Former IAM Team Members publish Munji language study

An In-Depth Study

Daniela Beyer and Simone Beck were both linguists and former IAM team members. They have published an in-depth study on the minority Munji language in northern Afghanistan. 

Their piece is titled, “A Linguistic Assessment of the Munji Language in Afghanistan.” In it, Beyer and Beck argue that language development in the local language would raise the educational level and foster literacy of the people. Families used Munji almost exclusively in homes and communities in the area. As such, there are no oral or written materials in the language. School instruction takes place in Dari, one of the two official languages. Girls and women, however, do not receive exposure to Dari in any other domain. In these areas, people often only use with visitors, travel, and trade.

Beyer and Beck refer to a UNESCO language research project; this project found that a strong foundation in the mother tongue is necessary in order to learn a second language. Therefore, Beyer and Beck recommend that the Munji people would benefit from the development of primary school material and adult literacy material in the Munji language. This is likely to raise the education level as well as the Munji people’s ability to learn Dari.

Click here to read the study in its entirety or download the Beyer Beck PDF.

Daniela Beyer was killed in Badakhshan, Afghanistan in August 2010 along with nine other members of an IAM Eye Camp team.

Simone Beck currently works for Operation Mercy’s Wakhan Community Health and Development Project. Simone has also published a study on the Effect of Accessibility on Language Vitality, specifically focusing on the Ishkashimi and the Sanglechi Speech Varieties in Afghanistan. Click here to read the article published by Dartmouth College.