Additive multilingualism as a proposed paradigm for Rwanda: maintaining the local language while students learn other languages¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Additive multilingualism, as proposed by Samuelson and Freedman (2010) for Rwanda, is a paradigm in which the local language, Kinyarwanda, is used as the language of instruction in primary school and maintained as students continue to learn and become proficient in other languages. The article presents this as an alternative to English as the sole medium of instruction, arguing there is "much potential for success" under this approach. It responds to the issue that lack of priority given to the first language after the first years does not guarantee success in the new language as assumed by curriculum designers.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

The local language is used as the language of instruction in primary school and maintained as students learn other languages

Constraints¶

Proposed specifically for the Rwandan context by Samuelson and Freedman (2010)

Target Learners¶

Primary school learners in multilingual settings

Learning Goals¶

First-language proficiency alongside multilingual development

Claims¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Alcazaren, H. K. G., & Rafanan, E. R. (2017). A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Language-in-Education Policies And Their Implementations in Developing Countries: The Case of Selected Asian and African Countries. TESOL International Journal, 12(2). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1149273

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`additive-multilingualism-rwanda-proposal`
`title`	`Additive multilingualism as a proposed paradigm for Rwanda: maintaining the local language while students learn other languages`
`description`	`Additive multilingualism, as proposed by Samuelson and Freedman (2010) for Rwanda, is a paradigm in which the local language, Kinyarwanda, is used as the language of instruction in primary school and maintained as stu...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-11-03`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `alcazaren-2017`

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