MUZZY Around the World
In our other article this month, we explored the fascinating and provocative linguistic theory that all the world's languages are built on top of a "universal grammar" which is coded in our genes. "Universal grammar" is, as Dr. Charles Yang of the University of Pennsylvania puts it in his book The Infinite Gift: How Children Learn and Unlearn the Languages of the World, the idea that "the child is born knowing what language is made of and how it is put together; she is well prepared for the task of language learning and knows exactly where to look for the relevant evidence, and before you know it, she starts making up complex sentences and fancy stories."
Within this basic theory there are a number of wrinkles and refinements, but just think of what power that theory holds! As Yang goes on to say, "For most people, what's striking about the world's languages is how different they look; by claiming the innateness of universal grammar, we are saying all languages must be pretty much the same! That, I think, is the most significant and exciting result of modern linguistics."
The MUZZY language program has been successful in homes and classrooms around the world because it is based upon three key facts: children are naturally built to learn languages, children love learning languages and, because of the principles of universal grammar, children can learn any language, given the right environment and support.
Whether MUZZY is helping children in California learn Mandarin Chinese or kids in China learn English, the MUZZY program has helped to create just that kind of environment and support that produces such good results.
MUZZY's Travels around the Globe
MUZZY was first designed by the BBC to teach English to non-English speakers, primarily in Europe. Soon, French and Spanish editions were developed and English-speakers joined in on the fun. More editions were added over time, and MUZZY traveled to new countries and cultures.
Cecily Bernard, a former official in the government of Guyana in South America and current director of the Language Institute of Guyana, has found MUZZY to be very useful in her country, where English is most commonly spoken but is part of a mix of languages, including French, Spanish and Portuguese. David Riesenberg, himself a MUZZY alumnus, used MUZZY on his tour in the Peace Corps in Azerbaijan, which is in the Caucasus Mountains near Turkey and Iran.
As a teacher of English for 5th through 11th graders and a trainer of other English instructors, David observed that MUZZY became not just a way to teach children a new language, but it also acted as a bridge across the cultural gaps between the languages they already knew. According to David, in Azerbaijan it is not uncommon to have five regional languages spoken just in one's home. Yet he found that MUZZY was a unifying thread across these many languages and dialects—"In fact, I regularly hear non-English speakers of all ages quoting MUZZY from a single chance broadcast of a few episodes shown on Turkish TV—over a year ago!"
David credited the popularity of MUZZY to the power and appeal of its fairy tale-like story and characters. As he says, "MUZZY is a great conversation starter, even for children and adults with limited language experience. It uses simple, universal narrative structures, allows language absorption at a reasonable pace, and keeps children's interest. It's never boring. It uses immersion, allowing learners to start using functional language and acquire grammar easily and naturally in the process."
Many countries' embassies and consulates also use MUZZY, including the Italian and Spanish consulates and the French embassies and embassy schools. A number of United States agencies and services use MUZZY to educate Americans abroad. The Department of Defense uses the MUZZY program in its schools worldwide. Armed Services Libraries and military families learn with MUZZY on bases in Italy, Germany and Japan. American embassies and citizens use MUZZY in Japan, Colombia, Tunisia, Italy and Botswana.
Foreign nations and private schools love MUZZY too. In Hong Kong, one of the largest preschools has adopted MUZZY, and the province of Alberta, Canada approved MUZZY for use in three languages. The American International School of Israel turns to MUZZY for Spanish, Italian and Chinese support, and prestigious French and German cultural associations (the Alliance Française and the Goethe-Institut, respectively) have put their "seal of approval" on the program. There is an Italian school in Zambia using MUZZY, and Lombard Odier bank in Bermuda thought so highly of the program, they gave the Ministry of Education there a territory-wide set.
But this is not just MUZZY's story. MUZZY has found a home with families and teachers across the globe because it makes use of the universal connections humans share by nature. Whether all languages rest on a universal grammar or not, we know some things span cultures, ages, and nations. By speaking in a language all children can understand—bright pictures, humor, catchy songs and memorable characters—these children will soon also understand the words—in any language!
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