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… and the winner is … the Bible. No surprises there, probably.
Depending on how you look at it or who you ask, the Bible has been translated into 3312 languages, 2191 languages or 670 languages. Whatever the case may be, it is by far the text that has been translated in the highest number of languages. Teachers of IB Literature and of Language & Literature are starting to acquaint themselves with the new Prescribed Reading List that dictates which authors’ works can be studied in these two courses from August 2019 onwards. Leaving the “free choice” aspect to the side, a vast number of authors have just been shortlisted across the fifty-odd languages that are automatically available. One of the requirements in the Literature course is that at least four (HL) and three (SL) texts are taught or studied in translation. MIH Unlimited has embarked on a mega project that invites all the Group 1 teachers around the world, from any language, to contribute their knowledge, their experience and their expertise in literature and help us develop a vast database of authors, works, themes and global issues that will assist teachers and students in constructing relevant, challenging and inspiring courses of study. Teachers who would like to contribute towards this completely free resource can click on the below link and follow the guidelines. Ten minutes of everyone’s time will be sufficient to see this resource grow to epic proportions in a short period of time. https://www.mihunlimited.com/free--prl-authors-and-texts.html As we all look for texts in translation, I have taken the liberty of checking which works of literature have been translated into the most languages. We already know that the Bible takes the top prize, but what about the works of authors who appear on the IB Prescribed Reading List ? Well, Wikipedia has drawn up a list of the 100 works that have been translated in the most languages. Out of these 100 works, 32 authors appear on the PRL, and so we should be able to find the following texts in plenty of translated versions : Title - Author - Date - Translated into this number of languages - Original language 1. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupéry - 1943 - 300 - French 2. Andersen's Fairy Tales - Hans Christian Andersen - 1835–1852 - 160 - Danish 3. El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - 1615 - 140 - Spanish 4. The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright - Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o - 2016 - >78 - Gikuyu 5. Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren - 1945 - 70 - Swedish 6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain - 1885 - 65 - English 7. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell - 1949 - 65 - English 8. Quo vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz - 1895 - 61 - Polish 9. My Name Is Red - Orhan Pamuk - 1998 - 60 - Turkish 10. The Good Soldier Švejk - Jaroslav Hašek - 1923 - 58 - Czech 11. A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen - 1879 - 56 - Norwegian 12. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - 2005 - 52 - English 13. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson - 2003 - 50 - Norwegian 14. The Bridge on the Drina - Ivo Andrić - 1945 - 47 - Serbo-Croatian 15. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - 1989 - 47 - English 16. The Stranger - Albert Camus - 1942 - 45 - French 17. The Moomins - Tove Jansson - 1945 - 43 - Swedish 18. Atonement - Ian McEwan - 2001 - 42 - English 19. The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran - 1923 - 40 - English 20. Amsterdam - Ian McEwan - 1998 - 39 - English 21. The Family of Pascual Duarte - Camilo José Cela - 1942 - 39 - Spanish 22. The General of the Dead Army - Ismail Kadare - 2003 - 37 - Albanian 23. Perfume - Patrick Süskind - 1985 - 37 - German 24. Dictionary of the Khazars - Milorad Pavić - 1984 - 37 - Serbian 25. Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami - 1987 - 36 - Japanese 26. White Teeth - Zadie Smith - 1999 - 36 - English 27. Cien Años de Soledad - Gabriel García Márquez - 1967 - > 35 - Spanish 28. Pan Tadeusz - Adam Mickiewicz - 1834 - 34 - Polish 29. The Time of the Doves - Mercè Rodoreda - 1962 - 34 - Catalan 30. 'Art' - Yasmina Reza - 1994 - 30 - French 31. Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann - 1901 - 30 - German 32. The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu - 1001 - 30 - Japanese Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_works_by_number_of_translations This table tells us also that the PRL authors’ works that have been translated into the largest number of other languages were originally written in : 1. English (8 works each) 2. French, Spanish (3 works each) 3. Swedish, Polish, Norwegian, Serbo-Croat, German, Japanese (2 works each) 4. Danish, Kikuyu, Turkish, Albanian, Catalan, Czech (1 work each) Looks familiar ? Which of the PRL authors and texts do you plan to teach ? Why ? Which texts do you feel combine well with your chosen works in translation ? And how can students in languages other than English try to avoid that their works in translation mostly come from the English literary tradition ? The construction of the program of texts is very likely to become an organic exercise that grows as the students familiarize themselves with one text after another. Once they have read text 1 and understand its features, its content and context, they can do their research on texts in other languages that share comparable features, content and context. If you are at the stage of planning for your new course, feel free to add any strategies, discoveries and plans in the Comments section. We’re all in this together and we can all learn from each other. See you next time, cheers !
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Many, if not all, of us would argue that mother tongue entitlement is one of the essential pillars of any educational system, including the International Baccalaureate.
At the Diploma Program level mother tongue entitlement manifests itself most prominently through the existence of the Literature A School-Supported Self-Taught course option. This course, which has been around for decades, enables schools to ensure that every student can comply with the Group 1 requirement in their strongest language (mother tongue, heritage language, first language). In addition, this course serves to avoid that the IB program remains over-anglicised and therefore a privilege for those who speak English at an academic level. Yes, IB schools around the world commonly also offer their host country's language(s) in Group 1, eg French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese etc. The SSST course is an essential hook for the 16- or 17-year old student who finds him- or herself in a foreign country because of their parents' employment or because they have chosen to attend a boarding school overseas. Some students end up in a foreign country because of political or social pressure in their home country. And there may be other reasons. Over the years close to 100 languages have been offered as an SSST option, and this of course is great. What has been a concern though is the SS part of the SSST course. In many schools that we are familiar with, in many workshops and even in official publications, the course is often referred to as "self-taught". This is sometimes an accurate reflection of the status of the course in certain schools, but it is not an accurate reflection of what the course is intended to be. The 'school support' has been an issue for a variety of reasons, none of which we actually have to accept. In their Language Policy IB schools will acknowledge the importance of mother tongue provision, without which the Language Policy is unlikely to be adopted by the visiting team and ultimately by the powers that be themselves. Authorization is highly unlikely to be granted to a school that does not make a commitment to respect every student's mother tongue and find a way to offer every student access to their language. The reality, as we know, does not always match the printed documentation. In order to address a potential lack of 'school support', a number of requirements have now been published as part of the new guides for the Group 1 Literature courses (first examinations in 2021). IBDP schools have always had to appoint an SSST supervisor/coordinator, but this requirement was published only in the Teacher Support Materials. Hands up if you regularly refer to the TSM … This has been the single requirement so far, and in many of the schools that I am familiar with, this role exists and is carried out to the best of the coordinator's ability. This coordinator is most commonly the Head of Languages or a teacher of Literature A (or both). The new requirements though are something we fully support, as they aim to firm up the support that the student receives and to ensure that there is a record of such support.
I am already aware of schools that organise their SSST schedule in such a way that allows the SSST student to attend the taught Language A Literature class (most commonly English Literature A). This exposes the student to the course format, the content, the skills and aptitudes involved, the assessment format and the timeline. I personally find this a great option for schools that have only one or two or three SSST students and that can not run a dedicated SSST class for these students. With the support of the above-mentioned mother tongue tutor, who liaises with the SSST coordinator and possibly the English Literature A teacher, this student will receive ample guidance and will be able to carry out all the necessary practice and official assessments. I also understand that some schools will have an initial reaction of "these requirements seem to make the course more complicated to implement". Such reaction is uncalled for though. I invite any school that feels a need for guidance, support and/or coaching to get in touch and to discuss how their set-up can best implement the SSST course from here onwards. In addition, finding highly qualified and experienced IB mother tongue tutors/teachers has also been made super easy for everyone. Professional online SSST services can be found here : https://www.mihunlimited.com/ibdp-language-a-ssst.html Let's start celebrating the significant make-over that the SSST course undergoes this year, and let's all ensure that every student who needs this course can easily gain access to it. Please feel free to add your thoughts, questions, queries, reactions and excitement to this blog entry. Have a great week everyone ! |
AuthorsWe are practising Language Ab Initio, B and A teachers, examiners and workshop leaders for the International Baccalaureate. We author and publish the “Language Ab Initio Student Workbook”, the various Language Portfolios (for Ab Initio, B and MYP) and the How to Ace Language Ab Initio and Language B series. We are also a language acquisition and mother tongue consultants and tireless advocates for mother tongue entitlement in international education. Beyond our lives as linguists, we travel the world, we publish novels, we practice photography, we play and coach football coach, we write and we read. Archives
September 2019
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