Conference Bulletin
CONFERENCE BULLETIN International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities 1-3 July, 2008 Bangkok, Thailand -1- CONFERENCE BULLETIN International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities 1-3 July 2008 Bangkok, Thailand Printed by: Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development Mahidol University ISBN: 978-974-8349-47-3 Printed at: Threelada Limited Partnership, Bangkok Tel. (662)462 0303 -2- PREFACE Since the 1st International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in 2003,1 increasing numbers of ethnolinguistic communities, NGOs, universities and governments in Asia and the Pacific have expressed interest in and /or begun implementing mother tongue-based multilingual education (MT-based MLE) programs for children and adults who do not speak or understand the language used in mainstream education. That trend now seems to be growing in Africa as well. Also during that time, there as been an increase in the number of efforts in many parts of the world to document, revitalize and sustain the heritage languages and cultures of non-dominant language communities through language development (LD) and language revitalization (LR) programs. In spite of these efforts, the purposes and benefits of language development, language revitalization and multilingual education are still not widely understood or accepted. Many LD, LR and MT-based MLE efforts remain quite weak and do not build on what has been learned through research and practice around the world. Clearly, more awareness-raising and advocacy are still needed. Also needed is more information about what works and what does not work in planning, implementing and sustaining strong LD, LR and MT-based MLE programs.
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