The following is a list of 12 potential tools taught at a PMEC workshop, with a statement of the purpose of each tool. Tools can and should be adapted to your situation. Each facilitation session is different. Much dialogue occurs as each tool is used. This page is meant to give you an idea of some of the main tools, and what they can be used for. For detailed instructions, please follow this link to see individual guides for each tool:

• https://bit.ly/pmectoolsteps

The first four tools are language-focused or sociolinguistics-focused tools:

Bilingualism Tool (Venn Diagram/Chapati Tool)

Participants indicate which subgroups speak their mother tongue well and which subgroups speak their other languages well. Then the participants indicate which subgroups have lots of people and which have only a few. The diagram helps them to visualize and to build consensus about whether the use of their own and other languages is increasing or decreasing. The tool can also help a group think about which sub-groups of people involved in a program are responsible for different activities or decisions.  

Dialect Mapping Tool

Speakers of a single dialect identify and label the different dialects and languages in their region. They indicate in a diagram how well they understand each variety and what language they speak to speakers of each other variety. They also indicate which varieties they think could use a single written or oral standard.

Domains of Language Use Tool (Venn Diagram)

Participants discuss and write the situations in which they use their mother tongue, and other languages they speak. They arrange them according to the situations that occur frequently and rarely. They draw conclusions about which language their people use most.

What We Want Our Children to Know

Participants consider all the things they want their children to know as they grow up. They show which language is used to help people learn about those things. They also show how important each thing they want their children to know is and whether the participants feel children currently learn that thing well enough.

The following tools are more general ones that could be used in language programs or when working towards any goal:

Overlapping Circles Tool (Venn Diagram/Chapati Tool)

Participants consider all the tasks which need to be addressed related to some goal or project. They create a diagram showing which people or teams are involved in each task using overlapping circles. They mark tasks which are the most important, take the most time or are increasing or decreasing in priority. The diagram helps the group to understand the current situation more clearly and to see the interrelationship of responsibilities. This tool is frequently followed by a decision-making or planning tool. This tool can also be used to consider other things that overlap between people, groups or organizations, such as goals, or strengths.

Cause and Effect Tree

Participants consider the causes and effects of a certain thing that are happening in their community. They write down all the causes, all the good effects, and all the bad effects. They select the most important or strongest cause and effect. Some examples of use would be to look at the causes of people using the national language more, the causes of schools using certain languages for certain types of activities, or the causes for (lack of) involvement of people in an activity of interest to the group.

Appreciative Inquiry

Participants keep a positive focus as they describe good things about their community, program, language or culture. They then dream about a better future and begin to plan to make that future happen.

Stakeholder Analysis

A small group of stakeholders, brainstorm a list of more stakeholders for their cause. They categorize the stakeholders in several ways. They select several stakeholders to contact and make plans for involving them in their efforts.

Force Field Analysis

Participants list the helping and hindering forces that influence a goal or dream they have. They make plans to decrease some hindering forces, increase helping forces, or change hindering forces into helping ones.

SWOT Analysis

Participants think about a certain goal they have. In light of that goal, they list the strengths and weaknesses inherent in their group AND they list the opportunities and threats from outside their group that are related to that goal. They decide which areas they need to change or improve as they continue working toward their goal.

Criteria Development Tool

Participants who need to make a decision, such as selecting employees, forming a committee or choosing which types of books they will write and print can use this tool.  First they brainstorm all the criteria they think are needed for a good employee/committee/book etc. They clarify the wording on the written criteria. They prioritize criteria selecting the top 5 to 15 criteria. They use the matrix tool to help them use the criteria to make their decision.

Flower Tool

An appreciative and somewhat comprehensive tool for a team to make a plan (or evaluate an existing plan) for an agreed-upon goal. It helps them to explore why they want the goal to happen, the effects of the goal in terms of what the community would like to see, the internal and external resources to get there, and the steps to achieve their goals.