos)
• ·       This ice cream is SO tempting! (emotion, pathos)
• ·       Maybe she won't like this flavor. It is wrong to force something unappetizing on someone. (commonly-held value, ethos)
• ·       I can just not tell her—she'll never know! (a stance to win)

By page 25 we are looking for how this will end. Stop reading the book aloud here. Have each student write an opinion for each side, drawing on their own personal experiences.

After they have written, go on reading. We expect a reasoned conclusion, don't we? Is that what Gerald will carry out? Or are there other ways opposing opinions can be resolved?

Half-way through the book, Gerald moves into speculation--What if Piggie is sad?--and from there into creating the future. And by staying in the future tense, Gerald becomes able to visualize future choices and their consequences. In other words, he moves into deliberative argument.

In the end, we feel satisfied when he comes to his decision. Deliberative argument is an empowering strategy and it is important for our student writers and debaters to acquire it.

Then comes a twist. The author carries deliberative argument one step further when the future takes on two complications:

• ·       Oops, Gerald's decision was taken too late. His ice cream melted, so a) nobody ate it at all, b) he could not make Piggie happy, and c) he's a failure.
• ·       The roles become reversed. Piggie gets a cone herself and does what it took Gerald so long to decide on doing: she shares it.

Now Gerald ponders—should he stick with his plan and mope, or adapt? But what a change in his mood! The frenzy of indecision in the first half of the book is gone, because deliberative argument has freed him. He contentedly goes for letting somebody else achieve his goal of sharing.

Thanks, Mo Willems, for such a great book!

Relevant Reads

Heinrichs, J. (2007). Thank you for arguing: what Aristotle, Lincoln and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of persuasion. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Miller, R. (2011) "Being without existing: the futures community at a turning point? A comment on Jay Ogilvy's 'Facing the fold,'" foresight, Vol. 13 Iss: 4, pp.24 – 34.

Willems, M. (2011). Should I share my ice cream? New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

© 2012 Jacqueline Leigh

Publishing our Writing

Starting with issue 3.1, the Young Voices newsletter of the SRWP (Seli River Writing Project) will be publishing the writing of our Young Writers during the coming year. (Check out Young Voices 2.1).

All Young Writers receive a typewritten copy of their final drafts that to show their family and friends. Selected pieces will make it into the newsletters. To the extent that our finances permit, issues will be shared among the participating schools and to friends and supporters of the SRWP. Few of our students have access to the internet, but the newsletter will be posted here, too, so watch for Young Voices 3.1 and expect to see Young Voices often to catch up on what the students are writing about and on progress in the SRWP. This will give the students' writing wider exposure than do the in-school notice boards where some schools display Young Writers writing.

Would you like to support SRWP newsletter production during the year? Please make a PayPal contribution using the Donate button on the right! 

Chapter Books

The Young Writers from the Seli River Writing Project who have written five or more personal experiences in their clubs, were given the opportunity at the end of the school year to prepare My Life booklets.

Each one chose the sequence in which their experiences would appear as chapters in the book.  They also prepared a dedication and an "About the Author" paragraph to appear at the end.

It's an exciting moment for all authors to walk off with their first new book in their hands, and a wonderfully validating experience for these junior secondary students.  We congratulate each one of them for the perseverance it took to get through so many drafts of at least five different topics.

Five Writing Lessons

Five Writing Lessons, a program of the Heritage Writers project, has begun at SELI! The opening unit is Kuranko, and the first of the five lessons took place today at SELI. Thanks to sponsorship from individuals from many parts of the world, we plan to conduct a unit of five writing lessons in as many Sierra Leone languages as possible.

Each class has up to sixteen participants. All should be primary language speakers of the language of any age who have reached or completed junior secondary school, and who are interested in authoring books in their language. The class is offered free of charge.

We are seeking funding for the next stage in the Heritage Writers project, which will support the writing efforts of these would-be mother-tongue authors, and take them onto publication. Exciting, no? Be a part of it by contributing at www.seli.co. Click on "DONATE" to make your payment through PayPal.

Sponsor a Writer! (a Heritage Writers initiative)

Let's Write in our Mother Languages

It is said that there are some eighteen indigenous languages spoken in Sierra Leone. Orthographies have been approved for four of these: Mende, Themne, Limba and Krio. Some junior secondary schools offer one or more of these languages as elective subjects, so there is a chance that a fortunate child might learn to read and write his/her mother tongue while in junior secondary school.

But what if that mother tongue is one of the many "unwritten" languages in Sierra Leone? What do children burning to write in their mother tongues do when educators tell them that writing programs cannot be established for languages that lack approved orthographies?

Read our article advocating for writing in mother languages: http://www.seli.co/seli-forum/seli-editorials

Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of SL PEN

SELI hosts and chairs the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee of Sierra Leone PEN, and has just developed this brochure which expresses the committee's vision of what it would like to accomplish.

Are these your interests, too? Contact SL PEN at the numbers given in the brochure and let them know about your support. And do join SELI in its annual celebration of International Mother Language Day every February 21st at 14F Clarke St., Tengbeh Town!

International Mother Language Day 2011

On Sunday, February 20th, 2011 at 4:00 pm, SELI celebrated International Mother Language Day 2011. Anyone who wants to stretch his or her writing life and support those Sierra Leonean languages that are not being taught in schools is welcome to come and write! This is the 12th year of this UNESCO day, which actually falls on the 21st of February each year. It was established to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism, particularly encouraging the development of literatures in endangered languages.

This year most of the participants wrote poems, and we all sat in one group to read our work aloud. Can you read this poem by Annie Moses that was written and read on that day? SELI's celebration is part of its larger Heritage Writers program. Participants spend the first 45 minutes writing a poem, story, or nonfiction narrative in their primary language. They then gather in language groups to read their work aloud for appreciative feedback and comments. Tutors from the Writing Tutors Registry are always present in case any participant would like to make an arrangement for lessons to improve their writing skills in their language.

The students on the cover of the book, Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone, which you see here, are writing on International Mother Language Day.

Voices from the Village

The Young Writers in the Seli River Writing Project (SRWP) are writing from both urban and rural areas. Since they are writing personal experiences, their environments greatly affect their topics. Check out the voices from the village, at http://www.seli.co/seli-forum/voices-from-the-village

The map shows the watershed area of the Seli River, which gave its name to the SRWP.

The writing is published!

Students push for the chance to read what the authors in their school's Young Writers club have written, now that some final drafts are published on the club's notice board outside the principal's office at Kabala Secondary School's Junior Secondary School.

And the clubs are underway!

Four Young Writersclubs are underway in the Koinadugu District, and here we see two authors doing peer-editing in the Dankawalie Secondary School club. A thunderstorm was going on while we were visiting this club on October 18th, but the drafting, conferencing, and revising all went on nonetheless. You can also see here a content conference going on at Kabala Secondary School's club. The author made a statement in his piece that one of the students thinks he needs more evidence for, and he will have to think about this when he writes his second draft.
I visited the four clubs in the Kabala area in the third week of October in the company of one of the facilitators of a Young Writersclub in Freetown, and we joined in the facilitating wherever we went. We have nothing but praise for the way these new clubs have begun.

A Great Cause

We know it's important to you that SELI Young Writers clubs continue to encourage JSS students to write. Now there's a way you can make sure that happens! AND, to make sure the new clubs being opened in the Northern Province will be supported with in-servicing visits. You can make your contribution at http://www.causes.com/causes/509925?recruiter_id=143246679. Check it out!

You can read them, too!

A new book, Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone, edited by Jacqueline Leigh, makes it possible for you to read the writing of SELI's Young Writers clubs. Click the link here, or buy it on Amazon.com!

Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone is a collection of personal experiences of students in process-writing clubs in six schools in Freetown. After carrying out the writing process repeatedly on their chosen topics these students have come to see themselves, collectively, as authors. Readers gain insight into the society in which these children are growing up, and into the courage with which the students' voices leap from the pages. A foreword by the editor provides detail about the clubs, and the postscript explains where these writers might go from here, drawing on insights from James Moffett's work at the National Writing Project. All profits from the sale of this book support the writing programs of the Sentinel English Language Institute, the public charity conducting Young Writers clubs in Sierra Leone.

Fostering Young Writers in Sierra Leone is available now at https://www.createspace.com/3458058. We're also sending out complimentary copies in appreciation and recognition of donations of $50 or more to the Sentinel English Language Institute. Do let us know if you'd like to contribute at writing.SELI@yahoo.com.!

International Mother Language Day 2010

On 21st of February, 2010, the Sentinel English Language Institute (SELI) celebrated the 11th anniversary of UNESCO's International Mother Language Day, which promotes the viability and diversity of languages and culture. For this second annual celebration, SELI was joined by the local chapter of International PEN, Sierra Leone PEN, which shares SELI's concern for the preservation of all Sierra Leone languages and the development of their literatures. UNESCO assesses how endangered a language is by using a set of nine factors. One of these factors is whether an active literature exists in the language. Learn more about this event by opening the report pictured here.

SELI Visits Clubs

Three additional process writing clubs! Here we see boys from the Albert Academy Junior Secondary School rehearsing new topics during my visit, and we see Government Model JSS club conducting a content conference. SELI provides public library cards for club members, but reading skills are developed within the workshop itself, in listening to someone else read aloud so you can respond; in reading your work aloud to a group--even in drafting and revising the students are constantly re-reading what they have written. The Government Rokel Junior Secondary School was doing rehearsing and drafting when SELI visited their club. We credit the facilitators for holding club meetings regularly, because of the shortage of space in these campuses where both morning and afternoon schools operate in the same compound. Attendance is affected by other school events and by personal incidents in the students' lives during these stringent economic times in Sierra Leone. We praise our Leading Young Writers facilitators for staying persistent and positive for the sake of the children!

Young Writers Clubs

Junior secondary school students are busy carrying out the writing process in Young Writers Clubs in several locations now. Most are second-year JSS II students, and they are working on writing their true personal experiences. The students at UM Secondary School for Girls are having a rehearsing session, where everyone is drawing up a list of personal experience topics from her own life that she can write about. The club at Freetown Secondary School for Girls is doing peer content conferencing--one author is presenting her first draft to receive feedback on the content from those listening, to find out if what she has written makes sense to them, or needs more background information, and so on. SELI's Young Writers (most of whom are from Services JSS in Wilberforce) are drafting and revising--some preparing for a content conference, some for editing, but all busy on their own life experience topics.

Club members find that analyzing their life experiences involves exploring their cultural backgrounds. Club leaders try to build confidence in the students, a community of learners, and a positive experience with teachers. We believe that this is the way to nurture responsible freedom of expression.