SynPhony: A tool for developing learning materials

The order in which to introduce letters and sounds is important for young students as they begin to learn to read in their language. Rigorous analysis is often required in order to create effective teaching and reading materials, especially for lesser-known languages.

SynPhony (from "Synthetic Phonics") helps simplify this process by optimizing the introduction of letters and words in a reading curriculum. The web-based program, developed by linguist Norbert Rennert from the Canada Institute of Linguistics, is a smart system designed to rapidly analyze a collection of texts in a particular language, identify the patterns within the language, and effectively display them in a way that is easy to use. SynPhony provides a platform for producing efficient applications for teaching reading and can be used with almost any of the more than 7,000 languages on earth.  

Rather than introducing students to all the symbols used to represent their language at once, SynPhony suggests a relevant order for presenting new symbols and words, and matches the words selected to the student’s reading level. This allows the learner to acquire the most common elements of a language first and progressively move through an alphabet. SynPhony also has the capability to evaluate texts for their readability and to create literacy-related word games. 

SIL LEAD supports key technological innovations like SynPhony for communities and their partners to foster language development. With access to simple technologies like Synphony, communities can take hold of their own development and direct their own path towards progress.

“SynPhony can save you hours and hours of time trying to find just the right words for each lesson. … It’s just amazing what it can do! … I can try out innumerable different sequences at the click of a mouse”

— Mavis Price, Literacy Co-ordinator of SIL PNG

Norbert Rennert, a researcher at the Canada Institute of Linguistics, is the creator of the SynPhony technology and has experience living and working in low-resource contexts to produce literacy materials and programs. Having previously lived in Suriname, South America, for 10 years as a linguist and translator, Mr. Rennert understands the challenges faced by educators and teachers looking to develop reading programs and books for minority language communities.

To learn more, visit SynPhony’s website at http://call.canil.ca/.

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Mother Tongue-Based Education Prepares Children for Primary School Success

Eighty teachers gained experience with mother tongue-based early childhood education through a seminar held in the Lanny Jaya District of Papua, Indonesia in early 2013. The Education Office of the South East Maluku District then developed a cooperation plan to expand this project. This experience represents one of several new collaborations between government and non-government organizations facilitated by the Yayasan Sulinama organization and its Mother Tongue-Based Early Childhood Education Program in Indonesia.

Various stakeholders, including churches, government representatives and early childhood education facilitators, have taken an interest in using Yayasan Sulinama’s teaching materials for instruction. Scores of teachers from kindergartens and playgroups were able to participate in the training. This year, 311 children will advance to primary school thanks to the project.

Local education officials have been amazed by the cognitive and reading ability of playgroup graduates who learned using the materials. With close to one hundred teachers trained at two additional sites earlier in the first quarter alone, and 26 preschools a part of the program, teacher training is an ongoing part of the process. SIL LEAD’s partner, Wycliffe Finland, has been working with the Sulinama Foundation in its efforts to prepare pre-school aged children for their primary education.

I know how to read and write!

DONATIONS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED FOR THIS PROJECT.

Thank you to those to those who donated in the past.

I am very happy to be a student of the literacy class in Nigbaoudè. I know how to read and write! Last month, I wrote a letter to my sister in order to get information about cereal prices at the big market in Tchamba. She answered me; so I took my cereal stock to sell in Tchamba and I made a profit.

Madame Safayatou

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More than a thousand students signed up to take literacy classes held by the Togolese organization COPA. Madame Safayatou was one of them. For her, literacy wasn't just a "nice thing"--it made a difference to her income. 

SIL LEAD currently has the opportunity to partner with organizations in Norway, Sweden, and Finland to multiply your gifts for local organizations like COPA.   Donate today!

Andika: A Font That Changes Everything

A sans serif font is often preferred for teaching people to read. Its forms are simpler and less cluttered than those of most serif fonts. For years, literacy workers have had to manage with fonts that were not truly suitable for beginning readers and writers, in some cases tediously assembling letters from different fonts to get all of the characters for their particular language project.  This made for confusing and unattractive publications. Andika addresses those issues.

SIL LEAD caught up with two of the creators of the Andika font, Annie Olsen and Victor Gaultney to tell us a little more about the technology and how it works.

Why did you create Andika? 

AO:  Andika was created in response to many requests from SIL literacy specialists over the years for a font that worked well and had what new adult readers needed.  This included such things as: 

• A sans serif design (no “little feet” on the letters)
• Lower case a and g with simple shapes 
• Capital i, lower case I, and numeral 1 that do not look alike
• A lower case r which, when followed by n, doesn’t look like m 
• Diacritics that are big enough to recognize and that position themselves properly
•  Letter shapes that fit local preferences. Some parts of the world expect to see a y with no tail, for example, or a 7 with a crossbar. Those are just two of the optional letter shapes available.

.  What was it like to design a font?

VG: It's an exercise in creative problem solving. So much of the reading process is subconscious and subtle, and affected by our perceptions. For example, the reader's estimation of 'point size' or how large and readable the letters are has been shown to be related to the size and shape of the 'counters' - the little white spaces within letters - rather than the real size of the letter itself. It becomes a puzzle: How can I make these letters clear and readable without making them look strange or unusual?

For Andika we applied a wide variety of techniques drawn from a broad set of influences: Early Dutch typefounding, current research in the psychology of letter  recognition, historic Carolingian manuscript calligraphy, contemporary design trends, and others. We also recognized that a font must not only be technically solid to meet the need, but also be attractive and display a character that encourages the reader. It's a fusion of science and art. 

What makes Andika good for minority language literature? 

AO: It’s good for the hundreds of languages written using Latin letters (ABCs) because the letters are drawn in clear, simple shapes. This facilitates letter recognition, which closely follows distinguishing sounds as a skill to master in learning to read. Some fonts have letters that look like mirror images of each other; for a new reader that can be confusing. Andika gives those similar letters distinct characteristics to reduce confusion.

Do I need any special software to use Andika?

AO: All that’s needed is to download and install the font from here: 

http:// scripts.sil.org/andika

What is some of the feedback you have gotten from people using Andika? 

We've gotten lots of positive feedback: 

“As I am teacher, the font Andika helps me to print highly readable documents for my students suffering dyslexia.”

“I have searched for some of these characters.  Thank you.”

“Thank you for this update, which will be very useful for our literacy materials.”

“Superbe ... Merci!”

“Your font is the the best I've seen in more than 30 years of experience just after Helvetica, congrats”.

What’s next for Andika?  Is the project complete? Or is there more work to do? 

AO: Design work is in progress for a true italic face, and work has begun on a true bold. A bold italic will follow those. When I say “true”, I mean one that’s actually designed, not simply slanted and/or fattened up by a word- processing program. These other faces will complete the family of four. The plan is to release a smaller font first, what we call our “Basic” character set, then expand them to keep current with SIL’s other Roman fonts: Charis SIL, Doulos SIL, and Gentium Plus.

Andika Basic is free and licensed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL) through SIL International. 

Empowering future mothers

A mother that is better educated is also better able to raise her children.  When she has access to learning when she's young, she'll be less likely to contract HIV, less likely to be subject to violence and more likely to earn higher wages and take better care of her family.  Giving girls books now empowers future mothers.   

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Putting every girl in school will change the world

Education is a driver of social, economic and political progress. As girls learn to read, their prospects for leading a healthy, more prosperous life expand exponentially. Advances in education have not benefited everyone equally. Major barriers to school enrollment and completion include gender disparities. Girls face a unique set of barriers to education including child marriage, early pregnancy, and expectations related to domestic labor. About 34 million adolescent girls are out of school today. The gender gap has significantly narrowed in primary education but there has been limited progress at the secondary level.  

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SIL LEAD becomes Affiliate of the Basic Education Coalition

SIL LEAD is proud to now be an affiliate member of  the Basic Education Coalition (BEC), a network of organizations committed to equal access to high quality basic education.  By collecting and sharing member perspectives, expertise, and experience, this network provides an opportunity to engage in actions that give all children the chance to learn.

BEC members seek to realize the goals set forth at the World Education Forum held in 2000. These six goals, now internationally recognized as Education for All (EFA),  represent an established initiative to meet the learning needs of children by 2015. EFA aims to “ensure that all children receive an education that enriches their lives, expands their opportunities, and empowers them to participate in society.”

You can find more information about the Basic Education Coalition on their website at www.basiced.org.

Being a part of a network that pursues quality education is certainly encouraging as SIL LEAD promotes mother tongue education, which helps young students understand their lessons and stay in school longer.  We look forward to discovering more ways of partnering with organizations that help children everywhere unlock the power of learning.

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