Millions of children are expected to read in languages they are still learning
Bilingual Boost is a three-year initiative generating evidence, testing practical approaches, and creating open-access resources to help children build strong literacy skills across languages.
What we do
Together with community partners and governments, Bilingual Boost is testing and refining approaches that strengthen both bilingual literacy and language transition.
Strengthening foundational skills in the first language
Children build strong reading foundations in a familiar language they understand, with a focus on phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Supporting the transition to a second language
Bilingual Boost tests ways to help children bridge into a new language more effectively, particularly by strengthening vocabulary and comprehension skills that are critical for reading with understanding.
Translating evidence into action
Bilingual Boost convenes a Bilingual Advisory Council of global experts to help interpret emerging evidence from its pilots and connect it to policy and practice. The initiative will also develop open-access tools and guidance that policymakers, educators, researchers, and partners can use to strengthen reading instruction in multilingual classrooms.
Featured resource
Explore the latest from our growing library of research, tools, and guidance for policymakers, educators, researchers, and partners working in multilingual education.
Early Grade Reading in South Africa
Authors: Nic Spaull, Elizabeth (Lilli) Pretorius
While learning outcomes in South Africa before the Covid-19 pandemic were improving quickly by international standards, the chapters included here present evidence for both optimism and alarm. Optimism because system-wide improvements do not happen accidentally or in a vacuum. Alarm because in 2022 it is still the case that the dignity and life-chances of millions of children in South Africa are foreclosed because they do not learn to read for meaning, or do mathematics with understanding in the first three years of school.
Related topics: Learning / Reading / Research Reports / Tools & Guidance
Explore research, tools, and guidance to support children learning across languages
Where we work
Bilingual Boost works across four countries—Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, and South Africa—to help children build strong foundations in one language and transition successfully to another.
In Ethiopia, Bilingual Boost will draw on Luminos’ experience strengthening foundational learning in multilingual contexts to examine whether early mother- tongue literacy can improve later English outcomes.
In Ghana, Bilingual Boost, led by Luminos, is testing bilingual approaches in early grade classrooms, comparing different levels of support in Asante Twi and in English.
In partnership with Associação Progresso and MAPA Consultores, Bilingual Boost is working alongside the government of Mozambique to implement and evaluate models that compare biliteracy and translanguaging approaches in Emakhuwa and Portuguese.
In South Africa, Bilingual Boost’s community partner Click Learning is exploring different levels of dosage within an English literacy intervention delivered through its established EdTech infrastructure.
"Language should open the door to learning"
When children’s home languages are valued in the classroom, they gain confidence, comprehension, and a stronger foundation for future learning. Bilingual Boost is helping identify practical ways for teachers and education systems to support children as they build literacy across languages.
Dr. Alemayehu “Alex” Hailu Gebre | Senior Director of Programs, The Luminos Fund
"Every language is an opportunity to learn"
Children learn best when their first language is recognized as a foundation for future learning. Bilingual Boost demonstrates how intentional support across languages can strengthen reading, improve comprehension, and create more inclusive classrooms where every child has the opportunity to thrive.
Dr. Meredith McCormac | Director of Programs, The Luminos Fund
"Practical, evidence-based approaches that help teachers transfer skills"
Bilingual Boost is an important step toward identifying practical, evidence-based approaches that help teachers transfer skills from a child’s first language to a second language. By focusing on both foundational skills and how they transfer, this work can inform more effective instruction and policy at scale in typical classrooms in sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Nic Spaull | Senior Program Officer, Gates Foundation
"Every child has the potential to learn far more"
Every child has the potential to learn far more, far faster than many systems expect. But too often, children are expected to learn in a language they do not yet understand. Bilingual Boost will help ensure that the most marginalized children can build strong foundations in a language they know and successfully transition to a second language.
Caitlin Baron | CEO, The Luminos Fund