Evaluation of the « Ecole et langues nationales en Afrique » program: Methodological Aspects and Interim Assessment

This eight-country evaluation seeks to measure how the ELAN Program methods of written language acquisition have an impact, during the first two years of primary school (Grade 1 and Grade 2), on oral and written language performance in African languages (one language per country) and in French. A second objective is to assess whether ELAN enables students to benefit from interlanguage transfers between L1 (African language) and L2 (French). Evaluation of 3,199 Grade 1 students, half of which are in ELAN experimental classes and the other half in control classes, is conducted three times over two years (beginning and end of Grade 1, end of Grade 2) using standardized tests that measure language skills in L1 and L2. The results of the first two sessions of six countries (Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Mali, DR Congo, and Senegal) show that the experimental students made more significant progress than the control students in several skills related to writing proficiency. The evaluations at the end of Grade 2 will help confirm whether these results are accurate.