International Expert to Conduct a Community Language Mapping for Abkhazia, Georgia

Background

Abkhazia, Georgia  has always been an ethnically and linguistically diverse region with various ethnicities and cultures residing on a relatively small territory. The armed hostilities that broke out in Abkhazia, Georgia  in the early 1990s and the displacement of large parts of the population significantly changed the ethnic composition of Abkhazia, Georgia , although of certain part of the displaced population returned after the end of the hostilities.

A quarter of a century after the end of the armed hostilities, Abkhazia, Georgia  remains a very diverse and multilingual society with four main ethnic communities residing on its territory: Abkhaz, Armenians, Georgians and Russians. The linguistic reality within these communities is even more complex: Abkhaz, the official language, is barely spoken by other than the Abkhaz communities, but even many Abkhaz are not fluent in their own language. At the same time, many Armenians in Abkhazia, Georgia  speak a distinct Western Armenian dialect, Homshen, while many Georgians in Eastern Abkhazia, Georgia  widely use Megrelian in their communities. In addition, Russian remains the dominating language in the public sphere in Abkhazia, Georgia  and is spoken to various degrees by most of the ethnic communities. Russian is often referred to as the language of inter-ethnic communication.

The linguistic diversity is reflected in the education system of Abkhazia, Georgia , however, the possibilities to receive mother tongue education are not equal for all ethnic communities. This has led to tensions between communities. The multilingual education system of Abkhazia, Georgia  therefore requires further development to meet the rights and needs of all communities.

In this regard, UNICEF is engaged in Abkhazia, Georgia  to advocate for the development of a systematic approach to mother tongue based multilingual education (MTB MLE) that would take into account the mother tongue, second and third language needs of children of all ethnic communities, and would facilitate social integration.

However, the development of a specific model of MTB MLE in Abkhazia, Georgia  faces serious challenges due to the lack of data on the complex language situation in the various communities. To enable better planning for MTB MLE, UNICEF therefore decided to recruit an international expert to carry out a community language mapping in Abkhazia, Georgia .

Objective

The objective of this consultancy is to provide UNICEF and its local partners with detailed information about the use of languages in the different communities in Abkhazia, Georgia  and to establish the language education needs resulting from the current situation.

Scope of work

The consultant will design, implement, analyse, and report on research activities that provide reliable data to UNICEF and its local partners concerning what languages are being used throughout Abkhazia, Georgia , along with how well the languages are understood and used by the different populations, what value the different languages are seen to have for the different communities, what language education needs the communities see, and what would be the best language education model that could address the needs of the communities.

For each sampled community, language use and ability levels will be assessed in different domains of life, including: home, education, religion, occupational, and social services related.

Tasks

1. To work with UNICEF Sukhumi education team members to design and implement research leading to accurate, useful language use, language value, and distribution data for Abkhazia, Georgia ;
2. To design and implement bias reduction, data validation and verification procedures;
3. To manage and analyse the data;
4. To develop a final report with illustrative maps showing the language ability and use distribution patterns, and the values associated with the different languages. Based on the findings, the report will also advise on the language education needs of the communities.

Deliverables and Timelines

1. Key Actions: Preparation and Training (Research design, Materials preparation, Training of 2 researchers)

Deliverables: Quality research description and research tools

Delivery Period:  July August  2018

Number of Working Days: 17 days

Location: From home and in Abkhazia, Georgia

2. Key Actions: Implementation (guide and support researchers, implement data verification)

   Deliverables: Raw data collected

  Delivery Period:  July August  2018

 Number of Working Days: 9 days

 Location: From home and in Abkhazia, Georgia

3. Key Actions: Data Compilation and Analysis (compile and manage data, analysing verification data, analysing data)

Deliverables: Compiled useable data

Delivery Period: July  September 2018

Number of working days: 16 days

Location: From home and in Abkhazia, Georgia  

4. Key Actions: Writing the Report (compilation and writing, preparing maps)

Deliverables: Good quality report

Delivery Period: September  October 2018

Number of working days: 10 days

Location: From home and in Abkhazia, Georgia

5. Key Actions: Presenting the findings of the report

Deliverables: Carry out supported presentations

Delivery Period: October 2018

Number of working days: 3 days

Location: In Abkhazia, Georgia and in Georgia

TOTAL Number of Working Days: 55 days

Supervision and Reporting Responsibility:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Chief of UNICEF's Field Office and in close cooperation with UNICEF's local Education Officer and UNICEF's local Education Assistant in Sukhumi.

Required qualifications:

• A Ph.D. in Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, or similar
• Extensive language assessment experience including the design of language assessment projects
• Experience dealing with motivational factors that influence language acquisition and use
• Understanding of language development, language planning, and Multilingual Education
• Experience leading research teams
• Strong communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills
• The ability to communicate technical subject matter (in oral and written form) to people with varying technical knowledge/skills and from different educational and cultural backgrounds
• Demonstrated quantitative data analytics skills and experience

Consultancy period:

1^st of July to the 31^st of October

Remuneration

The consultant will be paid at a consultancy fee rate negotiated between the consultant and UNICEF Georgia, based on an initial proposal of the consultant and taking into account the consultant's level of experience and evaluations of his/her earlier work. Payment will be carried out after satisfactory fulfilment of tasks. UNICEF will also cover travel expenses which will be paid in advance of the consultant's travel(s).